Lunch Is Beautiful: Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The Confusion

What's that funny smell? Thought James as he left the porch behind. He managed to sway pass the curtains within seconds. This guy is fond of locks of free falling hair, he must be! Everyone in here ties their curtains, but he doesn't. How eccentric!

"Mr. William, Sir. I have a mail for you"

William didn't seem to pay attention to the postman's call. He was too busy with his writing—his passion. I hear a voice, but it will not interrupt my flow of thoughts.

"Mr William, I got a letter from Ms ".

Before he could finish the sentence, William's excited voice stopped him.

"What! You got a letter from her, and you have the nerve to not tell me before?"

Almost jumping up in happiness, William dashed towards James. Skillfully avoiding the ink puddle, Will took the pink envelope from the mailman's hand. Now comes the best part, thought James. But the moment did not come as soon as it used to come. Will tore off the envelope and brought out the letter. A sweet fragrance filled the room. He started reading.

There was something in the letter that did something to Will. The smile was disappearing rapidly; getting replaced by a vibrant posture of anxiety, which eventually turned in to excitement. Holding the letter tightly, William reached out for the window. He was giving a confused gaze towards the sky.

Waiting a while, James silently left the room.

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Outside, the weather was going through an abrupt change. Suddenly, the sun was gone, and the clouds started glorifying their darkened presence. James was wondering where to go next. He only had a few mails to deliver. One for the pharmacist, one for the sergeant, and that's it. But from the looks of the sky, he was not quite sure whether he'd take the risk of going to the other end of the city to reach the military camp.

Earlier that year, Napoleon declared himself as the empreror, surprising everyone; including the church. Till the last year, Churches were the supreme authority of the country. According to the christian padrey's, they were God's appointed rulers of the land. However, the brave and talented general changed the concept, and to be honest, he wasn't doing bad at all.

The proudly hoisted flag post of the army brought a sense of security and pride to all. The common people never liked the concept of bishops and fathers being kings. What's the point of having a king if he cannot carry a broad sword?

Ignoring the dark clouds, James started walking towards the army encampment.

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Meanwhile, William was still thinking about the letter he just received. He had a mixed emotion, an emotion split between happiness and confusion. She wants to meet me. But again, he thought Do I really deserve this attention?

The rendezvous location was one of the finest of Paris. Those were the places that have been threatening the existence of small time bars.

I like the small time bars, they are cozier.

William closed the windows; the rain was too heavy.

William felt the strong urge of having a peg of cognac. I should have Cognac at Cognac someday! The train ride to Cognac wouldn't take more than 3 hours. He once read in a book that The Ugni Blanc, called St. Emilion here, and well known in Italy as Trebbiano is distilled to make the local brandy, Cognac. Ugni Blanc is nothing other than white grapes; which are not really white, but has a crystal clear clarity.

As he heard his stomach growling, he thought Nothing can be a better meal than a slice of Camembert, a lettuce, a loaf of bread and a glass of good French wine! Thinking this, William suddenly realized that already 30 minutes have passed since his regular lunch time.

Damn, these patches of ink will stay forever, if I don't get rid of them right here right now.

As William resumed cleaning the floor, the rain kept pouring down. The outside world seemed like an abstract painting of some long deceased great artist. The sky has got a lot of crying to do today. Something really bad must have happened up above.

Is there a heaven, or a hell up there? Probably it's heaven, as most of the time we see sunshine, not rain.

As the clock approaced 2 PM, William increased his sweeping pace, with thoughts of a pleasant meeting in the not so distant future filling his mind.

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Lunch Is Beautiful: Chapter 3 and 4

Chapter 3: Comète

They say his ancestors served for the chariot warriors of the great Roman emperor, Julius Caesar. Now, here in year 1899, it sounds quite unbelievable to find a descendant to someone who lived in between 100-44 BC, be it a horse or mare. But few people doubted the royalty that surrounded Comète, the dark colored moody horse. When Comète first came to this part of the city, he was a stray, wild horse. Many tried to domesticate him, but he'd just kick them away. But Pedro was different.

