By Thomas Jaunism
Jane is a kind woman of about 65 years. I guess that because today is her 'retirement do'. I bet she's a mother. I'd say she has at least two well brought up children.
I watched her clean up after the shared lunch with another woman named Monica. Monica's around 45 years and has never had children. She's slightly less well kempt than Jane. I've never seen her knock something over, but she looks clumsy. I'm yet to warm to her.
Ursula brought a cake peppered with capsicum and cheese. I thought 'what an odd combination for something called cake, I must try it'. I was disappointed because it was dry and tasteless.
I ate quickly and unscrupulously. Then I got a sore mouth because everything was too salty. I'm the young one that no one talks to.
Jack must be older than Jane. He encouraged me to drink more wine so he would feel better about discretely refilling his white plastic cup multiple times. Jack felt the urge to smoke when he saw people switching to coffee. He asked Jane to join him as joke. She laughed. Everyone was in the mood for a chuckle.
Jane and monica started cleaning up. Monica lost interest after she saw that Jane had control of the situation. Jane looked at a paper plate that still had some chips on it. She picked it up, decided against something, and put it back down. She moved a paper towel, decided against something, then turned around and asked the others a question. I forgot what she said because it was of no consequence. She contined cleaning around me as I peeled a mandarin.
I pretended to read my book but secretly watched her tidy. I thought 'You're doing a stunning job Jane, and it's a celebration in your honour'.
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