The Snob Foodie Part-3
I was hunched over my phone. There was an incessant flow of Whatsapp group messages cascading on my phone's screen. Heated discussions were being held in college Whatsapp groups about a postponed test. I sighed and closed my eyes. The unending wait was suffocating me and some dark thoughts which were lurking around for a while overwhelmed me. I was seized by the terrifying thought of "What if she didn't turn up?" Just when I thought that I will pass out due to anxiety, I heard a mild coughing. What I saw when I opened my eyes would remain embedded in my heart forever.
Stood before me, the most elegant lady I have ever laid my eyes on. She was probably in her mid-30s but none of her feature showed any signs of ageing. She was as fresh as a newly blossomed bud. Her face, with its soft, smooth, flawless skin and perfect features was simply cherubic. Her shiny, brown hair was twisted up in a perfect French Roll. She had the lithe figure of a ballerina and wore an exquisite pale green evening gown and her emerald earrings complemented her enigmatic pale green eyes. The dim lighting of the room made her golden, flawless skin glitter. With a radiant smile on her lips, stood before me the epitome of perfection.
Before I could stumble out of my chair, she took her seat on the opposite chair in the most graceful manner and held her hand out for me to shake. It took me a while to shake her hands because my fumbling seemed to have increased on seeing the epitome of perfection.
"I am Alice Leroy. Pleasure to meet you." She said in her soft, melodious voice, with a French accent.
When it was my turn to introduce myself, I found a lump in my throat, I struggled to find my voice and somehow I managed to stammer, "I-I am..I am Aman Awasthi. Ple-pleasure to meet you too."
With her enigmatic smile she said, "Oh Aman! Don't be so uneasy. Popular opinion is that I am a delightful company, surely you won't be bored to death tonight. Moreover the ambiance is so soothing. Please breathe easy."
While she talked her enigmatic pale green eyes held me. I felt myself drowning in the depth of those mysterious eyes. Her ambrosial cologne held me in a trance.
Her words of comfort had no desired effect on me. I kept fidgeting in my chair, unable to say a word. I was furious with myself for ruining the beautiful evening. She sensed my predicament and did her best to make me feel at ease.
"I suppose those flowers are for me" she said pointing to the bouquet of the ocean blue lilies which lay on the table.
I handed her the bouquet without saying anything.
She accepted the bouquet with a broad smile and examined the flowers ecstatically. She was undoubtedly delighted to have them. While she was engrossed in examining the flowers, a loose strand of her hair escaped the twist of French Roll and brushed her right cheek. That loose strand of hair accentuated her beauty manifold. I wanted to compose a poem on her beauty like those eloquent poems with honey dripping tongues. But, unfortunately I couldn't manage to compliment her in the most prosaic way much less through a honey dripping eloquent poem. But, I surprised both of us when suddenly I said in a rather high-pitched voice, "You are a good person."
She looked up, smiled and said, "I didn't expect it, Aman. You are great at surprising me."
Just then, the steward came to take our orders.
Confidently, Alice took up the menu and ordered, “For starters I would like to have Ch`evre Chaud, Escargots `A La Bourguignonne, Rllettes de Saumon and a bottle of fine Burgundy."
I gaped wide-mouthed at her. I couldn't follow a single word of what she said. She smiled at my bewilderment and asked whether she could help me with my order. I was too relieved to have the burden of pronouncing such atrocious names lifted off my shoulder. She ended up ordering the same items for me. But I couldn't care any less for I was drowned in the pale green ocean of her eyes.
After the steward went away, she said, "I have been conducting this contest for almost three years, but I haven't met anyone like you. No, I am not talking about your reticence, there is nothing wrong in being nervous. I believe jagged nerves are great at increasing the excitement level to a great extent. What strikes me about you is your ability to see beyond the superficial. You see things for what they really are. You are blessed to have such a clear insight at such a young age. Never lose this gift."
I thought she was saying this just to make me feel comfortable or happy. But when I looked at her, her eyes told me she said this in earnest.
