Patsy Collins
A Dish Best Served Cold
Bitter black coffee
I
remember the first time I met Peter and I wish I'd known then what I know now.
It was quite a big deal, us meeting him. Joanna had told us so much about him
but this was the first time she'd persuaded him to come and meet 'the parents'.
Silly I know, but I'd got myself into a bit of a state about it. It should have
been him on approval to see if he was good enough for our darling daughter, but
I found myself wanting to make a good impression.
Perhaps I should have stuck to
something simple, but I'd heard so much about his exotic life travelling all
over the world that I decided to make paella – a dish I'd never attempted
before. I bought the ingredients well in advance and had a practise so hadn't completely
taken leave of my sense.Then
Joanna called on the morning to say he couldn't make Sunday lunch after all.
Some business problem of Peter's. I should have been suspicious then, I
suppose. Anyway, he didn't come until
Friday and by then the seafood had gone a funny colour and smelled, well I
don't choose to remember how it smelled. I made a cottage pie that seemed to go
down well.
Since then, Peter has let down
our lovely Joanna, time after time. We learnt why when his wife turned up. That's
the wife in Spain, she tracked down his English wife and the French one.
I wished I'd known that rancid
seafood is toxic. I'd have fed him the lot.
Bio:
A collection of
Patsy's short stories is available as a free download here - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/245814
Also do check out
Patsy’s fab blog:
Ha! The last two lines were a wonderful way to end the piece!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Theresa.
DeleteI love the dark humour in this Patsy.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Suzy.
Delete