#ah. these three deserve soup and bread. lots of garlic. steaming. mmmm.....

[helianskies]

hello! for the dialogue prompts, turkgrespa + 19 if you don't mind? i thought it was quite fitting because of your restaurant au <3

ah i see,, a person of culture! restaurant au it is ;)

Food

"I made you lunch," Antonio says, setting a plate down on top of a growing stack of papers nestled on the edge of the office desk. "I figured it was about time you ate something."

(Lunch is a humble offering of what remains of Antonio's breakfast—the dregs of fresh tomato and garlic and olive oil slathered onto freshly toasted bread. Antonio's favourite, of course.)

Sadık glances over his shoulder and up at him, and gives a smile to say 'thank you' without the words ever passing his lips. He is deep in work, his brain more numbers than letters, and so Antonio smiles back, and chooses to not disturb him for even a second too long. 

Currently, Sadık is trying to get ahead of bills, ordering, payroll and savings while the restaurant is closed for the day. Herakles, by comparison, has never really had a finance head; they made an agreement before Antonio's time that any thing covered in euros would be entirely in the chef's hands, and, in the meantime, Herakles would manage staff and customer relationships. It is more his forte.

(Though, even then, Antonio has now taken on some of that responsibility.)

As Antonio leaves the office, he bumps into Herakles himself. And Herakles asks him without missing a beat, "Where's my lunch?"

The Spaniard tries not to laugh, amused solely by the other's tone. "You never placed an order," he says.

"Neither did Sadık," Herakles counters.

"He's got a point," Sadık then joins in, before swivelling around on his chair and suggesting to Herakles, "You can always have mine," to which Antonio protests quite sternly.

"That plate does not leave this room," he warns Sadık—or both of them, really, "until you eat what's on it."

The way that Sadık and Herakles glance at each other reveals to him, quite naturally, that they are currently adding this incident to a mental pile of 'reasons why Antonio is also our mother'. He tries not to roll his eyes in response (for fear of it also being used against him). 

"I'll eat it, don't worry," Sadık goes on to assure him, before turning back around and facing his work. "I just need to chase this invoice, first…"

And with that, he shuts himself off. He is in an entirely different plane of existence, and Antonio and Herakles walk out into the short corridor between the dining room and kitchen. They'll check in on him in about an hour.

"So, about lunch."

Antonio glances at Herakles, does a sort of double-take, and then squints at him warily. "What about lunch?"

"Are you having any?" Herakles asks him. "It's nice of you to think of other people, even if I'm not included in that—" Antonio tuts. Strike two! "—but you also need food. No?"

"I do," he duly replies, "and I intend to. You wanna help?"

"You have something in mind?"

"Of course. I call it, 'raiding Sadık's stock and eating whatever needs using'," Antonio tells him, which earns an enthusiastic hum, followed by an eager prompt to lead the way.

To be clear, Sadık is fully aware of this arrangement. Sunday is a day where the three of them will double-check stock after Saturday's close and clean, and make sure anything that will not survive the night is used or removed so they can avoid as much waste as possible. 

Often, there is not much for them to go through (the kitchen team are very thorough on a Saturday) but today, a venture into the walk-in reveals some produce that won't be missed. 

Antonio proposes a soup for ease. Herakles does not object. There is still some bread from breakfast, after all, that they might as well use.

Over the next half an hour or so, they work together to prep the vegetables, make the base, and then begin cooking. For a while, the kitchen operates like a well-oiled machine, even if they are only hobbyist chefs. Then, once the vegetables are cooked, Antonio takes charge of the blending while Herakles sees to warming the plates and cutting the bread; it only takes a few minutes more.

Parsley is chopped, cream is sniffed and set aside for use, and then, once the Spaniard is satisfied and the Greek starts to sneak one too many tastes—et voilà.

They sit together at one of the tables in the restaurant, out of view of the front windows. It feels like a lunch date of sorts, and the atmosphere certainly settles as the pair of them start to eat. Food. Food has such miraculous powers. Antonio values it more than anything.

Though, even he has to admit, Herakles' company over the next few minutes is equally as dear. They talk easily, about food, about comfort food, about childhood food—and just as Antonio goes to ask Herakles why he hasn't considered having more Greek food on the menu, they are joined by a third person.

A plate is set down on the table as Sadık pulls up a chair. Antonio eyes the tostada, neglected, abandoned, untouched.

"I thought I said that this plate wasn't allowed to leave the office until you ate," Antonio reminds Sadık once he is seated, somewhat light-heartedly. "Do you hate tomatoes that much?”

Sadık gives him a wry smile. "You know I don't," he replies. "But I could smell whatever you were cooking—soup, it seems—and I, uh… Well, I wanted to join you two for lunch instead."

Antonio softens. "Do you want some soup, then?" he offers. "Your bread will be all soggy now, anyway."

"No, no… I'll survive."

