Tables
Table 3 Window seat - centre
He
Bracers
A pink bow tie
Previously long hair
Basin cut to a uniform length
Swaying above the neck
He was out to impress
She
Emerald green
Strapless number
Badly dyed pink hair
Unwashed
uncombed
Simply tied in a knot
Fraying
She really cared??
He
Excited
Couldn’t keep her hands off her
One hand
In the small of her bare back
The other
The top of the knee
nudging
The emerald green silk dress
Slightly down
Off the locked knees
He
Beer drinking nervously
From a glass no less?
She
Campari
Just wetting the ruby lips
He
Afraid
Talking in stucco
Flipping his locks
She
Watching every nuance of his animated face
His nervous laughter
His grimaces
The darting tango of his eyes
Flashing glances
He
Flicking his bracers
To emphasis a point
Gesticulating
Faned animations
A performance
As he really cares
She
Laughing
at each gesture
catching
the fleeting lighting strikes of his eyes
silvery white
blue
like jumping whitebait
licking her lips
He
Upright
Shoulders back
Touching
Wanting to go further
She
Throwing both arms
Over the winged chair
Flashing her shaven
Naked under arms
Beautiful
Thrusting her breasts
Forward
Upward
In defiance of gravity
Mountains that he is yet to climb
She
Leaning
Touching his arm
Her gaze
Hoping to arrest
His gyrating
Bobbing head
As he dives for a selfie
He
Hair flicks
Flagellating his temples
red
Eyes flick
Not having the courage
To look
To engage
To risk?
The intimacy of inner sight
He
Agitated with the knife and fork
The chilling
scraping china shrill
Licking his knife and fork
With a languid tongue
Being accustomed to eating with both hands
But
He is trying to impress!
He wants her more than ever
The fish are jumping
She
Crosses
Then uncrosses her legs
With each
Casting of the arms
Over the wings of the chair
In perpetual motion
Laughing
Engaged
Yet
Intent
She
each course
Feeding her hunger
wants him more than ever
she
reaches out through the frenzy
her hand cupping his bristled cheek
running into his hair
stilling the beast
eyes lock
words run
collapse
into a mashed heap of silence
wet
amorphous
shapeless
poignant
She
Her green eyes
Purring
Take me
Take me
NOW
He
Taking her hand
Kisses the palm
Then
Leaning over
Kisses her cheek
Whispering in her ear
In slow motion
He she
charm
In silent communion
An entransed rapour
abandon the table
The sun
Irradiating the camperi
red
Table 12 Side banquet table
Apologising to the diners
As they push
Wade
Woddle
Ricocheting
Pin balling
past each table
On the way to the reserved banquet table
The two very fat daughters
Lower themselves into the facing chairs
Enveloping the two chairs in flesh
Their heads
Bobbing like corks
On a gelatinous quivering mass
Jostling their chairs
To avoid the implied intimacy
of the rubbing
Touching
overlapping
skirts of flesh
As their resplendent parents
Emerge from the daughters wake
Sliding into the banquet seating
Backs to the wall
Pushing
shoving the table back and forth
To accommodate their collective girths
The Father
Pulls the table tight against his pink shirt
Pinning his stripped blue silk tie to his corpulent torso
By way of contrast
The daughters
In response to the formal nature of the occasion
Both wore black and white canopies
Finally!
