Ninety Three

‘George can you stop doing your statue thing, you’re driving me bananas’.
........... Finished Pips. I just thought that was a good moment to try another new pose I have been working on.
‘It’s bloody cold and we’ve got a lot of Christmas shopping to do today. Come on’.
Pips? Can we go to the pet store so I can choose my presents? Pips? Can we go to the pet store to/
‘We’re going to your favourite shop today George’.
The pet store?
‘V V Rouleaux’.
V V Rouleaux? V V Rouleaux! We’re going to V V Rouleaux, we’re going to V V Rouleaux!
‘I thought I would get some fancy ribbon to make you and Freddie a smart bow each for Christmas Day. What do you think?’
That’s a terrific idea Pips! I am thrilled.


‘So this stripy one or that checked one George?’
I think Freddie would suit the checked one Pips and I will have the stripy.
‘Or I could get both. You could have the checked one and/’
No I think Freddie would very much like the checks.
‘And we’ll get Freddie the stripy’.
But Freddie would prefer the checks. He really would.
‘He’ll look good in stripes’.
I look good in stripes too Pips as a matter of fact.
‘And I think you would look better in checks George’.
I don’t look better in them actually. I don’t at all.
‘Good. That’s sorted then’.
No Pips it is not sorted. I want the stripes. Why do you always choose the one I don’t want? You always do that. I WANT THE STRIPES!
‘Shush’.
I WANT THE STRIPES! I WANT THE STRIPES!
‘George no. Stop jumping up/’
I WANT THE STRIPES!
‘George stop it! If you don’t stop that right now then you’ll have no bow at all/
I WANT THE STRIPES! I WANT THE STRIPES!
‘and we’ll go straight home and you can forget about going to Caffe Caldesi’.


You could call it my gesture of goodwill for the holiday season Pips, if you like.
‘Let’s get inside. That’s better, it’s warm in here. Oh and look George! It’s your friendly waiter’.
It’s Antonio!
‘Ah look! It is the lady with il piccolo Giorgio! How are you?’
‘Fine, we’re fine. Is it OK to have just a cappuccino?’
‘Sure. Come this way’.
‘Thank you’.
‘How are you? I haven’t seen you for a while’.
‘I know. But Christmas shopping has brought us back!’
‘And how is Giorgio?’
‘Well Giorgio started to misbehave in V V Rouleaux but uncharacteristically he pulled back from the brink. Didn’t you George?’
‘Oh no. What happened?’
‘He threw an unnecessary temper tantrum over a roll of ribbon and started barking the place down. He does that sometimes. I don’t know what gets into him’.
What gets into me Pips is that you ask for my opinion and then you ignore it. And I do very much prefer stripes to checks as it happens but it doesn’t matter Antonio because I remembered that ‘Christmas is a time for giving’ so in festive spirit I decided that Freddie may well prefer stripes and that I can manage just as well with the checks. Do you have a biscotti Antonio?
‘Maybe he doesn’t like the shops being so crowded. It’s too busy. You want some water Giorgio?’
‘I’m sure he’d like that wouldn’t you?’.
And do you have a biscotti Antonio, like last time?
‘One cappuccino for la signorina and one bowl of water for the piccolo Giorgio.... And I will see if I can find a little biscotto’.