Another brilliant piece from a GUNNAS WRITING MASTERCLASS WRITER
The first time I ever tasted a chocolate from L’Savour’s was a life changing experience. I innocently wondered into the small boutique chocolate shop in Malaney and my senses went into overload. In one mouthful I was hit with the flavours of orange, bitter coco and velvety sweet sugar that melted instantly. In order to stop myself from squealing from delight I closed my eyes and allowed the flavours to linger against my taste buds. It was like time froze as I savoured the flavour of the exquisite chocolate. When I opened my eyes a man in a pink linen shirt was watching me and he had a twinkle in his eyes. I felt self-conscious, my eyes fell to the floor. I wanted to stand there and gorge all the chocolate samples out on display, but the deviant in the pink shirt was following my every move. It was as if the heat from his intense staring was burning my skin. My cheeks blushed, heart thumped loudly and a strange tingling sensational swept over my entire body. I slowly began to move around the room pretending to look at the many items on display. Suddenly the door opened and a group of boisterous women burst into the shop. I was relieved from the chaos this group brought with them and used the opportunity to discreetly exit the shop.
I hurried down the street past the various boutique stores selling locally made cakes, sweets, cheeses, clothes and handcrafted jewellery. Eventually, I paused at the shop window of a silversmith. After several minutes I noticed the reflection of the pink devo in the glass and that he was standing next to me. It was a warm day so he had the first 3 buttons of his linen shirt undone to allow the heat to escape and any stray cool breeze in to cool his supple body down. His skin was a golden colour and sandy curls flopped over his forehead. You could see he was fit as the pink linen of his shirt outlined his toned muscles. I looked left towards him and he smiled at me. He looked straight into my eyes and said, “You really must try the hazelnut truffles from L’Savour.” I raised my eyebrow and replied “Why is that?” He leant forward, he was so close to me that I could feel his breath against my ear as he whispered, “It will blow your mind.” The corners of my mouth creased upwards. That strange tingling sensation swept over my body once again.
He took a small white box with a red bow out of his pocket and handed it to me. After accepting the gift I stood there staring at the neatly wrapped package for what seemed like an eternity. When I finally snapped out of my trance I realised the pink devo had vanished. Had it been a dream? No, it couldn’t have been, I was holding the small box of handmade hazelnut truffles. I looked down at the box of chocolates and saw a business card slipped under the red ribbon of the box. In elegant silver ink, L’Savour was printed in calligraphy script. At the bottom of the card the name Pierre Savour and a phone number were printed in the same silver ink.
It was as if someone else was controlling my body, as the next minute I pulled out my phone and I dialled the number on the card. The pink devo answered the phone after 5 rings. All he said was “That was fast.” For some stupid reason I didn’t say a word, but just stood there smiling. What a complete idiot. It was a phone call not a video call. He obviously could hear my breathing, as he whispered “Red wine goes well with the truffles. Come to the Fox and Glove at the end of the street and have a glass of shiraz with me.” It was then that I realised that even though he had a french name, Pierre, he had a non-descript accent. It didn’t sound French nor Australian.
Before I knew it, I was leaning on the heavy wooden doors of the Fox and Glove. In the far corner of the room the pink devo was causally sitting on the brown leather lounge with his feet resting on the table with a bottle of red shiraz and two wine glasses in front of him. He looked relaxed and full of confidence. For a split second I thought this is crazy, this guy could be a psychotic axe murderer. Thank goodness I ignored that flashing thought, as if I had heeded that caution my three beautiful sons would not exist. From the moment I sat down on the couch my life changed forever.