Yet, "Go and get a bowl," Herakles encourages. "There is plenty there. And it will be better than…" He nods at the plate. "Whatever is left of that."

"Maybe so, but I don't want to waste something that he spent time maki—"

"It took five minutes at most. Really, let me get you a bowl."

"Toni, it's fine—"

"No. Sit," the Spaniard insists, however, rising from his own seat without hesitation. His hands falls on Sadık's shoulder. He smiles, and he says, "I'll get you a bowl, and then you'll feel like you're really having lunch with us, okay?"

He doesn't give Sadık a chance to argue, not that he's sure he would. But Antonio has learned that stubbornness and perseverance can go hand-in-hand, and that sometimes, it is okay for him to put his foot down like this.

After all, Sadık may be one of his employers, but now, he was also one of his People, and that feels far more important.

[ final wordcount, 1090 words; prompts found here! ]

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Hidden Gems of TV Writing

Have you ever heard of Robert and Michelle King? While their names might not strike a chord, series like “The Good Wife”, “Brain Dead”, Evil”, and the recent “Elsbeth” will probably ring a bell. To be up front, I never got in to “The Good Wife”. (That may be about to change.)

In 2019 I got hooked on the television series “Evil”. It is a fascinating fictional look at a female psychologist who works with the New York City’s District Attorney as a consultant, a priest in training who is working with the Catholic Church to investigate possible demonic possessions or miracles, and a scientist looking at scientific explanations for what appear to be evil manifestations or other unexplained phenomena. The show’s writing is witty, sometimes controversial, and always intriguing. It started out on CBS before being picked up by Paramount+ in 2021. Regrettably Covid followed by the Screen Writers Strike killed it. I believe it could easily have continued for several seasons if not for that one-two punch. (It can be viewed streaming on Paramount)+) One of the subtleties of the series was the discreet political references. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil_(TV_series)

Segue… My sister Kathy watches more current TV shows than I do. On the whole, her tastes are different from mine. She enjoys romantic comedies and love stories, I like crime documentaries or anything based on Stephen King. She’d been nagging me to watch a few new shows, including “Elsbeth”. She insisted the main character reminded her of me. That steered me away from watching it. But, during one weekday afternoon when I was suffering from a prolonged case of writer’s block I watched the first episode. Perhaps because I saw the resemblance between myself and the quirky Elsbeth I wasn’t immediately drawn in. It’s a series about a lawyer who “temporarily” relocated from Chicago to New York. Elsbeth Tascioni is assigned by the Department of Justice ostensibly to oversee some controversial arrests by the New York Police Department. However, there’s a subplot. She’s investigating an NYPD police captain’s possible corruption. The interesting thing about the crimes is that they occur at the beginning of the show. The viewer follows Elsbeth as she uses her quirky vision to track down killers. She is like a Sherlock Holmes/Monk character. Similar to “Evil”, there are subtle political references that pop up here and there. By the third episode I was invested. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsbeth_(TV_series)

I always watch the credits at the end of films. Yes, I know. A lot of people do that. Sometimes there are little “surprises” after the credits. That isn’t why I wait and watch. I love film and appreciate the skills of the people who use their talents and training to bring movies to the screen. I seldom watch the credits after television shows. It happens sometimes. If a show has great characters or creative scripts I’ll check out who did the work. If the directing is impressive or the editing sharp I want to know if the talent has worked on other projects. Imagine my surprise when the names Robert and Michelle King appeared in the credits of both shows.

In June 2016, I discovered “Brain Dead”. Described on Wikipedia as a “political satirescience fiction[1][2][3]comedy-drama” (that's a mouthful) it kept me hooked from the first episode. During the hectic days of the presidential campaigns, the show brought enough ironic humor to television to tickle my funny bone. Centered in Washington, D.C., the premise is based on alien bugs infesting the brains of Congress members and other random people—obviously, a conspiracy to take over the government of the United States. Documentary filmmaker Laurel Healy takes a position working for her brother, Senator Luke Healy. She discovers the conspiracy and proceeds to investigate further. While the alien bugs manipulate members of Congress, occasionally, their interference causes the heads of the affected to explode. Rather than give the entire plot away, I encourage viewers to find this gem and watch. With our current political situation in the US it will provide an amusing look at the environment we live in. The show was supposed to last four seasons, with the bugs going on to Wall Street, Silicon Valley, and Hollywood. I would love to have seen the expansion of the alien control; the show was canceled. Perhaps some streaming service will pick it up. It’s more pertinent now than ever. And we need to be able to laugh at the insanity of the current political climate.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BrainDead

Perhaps you have already been aware of the incredible talents of the Kings. If you have watched any of the shows they created and wrote, you are fortunate. They are able to combine serious subjects with satire and tongue in cheek humor, taking the edge off controversy while acknowledging its existence.

Source: Hidden Gems of TV Writing