(tw: death of a family member)
Isaline Marjolaine " Isa " Waxall (34) is a very good friend of Charmain. She and Charmain met not that long ago when Isa was opening her 1950s inspired cafe not far from Charmain’s tatoo parlour. They bonded over having rather unusual names - Charmain being named after her father, Charles , who died shortly before Charmain 's mother Debra found out she was pregnant, while Isaline was named after his father’s late older sister, Isabelle , who was, as her father says " born intp the arms of Jesus".
Isa grew up in a very religious environment with traditional values where everything seemed like it really froze in time within the 1950s - her father , Warner , refuses to learn how to use a computer to this day and reads only non-digital newspapers. It came as a shock to him when she annouced that she got a full-ride scolarship and wants to major in Business, with Warner counting on Isa 's future as a stay-at-home mom, given she was his only daughter and “he wanted grandchildren from her first.”. She, however, remained comitted to studying until the age of 25 when she got her Master’s degree. Two years later she met her future husband , an accountant named Conrad , who further supported her enterpreneurial spirit and helped her launch her first business plan. However, her dreams of owning a cafe got put on hold when Conrad proposed to her and her efforts became focused on planning the wedding instaed - a small reception for less than 50 people where only Conrad and Isa 's closest family was present. They got married at a church, both being Lutheran protestants active in their congregation - Isa 's upbringing taught her how many life lessons can be taken from the Bible and she wants to continue sharing those lessons through prayer with family and reading with her children - 7-year old son, 5-year old son and 3-year-old daughter, who all adore playing with Charmain 's 14-year-old daughter. Especially Isaline 's oldest son thinks she’s pretty cool and treats her like an older sister, talking to her about school problems and asking for explanations with math, which Charmain 's daughter does so well that Charmain and Isa joke that she should be a primary school teacher (something that she, ubeknowst to them, seriously considers).
Isa finally opened her business when her business 5 years ago , which wasn’t easy because she also had to take care of her sons, one of whom was a newborn at the time. Charmain admires Isa for her perseverance and ability to really give her cafe a soul - it’s decorated with lots of vintage imagery, rockabilly plays in the background while both Isaline and other members of staff adhere to a strict dress code which brings to mind so called “pin-up girls” with a modern twist. Isaline , on the other hand , aspires to be as maternal and supportive towards her employees as Charmain is - admitting that she can sometimes be too emotionally distant from them and focus on her vision of the business too much , not asking for others’ input.
When Charmain contacted Lee in order to arrange a secret meet-up with her, Bo and Felicity (one that could be discolosed to Lee 's parents but it was clear it had to be kept secret to Avryll and Jared) she knew Isa 's cafe was the perfect place for them to have an honest, mature conversation in a neutral yet pleasant setting. Isaline knew about Charmain 's plans and observed the young couple so as to intervene in case a serious screaming match was to occur. However, she cried tears of joy when she observed Bo calmly talking to Lee and explaining his stance on things while also being allowed by Lee to play with Felicity and hold her in his arms for the first time. It was evident there was love between those two young parents still, even if mixed with a fair amount of worry, confusion and uncertainty. Bo said that while he is not going to rush Lee into marriage or any kind of comittment. He’s also not able to provide housing for 3 people just yet and relies on Charmain 's acccomoation above the parlour until after he completes the apprenticeship. However, he assured her that it is his long term goal for him, Felicity and Lee to reunite eventually - be it in Pennsylvania or in Delaware, where the Roberts family lives. Until then he will always intend for a part of his monthly salary to go to Lee 's account and Face-Time the with Lee and Felicity regualarly.
Isaline , of course, didn’t hear every single part of this conclusion , because she stopped paying as much attention to the couple once it became evident there is no hostility or chances for a “scene” occuring - plus, she didn’t want the moving moments between Bo and Felicity to make her completely unable to work due to her heart melting into a warm puddle. However, she sent the text saying “mission accomplished” to Charmain after the couple left her establishment, also discreetly giving a discount to them both, which surprised them positively.
