I’m awakened by the most delicious smell #2
“Never mind. Last moment to change your mind. Are we going to the inn together or are we each eating separately today?”
His facial features harden. I can see that he is fighting with himself again. He wrinkles his forehead, moves his hand through his hair. He hesitates. He looks as if he is making the decision of a lifetime, until after a few minutes he finally capitulates.
“OK. But it must be quiet and peaceful.”
“We’ll find something.” I get into the car.
Well, it’s done. Only I’ll have to sneak somewhere secluded after eating to smoke, otherwise I’ll go crazy.
After visiting four inns, rejected by Jan because of the crowds, we finally manage to find a reasonably secluded place. When we go inside, the woman behind the counter immediately shows us a table for two in the corner.
“The lack of customers is probably because the food here is bad.” Jan pulls back my chair.
“Perhaps.” I sit down and immediately take the menu. I’m so hungry I don’t have the strength to whine. A quick glance and I make a spontaneous decision. “I’ll take the highlander’s potato pancake with goulash, it’s impossible to mess it up.”
“And here’s where you are mistaken.” Jan looks over the menu. “Meat can be stringy and vegetables undercooked.”
“Mhm. And I will order a mulled beer with sugar. What are you having?”
Jan reviews the menu. He reads each page carefully, like an astronaut studying the shuttle’s manual before launching himself into orbit.
He frowns, then clears his forehead, squints his eyes, and shakes his head, muttering something under his breath.
“Good afternoon. Are you ready to order?” I’m sure the waitress is asking both of us, but she only looks at Jan. She is clearly charmed by him.
Stare to your heart’s content. He’s mine, and at this point, he belongs first and foremost to the menu card, and neither of us has a chance.
“I’ll have the highlander’s potato pancake with goulash and mulled beer with sugar.” The woman glances at me indifferently, writes it down and then turns to Jan.
“And for you?”
Jan does not take his eyes off the menu.
“Is the pork loin coated in breadcrumbs alone or with flour?” he asks.
“I think with flour, but I can ask the cook.”
“No need for that.” He stares at the menu, thinking. “Are the tenderloins medium or well done?”
“Well, I would have to ask,”
“Never mind.” He turns the page. “Broth. Chicken or beef?”
“Definitely chicken.” The waitress smiles.
“With or without the addition of a bouillon cube?”
I burst into laughter. This is so much fun. If I weren’t so hungry, I think I’d be cheering for him.
“Er…” The woman moves from foot to foot. “Unfortunately, I would also have to ask.”
“No need.” Jan turns another page, and the waitress glances at me with eyes that say, I sincerely sympathize with you.
I bestow a broad smile upon her.
You see, girl, and your eyes were sparkling so much for him before.
“I’ll take crêpes in that case. Plain, without sides. Please serve the strawberry jam in a separate bowl.”
“I understand.” The woman jots that down and takes the menus.
She didn’t even ask Jan if he wanted something to drink. Probably for fear that he would ask her again, Is the juice pressed or from concentrate? and, Is the mineral water from Krynica or Muszyna?
“Aren’t you going to drink anything?” I add, before the waitress manages to leave.
“Right. Do you have Earl Grey?” he addresses the girl.
“Yes.”
“I’ll have a cup, please.”
“We serve tea in pots.”
Jan hesitates. Oh no. I have to react because we will be here until the night.
“Please bring a pot and two cups to go with it,” I interject. “We’ll drink together, okay?” I smile at him, and he doesn’t object.
While waiting for the food to be served, Jan tells me all about the watch which I refused to accept.
I’m sticking to my decision. It’s much too an expensive gift for such a short acquaintance.
Jan, however, claims that we have known each other for a year.
Nevertheless, I insist. It is difficult to acknowledge a business relationship, in which a subordinate hates her boss, as a relationship predisposing being bestowed with valuables.
“In that case, I’ll save it for you until you think you’re ready for it,” he finally relents and starts telling me stories and interesting facts about watches.
I must admit that he impresses me greatly. His knowledge is extensive and detailed. Jan is a walking encyclopedia of watchmaking. There is so much passion in him that I wonder if this is less a hobby and more a fucking obsession.
“It is believed that men are the bigger proponents of wearing wristwatches, although the first timepiece of this type was made in the 16th century for Queen Elizabeth I. It was a combination of jewelry and a watch, which until then had only been worn by men in a pocket version,” he says. “Do you know what happy time is?”