bring their chairs to rest
The table now being stable
the Mother
the banquet seating being low
regains her authority by lifting her ample breasts onto the table
in a blatant attack
mesmerising the room
in her vertically stripped
giddying
black and white dress
the strips widening
in their attempt to arrest
the expanding
rolling
ballooning breasts
as they come to a relieved halt on the table
The Father
In his
taking the family out to dinner outfit
An obvious occasion
did not look like a DAD
The daughters
Not wishing to unbutton themselves in full view of their parents
Were indolently restrained
Sticking to water
With conspiratorial glances
The father
Lashing out
has a beer
The Wife
With her slipping horn-rimmed glasses
only arrested by a mole on the side of her nose
Studies the menu
Ordering a shandy
Wiping
Crinkling the table cloth
With her sliding
pendulant breasts
As she addresses each daughter
in a very pointed fashion
in relation to the merits and consequences of each dish
a quiet
forced respectability
follows
in this
stilted conversation
the unease
is pulpable
like dry ice
it flows to the floor
heavy
a fog of apprehension
rolling over the diner’s legs
the diner’s
sensing the chill of unease
turn knowingly
in the direction of the banquet table
the recognition ripples across the restaurant
the arrival of the food
enlivens the table
pushing the breasts overboard
the Mother’s stature
visibly dropping
sinking into the seat
the authority completely gone
the waiter
circumnavigating the daughters
leans on one leg
to airdrop the dishes onto the table
recovers his balance
one hand behind his back
bows into the foursome
delivering
a rapid fire description of each dish
to a gallery of
silent
quizzical
perplexed looks
the waiter
sensing the apprehension
Nods respectfully
Escaping the ensuing embarrassment
Of witnessing
the forensic prodding of each dish
The Mother
Smiles approvingly
Ushering in a respectful pause
before the feeding frenzy begins
Pushing this way
Then that
The chairs
Scrapping on the timber floor
As each heaving, bulbous arm
with chubby
painted fingers
extending the reach
Fumbling each morsel
On its journey into darkness
Leaving syrupy trails on the crisp white table cloth
An abstract testament
Weaving a web of connection
The only visible connection
In this archipelago of family isolation
Table 23 Corner left
Two figures
isolated
The Mother
Grey haired
Hunched
With a shaking left hand
In a conspiratorial hunch
physically pained
In a tailored
expensive
steel grey suit and pearls
The daughter
Clean
But modest attire
leaning attentively
With weary eyes
Selective words
Almost on her knees
In a benediction of devotion
Seldom spoke
Reflective nodding
Dropping eyes
Deflecting hope
The daughter
Intently
trying to communicate
Feels proximity matters
Her right hand fiddling
Distractively
with her long pendulant ear ring
As it chimes against her jutting rigid jaw
Straining to read
To hear
Her parental utterances
Through the imperceptible motion of her mother’s lips
Fatigued
The daughter’s hand
cups her face
her eyes fixed
now
in a bored stare
growing tired of her finial duty
this pointless exercise
of a dinner with her Mother
the dishes
fanned before them in a ceremonial flourish
a brief inaudible delivery
a forced smile to the waiter
his only reward
the wine
hardly touched
the food
sparrow picked
in a distracted
disinterested manner
the price of pleasing Mother comes high
the daughter
labours on
in a slow
intense
structured monologue
the gravitas
etched on her face
the folded brow
the tight lipped
paced
delivery
both
silently
nodding
in total disagreement
the Mother
immovable
in the presence
of her daughter’s pain
now distort
eyes welling
chewing her lip
in a total collapse
into bewilderment
abruptly stands
pushing the screeching chair across the timber floor
turning heads
her hand
momentarily
following the curve of her resplendent belly
smoothing her smock
the daughter
slowly at first
then
gathering conviction
races across the floor
out into the street
in full flight
tears
splashing on the timber floor in a glossy wake
the Mother
stunned
mute
transfixed
in her grey hair
impeccably
motionless
reaches for the glass of wine
trembling
splashing wine in the direction of her lips
shaken
replacing the glass
mopping the cascading red stains
dabbing the lips
dazed
fumbling for her purse
alone
Table 16 Prime centre window seat
She
Obviously older
Short cropped
Bleached white hair
