Bait & Hook

18. Foraging

I returned to my townhouse and pondered my best approach with lunch, concluding that I need to continue showing him obvious wealth. The McWatters Collection chardonnay was a splendid match with the scallops last night, and with the vintage written out and explained by the sommelier, easy to remember. Swirl should have a bottle of it, and if not, Marquis will.

Time's tight – best I check to save an unnecessary walk. I Googled swirl wine vancouver. Darn, not open until ten-thirty. Then I surfed to Marquis – worse, not until eleven. What to do? The Government store? They're open now, but that's not supporting the independents.

Back at the Swirl site, I searched their list to confirm they have the wine. Great! Wait outside until it opens. Only a five-minute fast walk from there to the marina. But I'll be late.

Send him a message that I'm delayed ten minutes or so. Yeah, but not a text or email – those will give him my information. Post a message to his ship.us profile. I clicked the icon, logged in and typed:

        Hey, Xander;
        Thank you for showing me what superb dining's all about.
        Hope I can approach your standards with my cooking.
        With everything else, as well. ;-)
        I'm a bit delayed – might be 10 or 15 minutes late.
        Hugs, Roxy

After I had composed it, I read it over twice, then clicked Post.

Next, what to wear? I chuckled to myself. Not that push-up again. Not the way it attracted his eyes. Sure intrigued him, though. Warming to see his response. What? But it was – for arousal research. I can still do that without the equipment. Don't need an EEG to observe.

Hmmm! Maybe gather response observations for comparison. More meaningful to me than searching for, validating and interpreting others' reports. And it'll serve two purposes – one for Frank and the other for my research.

Braless with a thin top should do it. Not too thin, though – too obvious. Too sleazy. Something to show shape and a bit of movement. Make him aware the girls are there and unrestrained. A light fleece or rib-knit might work – not tight, though. Leave something to his imagination.

I experimented in front of the mirror with a variety of tops, shaking, twisting and bouncing to see the effects. Finally settling on one, I put two others and a bra in my backpack, along with a warm sweater and a light rain jacket, just in case.

At Urban Fare, I was delighted to see a large bin of partly-thawed jumbo scallops in the seafood display case, the tag showing Fanny Bay IQF. And being the only person seeking service, the woman took the time to select the ones I pointed out until we had twelve well-shaped scallops of nearly equal size.

Then at the mushroom display, I selected a small package of dried matsutakes, shaking my head at the twenty-four dollars for a hundred grams. I could find no shitakes – a better choice in Chinatown, but I don't have the time. Instead, I selected some fresh chanterelles and morels into paper bags. With a big red pepper, a bulb of garlic, two shallots and a small package of Pusa Basmati, I checked out and headed up the street to Swirl.

My pleading at the door convinced a man to unlock and open it a crack. "Thank you. I have limited time, and I'm looking for the wine I had with seared scallops last night at Chambéry." I lifted my Urban Fare bag to add it to the name-dropping. "I want to replicate the experience for a friend at lunch."

He pursed his lips and nodded. "You can come in look for it, but I risk my license if I ring a sale through before ten-thirty."

"Thank you. I know what I want – McWatters Collection chardonnay 2014."

He pointed across the shop to a display. "A great choice. We've just raised its price to slow sales after its latest gold medal. Exponentially increasing demand the last few days."

"What's the price, now?"

"Thirty-five."

"Fine." Oh, God! What's Frank going to say about this claim?