Matching Teapots

This week's Prompt: Two Teapots.

Jess was sitting in the car with a face on. “Do I have to?” she asked.

“Well, no,” her dad replied, “You can sit here and sulk, or you could be the one to find the next big thing.”

“How many car boot sales have we been to, and you're still looking?”

“Yes, I know, but I can feel it….”

Jess jumped in with her dad's answer before he could, “It's in your water, yeah, yeah, yeah. And how many times have I heard that, Dad?” She rolled her eyes.

“OK, have it your way,” he took out two five-pound notes and dropped them on the seat. “Here, if you change your mind,” he thought for a second. “I'll tell you what, let’s see who can make the biggest profit, like they do in that TV programme. I’ll be blue and you can be red.”

“Dad, you're so gullible, it’s all made up. You do know that.”

“We’ll see, the loser washes up for a week,” he shut the door and walked off into the melee of the car boot sale, thinking, was it made up? How would she know?

After twenty minutes of TikTok and Facebook, Jess was bored and needed to find a toilet, so she got out and locked the car.

On her way back, she spotted a stand with plates, cups, saucers, dishes, and bowls. At the back of the stand was a teapot, partially hidden. It was like something she’d never seen before. The colours mesmerised her; she was drawn to it in a way she couldn’t fathom. “Hi,” said the man behind the table.

“Hello,” replied Jess. Remembering her dad once saying. Don’t let them think you're interested, or they’ll up the price. Jess picked up a Toby Jug. “How much?”

“To you, darlin', two quid,” the man was busy unwrapping plates and mugs.

“Emm OK,” Jess put it down. “What about the wash bowl and jug?”

“A bit out of your league. It's Dalton, and the price is ninety-five for the pair.”

“I like that teapot at the back, but I’ve only got a fiver.”

“It only came in yesterday. I’ve not had time to price it up,” the man picked it up and read the name underneath. “Mackenzie-Childs. Never heard of it. OK, just for you, here, I’ll take your Fiver.”

Jess passed over the Fiver, and the man gave her the Mackenzie-Childs teapot. “Thanks.” Happy with her find, Jess walked back to the car, placing it in the boot. Then she looked for her dad. He was haggling with an elderly woman.

“Come on, no way is that worth forty quid,” he said, holding a garden ornament. He placed it back on the trestle table and walked off, muttering, “Robbin beggar.” Jess caught up to him. “Did you see that? Forty quid for something I wouldn’t pay a tenner for in a garden centre.”

Jess smiled. “So, what’s in the bag?”

He kept it close. “Oh, nothing, just a little something I picked up. What about you?

Have you found anything yet? A bet’s a bet, you know.”

“Not much, I put it in the car, didn’t want to carry it around”

Walking towards the food vans, Jess asked for a drink, “Sure, I could do with a coffee,” and sat at a picnic table. They enjoyed a bacon butty and a drink.

“Come on, then what's in the bag?” Jess was trying to prise it out of her dad.

“Ok, ok, well I think I won the bet on the profit margin, I saw it on a stall, not letting the woman know I was interested, you know, like I've always told you,”

“Yes, Dad.”

“Well, I saw it, it was begging me to buy it, I’ve seen them online going for about two hundred quid, so I did my best haggling, and got it down from a hundred and fifty to ninety-five” he put his hand in the bag and pulled out not just any Mackenzie-Childs teapot. It was exactly like the one Jess had bought for a fiver. Jess started to laugh.

“What are you laughing at, young lady? I bet you couldn’t have knocked her down to less than a hundred and twenty”

On their way back to the car, Jess kept a straight face but smiled inside.