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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