The waiter came with our orders, arranged them on the table before us and poured us some fine Burgundy. The table before us laden with all such exotic dishes looked so exquisite that it could easily put to shame the finest piece of art. I couldn't believe that I was living my dream, that I was going to relish such ineffable exotic dishes for which I have yearned so long. I just cannot bring myself to believe that I am having dinner with Alice Leroy, the lady who had ensnared me in her enigmatic eyes long before I saw her. Alice snapped my reverie by asking me to join her. She taught me the various etiquettes of fine dining and table manners, such as how to hold fork, knife, spoon, how they should be placed on plates in accordance with context, how to eat, when to eat, what to eat, etc.
I took a swig of Burgundy and asked, "So, what do you do for a living?"
Alice was taken aback by my sudden loquaciousness; she wore her dazzling smile and said, "Oh Aman! You never fail to amaze me. I think the alcohol is having its desired effect on you, which is, of course, good."
I looked down, my cheeks were burning with embarrassment.
Alice continued, "There is nothing to be embarrassed about, Aman. Well, to pay my bills I work in French Embassy. But food blogging is where my heart belongs. I have invested a lot of time and energy in my Instagram handle the_snob_foodie. I have nourished it with my sweat and blood. I have seen it expand from 20 followers to 2 million followers before my eyes. When I see people appreciating my work, my heart fills with joy. When I toiled day and night working for the_snob_foodie, all I wanted was my work to be acknowledged by people. Today, I hold my head high when I say that I live for my passion, and the day I will be separated from my passion I shall cease to live."
All I managed to say was 'wow', but deep down I was really moved by her dedication and commitment.
After a while, she asked me what encouraged me to participate in her contest. And I told my rags to riches, struggle to success story, my unending wait for the chance to participate and how much winning this competition meant to me. After listening to my story she was dumbfounded. I could see the moist in her eyes. The loquacious Alice Leroy was quiet for a long while and she stared blankly past me.
After what seemed to be an eternity she said, "I am proud to host you tonight. I have never thought that my work will inspire people as passionate as you. I am not worthy enough to offer you any pearls of wisdom but I will advise you to always follow your dreams. Because, without dreams, what is there to life?"
Meanwhile, we ordered the main course of dinner. Once again, Alice ordered for both of us because my tongue refused to pronounce the exotic names of the dishes. Surely, Alice was a food connoisseur because each and every dish that she ordered tasted divine. By this time, both of us had grown quite comfortable in each other's company. She shared her experience about all her contest winners, and those anecdotes were amusing enough to be compiled in an anthology. She told me about her life in France. She belonged to an aristocratic family and her father was a bureaucrat. She told me that she had a French-Indian parentage, and how this mixed parentage played an important role in shaping her identity. When she talked about the men she loved, I felt an unjustified pang of jealousy. When she told me how lonely she sometimes felt in India, I wanted to hold her hands, to comfort her, to say that you are not alone, but I couldn't. I couldn't dare to touch her for I feared that if I reached out to touch her she might dissolve like a pleasant dream, leaving behind a sweet, nostalgic feeling. Mostly she did all the talking while I sat quietly listening to her soothing voice, it almost felt like reading an old letter that fills you with an unknown nostalgia.
Alice ordered our desserts. Once again, I tasted a slice of heaven from the plate before me. While we delighted in the divine tasting desserts, I asked, "What's the actual motive behind this contest? And why do you insist that the winner should pay for the dinner? In other similar contests, it is the host who pays for the dinner."
Alice stared hard at me, I was afraid that I might have offended her. After a while she said, “You will get the answer when the time comes."
There was something in her voice that made me feel guilty, I felt like I had intruded into her private space. I quickly changed the topic and thanked her for the wonderful evening. I asked her permission for clicking a selfie of us. After initial hesitation, she agreed but asked me not to post it on any social networking sites.
She looked ravishing in the photo, and I knew that this photo will become one of my most treasured possessions for life.
