romance

Sisters, on abs.

Delilah: You seem slightly flattened.

Cecily: Flattened how? Empty? Somebody told me that the other day. I think I’m waiting for something exciting to happen and ruining other people’s exciting lives in the process. This is because I am a heartless succubus that enjoys sucking the life out of others for my personal pleasure.

Delilah: Jesus, I was just talking about your abs.

Cecily: How can you see my abs?

Delilah: That was a joke; a line to contrast the near tide of somewhat uncharacteristic personal revelation.

Two friends, on Game Theory.

Charles: Yves saying that he would choose to stay with you in Paris instead of taking a dream job in Amsterdam is classic Game Theory. His dominant strategy: lock you in. Your dominant strategy: try as many men as possible, before you settle. Those are conflicting outcomes in a zero-sum game. His best move? Increase the cost to defect. In this case, the cost is your level of guilt for keeping him here if you continue to gadabout with all the other male creatives of Paris.

Cecily: That’s a well thought-out and convincingly articulated hypothesis, my friend.

Charles: Do keep in mind that research finds Game Theory applies best to the emotionally rational, i.e. sociopaths. So you know, he may be a sociopath or he may just be truly in love with you.

Two friends, on weakness.

Charles: What is Charles’ greatest weakness?

Cecily: His wholehearted enjoyment of his own flaws. Thus, he will always find growth difficult, if not impossible.

Charles: I hate your assessment. Be dishonest next time.

Two friends, on Moleskine.

Charles: I bought my 2016 Moleskine today. Not sure if you use one.

Cecily: Is that a question you ask a creative polymath who has already desperately sold her soul to fine leather and great marketing many, many times before? Of course I do.

Two friends, on locality.

Arnaud: We are far away from the heart of Paris.

Cecily: Where is the heart of Paris?

Arnaud: It is where you live of course. Actually, no, you live between the Panthéon and Saint Germain — Paris’ brain. And I… I live on rue de Sèvres… in Paris’ wallet.

Two friends, on anchor’s aweigh.

Cecily: Yves just told me he may take a post in the symphony in Amsterdam. If he does, he leaves next week.

Charles: That’s a decidedly refined take on the old man-off-to-war story;”Cecily, I must serve in the orchestra in Amsterdam. I ship off tomorrow”.