Owl Post/RP: Just checking in

[rar_anthony]

Date: 1 July 1999
Characters: Anthony Goldstein, Terry Boot
Location: Respective Locations, then the Italian Kitchen, then Anthony's flat
Status: Private
Summary: Anthony owls Terry and they go to dinner.
Completion: Incomplete.

Comments

[rar_terry]

Anthony,

I saw nothing about your untimely death in the Prophet, so I assumed you made it home okay.

Tonight's good. Where do you want to meet?

T.

[rar_anthony]

Terry,

Italian Kitchen in Diagon? Hate to drag you all the way to London but it's brilliant food if you've never been.

Anthony.

[rar_terry]

Goldstein,

Mate, I'm already in London for work, right? What time do you want to meet?

T.

[rar_anthony]

T,

Of course you are. Clearly I'm not thinking straight today. How's six?

A.

[rar_anthony]

Anthony didn't get out of work until five past six, and he grumbled a little to himself as he walked to the Italian Kitchen. He perked up a little as he approached, the smells of garlic and good bread doing much to revive him.

He entered and spotted Terry already there and gave a little wave and a smile and sat in the chair across from him, dropping his bag on the floor under the table.

"Sorry I'm late," he said with a smile. "But you know that the publishing world is filled with wild parties. Couldn't tear myself away."

[rar_terry]

Terry was looking forward to having dinner with Anthony. He hadn't really talked with Goldstein in more than two weeks, not since Anthony had stopped in at Terry's house in the middle of Lisa and Lavender's birthday party. Anthony's visit had been one of the few bright spots in an otherwise awful week, and now that things were looking up again, Terry wanted to share the news with his friend.

He spent half an hour browsing at Flourish and Blotts before finding his way to the Italian Kitchen. Anthony hadn't arrived yet, so Terry found a table for the two of them and waited. The server had just brought two glasses of water when Terry spotted Anthony waving at him.

"No problem, mate," he said as Anthony took a seat across from him. "Wild parties, yeah?" He grinned back at his best mate, giving him a knowing wink. "So when do I get to tag along? You must be able to bring guests to these things, yeah?"

[rar_anthony]

Anthony was quite thirsty, and he took too large a gulp from his water glass, managing to spill a little on his shirt. He brushed the drops of water away with a wry grin. "Oh, yeah. Completely wild. I'm quite drunk right now, as you can clearly see." He pretended to consult his datebook. "I seem to be all booked up with dates for the next several parties, but perhaps you can accompany me sometime next month." He trailed off, laughing. "No, it's seriously boring to most people, probably. I love it, though."

He'd already decided on the walk over that he'd have the spaghetti alla Norma he'd enjoyed so much the last time he'd been to the restaurant, so he pushed his menu aside and leaned forward on his elbows. "How're you? Aside from seething with jealousy at my wild and swinging lifestyle, that is."

[rar_terry]

Anthony seemed to be in a very good mood, for which Terry was glad. "Having a grand time in the rarefied air of wizard publishing, I see," he said with a grin. "If there's booze and food, I'll be there." He shrugged about the boring part. "One man's meat is another man's poison, y'know? 'm glad you love what you're doing. It'd be great if everyone had a job they loved."

Perusing the menu, Terry decided to order the fettucine with bolognese sauce. "How am I? A helluva lot better than the last time we talked. Lisa and I made up, pretty much."

[rar_terry]

"We see each other at work practically every day," Terry said. "We work in the same office, even if we aren't around each other all day long. So when things were slow, yeah, it got pretty awkward, especially because we'd not told anyone at the Ministry that we were going out. We'd managed to keep that completely separate from work. So when things...went pear-shaped...we couldn't really talk about what had just happened. We had to pretend we were still best mates and had always been only that. It was murder."

Terry scratched his chin at Anthony's question. "Let's have some of those pastries at your place," he said. "This was great. Maybe I should come here for lunch some time and get some tiramisu afterwards."

[rar_anthony]

Anthony sat back in his chair as Terry told the story of how it had been at work. He raised an eyebrow and shook his head. "Wow, that really had to be rough," he said.

"Sounds good," said Anthony, leaving some money to pay for his portion of the bill. "I've never had tiramisu, but they have this bread pudding thing that I had last time I was here that was really amazing."

They left the restaurant and walked together to the Bread Basket, then climbed the stairs to Anthony's flat. "So, here's home sweet home," Anthony said, leading Terry inside. "As I said, it's not fancy, but I like it."

[rar_terry]

"Italian bread pudding?" Terry was intrigued. "Might have to try that too some time."

Anthony had been right; he didn't live far from the restaurant at all. When they arrived at the bakery, Terry followed Anthony up the stairs and into his flat. "Looks like a cosy place for a single bloke, y'know? Well done, Goldstein."

[rar_anthony]

"It's definitely cosy," he said, "Just me and Solomon here." He indicated his owl, who was napping on his perch by the window.

He crossed to the kitchen counter, where there were a few pastries in a paper bag from Mrs. Marlinspike's bakery, and pulled them out. "This one's got almond inside, this one pear, and this one pumpkin," he said, indicating.