Crispy Bacon

Both J and T were silent.

J. Because he wasn't a morning person at all, and confronting T about how he was feeling took all of the little morning energy he had.

T. She was obviously hurt and confused.

"Can I take your orders" The waitress broke the silence, not realising what had just transpired.

T and J hadn't even looked at the menus.

"Sorry. We haven't even looked" said J "Give us a moment"

"Sure"

It was time to move from the previous 5 minutes. Issue had been resolved and J wanted to move things along.

"I want what I had last week" said J. It was always eggs, bacon, tomato and mushrooms. "But the servings are so big...I don't know whether I can finish it all"

T put down the menu satisfied "Well I'm going with what I had last week. Eggs Benedict"

The waitress returned.

"Eggs Benedict!"

"Fried eggs, bacon, tomato and mushrooms"

T and J began to talk as per usual.

T finished her breakfast first. J struggled, finally pushing his plate forward satisfied. There was still a pile of bacon left. It was crispy anyways. And J is not a fan of cripsy bacon at all.

T reached across and picked up a piece of the bacon. She was a fan.

"Mmmmmm......good thing you don't like crispy bacon J. This has finished off my breakfast nicely"

Dutch

"And seeing that you were insistent that we come back here, from now on we will go dutch"

T was half expecting this lecture - she had pushed the point about returning to Tosolini's.

"I always think that my friends think like me - that everything will work out in the end - but you are not like that - I've realised" J went on.

T was a bit hurt by the comment, but decided not to bite. She felt that both sides had taken each other for granted since they decided to share house.

"I dreamt that I told you that I was moving out last night" T said, now feeling guilty for pushing to come back here.

Silence.

"I don't think it's like that - I still enjoy our breakfast time - it's sort of....decadent" responded J.

"Yeah, I don't mind going dutch - this whole breakfast thing has got out of hand - it started as a simple coffee and raisin toast and now it is the big breakfast and the blog" stated T.

A new vocation for J

While T was choking on the cost of breakfast, J began to make his way to the door.

Just as he began to straighten his arm in order to push open the door he noticed a pretty girl with her hands full making her way towards the door. She was shuffling slowly, looking down at her hands, trying to decide the order of events required for her to pull open the door, without dropping their contents.

J opened the door slowly.

Upon hearing the door open, she stopped, looked up and smiled. J held open the door for her, and returned the smile. She walked in, thanking him on the way.

J walked out of the now open door and looked back to catch another glimpse of the girl.

Unfortunately, one look was all J got. Because right there in front of him was a waiter, four plates of breakfast balanced precariously on his arms and hands.

J held the door open for him, too.

"Thanks mate" said the waiter.

"No prob'" replied J "I don't suppose you have an opening for a doorman"

"Maybe" joked the waiter as he made his way to his customers.

T joined J outside.

"Four bucks a coffee" complained T "Four. Bucks. A. Coffee."

What a rip off!

It had been several weeks since T and J had been to breakfast.

Today they thought they would try Tosolini's - a popular spot in Civic.

At first they thought they would sit outside, but when J went to the bank T decided it was far too noisy - the bus interchange just just around the corner, so they moved inside.

After waiting quietly for several minutes, J declared "It would be nice to get some service". They sat a bit longer, watching the waitress serving the people who came after them before J strode up to the brewster, asking if he could order coffee.

Straight away they were served - ordered coffee and then left to ponder the menu. It was T's turn to pay and she noticed that is was not going to be a cheap meal. But she already knew that this place was not known for its value for money.

J ordered the standard - poached eggs, bacon, tomato and mushroom. T went for the smoked salmon eggs bendict.

The coffee was good both commented, as the subject of conversation flowed between work and university.

"Gee it is nice to hear you talking about this stuff, rather than K" J observed.

"Well, I suppose I have got into my work at the moment - I can see the end in sight" T replied, refering to the postgraduate project she had struggled with for nearly four years.

Breakfast arrived, so no more chat for some time.

"This is nice, but it is a bit cold" T commented.
"There is nearly half a pig here" J stated about the pile of bacon on his plate.

After breakfast, T went to the counter.

"That will be $44.50, thanks" said the waitress

T tried to contain her shock - she was expecting it to be expensive - but not double what they normally pay!

Maybe they will go back next time so J can have a shout - after all the food was pretty good....

K

"What are you going to do?" J asked.

"I don't know"

It was a long running topic of breakfast conversation for the two of them. Ts relationship with K. It was obvious to J that T had strong feelings for K. But on many occasions T felt as though K wasn't matching the effort that she was putting into the relationship.

The week had thrown up yet another example.

"It seems to me as though this relationship is a lot of hard work for you. I am no expert, far far from it..."

Js relationship diary was full of black marks, cross outs, and one line entries. Hardly the person to give anybody relationship advice.