“The same as a happy hour, when beer at the bar is half price?”
“No. Happy time is setting the hands of the clock at ten past ten or one fifty. See for yourself.” He extends his hand in my direction and, using the crown (I already know that’s what the dial on the case is called), adjusts the hands.
“What does the dial look like now?” he asks, and I don’t quite know what he means.
“Like it is ten past ten?”
“Look closely.”
I squint, trying to look at the watch from a different perspective. I feel that it somehow appears more friendly than if it were pointing at, say, the twelve o’clock or three o’clock mark. And suddenly, I have an epiphany.
“A happy smiley face! The dial resembles a smiling face.”
“Perfect.” Jan takes his hand and rearranges the hands on the watch. “In jewelry and watch stores, the dial is set in just such a way as to arouse positive emotions among buyers. Also, such an arrangement of the hands highlights the brand’s logo, which is placed exactly in the middle.”
“Smart. I had no idea about that.”
“And did you know that the thinnest watch is only two millimeters thick?”
“You don’t say?!” I’m in shock.
Jan frowns.
“That the thinnest watch is two millimeters thick,” he repeats.
“Yes, I get it.” I laugh. “I answered with a question to express surprise.”
“Ah.” Jan looks confused, so I return quickly to the subject of the world’s thinnest watch:
“Two millimeters thick… It’s like putting two credit cards together. Amazing.”
“Indeed.” He pulls out his phone, and with a gleam in his eye he types something, then shows me a picture of a black and silver modern watch.
The design is really amazing. There is a tiny dial with hands at the top; the rest is a visible mechanism with gears.
“The manufacturer is Piaget. The concept’s walk reserve is forty-four hours,” he explains.
“As you can see, the crown fits flat into the case, so it is protected against damage. The glass is two-tenths of a millimeter thick and has been integrated into the case, which, in turn, is made of a cobalt-based material, which ensures the rigidity of the structure. The watch has manual winding, the bezel was used as the main plate, the regulator was rebuilt, missing the balance bridge and the anti-shock system. The balance wheel is bearing-mounted. The spring is located in the main plate, under the balance wheel, and normally it is the other way around.” He points out to me, all animated, the various components in the photo.
“The energy accumulation drum has also been redesigned. Well, and you probably noticed that the extra housing was also omitted…”
I don’t understand three-fourths of what he says, but I’m still impressed by his passion. I’d much rather have my guy go crazy over ticking watches than video games.”
“You really like watches, huh?”
“If it weren’t for them, humans would still measure time using the sun’s travel across the celestial vault, and that was far too imprecise a measurement.”
“And you value precision and punctuality.”
“That’s right.”
I smile at him, look into his eyes, and realize that I like these quirks of his more and more. Jan has an unusual personality, and this sparks greater curiosity in me and makes me want to get to know him even better.
“The highlander’s potato pancake for the lady, and crêpes for you.” The waitress appears with a tray at our table. She puts down the dishes and the drinks. The highlander’s pancake looks so appetizing that my salivary glands drool.
“I requested the crêpes and jam to be separate. Please take it away.” I hear Jan’s firm voice and look at him. He has a grimace on his face as if someone had shat on his plate. Meanwhile, the plate has two fragrant crêpes folded in half, with a spoonful of jam next to them.
“But they are separate.” The woman is as surprised as I am.
“They aren’t. The crêpe comes in contact with the jam.
I explicitly asked for jam in a bowl to avoid such a situation.
If you can’t remember such a trivial order, you are clearly not intelligent and not competent enough to work as a waitress.
I suggest you seek employment in a less demanding profession. ”
The girl looks at him shocked. I know perfectly well what she’s thinking about Jan right now.
A madman and a boor on top of that. And all in all, it’s hardly surprising, since the jam meets the pancake along a length of maybe two inches, and the customer not only wants to replace the whole dish because of this, but also tells her to change her job. He went too far.
Without a second thought, I reach for Jan’s plate, scrape the jam into my cup, peel off the ‘soiled’ part of the crêpe, which I eat, then wipe the red streaks from the plate clean with a napkin and hand it back to Jan.
“If we need anything else, we’ll call you,” I say to the waitress and get down to my own dish.
The dumbfounded woman walks away from our table without a word.
“Why did you do that?” Jan’s voice tone is cold.
“What exactly?” I’m cutting my potato pancake.