Power Microcosm

Chapter 31

Natalie Dessay is awesome!

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   Walking into the office where lunch is spent, I carry the lunch boxes I got from downstairs and triumphantly smile as I hand Azrael's lunch to him. He smiles as I walk over to his desk, and from his computer some more classical music plays. It's now a normal thing that he plays music during our lunch parties, as he likes to call them, and it helps to create an ambience in the room that's calming and relaxing, which seldom in this upbeat business world is present.

  "I asked for extra bacon for the both of us," I say with a smile as I sit down and open my lunch box, which in action mirrors Azrael's.

  "Amazing work, Hogarth," he says with a smile as he picks up his burger and admires it, "I could never ask for more than this beauty."

  Saying so, he digs in and moans happily.

  "Real good, stuff," he says happily.

  I chuckle as I take a bite out of my burger, and it's amazing. The patty is hand-made and it's nice and juicy while the cheese is melted enough to blend with the cut vegetables and warm toasted bun. And the extra bacon is the final gem in the meal that makes it perfect.

  Not to mention the fries are awesome as well with the perfect crunch and salt in the right amount. And the warm beans contrasts the cool coleslaw. I grabbed two waters as well, so there's something to wash it all down.

  "I'm amazed at the cafeteria people even now," I say as I wipe my mouth with a napkin, having eaten half my burger, "after all the meals that I've eaten."

  "It's natural," says Azrael, "I'm still amazed too. They are wonderful people in the cafeteria."

  "Speaking of," I say as I start a question I never managed to ask, "what's your favorite food?"

  "Mmm," says Azrael as he hums with food in his mouth, and thinks of his answer which he says after swallowing his bite, "I think it'd be anything without a shocking flavor."

  "Like what?" I ask with a smile, curious.

  "One time I ate barbecue ribs, and I liked that," says Azrael, "it had this amazing tangy flavor."

  "Anything else?" I ask as I start to create a list of foods that he likes.

  "Oh, corn on the cob. Especially when it's served with butter, salt, and pepper. That's bomb," says Azrael with a tilt of a head.

  "You seem to like country food," I say with a chuckle.

  "I do, don't I?" says Azrael as he smiles, "I never noticed."

  "Do you like, say, biscuits and gravy?" I ask curiously.

  "What's that?" asks Azrael tilting his head.

  "It's a dish that is awesome, that's what it is," says Jane as she walks in, and I didn't notice. She also has a lunch box that I recognize comes from the cafeteria.

  "You've had it?" asks Azrael, and then says to me, "I invited her to lunch because we had to talk."

  "Oh yeah," says Jane, "grew up with that kind of good stuff all the time. I'm from Virginia, and biscuits and sausages gravy is a Southern staple food."

  "Maybe one day I can make some for you," I offer to Azrael as Jane sits down at the leather chair she pulls closer to Azrael's desk and opening her lunch box.

  "Do you know how to make it?" asks Azrael with mild surprise.

  "I do," I say with a nod, "and the recipe itself is actually from Dad. If you come back to Texas sometime, he can make it for you. I'm not that good compared to him, it's only just a nullity."