Post by mac on Jun 6, 2017 22:10:48 GMT
Arthur was depressed about not being about to go and learn more progress about the baby. He didn’t try to act like a whiny brat around Chardonnay, but when he was alone at work he was constantly moping, so much so that one of the part-timers asked if he was okay and he quickly brushed it off. It was sad to not go, to not learn more about the baby. In fact, he had been excited for it. He looked forward to every visit, spending the night at her place and attending the meeting in the morning. Instead he was stuck at a meeting.
The meeting was tomorrow and thinking of what to do for Chardonnay helped distract him from the stress. After he rehearsed his presentation in front of the mirror that night when he got home, he sat at the kitchen table, eating one of the coffee cookies he still had left. By now they were practically stale. He stared at Chardonnay’s cookbook – which he still owned. He recalled her mentioning new recipes for her restaurant. Arthur grabbed her book and flicked through it. How did she come up with this shit? He couldn’t even pronounce half of these names. Nothing in there was something he felt he could make, though. He wondered if her book sold well.
He could hardly sleep that night, his thoughts completely full of this meeting tomorrow. He had an anxiety attack when he woke up in the morning, after a nightmare where he was left a ruined mess and his theater rundown and abandoned. He didn’t need to stress this much, but he knew the people in attendance would only have their interests in mind, and he had to show them his theater was their best interest. He took a long shower to calm himself down, shaved and combed his hair, and put on a suit and bowtie. He tightened the tie and put dull black studs in his ears, then sprayed himself with cologne.
He wasn’t actually meeting them in the theater, he had to drive an hour and a half away the opposite direction of Chardonnay’s place to get to the office. He stepped out into the parking lot, showed his ID at the gate, and ascended to the 14th floor for the meeting.
Overall, it went off without a hitch. Arthur had his laptop hooked up to the screen and went over every slide on the PowerPoint. Most of the attendees liked his ideas and input and, with only a small debate, Arthur got a majority of what he wanted. He knew he had to forgo some aspects, but he was pleased he got the concessions and films he wanted. He could live without everything else – those were the most important things to get. He had to compromise with some of the ads placements, but overall, it was a success.
Arthur exited the meeting with a skip to his step and immediately called Jasmin, telling her what had happened. She was just as excited as he was, and when Arthur went out to the balcony he got to see the beautiful morning sunlight pave out over the coastline. During the call he got an alert and finished up with Jasmin, switching to take Chardonnay’s call right after.
She was going to be heading up for eight or so. Right... he needed to do something. He swung by the grocery store on his way home, still decked out in his suit, and spotted beef on sale.
And he, in his confident and elated state, had a brilliant idea.
He got the beef, he got some onions and carrots, and he got whatever else he needed for his mother’s beef stew recipe. He flew home and knew he had to work fast if this was supposed to work. He threw off his jacket and was left in his tie and button-down, over which he threw an apron. Arthur set to work boiling the broth together, tomato paste and beef broth. It was now 12:15, and he had about 5 hours to cook this. That would have it stop cooking at 5, nearly 5:30, and it had to sit for a few hours. Plus for his plan to work he had to make it look like he hadn’t cooked, so he needed to clean up in that hour and save the pot.
Arthur’s mother’s recipe was a unique one, including hints of garlic to the beef band vegetable broth. She had never liked peas so rather than peas she always included celery, and extra onions. Arthur sautéed them with garlic, and then gently mixed them into the stew. With the same pan he fried the meet, and once that was done he gently tossed it into the broth. He stirred it and added step by step.
While he let the stew simmer, Arthur cleaned his apartment. He desperately needed to. By the time that was done it was nearly 5:45, and he ran to check on the stew. He stirred it, covered it, and turned off the heat. He sprayed air freshener in his living room, fixed his bed, and washed his floors and windows. The apartment was tidy now, as opposed to the sort-of mess it had been after he had lost motivation to clean it. He cleaned the kitchen last, washing every pan aside from the one the beef stew was simmering in. He dusted the cabinets and by the time he looked at the clock, it was nearly 8! Fuck. He heard a knock on the door and quickly hid the trash in his storage room, replaced the bag, and ran into his bathroom to spray himself for more cologne. He was still in his suit. Fuck! Whatever. He threw on his jacket and adjusted his tie before he headed to the door. He’d just say he lost track of time.
”Uh, hi.” Arthur opened the door, allowing Chardonnay inside. He glanced at her. She didn’t look much different, but there was a subtle thickness to her that he didn’t recall had been there before. Honestly, for some reason she looked particularly hot at the moment, but he figured better than to say it. ”Well, I figured I would get you some dinner. I got my favorite strew from the store earlier and warmed it up,” he fibbed, shutting the door. ”How did the appointment go?”