oscar continued

another scene was added to the play in the form of an entertaining dinner. new characters were introduced which reminded the protagonist of what it was that she really wanted out of life.

setting: top-notch-restaurant in her favorite part of town, semi-packed with beautiful people on a weekday night.

she enters with her father in tow. as usual, they’ve been invited to dinner by another rich client-now-friend who loves dining at the same upscale restaurant cos it’s the closest to his house. walking towards the table filled with familiar faces, she soon sees two new, young, eager faces. ha. she’s been set up. ignoring the new faces, she greets, plants kisses and totally avoids making any kind of eye contact with the new faces. she makes chit chat with the missus knowing full well that everything she does now is under close surveillance. she doesn’t even dare glance over and check out the new faces (that reveals another of her traits: deep down she’s as shy as… well, she’s really shy).

the dinner continues. fine food and interesting conversation. she knows all the movie references. she knows all the legal points. but all the while, she is aware. of the missus monitoring her. pointed questions. she enjoys the foods. her father spices up the conversation with his stories. she listens as one of the fresh faces goes on about england and his upbringing there. she doesn’t even bother to bring up her life there. that would be too لوس.

dinner over. the glow of satisfaction hangs over their table. protected by her dad’s presence, she can’t escape the comments regarding how little she ate (although she ate the same as everyone else). that must be a classic persian thing. then after tea, there is the usual fear of the door and back-and-forth regarding who should leave first. but finally, face to face, she catches his glance and [with a smile] looks away.

it’s funny how she’s changed over the last decade. calm and in control, but still not strong enough to dare say what she wants.

exit stage. end of scene.

side note: i’m always amazed by the kind of shit people pull off, like informing me they bought a major movie for distribution in iran. i thought that was fab. and it helped that it’s a movie/documentary that i’m quite fond of.