The Last Station

A field trip for work is taking me to London for the day: a conference, of sorts, for my department at the Ministry. Last year they rented an event room at a restaurant for all the presentations, but either too many attendees slipped away or the owner asked us not to return. (One of the people who spoke that day decided to 'liven up' his talk with a charmed light display and somehow set off the wards for the restaurant's fire prevention spells.) Either way, we're meeting in a conference room at the Ministry this year instead.

Who: Blaise and Mal
What: Blaise decides to give advice to Mal, who just wants to each lunch
When: Tuesday, lunchtime
Where: Qualitea
Rating: low?
Status: ongoing complete!

Tuesdays were one of Mal's few days off from Fromage, making what was the beginning of most people's work week feel more like a weekend to him. He'd spent Monday doing normal weekend chores -- stopping by the Neep, doing the wash, tidying up, and other things of that nature. Today, though, he decided to stop into Qualitea for lunch. He'd only been there once before, and was still trying to figure out all the flavours in the tostada soup.

Going to the counter after his arrival, Mal ordered the soup and a chorizo sandwich from Romilda. She was polite, as usual, but not overly friendly, and he'd decided that she probably didn't remember him. It didn't surprise him -- they hadn't exchanged words more than a few times -- but it did make him think, wistfully, that he wished he knew more people in the village.

While Mal waited for his meal, he watched Romilda pulling the items together and debated whether he ought to try to jog her memory. Too bad Vicky had been the one to help him this time; he felt more comfortable around her for some reason. Taking his food with a smile and a word of thanks, Mal cast one last look after Romilda before heading over to a nearby table to take a seat. Maybe next time. The restaurant was busy right now, anyway, and he didn't want to interrupt her work.