“Why not?”, she said biting into her burger. The mayo oozed out. She licked it off her fingers.
“Well…for one it’s a working day.”
“Amazing isn’t it? “ She took another bite, then had a swig of her coffee.
“Er…”
“Look,” she said excitedly and held her hands out. “It’s Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday!”
“Yes, I know the days of the week.” he said dourly, sipping his chilled Coke.
“You don’t get it do you? It’s mid-week, as in middle of the working week! What could be better? And don’t roll your eyes at me. And no, don’t look heavenward also. I am doing this.” A French fry was carefully selected and examined.
“Okay. So help me understand this. You want to do a writing workshop, that’s every Wednesday evening for two hours! Why? You can write, can’t you? And to be fair, you write… um… decent”. He eyed the fries. Then gulped at his Coke again.
“That’s why I want to do it. And it’s not decent”, she said, gesticulating with air quotes, ” I write well. Well. But I know I can get better. Much better. Only I need to know how. And Sakshi said this will help me figure out how.”
The coffee was getting over. So were the fries.
“Sakshi? But…”, his brow was furrowed now, ” she writes… dece.. er… well!”
She coated the tip of the French fry carefully with ketchup, then leaned back, eyed it, bit into it and smiled.
“Now you’re getting it. Yes. She writes well. She’s already writing better! She says it’s a great beginning. A journey. See? I want to get on to that journey… I need to. It’s time I got started.”
“So it’s Wednesday.” He sounded resigned now.
“Wednesday. Wisdom Wednesday. Writing Wednesday. Welcome Wednesday! Ha! I can’t wait.“
“What time?”
“7 pm to 9 pm. Perfect way to end the day. I am told it’s fun, plus you get to start writing on the very first day.”
Another french fry was in the process of being coated. She carefully ensured the red coated the yellow without any gaps. It was the last one. She observed it. It looked like the matchstick in the ad. Yes. This’ll do she thought as she bit into it.
“But aren’t you going to ‘learn’ writing?”
“Yes, and the trick, I believe is to start”.
Getting up, she collected the empty cups and plates in the tray and headed to the bin. He followed.
“Hmmm… maybe I should too. But Wednesday … oh no… the team meeting. And our Wednesday dinner?”
“Dinner is now on Thursday.”
She flung her bag across her shoulder and headed out the door. It was hot outside like she had stepped into an air fryer. So much for the fries she thought.
“There’s also weekends if you like. Your loss if you can’t make it”.
She didn’t sound sympathetic. He held on to the empty can of Coke.
“I’ll now see you next Saturday… that’s assuming you’re not signing up for this.”
P.S. To be continued
From the French friers to the Air frier, a very nice read. Couldn’t help Imaging you as the protagonist.
Ha! I was not the protagonist! It’s someone known to someone known as Sakshi! 😀