Unwelcome Guests

Kilian Kukelka

by Kilian Kukelka

Story

Thursday afternoons were reserved for a very special kind of treatment — a ritual to help a girl unwind after yet another tumultuous week at work. A level of consistency only matched by her regular coffee shop at Birchwood Avenue. The place where staff greeted her by first name — where she knew the menu by heart, even down to the milk alternatives.

Much to her dismay, today proved to be one of those ill-fated days when nothing would fall into place for her. Not only had they run out of their famous banana bread — the one with almond slices and citrus zest sprinkled on top — but also had someone taken her seat. Her beloved corner booth with the cozy cushions.

How dare he, she thought. How dare he disrupt her sacred time like this! Slightly disgruntled, she took a seat at a nearby table, like a vulture waiting for its chance to strike. Little did she know, that her hopes of him leaving anytime soon would be shattered only moments later when a young lady stepped through the door and joined his company.

“Splendid,” Juliet sighed and cradled her cup between her palms, pensively sipping the lukewarm froth of her Cappuccino. Nevertheless, the two would make for an excellent case study to improve her dialogue writing skills. Judging by the way they greeted each other, it must have been their very first date — a sight reserved only for the most fortunate of people watchers. From experience, she knew all to well about the difficulties one faced when attempting to craft these innocent, slightly awkward interactions between yet-to-be lovers. Especially for a novice like herself, writing such prose proved to be a delicate balancing act — portraying genuine affection while eschewing the use of cheesy clichĂ©s and worn-out tropes. 

Unfortunately, the conversation turned out to be anything but romantic. It wasn’t even much of a dialog to begin with, as he just kept jabbering on about the movie premiere he’d attended over the weekend. How the film was “a showcase of exemplary craftsmanship” and how it was to revolutionize the neo-Western genre. You could tell his date tried her best to keep up with his monologue, but when he started delving into the nuts and bolts of why the director’s choice of shooting in 70mm was a tremendously expensive yet indispensable ingredient to the movie’s critical acclaim, her face displayed a sense of defeat. She resorted to simply nodding and smiling politely at whatever came her way. Like Juliet, she had stepped into the role of the observer, her once attentive stare replaced by a wandering and absent gaze. While both of them seemed equally dissatisfied with the situation at hand, Juliet, being a bit of a film snob herself, at least had a promising new title to add to her watchlist â€” and what more could one really ask for in the light of today’s cinematic landscape.

© Kilian Kukelka 2023-09-01

Genres
Novels & Stories, Humor & Satire
Moods
Unbeschwert, Lighthearted, Funny
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