While others tried a carrot and stick policy, he broke the stick and offered him something better than mere carrots. The common people watched in amazement as together Pedro and Comète become best buddies.

That was a long time ago, thought Pedro. We had a lot of fun together, didn't we? Said Pedro as he rubbed Comet's back. He never had to use the lashes on Comet, but the other member of the 2 horse stagecoach often needed lashing. For some reason, Comet never had a steady partner. On most occasions, the other horse would never be able to keep up pace with Comet, and hence Pedro to fire the poor animal. Firing a horse is not as simple as firing an employee from your office.

It hurts a lot to let go of a horse, it hurts a lot. I wonder how it will feel like, if I ever need to get rid of Comet.

Soon Pedro's thoughts shifted towards the road and the destination. Today he has a very special passenger. A beautiful young lady; perhaps the most beautiful young lady of all is on board today. He already caused some disturbance when Comet and Stormy was about to stampede the local postman. That guy never looks where he's going—that absentminded fool!

Julio's Bar was still 3 or 4 blocks away. As he was passing by an old fashioned, shabby looking house, he noticed a youth yawning; stretching his hands sideways. This crazy guy never leaves home! All day, he's sitting and scribbling on his big note book. God knows what fortune his father left him that force a youth to account for; throughout the day.

Chapter 4: Unspoken Words

Why the horses are so fast? This is why I never like riding Pedro's coach. His horses are always too fast and the journey is over too soon! I hate being locked inside the confines of the castle.

Lorna was the daughter of a nobleman, and lived in one of the few castles that were still standing intact, even after the great French Revolution and all the blood shedding.

Why doesn't he look out? Why can't he just look outside of the window, just for once? If he'd ever look out, he would see through me. Maybe through my heart, as well. Sighed Lorna. She knew it was never meant to be. The crazy youth will always be engrossed in writing, and will never look outside.

And I will never send the letters that I always write, seal inside an envelope, only to burn them in the fireplace and see them turn in to ashes.

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The wind is too strong today!

"Wham"

The feather pen, along with the ink pot dropped, and instantly the floor below became a black pond. William realized that an absence of a quick response will create a river of ink. The curtain is still white, fortunately. William grabbed the inkpot and saved the remaining ink from getting wasted.

Not much work. The best thing about this mess is that it didn't destroy my writing, and now the floor gets a long deserving mop session.

Cleaning is not an enjoyable process, but the outcome is always nice, thought Will. It's amazing how all the black spots are getting away. Where are they going? Err...actually they are making the mop black.

Disgusted and tired, Will sat down on the bed. What am I going to do with this mess? Let the mess be where it is, I'll resume writing instead.

He adjusted the curtains and resumed writing. I have a fan now! A real fan! A fan that sends me letters encouraging my writings. I will keep on writing, no matter what. An ink accident will not stop me.

William looked up once again as the curtain hit his nose. In a split second, he watched the rear end of a stage coach. That must be Pedro. Who else has a coach as fast as that? The passenger must be in some hurry. Otherwise, few would like to ache their backs riding Pedro's fast moving coach.

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Lorna never liked visiting these people. They behaved in the same manner, said the same words, and she'd read them like open books throughout the session. Some chit chat, mostly small talk regarding the weather and favorite flowers and their fragrance, a dance invitation (which she turned down most of the time), a bottle of champagne, and finally, We should do this again.

She smiled as she was thinking. Most of the suitors understood the meaning of this phrase. This means "You bored me a lot, and I wish we never cross paths again".

Am I that old? Do I annoy dad a lot? Why did he suddenly get crazy about marrying me off? These are some questions that she always thought about.

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James was watching sympathetically as Metz kept on searching for an imaginary mail from his fiancé. He couldn't wait to go to Mr. William, but he didn't want to rush Metz. It's been a while since the last mail came in. He must be missing her a lot, thought James.

Soon James was on his way towards Mr. William's home. I hope he is at home. He knew that William seldom left his home, but he also knew that when he is out, he is out for quite some time.

James was fortunate. Mr. William was still pondering over the ink mess, and he had no intention of going anywhere out.