I knew the evening was coming to a close and I will lose her soon. The thought of losing her terrified me, I couldn't let her go. I didn't want the first meeting to be my last meeting with her. I had to do something. Impulsively, I asked, "Can I have your phone number?" and instantly I bowed my head down in shame.
But, instead of being offended, she said, somewhat ruefully, “We cannot have all that we want, Aman."
I knew my impulsiveness had made her upset and I wanted to kick myself for this. I wanted to cheer her up, I wanted to bring back the dazzling smile on her face but I couldn't do anything to uplift her mood.
Luckily, the steward came with the bill and this snapped her out of the gloomy silence. I took the bill from the steward and was shocked out of my wit when I saw it. The bill was 8,200 bucks had exceeded my budget. I was panic-stricken, my hands were sweating profusely, I had no idea how shall I pay the exceeding amount. I was terrified by the thought that Alice would hate me for breaching the rules of her contest. I gulped and put my hand inside my pocket to take out the 8000 bucks, just then I remembered that I had brought extra 250 bucks because I had decided to take a taxi on my way home. I let out a sigh of relief. I couldn't believe my luck tonight. Thus, with a flourish of my hands I took 8,250 bucks out of my pocket, handed it to the steward and said, "Keep the change."
Alice laughed out loud at my gimmick, she surely saw through my ruse. But I wasn't embarrassed rather I was overjoyed to see her smile.
Finally, it was time to part ways. We stood at the grand entrance of The Wide Canvas. I wanted to say a thousand things to her, I wanted to praise her beauty, I wanted to thank her for giving me the best memories of my life. But it seemed that my tongue had frozen, and I stood gazing silently at her pale green eyes.
She took me off guard when she asked, "Can I have your phone number?"
My mouth fell open, I didn't know what to say. But then I realized she must be teasing me. Laughing, I said, "You are an expert at teasing people."
But she didn't laugh, rather sternly she said again, "This is the last time I am asking, Can I have your phone number? I might need it someday."
I saw that she was in earnest and I quickly gave her my phone number and asked, "Will you call me soon?"
She smiled an enigmatic smile, turned around and went to the car that was waiting for her. Before closing the door of the car, she waved me goodbye and said, "Maybe."
I stood under the starry sky and saw the car zoom past me.
.........To be continued
Stood before me, the most elegant lady I have ever laid my eyes on. She was probably in her mid-30s but none of her feature showed any signs of ageing. She was as fresh as a newly blossomed bud. Her face, with its soft, smooth, flawless skin and perfect features was simply cherubic. Her shiny, brown hair was twisted up in a perfect French Roll. She had the lithe figure of a ballerina and wore an exquisite pale green evening gown and her emerald earrings complemented her enigmatic pale green eyes. The dim lighting of the room made her golden, flawless skin glitter. With a radiant smile on her lips, stood before me the epitome of perfection.
Before I could stumble out of my chair, she took her seat on the opposite chair in the most graceful manner and held her hand out for me to shake. It took me a while to shake her hands because my fumbling seemed to have increased on seeing the epitome of perfection.
"I am Alice Leroy. Pleasure to meet you." She said in her soft, melodious voice, with a French accent.
When it was my turn to introduce myself, I found a lump in my throat, I struggled to find my voice and somehow I managed to stammer, "I-I am..I am Aman Awasthi. Ple-pleasure to meet you too."
With her enigmatic smile she said, "Oh Aman! Don't be so uneasy. Popular opinion is that I am a delightful company, surely you won't be bored to death tonight. Moreover the ambiance is so soothing. Please breathe easy."
While she talked her enigmatic pale green eyes held me. I felt myself drowning in the depth of those mysterious eyes. Her ambrosial cologne held me in a trance.
Her words of comfort had no desired effect on me. I kept fidgeting in my chair, unable to say a word. I was furious with myself for ruining the beautiful evening. She sensed my predicament and did her best to make me feel at ease.
"I suppose those flowers are for me" she said pointing to the bouquet of the ocean blue lilies which lay on the table.
