Ladies Who Lunch
Wednesday the Platt ladies lunch at the Bistro – grandmother, mother and daughter. Bethany bursts through the door. How nice, Audrey holds up her glass to clink, we’re four generations. Bethany ignores her and zeroes in on her mother, and the new addition to the family tree. She had just overheard David, Kylie and Todd discussing Sarah’s pregnancy in the salon.
Andy comes to take drink orders. “She’s pregnant” says Gail. “With Callum’s baby” Bethany adds. “I could do you a non-alcoholic fruit cocktail?” says Andy to Sarah without missing a beat. Steph comes to ask what they’d like to eat. “She’s pregnant” Andy tells her. “No shellfish then,” Steph says.
The Bistro is crowded. Billy and Sean eavesdrop on the discussion at the nearby Platt table. Sean’s ears are almost wagging back and forth. “Do you think I should go over there?” Billy asks Sean who assures him, “No need, I can hear them quite well enough from here.”
If Noel Coward wrote for the Platts…
The discussion grows heated and loud quickly as Audrey and Gail assimilate the fact of Sarah being pregnant by Callum. Billy summons up his vicar courage and goes over to ask if he can be of help. No thank you, Gail tells him emphatically. After he slinks back to his table, she exclaims “The cheek of the man!” Audrey agrees, “Yeah, stickin’ his nose in!”
Evidently the concept of a vicar’s work including counselling and mediation in family matters is a foreign one to the elder Platts. Sarah knows why Billy came over, but her attempt to defend him are pooh-poohed. Gail informs her with pride, “We make our own mess and we clean up our own mess.”
Continuing her effort to look on the bright side of life, Sarah says that maybe the baby is a good thing. “Up the duff by the monster who terrorized our entire family!” is Gail’s summation.
The Noel Coward-ish lines were beautifully delivered by the actors. Timing and expressions were perfect. Just watching the extras was fun, as other diners in the restaurant looked over to the Platt table then quickly looked away in case they too came under fire.
