Martoons

Today: Fred and Donna get some noodles . . . on the rocks.

Cast of characters

Fred

Donna

*

“Looking for someone?” Fred teased playfully.

“Yeah, thought he might be here. We’re regulars here.”

The waitress politely pointed out two thin little spaces at an already-crowded table.

“Guess we’re … sharing a table,” Fred said amusedly.

Donna chuckled. “Yeah I suppose in Canada we’d want our own table, eh? Even if it was a table of eight and only us sitting there? Don’t worry. The people beside you will completely ignore you. You’ll get your space.”

* Do you think someone might eavesdrop on them? *

Fred glanced around.

Everyone was eating the same thing – even though he didn’t know quite what it was.

The waitress served them right away.

“That was quick,” he said to Donna. “I didn’t even notice you order.”

“You don’t have to here. Sitting down at the table is ordering. There’s only one thing on the menu this time of year – ice noodles.”

Fred eyeballed his meal: a stainless steel military-style bowl with a ball of buckwheat noodles sitting in the middle, filled with water and ice-cubes, and topped with a dollop of red-hot sauce.  

He imagined most Canadians being disgusted by the very idea of cold noodles but that made him want to try it all the more.

He watched customers around him mix the bowl’s contents all together with their stainless steel chopsticks, adeptly twirl an orb of the brownish, wholesome-looking noodles from the cold water, and loudly slurp it down.

He wanted to do things his own way though, and just started eating the ball of noodles on top.

“How much do you know about Thomas?” he asked Donna between bites, playing down his inquiry by not making eye contact with her.

He was a bit hesitant about raising the subject during dinner – or at all.

Donna seemed to be in a touchy mood because her boyfriend hadn’t shown up; but more than that, during the past week Fred had gotten the impression at work that discussing Thomas was taboo – which of course, made him all the more determined to pry open that Pandora’s Box.

While Donna devoured some noodles with a fierce sucking sound, her face quickly took on a baffled look. She put down her chopsticks, reached to the middle of the table and grabbed the roll of toilet paper – standard issue in Korean restaurants in place of expensive serviettes or napkins.

“Thomas?”She dabbed her lips dry from sauce and soup broth. “Who’s that?”

* Does Donna actually not know who Thomas is? *

So, Donna realized, that’s what he wants to know about.

She was mildly curious about Thomas as well.

She’d heard his name bandied about when she’d first arrived but had been tersely waved off when she’d casually inquired.

In the ensuing weeks she’d pieced together parts of the puzzle by picking up fragments of Miss No’s conversations with Mr Go over the phone.

Yet mention of Thomas’ name quickly disappeared and nobody talked about him anymore.

“Never met him,” she said flippantly and went right back to her ice noodles.

* Is Donna telling the truth? *

*

Tomorrow: Donna warns Fred about looking too hard for Thomas.