All in tailored black designer attire
Swaying ear rings
Jostling to keep up with the emphatic
Affirming statements
Sparkling
Intelligent eyes
Wry smiles
To this handsome young Dane
Fired across the table
over the wreckage of their shared meal
He
Upright
Aware that he is being groomed
Animated
Engaging
Conversational
In a stammering accented English
His wispy beard
Hardly convincing
She
Relaxed
Laying into the chair
With the occasional raising of the finger to the lips
A gentle bite
Increasing the intensity
He
Smiles
Disarmingly
Both
Completely unaware of their surroundings
The tutor and the student
Spar
The matriarch
Setting the scene
Spinning the spell
Dictating the pace
Ordering the wine
Pouring his
Dimpled smiles
To the intelligent repartee
Of this very earnest young man
As he parry’s
Dodges
Dips
defences
Shuffles
retreat
She
Waves the waiter in
Pays the bill
Always listening intently
To the resplendent young male
she rises
petite
diminutive
He jumps
unfolding to his full height
A giant among men
Towering over the elfin tutor
She
walks to the door
He
Like a prancing puppy
Rousing a cheer from a group table as they pass the function room
Fellow students
Laughingly
mocking their exit
together
He falters
Embarrassed
Pauses
Light heartedly deflecting the ribald comments
She
Walks resolutely on
He jokingly responds
Then shuffles out the door in pursuit
Striding to catch the elfin effigy
No table Bar stool
Dressed in all black
He strode past the wait to be seated sign
The waiter behind the bar yelling
Sir can I help you?
He
I will have dinner at the bar
Not even looking at the waiter
Pointing directly ahead to the rapidly approaching bar stool
He’s new
Literally climbing onto the bar stool
it was that high
Adjusting the stool to face the familiar water view
Flicking his eye brows at the usual waiter across the restaurant floor below
With a smile of recognition
She smiled
A quiet familiarity
Coming over
Casually leaning on the bar
She chats and asks what he would like tonight
Being a creature of habit
He was tempted to have what he had last night
The lamb
which was excellent by the way
She
Recommended the king fish
Her favourite
He
Normally only had one dish
With cheese and their baked bread to follow
With one glass of pinot noir
The one she recommended
he loved it
He
Tonight
Being a very special night
I will splash out
What would you recommend to follow?
She
the pork side with Kim chi
Being Korean
A traditional combination
That she loved
He
Convincingly nods
Asked for a recommendation of a local Pino Gris for the Kingfish
With the usual Pinot Noir with the pork
And again
with the cheese to follow
It is indeed a special night
She
Brings the water over
What’s the occasion?
He
It is my very last night here!
With an air of sombre finality about it!
Not wishing to pry
She
Surprised by his tone
That’s a shame
She returns with the wine
Continuing to pour past the standard drink mark
She
Eyes dancing
Drink it quickly before anyone notices!
For good luck!
She adds in a conspiratorial manner
grinning
Under orders
he continues to reduce the level to the standard drink mark
Nonchalantly looking forlornly out to sea
She is busy
So
all the food arrives via other hands
Efficiently as always
Sitting
In the silence of his own internal dialogue
He
Poised
Aloof
always alone
the familiar stranger in black
Is suddenly visibly emotional
Eyeing welling
The moonlight dancing off the water
This is my last meal here
Finishes the last glass of wine
With a determined gesture
A full stop
She
Comes over
He
Not looking at her
Pays the bill
Leaving a large tip
She
Watches him walk to the door
Surprised
Beams
Thankyou
Her eyes
saddening
Concerned
unsettled
He abruptly turns back
Unusually
Putting his hand on her shoulder
Thank you
for all your company and welcome advise
It meant a lot more to me than you know!
He
determined
Strides out of the restaurant
She
Confides
To the bar tender who knew him
He said it is his last time here?
He has been coming for years?
A bit of a character?
His solitary bar stool
Assumes a presence over the ensuing days
She
Feels an unexplained loss
One week to the day
The bar tender
Sliding from behind the bar
When she came in for his night shift
Takes her aside
You know the regular guy in black?
She nods
He committed suicide immediately after he left last week!
Head dropping as she ties her apron
A silent tear runs
Falls
Into
The finality of a splash
A testament of the known over the unknown