Madness and Women
Stories
Poetry
dinner at seven
sasha was coming over soon and he was cooking for her.
he learned his way around a kitchen from working in restaurants featuring award-winning cuisine.
he wanted to impress her so tonight he’d be serving a waldorf salad followed by scallops florentine and he'd finish with a tiramisu cake.
he learned each course from a different chef.
annette showed him how to prepare a traditional waldorf salad.
angela taught him how to pan-sear scallops just right.
maxine trained him in the art of baking italian pastries.
_____
he heard a knock on the door and opened it.
all three chefs entered his apartment and walked into the kitchen.
he hadn't seen them in years.
they looked around and assessed the situation.
annette said they had forty-seven minutes until sasha got there.
angela warned him not to turn the heat up too high on the scallops.
maxine told angela not to lecture him.
"i'm not lecturing him okay?"
angela turned to him and asked "does it sound like i'm lecturing you?"
annette said all three of them probably lectured him too much.
maxine asked him "did you quit our restaurants because we lectured you too much or did you quit because you were worried we'd find out you were crazy?"
annette held his hands and said "we know all about your little imaginary friends."
she said they also knew about his obsessions with alarm clocks and instructional manuals and numbers and rules and procedures.
annette pinched him on the cheek and said "we also know all about the other stuff drifting around in that beautiful mind.”
maxine added they've come to help him "get the girl."
they finished a few minutes before seven.
angela and maxine hugged and kissed him on the way out.
annette let him know "sasha would have to be insane if she didn’t fall for a guy like you.”
she shut the door and they were gone.
_____
he listened to them arguing and it didn't stop until the elevator doors at the end of the hallway closed.