Posted on 11:10 am, 18th February 2008 by Ben. | Posted in Hackney

Ginevra Benci

Sunday afternoon in a Church Street bar. It’s my round. The girl at the counter has slender grace, wavy copper-gold hair and marble cheekbones.

“Half a Guinness, a large white wine and a pint of Beck’s.”

She pours the stout and reaches in the fridge for the wine. There’s not quite enough in the bottle for a whole glass, so she takes out a fresh one. It has a screw cap. She grips the top and twists hard. Nothing happens.

She puts the unopened bottle back in the fridge and picks out another one. Again, she grips the top and twists. But the cap won’t budge.

“Can…,” I begin. She takes the bottle by the base and tilts it so the neck is pointing at me. I take the wine and screw off the cap, but it’s a near thing. I hand it back to her.

“Hasn’t she got beautiful eyes?” asks a dark haired woman, sitting on a stool next to me.

“She has very beautiful eyes,” I agree as the barmaid’s cheeks dapple with crimson. “Very beautiful.”


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Comments

ChairmanMeow on 18 February, 2008 at 8:25 pm #
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Quite the short story! I do love romanticised snippets of everyday life, I assume there is no second part to this i.e. you make some noble attempt involving a duel for the fair barmaiden’s hand in marriage!?


Ben on 21 February, 2008 at 9:52 am #
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Had I done that, I think my existing wife might have challenged me to a duel when I returned home…


August on 22 February, 2008 at 5:26 am #
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Beautiful. . . Sigh


Dominic Harvey on 22 February, 2008 at 6:34 pm #
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Possibly the most beautiful thing I’ve read so far this year.


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