You'd have steak

You'd have steak when the job was done

You'd have steak when the job was done

Saturday kicked off with brunch with Damian and his two housemates, Lara and Fancy. I suspect that Fancy was not the name his parents gave to him but I didn’t get round to asking where the nickname had come from. We walked down to a place called Paragon Café. I ordered my eggs, poached, on toasted sourdough and a big coffee. The three of them talked about work, they all work in the same industry but for three different companies, meaning I could sit back and not have to join in until the caffeine had done its thing. When breakfast arrived we were all ready for the food and we ate for the first couple of minutes in a silence that indicated how good the food was. After a while Fancy asked me where in Australia I had been and still had to visit. I set out my itinerary, which would take me through all the states and territories apart from Western Australia and Tasmania. Lara asked me if I wanted to have a look at her “Map of Tassie”. The others laughed but the reference was lost on me. Lara explained. I declined the offer.

After a quiet afternoon I headed in to town to meet Ben, a friend I used to work with. He was over on business with Will, one of the partners from my old department. He had suggested dinner and a few drinks given we had both ended up in the same bit of the world. It would give us a good chance to catch up and it also meant that he could have a bit of different company for an evening instead of having to dine with just Will, which he had had to do on a number of occasions. I had done an away job with Will once before and had ended up in a rather nice restaurant having a somewhat awkward candlelit dinner with him. I hoped it looked like I was out with a colleague rather than people thinking he was my sugar daddy. I had always got on with Will but having spent a lot of time working with him conversation over dinner was a little stifled. He had mentioned a new project that was about to start and asked if I wanted to work on it. I really didn’t want to end up on the project so I told him that I felt I would be conflicted, as I knew the head of litigation on the opposing side. He asked how I knew them and I replied that it was my ex-boyfriend. That met with an “Aaah” and a minute or five of uncomfortable silence before conversation resumed. I had stumbled upon the perfect way of getting out of any projects I didn’t want to work on in the future.

I arrived at Ben’s hotel and the receptionist called up to let him know I was here. We made a beeline for the hotel bar, grabbed a couple of beers and found a table in the corner. He confessed that he hadn’t really had much time to read my blog and asked for the condensed version to bring him up to speed. I let him off for not reading the blog knowing that he had three young children at home so free time was not something he had much of. I gave him the potted history of my eight months to date. After that conversation turned to what I thought I might do once I returned from my travels. I hadn’t really paid it too much thought, intent on delaying any thoughts of work as long as possible. Whilst we were on the topic of work I asked for an update on the office gossip. It was a typical office so the gossip was typical too – people not getting along with each other, the rumours of an affair or two, who was up for promotion and people being upset about recent changes in where their desk was. Plus ça change…

We were joined a little later by Will, who promptly ordered a round of drinks. He was dressed in his suit trousers and a shirt. I said I felt a little underdressed in jeans and a t-shirt. He explained that he didn’t really do casual, his wardrobe consisting of business attire or clothes he did the gardening in. He was only a few months away from retirement and a lot more relaxed than I had ever seen him.  After being asked I gave him an even more condensed (and selectively edited) version of my trip to date. We headed off for dinner, the hotel having recommended a good steak restaurant nearby. Will seemingly survives on a diet of things red – meat and wine. Nothing else. He views vegetables as a decoration and not part of the meal. We found the restaurant, Rare Steakhouse, and were shown to our table. Having looked through the menu I could see why it had appealed. The menu consisted of steaks of various sizes and cuts with a few token other dishes added on. It wasn’t a restaurant you would even consider bringing a vegetarian to and there was one vegetarian option for the main course. It didn’t have a name; it was just called “Vegetarian”. I imagined if you tried to order it some huge alarm would go off and you would be asked to leave. I opted for what I thought would be the lightest starter, a baked mushroom with feta cheese, steering well clear of the pork ribs (available in half or full kilo servings). Main courses were steaks all round and some red wine was ordered, poured and drank. It didn’t take Will long (about half a glass) to give me his thoughts on the office goings on.

The food was amazing although the starter was so big I was feeling quite full before we had even got to our steaks. I was pleased when they said there would be a little bit of a wait for our main course to arrive. That gave us plenty of time to get on to a second bottle of red.  As our main courses arrived – steak, cooked to perfection (medium rare) – I was asked about plans for the future and I said that I wasn’t sure at the moment. Will asked me if I planned on turning my blog into a book and I said that it would be nice if that happened, adding that if it was published I was hopeful that a friend of mine would turn it into 80 Gays the stage show. I don’t know if it was the background noise or me not paying enough attention to listening to the conversation but I thought Will said “That will require a lot of sex changes won’t it?”. I wasn’t quite sure how to respond. “Sex changes?” I queried. “Set changes. Set changes” came back the response. I really do need to get my hearing checked. In lieu of dessert we had a bottle of dessert wine and a coffee.

When the bill arrived I got my wallet out to pay my share but Will insisted on picking up the bill. I thanked him and as we left the restaurant I wished him well for his upcoming retirement, he wished me well for the rest of my trip. I said goodbye to Ben and said that I would hopefully catch up with him upon my return to London. I got back to Damian’s around 10:30pm. Damian was home from work and we filled each other in on our respective days. It was a Saturday night and he asked if I wanted to go out partying. I told him that I was currently nursing a small food baby and it was making me sleepy. I didn’t need any more alcohol and could do with a quiet night after a couple of days of partying. He seemed relieved and we settled in for the evening, putting on a Kath & Kim doy-voy-doy. It was ny-oice, different, un-ewes-yewl.

“You'd have steak when the job was done” 
Lyrics from You Can’t Get a Man with a Gun from the musical Annie Get Your