It's Still Life

At an Intersection Named After an English King and a Saint
Six Sentence Story: Part 35b (513 words & 3 mins reading time)

A Recipe for Conversation

Time: 22.29, The syncopated rhythm of his walking stick heralds Nick’s arrival; Arpege’s door opens …

(I smile without explaining that punctuality is a near obsession with me)

… and he returns the smile and hands me a bouquet, “Hello, and Happy Samhain, Nick – Oh my favourite, peonies, thank you very much, and how are you?”

“Better each day,” he says leaning on his stick …

(the main dining room chairs are out of the question for him – too uncomfortable, I think to myself)

and I nod and smile, “We’ll eat in the kitchen … the dining room is too formal and fussy for the likes of me, and it’s Samhain so Grandmother and my dad are joining us … and would you mind – cold beers are in the big fridge, and “the Peroni Zero is for me.”

He’s off for the beers with a sidewise glance … (“I Walk with Ghosts” plays in the background) … at the two extra plates and cutlery on the worktop, but I can tell, he’s waiting for the promise of conversation …

(I turn on the deep fryer to 180°C, and then turn on the blender adding a few egg yolks, thawed peas, English mustard, malt vinegar, and fresh mint, whilst pouring a thin ribbon of oil into the spinning blades) …

“I’m thinking of selling up and leaving town,” I say in a flat tone …

(and I drop two breaded pieces of cod in the deep fryer, grate a dill pickle and mix it with some of the green pea minty mayo, and then slice two sourdough rolls lengthwise).

“Alternatively, I gut this place back to the spider’s webs between the walls, rework the menu completely, and when I reopen, I’ll invite undiscovered artists to hang their paintings on consignment, giving them agency, a platform for exposure and to sell their work – it would open up networking opportunities for them …

( I start building the fish finger sandwich … the pickle mayo first, then some lettuce, the cod, the pea-mint mayo, and a layer of salt & vinegar crisps, then the top of the roll squished down ever so gently until you hear the crisps start to snap).

“And I’d name this place “Eye of Newt and Toe of Frog” or “Hung, Drawn and Quartered” or maybe a bird theme like “The Shag and Puffin” …

(and I start to laugh) … “truly, the name; I don’t know … eat that while it’s hot, and by the way, do you know any artists who might be interested … besides Connor?”

Nick looks at me, long and hard, and says, “Fuck me, this sandwich is good …” and I burst into laughter.

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Written for Denise’s Six Sentence Story including the word “agency “.  Some artwork is created using Midjourney AI, and is identified as such in the ALT text or captioned. Images are copyright and not to used without permission, which I willingly give when asked, and when not for commercial use. Imagery and poems/prose ©Misky 2006-2024.