Round 26.

26.

It is Sunday evening in the city.

David, George, Elizabeth and Marlène are walking in the street looking for a restaurant.

David doesn’t want to walk too far because he sometimes suffers from an allergy after he has eaten and already he has parked on the top of the multi story car park where the lifts are not working and the only way back to the car is up a lot of stairs.

He parked on the top because of the view across the city and the rooftops and chimneys; it reminds him of Mary Poppins.

Tonight the wind is strong and the top of the car park is exposed, there is a danger that the cars will blow away.

Only a danger.

It is George’s birthday, he thinks he is old but in reality he is a young man; all of his future lies before him and in the palm of his hand; he cups his fingers to protect it from the wind.

George suggests the Pizza Parlour, though he wants to eat a steak; the Pizza Parlour serves steak so they go inside.

Marlène hopes no one recognises her; she handed the manager her CV last month when she was looking for a job. She is still looking for a job but the Pizza Parlour is not interested.

Lizzie is the waitress working tonight, she is younger than George and disappointed when Marlène refuses the offers of drinks and asks for a jug of tap water instead.

Elizabeth is happy; she likes water, but she will also say yes when David suggests a bottle of white wine.

Lizzie is happier too, there is a bigger chance of a tip.

Lizzie is working here only temporarily, she is saving up for a trip to Bali in June and the tips could help.

She is going to Bali in June to see her best friend Miche, who is living there.

Miche is running a Yoga retreat in June and has invited everyone; Lizzie doesn’t do yoga but she wants to see Miche, it has been too long.

Benny has never been to Bali; but he too is sitting in the Pizza Parlour.

Like George he ordered the steak though he now regrets the choice as the steak is served with a Roquefort cheese sauce.

Benny hates cheese.

Benny hates Roquefort more than any other cheese.

When he was five his parents took him to visit the caves in southern France where the cheese is made; the smell of the caves made him throw up and he hasn’t been able to eat cheese ever since.

George doesn’t have this problem and is happy the steak comes with a cheesy Roquefort sauce; he swaps a bit of the steak for a slice of the Margarita pizza that Elizabeth ordered.

Elizabeth considers the Margarita to be the purest of pizzas and that anything else is unnecessary and probably not Italian.

David shares this view, which is probably one of the reasons their marriage has endured.

Benny, who is looking at his steak like it was something that had crawled onto his plate, is also married. His youngest and only child, Jake, is walking around the restaurant looking at the people at the other tables.

Jake has only just learnt to walk and has no concept of physical space.

Consequently Lizzie doesn’t know that Jake is standing right behind her when she turns with the large plate of antipasti that David has ordered to go with the bottle of white wine.

Lizzie handles the moment well, she doesn’t do yoga but she is a dancer and has exceptional poise and balance.

Nothing amongst the antipasti falls onto the carpet.

The carpet is red.

The manager of Pizza Parlour chose a red carpet as it makes him think of Rome; he has never been to Rome but he imagines there to be a lot of stone in Rome and that the stone is red.

The manager is not a very logical man, something that normally would not be a good quality in a manager, but he speaks five languages.

His waitstaff come from five different countries so this has turned out to be incredibly useful.

The manager is in love with Lizzie but he hasn’t found the words to tell her in her own language, and unless he learns them before May his chance will disappear with her on a flight to Bali.

Benny’s wife, Jane, is not in the restaurant with Benny; she is very tired having spent the week alone with Jake and although it is only eight o’clock she is fast asleep at home.

She is dreaming about a birthday cake that she will make for her son Jake next week when he will be one and a half. It is not a conventional birthday, nor will it be a conventional cake; one part will be made with bananas and the other part will be made with cherries.

The two parts will be held together with butter icing.

In a moment Jane will wake up; she will be woken by the bells of the Catholic Church that stands on the corner opposite her, Benny and Jake’s apartment.

The church will ring the bells to call people to Vespers.

It is Sunday evening in the city.

    (ALL ABOUT ROUNDS)

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