THE MASO, THE FREE MUFFIN & CHRISTINE

My boss told me to go home at 11am. WOW I’m on holidays for 2 weeks now. I said my final farewells, packed up my desk and raced off to my car. Next stop the city.

With a quick phone call, Christine jumped on board for lunch. So here I am circling the courtyard of World Square. Now I have never actually been inside of World Square. I usually park at QVB and refuse to back track but seeing as Christine works in World Square it was the only meeting place.

So I’m wandering around the courtyard of World Square, looking like a lost puppy or some love sick puppy waiting for his girlfriend when I suddenly spot Christine coming towards me from the corner of my eye. It’s an immediate hugging and wog kissing session. Now just for the record Christine used to be a kissing and hugging virgin until she met me. I insisted we had to meet and greet with hugs. At first she tried avoiding it but soon realized it would be easier simply giving in to my needs.

Now that we had met our next plan was to locate a lunch spot. This is when I question where Austero has moved. Even though I’m no longer working for Austero I would like to see their new offices. Christine shows me the way to Austero’s new building and then informs me we should have lunch at a café near by since the guy working there is her new crush.

Hence enter Mr. Maso. Name can’t be given out for obvious reasons. Christine will be tracked down and bitch slapped by mama but lets not go there. So I’m sitting at this café when we try to order and the guy keeps telling us they have run out. Being the last day before their shut down they have limited food left. This is when Christine goes into her usual giggling fit and asks the waiter what they actually have left. Smart Choice Christine, this just saved us 25 minutes of trying to order.

The waiter pre sales the left over food to us and we order something random and hope for the best. Random discussions begin with this waiter until we reveal I used to work at Austero. This is when Mr. Maso enters the conversation and hola I remember the little coffee cart they used to have in front of the lifts back in Bondi Junction. This is when I get a flashback in my head remembering how good their coffee was. Ed and I used to go down there every morning for the coffee. They used to sell muffins and little pastries as well. God I wonder if their coffee is still that good.

This is when I ask Christine what their coffee is like. Christine blurts out she doesn’t drink coffee. What bloody good are you to me then woman? So I ask Christine what coffee they used and she can’t even tell me that. In a later discussion we ask Mr. Maso and he informs us he buys his coffee from a mate who mixes it. Flash back this is why the coffee is so good, its unique.

The waiter dumps our meals on to our table. I ordered chicken schnitzel while Christine ordered something weird. It’s at this point that I realized that I’m starving. Christine and I dig in immediately not realizing how much all that talking has created a huge hunger.

We finish our meals and mama wanders over to our table. I think she’s able to collect our plates so I hand over my plate to her when she snatches the plate off me and places it onto another table telling me she’s going over to the other side to say hi to a regular customer.

This is when I realize the shirt mama is wearing. The café is named in Maso with an explanation on the back of their shirts. I read it to be "The thought of milking or something like that". OMG MILK!

Feeling extremely satisfied, Christine by her eye candy and me by the meal we decide to pay for the bill before heading off. We approach the counter when Mr. Maso decides to serve us and hence we get caught up into a 10-minute conversation with him when Christine manages to score us some free muffins.

God free muffins today, free coffee for the rest of the year. I need to organize a strategic plan to hook Christine up with Mr. Maso. On my first visit I scored free muffins, can you image what I would get if Christine was dating this guy? Not that I am thinking of myself or anything like that. Christine’s happiness is my happiness. Need a plan, need to think need to think….

We walk out of the café to head over to Scarface. We arrive at the salon to see Scarface looking like she’s on the edge and any weapon in her hand can only mean disaster. I pass on my free muffin to her to save myself from being killed smack bang in the middle of a beauty salon. We keep our visit short as Scarface informs us she hasn’t eaten yet and it’s practically 3pm.

We wander out of the salon to head towards Myer. We do a quick lap into Myer so I can visit my Spanish friend Paul before heading out to Pitt St to catch the Christmas buzz shopping. Christine and I do a few laps of Pitt St to get the buzz but soon realize we both need our beds to recover from the crowd and all the walking. We call it a day before separating.

God I cant believe Christine took a lot out of me again!