I handed her the bouquet without saying anything.
She accepted the bouquet with a broad smile and examined the flowers ecstatically. She was undoubtedly delighted to have them. While she was engrossed in examining the flowers, a loose strand of her hair escaped the twist of French Roll and brushed her right cheek. That loose strand of hair accentuated her beauty manifold. I wanted to compose a poem on her beauty like those eloquent poems with honey dripping tongues. But, unfortunately I couldn't manage to compliment her in the most prosaic way much less through a honey dripping eloquent poem. But, I surprised both of us when suddenly I said in a rather high-pitched voice, "You are a good person."
She looked up, smiled and said, "I didn't expect it, Aman. You are great at surprising me."
Just then, the steward came to take our orders.
Confidently, Alice took up the menu and ordered, “For starters I would like to have Ch`evre Chaud, Escargots `A La Bourguignonne, Rllettes de Saumon and a bottle of fine Burgundy."
I gaped wide-mouthed at her. I couldn't follow a single word of what she said. She smiled at my bewilderment and asked whether she could help me with my order. I was too relieved to have the burden of pronouncing such atrocious names lifted off my shoulder. She ended up ordering the same items for me. But I couldn't care any less for I was drowned in the pale green ocean of her eyes.
After the steward went away, she said, "I have been conducting this contest for almost three years, but I haven't met anyone like you. No, I am not talking about your reticence, there is nothing wrong in being nervous. I believe jagged nerves are great at increasing the excitement level to a great extent. What strikes me about you is your ability to see beyond the superficial. You see things for what they really are. You are blessed to have such a clear insight at such a young age. Never lose this gift."
I thought she was saying this just to make me feel comfortable or happy. But when I looked at her, her eyes told me she said this in earnest.
The waiter came with our orders, arranged them on the table before us and poured us some fine Burgundy. The table before us laden with all such exotic dishes looked so exquisite that it could easily put to shame the finest piece of art. I couldn't believe that I was living my dream, that I was going to relish such ineffable exotic dishes for which I have yearned so long. I just cannot bring myself to believe that I am having dinner with Alice Leroy, the lady who had ensnared me in her enigmatic eyes long before I saw her. Alice snapped my reverie by asking me to join her. She taught me the various etiquettes of fine dining and table manners, such as how to hold fork, knife, spoon, how they should be placed on plates in accordance with context, how to eat, when to eat, what to eat, etc.
I took a swig of Burgundy and asked, "So, what do you do for a living?"
Alice was taken aback by my sudden loquaciousness; she wore her dazzling smile and said, "Oh Aman! You never fail to amaze me. I think the alcohol is having its desired effect on you, which is, of course, good."
I looked down, my cheeks were burning with embarrassment.
Alice continued, "There is nothing to be embarrassed about, Aman. Well, to pay my bills I work in French Embassy. But food blogging is where my heart belongs. I have invested a lot of time and energy in my Instagram handle the_snob_foodie. I have nourished it with my sweat and blood. I have seen it expand from 20 followers to 2 million followers before my eyes. When I see people appreciating my work, my heart fills with joy. When I toiled day and night working for the_snob_foodie, all I wanted was my work to be acknowledged by people. Today, I hold my head high when I say that I live for my passion, and the day I will be separated from my passion I shall cease to live."
All I managed to say was 'wow', but deep down I was really moved by her dedication and commitment.
After a while, she asked me what encouraged me to participate in her contest. And I told my rags to riches, struggle to success story, my unending wait for the chance to participate and how much winning this competition meant to me. After listening to my story she was dumbfounded. I could see the moist in her eyes. The loquacious Alice Leroy was quiet for a long while and she stared blankly past me.
After what seemed to be an eternity she said, "I am proud to host you tonight. I have never thought that my work will inspire people as passionate as you. I am not worthy enough to offer you any pearls of wisdom but I will advise you to always follow your dreams. Because, without dreams, what is there to life?"
