Fables and Fabrications by Jan Edwards

Author:Jan Edwards
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penkhull Press
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Green Tea

THEY TRAVELLED IN silence. Niki because she was so very angry, Fliss because she had yet to consume her regulation half bucket of coffee.

Niki hated how her twin practised the dumb blonde image. The one she had been cultivating since they were kids, though she was as natural a brunette as Niki. Hair and eyes were the external similarities taken as read for identical twins which no amount of hair dye and coloured contacts could ultimately change. It was their inner differences that surprised many. They perceived twins to be inseparable; to think and live as one. ‘They’ were wrong.

Niki had flown the cage straight from school and headed for the Holistic Medicine School at Aberdeen, Fliss had opted for the far more acceptable Art History doctorate and lived at home.

Niki’s empathy as a therapist was legendary to clients but for her twin, in fact for all of her family, it was in astoundingly short supply. Fliss had never given a damn. When Niki offered to help Fliss get over the shock of their parent’s sudden death it had been a massive gesture. Six months down the line Fliss showed no sign of returning to London, or finding herself a job.

The gestures Niki offered to this lassitude were of a particularly biological nature. She decided Fliss was going to earn her keep and set her to work at Cabin Therapy, one of the Tissingford Craft Centre’s features housed in its two dozen log cabin styled units. Reassuringly rustic, yet glittery new in a shining steam-treated polished golden yellow way. It was her steam-treated holistic haven.

Niki sighed as she pulled on the handbrake. She prided herself on her work ethic and being first in last out. And having her record impugned by her own sister was just the end. If nothing else she could set Fliss on the right track and re-educate her twin for the 21st century. Years of their parent’s toxic consumerism was something Niki was resolved to deal with in her twin. She could at least show her where their mother had gone wrong.

‘You can help on the front desk again today.’ Niki knew her voice sounded artificial, over bright, full of hastily gathered bonhomie. ‘I know it’s not your thing, but you can at least answer the phones. And try not to taunt the clients like you did last week.’

Fliss stood peering about her sulkily. ‘I can work at being a tree hugger,’ she said. ‘Just try me.’ She picked a flake of nail polish from her cuticle, held her right hand up with slender fingers splayed into a curved fan to admire her handiwork, and then gifted her twin with a sly wink. ‘If there’s money it.’

‘You’ve already got free board and lodgings. If things work out this week then we’ll talk about pay.’ Niki shoved her toward the backroom. ‘Now go and put on something more suitable than those god-awful sweats.’

Twenty minutes later Fliss reappeared, clad in a simple white tunic and trousers. From

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