Day Twenty-nine

My phone rang as soon as I stepped into work.

Shaun is a friend of a friend who I have met once. Apart from matching name to face he has absolutely no idea who I am, yet this hasn't stopped him from periodically calling me over the past four weeks. I always said I was busy, and when he asked whether I could call back when I wasn't I told him I was likely to be busy for a very long time.

When it comes to signals, boys aren't perceptive at all.

I picked up. "I'm at work."

"On a Sunday?"

"Yes."

"What time do you finish?"

"Three."

"Me too."

"I'll meet you after work."

"I'm going to the city."

"Oh okay, do you know where Hyde Park is?"

Ha ha. Do I know where Hyde Park is. Last time I was there I fed my heart to the possums.

"Yeah, but I'm going stationery shopping at Town Hall."

"Do you know where Woolworths is?"

"Yes, but I'm just buying a few things and then going home."

"I'll meet you outside Woolworths?"

When it comes to signals, boys aren't perceptive at all.

Eugene sat around playing Mariokart and I sat around nibbling on a lunch I had no reason to buy. It was roasted duck salad. One third duck, one third iceberg lettuce, one third onions. Negligible amount of basil. I picked at the basil since I hated everything else.

Work dragged on. I was partially amused to realise that my shop-alliance has gradually shifted from Kirribilli to Greenwood. Several hundred posts ago I was bitterly whining about Harsha, and now I'm trying to cook her curry cabbage.

I decided to shop for my uni things at Myer, mostly because I had no idea where else there was to go. I walked past Woolies without stopping. Shaun will just have to take the hint.

I paused at the Newsagent to buy a notebook and pens. Before I made it any further I remembered Kinokuniya was above me somewhere. I spent the rest of the afternoon there, picking up a highlighter, an A4 holeless binder, a notebook for no other reason than it being pink and pretty, and a Miffy pencil case that was, like everything else, painfully expensive.

Before checking out I browsed the literature section. I had just finished Eclipse this morning and was itching for something else to read. Breaking Dawn was still more than a week away, and a book diet consisting only of Stephenie Meyer was probably unhealthy anyway.

In the end I lugged to the cashier The Traveller's Wife, My Sister's Keeper, a discounted copy of Vanity Fair and Chasing Harry Winston because I really, really couldn't help myself. I sacrificed my heap of unnecessary stationery for the books. Yes, even the Miffy pencil case.

I asked the sales assistant in passing whether Breaking Dawn will be available on August the 4th, and found out that pre-ordered copies will be available on August the 2nd, where a complimentary breakfast will be held celebrating the new release. The catch was that the breakfast was only available with a pre-order of the hard-back. The bigger catch was that it's going to take place at 6:00 am. I pre-ordered my book and signed up for the breakfast, making a mental note to convince my boy to come, because only Jez and Meyer combined could drag me out of bed at 5:00 in the morning.