#149: Peter and Ophelia

"You can cook, too?" Bill asked Ophelia the next morning.  "In addition to all your other talents?"

Ophelia laughed.  "ALL Greek women can cook, Bill!  Or, at least we can all cook Mediterranean food!"

She brought the spinach omelet she had just made over to the table.

 "I thought you'd be sleeping late this morning," Regina said.  "Because of your long plane trip."

"Oh, I'm still on 'Athens time'," Ophelia said.  "And since I'm here in the U.S. for only 3 days, I don't really think it's worth trying to adjust to the time difference."

"Soooo," Ophelia asked, "how early does your friend Peter get up?  Because I'm really excited about seeing more of his paintings."

"Oh, I think he's up by now," Regina answered.  "He's a pretty early riser."

_______________

Peter had just finished a new abstract painting,

when Ophelia came through the door (like her aunt, without having knocked).

"Hi, hi, hi!" she called out.

"Hi, yourself," Peter responded, trying to sound casual.  "There's coffee in the kitchen, if you want some."

 "I can NEVER have enough caffeine!" Ophelia exclaimed.

"This is some GREAT stuff!" she pronounced, as she started going through Peter's paintings.

Peter started another painting while he let Ophelia load her selfies onto the computer.

"So, are there any art galleries in town?" she asked.

"Yes," Peter answered.  "There's one here in Willow Creek, and another in Oasis Springs."

"Are they any good?" she asked.  "Though I'm happy to look at macrame, driftwood sculpture, etc.  I think there can be artistic value in ANY medium."

"How long are you staying in the U.S.?" Peter asked.  "We could schedule an outing over there."

Ophelia jumped to her feet.  "No time like the present!" she said gaily.

_______________

While Peter was upstairs changing his clothes ("I'm not going out in pajamas!" he had announced), Ophelia printed out her selfies and put them up.

"Those are good," Peter said, coming down from upstairs.  

"They really show your personality."

_______________

Peter and Ophelia's first stop was the art museum in Willow Creek,

and their second stop was the art museum in Oasis Springs.

"You DID say you thought there could be artistic value in ANY medium!" he teased.

"Well, I liked it ALL," Ophelia retorted with a laugh.

"Though I STILL think your stuff is the best stuff I've seen all day."

_______________

"So," Peter said hesitantly, "there's a nice restaurant next door if you're hungry."

"Umm," Ophelia hesitated, "I don't care much for fancy restaurants.  I'd go somewhere for a drink, but it would be MUCH more fun to go back to your place and cook for ourselves!

"We could stop by Regina and Bill's to get some fresh fish from them--they're SUCH good fishermen!"

_______________

Peter took her instead to the Rattlesnake Bar.

"This is EXACTLY the kind of funky place I like!" Ophelia enthused.

"So, you know something about fish?" Peter asked.

"Well, I know HOW to fish!" Ophelia exclaimed.  "So that's why I know something about varieties, etc., and how to cook them."

"You can actually fish?" Peter asked admiringly.  "How does a girl who lives in Athens know how to fish?"

"Oh, my parents are long gone," she replied.  "So I spend a lot of time at Daedelus's and Andromeda's house in the country.  And Uncle Daedelus taught me to fish when I was 5 years old."

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"Hey, can we mooch some fresh fish off of you?" Ophelia asked Regina and Bill brightly.

"I'll be grilling, and you guys are welcome to come over for dinner!"

"Oh, thanks, but we've already eaten," Regina lied.  "And we're just about to go to bed."

"But here's some striped bass I caught an hour ago," volunteered Bill, "and you two are welcome to it."

After Peter and Ophelia--and their fish--left, Bill teased Regina, "Did I somehow mysteriously forget about eating dinner?  Because that's not like me!"

"Oh, stop!" she laughed.  "I just want them to have some 'alone time'."

_______________

"This is the cleanest grill I've ever seen!" Ophelia observed.

"That's because it's never been used," Peter admitted.

"So, what do you like to photograph?" Peter asked her, as they sat down to their grilled-fish dinner.

"People," she replied.  "I like taking pictures of people.  Seeing if I can capture what it is about them that makes them tick."

"Maybe we could go to the park tomorrow--there'll be lots of good subjects for you there," Peter suggested.

_______________

Peter walked Ophelia back to Bill and Regina's house, though she had protested.  ("It's two houses away!  I can easily walk that by myself!")