Part 2:
I awoke to a pair of ladies dressed in stretch pants and hoodies, giggling and telling me it was time to get up. My usually reliable circadian rhythm had failed me and the time was 45 minutes past my normal natural wake up, but it was still early in the morning. The excited duo hurried me out of the bed and after a stop at the restroom handed me a t-shirt from my bag and demanded I put on my shoes. Still foggy from being pulled out of REM I complied but slowly and without even questioning what was happening. They pulled me out the door, into and down the hallway. The lady had me in tow while her daughter carried a heavy tote bag. When I finally thought to ask where we were going, the only responses I received were “you’ll find out when we get there” and “hurry up”. There were also a few retaliatory snarky comments about how they couldn’t believe how long I slept in.
We arrived at a rooftop patio, a different one than we normal go to, and rearranged a large padded wicker sofa so it was facing East and placed a lightweight coffee table in front of it. They had me sit in the middle, the lady to my right and the little lady to my left. I said “So, now what?” as the dark cool morning did little to relieve my grogginess. “Now we watch the sunrise” was the response I was given as the lady checked her phone for the time. Within moments the sky suddenly began to turn orange and dark blue as the ambient light on the patio grew brighter. I put one arm around each lady as I sat back on the sofa and each of them leaned into me, the lady placing her hand on my thigh. We took in the rising sun as the ladies joked more about me sleeping in so late and embracing lazy Sunday. When the day was sufficiently bright the daughter jumped up and opened the tote bag.
Inside was a smaller thermal bag containing a trio of large foil wrapped breakfast burritos. Handmade tortillas stuffed with scrambled eggs, asadero cheese, duck fat fried potatoes, pork green chili, back and spicy pork belly. A large container of fresh berries, crepes, honey flavored Noosa and amber syrup was also set out before the daughter began pouring apple juice into semi-opaque plastic cups. The ladies were excited to feed me breakfast for a change and I made sure to almost exaggerate my surprise, praise and appreciation. As we consumed the food we talked and continued to watch the day get brighter. The daughter told me she didn’t understand why I didn’t just move in with them as “it’s only going to be 6 months”. The lady made it clear that living in close proximity was not going to reduce or eliminate sleepovers, which almost seemed to emphasize the daughter’s point. I told them both in jest to stop trying to control me and that a man needed his own space, even if that space was a tiny basement condo with almost no natural sun light. The lady told me she was sad we would miss a date night this week as she attended a conference in another city, but it was good for her and her businesses to attend. I claimed she was only going to get out of helping me pack or move and she laughing said that was just a side benefit. The daughter offered to help instead and I told her I may just take her up on it.
Once the meal was complete, the trash thrown out and the remaining foods returned to the bag the now sleepy looking ladies and I made our way back to the apartment. I put the food and juice into the refrigerator as I cleaned up the kitchen and gathered up some additional garbage. Both of my sunrise breakfast hostesses had disappeared deeper into the residence so I walked to the bedroom to see what they were up to. I found the lady in her bed, wrapped up in a pile of soft plush blankets with an ear-bud sticking out of her one visible ear, fast asleep. I didn’t bother to check on the daughter as I knew I would simply find an identical situation in her room. The humor of the situation was not lost on me, but I would have to wait a few hours before I could joke about it with them.
I made a cup of coffee, collected my laptop, and settled in to a big oversized chair to waste those hours on the internet looking up a wide variety of breakfast recipes. I have a feeling I will be cooking a lot of morning meals in the coming days, weeks and months.