13. MARK
1292 Words
Business hasn’t been going too well these past few days at the Café de la Place. I’m certainly the first to blame. It must be said that the boss who rearranges the face of a musician he hired to host the evening, this isn’t what we call good publicity.
Winter is always a little quieter, but for the past week, it’s been dead. Fortunately, tonight there is the Locron Singles Night. I know I can count on them to help me do about the right amount of sales.
The first to arrive is Loraine, my new landlord or roommate. At least, in theory, because in practice we haven’t seen each other much, apart from the day I moved in. This week I got home late every night after work, and when I woke up she was already gone. I vaguely know she’s in the house, for I hear the lament of the old plumbing now and then, or a few muffled noises, early in the morning.
From the kitchen, I see her looking around the room. Our eyes meet, she gives me a small sign with the tips of her fingers. I think for a moment she’s going to come and say hello, so I wipe my hands on a tea towel. But she turns and walks to a table where a sign on it says she’s joining in Singles Night. A little annoyed by the fact that she prefers to go and sit down rather than talk to me, I nevertheless decide to join her.
I walk towards her as she has her nose plunged into her phone. The evil of the century. No one sits at a table, alone, looking at the surroundings. We prefer to bury our eyes in the virtual lives of our friends or strangers, as long as we don’t look idle on the terrace of a cafe. She’s not in cop clothes, but she’s dressed all in black, from her sweater to her sneakers to her jeans. The uniform of the girl who likes to blend in with the surroundings.
“Hi.”
She jumps and looks up.
“Ah... hi! I didn’t see you come.”
“You want something to drink?”
She glances at the row of empty chairs next to her.
“Maybe I should wait for the others?”
“You’ll have plenty of time to drink with them afterwards. A mojito?”
I know it’s one of the cocktails she used to order with her friends.
“Uh... yes, why not. I’m walking home after all.”
She punctuates her sentence with a little laugh that doesn’t sound natural at all. I motion for Erik to prepare her drink. A few seconds of awkward silence followed. Okay, we’re going to have to make an effort to get to know each other and break the ice a bit, otherwise, the next few weeks are going to be complicated at home.
“You had a good day?”
“Yes. Yes. Thank you. And you?”
She puts her phone on the table and pulls on the sleeve of her sweater.
“Yes, although it’s far from over.”
New silence. Marie-Jo arrives with the mojito that she puts in front of Loraine without even a hello. I’m going to have to have yet another conversation with her about her relationship with customers. Loraine puts her hand in her bag, she’s about to take out her purse.
“No, no, it’s on me,” I hastened to tell her.
She looks surprised.
“Oh! Thank you.”
“It’s a pleasure. The privilege of cohabitation with the boss.”
Where I expected a smile, I get a frown.
“You don’t have to offer me anything. It’s normal that I pay for my drinks. I’m quite capable of it,” she adds with pride.
“I have no doubt about that. But I’m still allowed to give you a gift from time to time. Take it as a thank you for the offer to live with you.”
“I didn’t offer you anything at all, I just posted an ad to look for a housemate, and you heard about it.”
“You can see it like that. But you didn’t say no, either. Let’s say we toast to my moving in, if you prefer.”
“But you’re not drinking anything?”
I wave to Marie-Jo, who comes with a sigh.
“Can you get me some orange juice, please?”
“No mojito?” Loraine asks.
“I have a long service awaiting me.”
“Ah.”
My fruit juice served, I raise my glass, and she imitates me:
“To my status as a tenant.”
She repeats my words, and we bang our drinks together.
A few minutes later, as others start to arrive, I return to my kitchen. I observe Loraine and her friends Romy and Elena. They’re all regulars of this kind of meeting. However, none seems to have found the right fit. But when I see the male specimens present, you can’t blame them. For those who like losers, there’s a good sample of them, that’s for sure. Not all are bad looking, but none that I would like to introduce to a friend.
As besides the singles group, there’s hardly anyone, I tell Erik he can go home. I leave my assistant alone in the kitchen and take care of the bar. Jack, the oenologist from Verne Estate, enters the restaurant as if he had a mission. He greets me with a nod and rushes towards the three girlfriends. I’ve seen him accompany them to this kind of party before, but never really take part in the speed dating sessions, or other little games they organise so that the participants mingle. Given the look on his face, I doubt anyone would want to meet him. The guy looks irritated. He rushes towards the brunette, Elena, the school teacher. They exchange a few words, then move away from the group to go and settle in the most remote corner of the room. I don’t know what they’re talking about, but the conversation is heated, it seems.
“Can I have another?”
I hadn’t seen Loraine approaching the bar. She hands me her glass, she too has her eyes riveted on the couple in the background who seem to be arguing.
“Everything is okay?” I ask.
“I think so. I thought Jack was busy. He didn’t come to the basketball game the other night.”
“Well, he looks stressed.”
She nods thoughtfully.
“How’s the evening going for you?” I said, pointing to the small group behind her.
She shrugs her shoulders.
“Oh. As per usual.”
I hand her another glass.
“Why do you keep coming in that case? Don’t take it the wrong way, but the people here seem to me like a bunch of hopeless cases.”
I can see from her expression that starting my sentence with “don’t take it the wrong way” was completely unnecessary. She doesn’t like my remark. Still, I wasn’t aiming for her. I understand that she wants to send me a well-felt reply, but she’s content to raise her glass to her lips.
Romy arrives in the meantime.
“Loraine, do you mind if we leave now? Elena isn’t feeling very well.”
The brunette has already put on her coat which she is curled up in. There’s no longer any trace of Jack. Loraine turns to me and says:
“I’m heading off.”
And I answer her without even thinking about it:
“Okay, see you later at home.”
- Writer