"...but I think that being in a relationship should be easy. Especially one that is meant to be. Ups and downs sure, but if it is too much hard work, you have to begin to question the whole thing"

Silence.

Just the sounds of cutlery on crockery.

However, this was not the uncomfortable silence that occurs between two people on a date with nothing in common. T and J had been friends for a long time now. Silence was a common element of their conversations. Often no words were spoken for several minutes. Both took time to arrange their thoughts before responding.

T broke the silence "You know, I really do feel that it is hard work at times. I mean, I give alot in our relationship, but I don't get much in return. I'm sure it doesn't register with K all the things I do for him and our relationship. I'm tired of him always expecting me to be there at a drop of a hat. I don't expect him be there for me all the time, but just for him to have some consideration of my pressures"

"Mmmm, I think thats fair"

T continued "Why do I attract such negative partners?"

"Why can't I attract any sort of partner?" J quipped with grin.

T laughed. Typical J. Always looking for a smile no matter the conversation topic.

J wiped the Hollandaise sauce from the corner of his mouth, downed the last of his once bitter coffee. 8 sugars had fixed the bitterness problem. "I have to get going. I have to be at the footy ground at 10.30"

T finished the last of her coffee and stood up. "I'll drop you off on the way"

"Cheers, big ears"

Tried and true

"Knock, knock"

"If you are ready in 15 minutes we can go to Edgars for Breakfast" said J.

T woke up straight away "No worries" she replied, "I'll just have a quick shower".

It was Saturday morning and T and J occasionally headed down to the local cafe for a leisurely breakfast.

After their experience in Civic last week, they were wanting something good and reliable.

Eggs Benedict was T's personal favorite - egg and bacon served on a muffin with lashings of hollandaise sauce. J usually went for museli, or a big breakfast, but today also had the Eggs Benedict.

The pair didn't talk much once the food arrived, it was good - as usual.

However J wasn't totally sold on the coffee, stating it was bitter.

T didn't respond - her coffee was fine and she needed it as she had missed her morning ritual of coffee at home, because of the 15 minute time limit.

The search begins again

They sat outside waiting in anticipation for their breakfast.

They hadn't been to this cafe before and after going to their usual haunt to find Lisa was not there again, they decided to bail.

"It's nice to sit outside in the sun" T remarked.

"Yeah, if you don't mind the construction noise" J replied.

T actually hadn't noticed the building adjacent to the cafe - it seemed that Civic was so full of construction activity she had accepted this as part of the landscape....

First the coffee...

"Mmmm, this is good coffee" said T, who loved her coffee strong - a double shot flat white to be exact.

"Ooew" responded J, who found his too strong and bitter...

Then the food appeared. the waitress started to grind pepper on T's breakfast. T hadn't noticed that the waitress was waiting for a signal to stop.

"Yep - that's enough thanks"

She looked at their meal, thinking that it all looked grey - with the exception of the black spots of the pepper. This was affirmed when she had started eating...it was tasteless.

Still she said nothing and ate in silence, missing the garlic flavour of the mushrooms at their old place.

After some time, they exchanged glances - "This is bland" stated J. "I reckon" T responded.

Neither of them finished their food. On the way out T said "well that's another one off the list"

Last chance

"This is their last chance," said J "If Lisa is not working this morning, then we move on".

T nodded in agreement. "Well, it was Lisa's service that kept us there in the first place, wasn't it? Remember how the second time we went, she came out with our coffee orders without us ordering"

"Yes, definitely. T'was pretty cool"

"And really, the food isn't that great. Sometimes the coffee too. I'm such a coffee snob aren't I J"

"Well, you do drink more than I. I think that gives you the right to be a snob"

The two were discussing their current favourite as they made their 15 minute walk down the hill from their house in Ainslie. It seemed to both, that the search was about to begin again.

The beginning

It all started in March 2004, about a year ago. T began working in Civic and J had a 9am uni class at ANU. Both were busy people for various reasons and needed time to breathe, relax and chill out. Breakfast sounded like the perfect opportunity to spend some time philosophising, discussing world events, politics, gossiping, or more often than not just having a whinge, a bitch or a moan about love, sex, work, family or friends.

The next decision was "Where in Civic is good for breakfast?"

The search began...

Neither claimed to be a food critic. The food was not that important to either of them anyway. And, neither sought the same combination of factors...just a sense of home without the dishes.

T and J have yet to find that combination. And in their search, they have been to a few of the cafes in Civic who do breakfast during the week.

Admittedly, things have changed since then, but the two have kept alive their breakfast tradition.

Over one such breakfast, an idea was struck that the two should write about their experiences in the search for their perfect breakfast spot in Civic. Not with the intention of formally critiquing the eatery, or to influence others decisions, but merely to give an account of their search.

And so begins TJ's Breakfast Diaries.