Archipelago Page #5

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R:
You know. He walked out the door one day and didn't come back. Erm, so...

E:
God, yeah. Yeah. I can't imagine.

> Patricia and Christopher are taking an early morning tour of the gardens.

Guide:
Leucospermums, pincushion proteas, that sort of thing, mixed in with pelargoniums and what have you, you know, the geraniums with the very fragrant foliage from South Africa. And what we try to do is to stop things like the Christmas trees getting involved too much. Also what you get from here is you get these wonderful views out to the sea. Tops of the trees all showing through, that sort of thing. You suddenly realise, then, that you can see the sea when you come in. So everything up here has to survive through some pretty...

> Patricia seeing Edward, Cynthia and Rose coming toward her, walks over to greet them.

Cyn:
Hello!

P:
Hi!

Guide:
.. harsh conditions. But then it would naturally get that in Table Mountain.

Cyn:
Shall we do the photo?

P:
Yeah.

> Patricia, Edward, and Cynthia stand behind a bench surrounded by trees, a sculpture behind them, Rose waiting to take their picture.

Cyn (to Christopher): Come and stand here. Be Dad.

C:
Alright.

P:
Right, lovely.

R:
All ready? One, two, three....Edward, your face is in the sun.

E:
Sorry. Oh, no, I'm squinting?

R:
There we go.

> Cynthia, alone, takes off through the gardens; upset about something. While Edward and Rose stay behind and continue the tour.

Guide:
.. all the palm trees, date palms. So they've been there since about 1900.

> Cynthia stands in an empty but very nice looking restaurant, looking around at the tables as the others join her.

Cyn:
Right. Well, they don't mind where we sit. So, what do you think? Nice, isn't it?

P:
You're so good at this, Cynthia.

Cyn:
Sit here? Yeah?

P:
Whatever you'd like, darling.

Cyn:
Would you like this? This is good, isn't it, the middle? Do you want to look out the window? Let's go this one. Yeah, nice to have a view isn't it? Are you cold?

P:
It's looking a bit bleak.

Cyn:
All right, well, uh.. where do you want to sit? Where shall we sit? Anyone? This one is good, isn't it? Five, here. Great. Mum, why don't you go at the head, and then Christopher, I'll sit here, Rose and Edward on the other side. Is that good?

C:
Great.

Cyn:
Or shall we be more sort of boy, girl, boy, girl? Maybe we should have Christopher at the head, yeah? That's good, isn't it? Christopher at the head. I mean, no, you at the head, Christopher, Edward there. And then we can sit here. Lovely?

E:
Mm-hmm.

Cyn:
Excellent. Thanks.

P:
Hmm...

Cyn:
You don't look convinced, Mum. What is it? Do you want to go that one? All right, OK. Come on, let's move on to that one. We've got so much choice, we might as well get it right. So, fine. All right? OK. Now the next choice.

R:
So me here?

Cyn:
Yeah.

R:
Yeah.

> They sit at the "right" table, a waitress bringing them their food.

Cyn:
Thank you.

Waitress:
There we are.

R:
Thank you very much.

Waitress:
You're welcome. There we go.

P:
Thank you.

Waitress:
OK, enjoy.

P:
Thank you.

Cyn:
Bon appetit. Quite an urge to start with all the drizzling.

E (whispered):
Would you like some pepper?

R:
Not yet, thank you.

E:
Pepper, Mum?

P:
Thank you, darling.

Cyn:
This isn't done properly. It's still really pink.

P:
Really?

Cyn:
Yeah. It shouldn't be like that. No, no, it shouldn't be like that at all. (Chuckles) Wait for 25 minutes, and then... Look. Mum, Isn't yours bad, Mum?

P:
I-I think mine's fine.

Cyn:
You don't have to say it's fine if it's not. I mean, we've paid, so we can easily send it back.

P:
It's fine.

Cyn:
Mine's definitely not fine, at all.

R:
Well, shall we get somebody over?

Cyn:
Yeah. Because, look. That's actually quite dangerous if you eat like that, isn't it? So that-

C:
Yeah, well, if you're not happy with it.

Cyn:
There's just no point in not complaining when you're in a restaurant for the one day out. Excuse me? Is your- everybody else's all right?

C:
Yeah, soup's good. Yeah.

Waitress:
You okay there?

Cyn:
Hi. No, this isn't, um, cooked properly in the middle.

Waitress:
Oh.

Cyn:
Yeah.

Waitress:
Awfully sorry about that.

Cyn:
That's all right.

Waitess:
Would you like me to get you a new one?

Cyn:
Uh, I think I'll just have something else, actually. Maybe I'll just have a soup. Because that's actually quite dangerous, I think, if you eat that. Mum, is yours- Mum, don't you want to send yours back?

P (Clearly irritated): It's fine.

Cyn:
You don't have to say it's fine. I'm sending mine back, so-

P:
I've eaten some. It's fine.

Cyn:
Fine. All right. There we are. Thank you very much.

Waitress:
Would you...?

Cyn:
Soup, great, yeah. Actually, could I have a word with the chef? Because that's quite dangerous.

Waitress:
Yeah, no problem. I'll just go and get him for you.

Cyn:
Thanks. You don't have to sit quietly, and you don't have to look at me like I'm making a massive scene, how embarrassing. It's not cooked properly, it's dangerous. It would be nice if I didn't just sit here with everyone in silence around me. Anyway.

R:
Well, I think you've done the right thing. If you're not happy, you know, you have the right as the customer, so...

Cyn:
Thanks, Rose. Unfortunately, Mum and Edward are just allergic to any kind of complaining.

C:
Well, you don't want to be ill.

Cyn:
No. No.

R:
Mine is delicious, so...

Cyn:
Good.

R:
Thank you very much.

E:
I'm sure... I'm sure you've done the right thing.

Cyn:
Right, well, thanks for that, Edward. Not a moment too soon.

Chef:
I hear there's a problem with the meal.

Cyn:
It's just that- it was just that it took a rather long time coming, and then when it came- I don't have if you've seen it, but it's not cooked properly in the middle.

Chef:
Well, guinea fowl is actually served slightly pink, slightly underdone. It's not like chicken.

Cyn:
I wasn't told that when I ordered it, though, was I?

Chef:
OK.

Cyn:
And also, it's not really terribly good for you. I mean, it was cold and uncooked, almost cold in the middle.

Chef:
It was cold, was it, as well? Oh, dear.

Cyn:
Mum, Are you sure yours was all right, Mum? Because you don't want to get ill.

P:
It's fine.

Cyn:
OK. Anyway, that's it. It doesn't matter.

Chef:
Can I get you something else?

Cyn:
I've asked the waitress for a bowl of soup.

Chef:
Have you?

Cyn:
Yeah.

Chef:
OK, well, I'll sort that out. I'm sorry about that.

Cyn:
That's all right, never mind.

Chef:
I'll have a word with them, make sure they offer it properly next time. OK?

Cyn:
Thanks.

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