The Disastrous Love Lives of the Delaney Family

4.4 encore une fois... oui mais non

While I should probably shower, I fear Maely has made herself way too at home in my private space and if I leave her for longer than five minutes, I may come out of the bathroom to the ultimate horror of seeing Maely having permanently moved in. Instead, I pull on the new boxers and grab some deodorant, spraying it liberally across my torso and under my arms. Next, I grab the jeans by the waistband and drag them across the bed; sitting on the edge of the bed, I force one leg after the other through the leg holes and pull them on. Wanting to converse energy, rather than standing to get my jeans fully on, I lie back on the bed and raise my hips, wriggling until I can do up the zip and the button. Finally, I turn over onto my stomach and lift myself up onto my elbows as I reach out and remove my t-shirt from Maely's face. 

"You are supposed to be a passive-aggressive attempt to get my father's attention," she mutters at me. Frowning at her words, she sighs heavily and shakes her head. "It is becoming extremely hard to view you as such when you're torse nu [bare-chested], looking like you do."

The corner of my mouth quirks upwards as I lift myself further from the mattress, revealing more of my naked chest. "And how do I look?" Instantly regretting having started this thread of our conversation, Maely rolls her eyes in my direction and pushes me away, getting up from the bed and walking towards the bedroom door. Sensing that playtime is over, I sober up as I follow Maely to the kitchen, tugging my t-shirt over my head. "Ok, so back to me being your passive-aggressive attempt to get your father's attention, what exactly are we going to do today to anger him some more?"

"How would I know?" She retorts as she opens the fridge door and peers inside. A frontline appears on her forehead as she shifts her narrowed glare onto me. "I thought you were a chef."

Affronted, I stumble backwards a step, raising my palm to my chest. "I am a chef." 

"You have nothing here to eat," she states, closing the fridge door with purpose. Eye me from head to toe, she nods, before she says, "We should go out and eat. I was too busy angering my father to eat this morning and now my stomach is about to eat itself. I believe in your beloved England-"

"Not my beloved anything, but ok," I can't help but interject.

Maely grins. "The phrase is hangry. It is a portmanteau of hungry and angry."

"I was well aware of that already but that phrase is way outdated," I tell her. Despite the unimpressed stare she levels on me, I agree with her request for brunch. Picking up my phone and wallet, I motion towards the door. "Brunch, it is. But we're going to Miam."

Miam-mian, so good that they named it twice, is a Clément family restaurant in Paris, one of the establishments where I undertook work experience when I was a lost cause on a path to nowhere. Back in my late teenage years when my parents were worried that I'd walk through life aimlessly, Mum arranged for me to do a stint in all the family businesses to see what I'd enjoy the most, and surprisingly, the catering world was where I was happiest. After that, I travelled the world, working in several different Clément restaurants, honing my skills. New York, Vancouver, Sydney, Hong Kong, Dubai, São Paulo, Joberg, Rome, even. I've worked in some of the best eateries in the world, and yet, my morning stomach will always crave Miam-miam's brunch.

Despite the traffic, Maely and I arrive at our destination in under twenty minutes. I should clarify that, in this instance, traffic refers to pedestrians, and twenty minutes is hyperbole since it took us three minutes and forty-seven seconds to get from my front door to Miam-miam. The benefits of having it practically on my doorstep in SoPi (South Pigalle). 

I hold the door open for Maely, although, with hindsight, I should have probably entered first. As I come to stand behind Maely, waiting for someone to seat us, I spy the British contingency of my family huddled in a corner, out of the way of everyone else. There's a reason we keep the zoo away from the public, a reason that becomes overtly clear when Owen stands up and starts waving his arms like a madman, demanding that I join them. "Bring the girl. Mads has filled us in on it all already."