Meanwhile, we ordered the main course of dinner. Once again, Alice ordered for both of us because my tongue refused to pronounce the exotic names of the dishes. Surely, Alice was a food connoisseur because each and every dish that she ordered tasted divine. By this time, both of us had grown quite comfortable in each other's company. She shared her experience about all her contest winners, and those anecdotes were amusing enough to be compiled in an anthology. She told me about her life in France. She belonged to an aristocratic family and her father was a bureaucrat. She told me that she had a French-Indian parentage, and how this mixed parentage played an important role in shaping her identity. When she talked about the men she loved, I felt an unjustified pang of jealousy. When she told me how lonely she sometimes felt in India, I wanted to hold her hands, to comfort her, to say that you are not alone, but I couldn't. I couldn't dare to touch her for I feared that if I reached out to touch her she might dissolve like a pleasant dream, leaving behind a sweet, nostalgic feeling. Mostly she did all the talking while I sat quietly listening to her soothing voice, it almost felt like reading an old letter that fills you with an unknown nostalgia.
Alice ordered our desserts. Once again, I tasted a slice of heaven from the plate before me. While we delighted in the divine tasting desserts, I asked, "What's the actual motive behind this contest? And why do you insist that the winner should pay for the dinner? In other similar contests, it is the host who pays for the dinner."
Alice stared hard at me, I was afraid that I might have offended her. After a while she said, “You will get the answer when the time comes."
There was something in her voice that made me feel guilty, I felt like I had intruded into her private space. I quickly changed the topic and thanked her for the wonderful evening. I asked her permission for clicking a selfie of us. After initial hesitation, she agreed but asked me not to post it on any social networking sites.
She looked ravishing in the photo, and I knew that this photo will become one of my most treasured possessions for life.
I knew the evening was coming to a close and I will lose her soon. The thought of losing her terrified me, I couldn't let her go. I didn't want the first meeting to be my last meeting with her. I had to do something. Impulsively, I asked, "Can I have your phone number?" and instantly I bowed my head down in shame.
But, instead of being offended, she said, somewhat ruefully, “We cannot have all that we want, Aman."
I knew my impulsiveness had made her upset and I wanted to kick myself for this. I wanted to cheer her up, I wanted to bring back the dazzling smile on her face but I couldn't do anything to uplift her mood.
Luckily, the steward came with the bill and this snapped her out of the gloomy silence. I took the bill from the steward and was shocked out of my wit when I saw it. The bill was 8,200 bucks had exceeded my budget. I was panic-stricken, my hands were sweating profusely, I had no idea how shall I pay the exceeding amount. I was terrified by the thought that Alice would hate me for breaching the rules of her contest. I gulped and put my hand inside my pocket to take out the 8000 bucks, just then I remembered that I had brought extra 250 bucks because I had decided to take a taxi on my way home. I let out a sigh of relief. I couldn't believe my luck tonight. Thus, with a flourish of my hands I took 8,250 bucks out of my pocket, handed it to the steward and said, "Keep the change."
Alice laughed out loud at my gimmick, she surely saw through my ruse. But I wasn't embarrassed rather I was overjoyed to see her smile.
Finally, it was time to part ways. We stood at the grand entrance of The Wide Canvas. I wanted to say a thousand things to her, I wanted to praise her beauty, I wanted to thank her for giving me the best memories of my life. But it seemed that my tongue had frozen, and I stood gazing silently at her pale green eyes.
She took me off guard when she asked, "Can I have your phone number?"
My mouth fell open, I didn't know what to say. But then I realized she must be teasing me. Laughing, I said, "You are an expert at teasing people."
But she didn't laugh, rather sternly she said again, "This is the last time I am asking, Can I have your phone number? I might need it someday."
I saw that she was in earnest and I quickly gave her my phone number and asked, "Will you call me soon?"
She smiled an enigmatic smile, turned around and went to the car that was waiting for her. Before closing the door of the car, she waved me goodbye and said, "Maybe."
I stood under the starry sky and saw the car zoom past me.
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