Since I am only writing a couple hundred words at a time, the plot is moving very slowly. I mostly used this as an opportunity to introduce some breaking news in my cinematic universe related to my last novel.
Undeterred by the woman’s aversion to the cheese, a crowd formed around Gordon to sample some of the free cheese. Cara took a moment to appraise the small crowd that had formed in the store. There were a couple of older people wearing fanny packs, who were wearing matching garish and green ethics-related buttons. They were not surprisingly spry for their ages. There were a few wildly attractive men wearing matching white “Space Jam: Futbolista 2” T-shirts that were very pleasantly stuck to their abs, all of which looked like they could be used to grate the new plant-based Parmesan cheese that Jackie had dropped off the day before. Cara hadn’t seen Space Jam: Futbolista part one, but she made a mental note to do so immediately, if not sooner.
Back from the crowd was a man in a faded Toronto Blue Jays baseball cap and a soaked white shirt with blue chino shorts. He was easy to miss, as he was milling around the “cheese toppers” display in the back corner. Contrary to what one might think about what a “cheese topper” might be, it did not involve any cheese at all. It was namely an assortment of sweet and savoury jams and chutneys that could be “topped” on cheese.
The display had been added at Cara’s suggestion, since increasingly people have been enjoying a smart cheese pairing. Jackie, of course, was extremely resistant to the entire enterprise, since he felt that cheese should stand on its own and that if people wanted more flavours they should seek out a more flavourful cheese. Cara stood her ground, and ultimately won. In the George Brown College professional cheesemonger program Cara had completed a special certificate in cheese toppers. After all those hours spent wearing her cheese tasting pants and taste testing an infinite number of cheese pairings late into the night, she wasn’t going to let all that effort go to waste.
The man in the Blue Jays cap was studying the cheese toppers very closely. Too closely, in fact. Cara sidled up to the man, who smelled like how body wash companies think fresh rain smells like, rather than what it actually smelled like.
I love everything about this. Well done incorporating "cheese toppers" in such a pleasing way. And I can't wait to find out who the man in the Blue Jays shirt is. I'm not familiar with the concept of studying cheese, or any cheese-adjacent accoutrements "too closely" and I hope this will be fleshed out in pages to come.
ReplyDeleteHahaha Sam, you raise a good point. How close is too close, when it comes to studying cheese, cheese toppers, etc?
DeleteI too am very curious about the man in the baseball cap. I'm going to assume that the shirt is soaked because of the rain outside, but maybe this is foolish.
'After all those hours spent wearing her cheese-tasting pants...' HAHAHA. This is just a brilliant combination of so many pleasing elements from your past novel, Sam's novel, and some favourite lines from the EsNoWriMo-verse. Also cackling at Sam's comment- will you indeed flesh out what 'too closely' is for pages? I am so in for that.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely brilliant. ‘Not surprisingly spry for their age’ is the new phrase of the summer. I can relate. I hope this descriptor will replace my current one: ‘the sister who needs clinical strength deodorant.’ The detail about grating plant based cheese on abs blew my mind, what a way to call back to old themes.
ReplyDelete