during the latter part of my lunch, two men take the table in front of me, exuding gallic masculinity. they have what, in a different era, might easily have given way to machismo, but here stays contained in a presence of quiet authority. they put their wallets, their phones and their cigarettes down in front of them and sit down broad-shouldered and comfortable in their naturally tan skins, at an angle, on two adjoining sides of the table that's square. they're probably early thirties; one is quite tall, the other a little more bulky, they both have dark hair, the bulkier one a little shorter than the tall one, and both wear their stubble roughly the same. they both wear white t-shirts and shorts, the average kind, that ends just above the knees, a little higher when you're sitting down. the bulkier one has his entire left forearm covered in a tattoo that shows an abstract pattern rising above the name 'Anna', written in large letters on the outside near the lower part, and the taller one has no tattoos that from where i am sitting i can discern, but wears a thick silver bracelet around his right wrist, the kind you often see worn by strong men.
they order first coffee – espressos – then pizza and coca-cola and keep in continuous conversation, not agitated, not quiet, not loud, not exuberant, not demur: simple and plain. at one point, the bulkier one takes his phone and shows the taller one a video in which what i assume is his daughter performs what i assume is a song of some sort. i assume it's his daughter because it's a girl of about four, and i hear some faint music in the background of a tinny soundtrack, which makes me think she is performing a song. the taller man shows all the required interest and even holds the phone to his ear so he might be able better to hear. while this is happening, the bulkier man doesn't take his eyes off his friend, seeking, and it seems getting, the desired approval. the pizzas arrive, the conversation resumes and by the time the tall man has finished, the bulkier one is struggling a bit with his, so the taller one, without fuss or ado loads some of it onto his plate and eats that as well.
throughout all of this, their knees never once lose connection. when one of them shifts his position or involuntarily moves his leg, the other does too. sometimes their knees barely touch, just enough for the hairs on their legs to send to their brains the signal that the other one's there, but most of the time they're together. only at the end, when they've both finished eating and a man needs to sit back a little and stretch his legs just a tad, do they part. i don't think for one moment that they were even aware of this or that it has any particular meaning, i imagine it was completely subconscious. all it means is that love is a many-splendoured thing and beautiful whenever you see it and in whatever guise...
they order first coffee – espressos – then pizza and coca-cola and keep in continuous conversation, not agitated, not quiet, not loud, not exuberant, not demur: simple and plain. at one point, the bulkier one takes his phone and shows the taller one a video in which what i assume is his daughter performs what i assume is a song of some sort. i assume it's his daughter because it's a girl of about four, and i hear some faint music in the background of a tinny soundtrack, which makes me think she is performing a song. the taller man shows all the required interest and even holds the phone to his ear so he might be able better to hear. while this is happening, the bulkier man doesn't take his eyes off his friend, seeking, and it seems getting, the desired approval. the pizzas arrive, the conversation resumes and by the time the tall man has finished, the bulkier one is struggling a bit with his, so the taller one, without fuss or ado loads some of it onto his plate and eats that as well.
throughout all of this, their knees never once lose connection. when one of them shifts his position or involuntarily moves his leg, the other does too. sometimes their knees barely touch, just enough for the hairs on their legs to send to their brains the signal that the other one's there, but most of the time they're together. only at the end, when they've both finished eating and a man needs to sit back a little and stretch his legs just a tad, do they part. i don't think for one moment that they were even aware of this or that it has any particular meaning, i imagine it was completely subconscious. all it means is that love is a many-splendoured thing and beautiful whenever you see it and in whatever guise...