Thursday, August 1, 2013

Blend in

"What does it say?", one lady asked her friend, who was holding her arm as they approached the restaurant. "It says: Gourmet burger", her friend replied. "Oooh, I see, isn't that where you are supposed to cook your own little burgers in a small pan?" The three ladies were all excited about their adventure in the big city. They sat down, ordered three glasses of beer and kept on chatting, waiting for their adventurous lunch.

"We have to tell you some terrible news, kiddo", this mom told her approximately 10 yo old son, who was sitting at the opposite side of the table. He looked up from the menu and the man, sitting next to the young boy, put his hand on the arm of his new girlfriend. "While you were at daddy's house last week, mommy had a miscarriage. We know how much you wanted this baby and how dreadful this news must be for you", she announced, clearly emotional. Her eyes ping ponged from her son to her new partner. The son opened the menu and said: "I don't mind too much, I never wanted a brother or sister anyway..". 

I was waiting for my friend to arrive. He was a bit later than usual. Opening the iPad, I decided to type him a message, to make sure he had not forgotten our appointment at the Antwerp docks. The cute waiter (did you see how skinny he was???) handed me my glass of cold cava and asked me if I had already made a choice of what to have for lunch. Yes, I had, but I was waiting for my friend to join me. If he could come back a bit later to take our order? Absolutely ma'am! I knew my friend would like the look of this young man and I was right. Just a little bit later, he showed up and I was glad to see him. It had been too long. We hugged and kissed and soon after that, we sat down and started our conversations like we always do. I missed him... I didn't have that much time, since my daughter was shopping and she needed a ride home. But we agreed to schedule another date in August. I love our conversations.. and I love overhearing other people's conversations too. So next time you're late, don't worry. Because I always find a way to keep busy and blend in. And our very long lunch dates have become notorious...

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