4 "You look like a shrimp lost in a bathtub." (1/2)

Thursday, April 10, 2014

09h10am

In a café, with a cappuccino in front of her, Jessica can't take her eyes off Adam. Like her, many customers of this famous café on fifth avenue, are all watching with anger the skinny and very noisy boy who with his straw, makes bubbles in his Coca-Cola. Jessica shakes her head and laughs discreetly at Adam's stupidity, not allowing him to see that. A cappuccino later, a pretty 40-year-old woman who was obviously out of breath joined the heterogeneous couple.

”Hi Jess, sorry I'm a little late, but you know how New York City's public transport is at this time of day.”

Jessica looks down on the woman who seems really sorry and considering that this is her first delay, she puts it aside and then moves on. ”Hello Eve, this is Adam my boyfriend. He's the one you're going to take care of this morning. I want the whole thing, because his style is horrible and worse. Socks, jeans, T-shirts, costumes, underpants, shoes, sneakers, he needs everything. Don't worry about the bill, I'll be there anyway. Adam, this is Eve. Eve is a freelance personal shopper. She's kind of a specialist in advising a client on clothing.”

Eve watches the pale, skinny young boy with the very common face whose shirt is covered with Coca-Cola, thinking that indeed this poor kid needs her advice. But that this neglected person who looks at her stupidly is the boyfriend of one of the most prominent heirs in the world, surprises her a lot. Showing nothing, she reaches out to Adam who grabs her trembling. Eve frowns imperceptibly then she gets tense. It's not just this little pig's shirt that's full of Coca-Cola. Her sticky fingers clinging to her own fingers make her sick, but there again, she smiles while her face does not express this sickening feeling.

”Nice to meet you, Adam. Rest assured, with me, even the ugliest toad can become a magnificent prince.”

Jessica, who swallows her now cold coffee, almost chokes to death when she hears this clumsy sentence. Laughing, she spits her cappuccino on the table, while tears rise to her eyes. Adam, on the other hand, did not notice this clumsiness and is surprised by Jessica's reaction. When he takes his hand back, he only notices at that moment that his fingers are not very clean and wipes them on his shirt by reflex.

”Nice to meet you, too, but I'm not a prince.”

[No, you're a gougeat.] Eve is amazed by this villain's gesture. Very upset, she holds her anger back with great difficulty. Not only does this kid have dirty hands, he doesn't hesitate to shake her hand. Worse, with the handshake done, he immediately wipes himself, in plain sight, as if she were the unclean woman. Jessica, who is a spectator of all this, contains herself a lot so as not to burst into laughter yet. She doesn't know Adam very well, but the little they talked about, she realized that he was a very nice person, coupled with a clumsy man who could unintentionally enrage others. Ending this ridiculous situation, she gets up from the table.

”Well, if you're ready, let's go.”

Adam looks at his hand with great embarrassment. Leaving like that and touching new clothes afterwards would certainly cause Jessica trouble. Adam gathers his courage to express his thoughts.

”Sorry, now I have to go wash my dirty hand.”