Tic awoke to the sound of Pon rummaging in the bedroom.

It was still dark, and early morning.

She was alerted by his stirring and told him not to get up as she was getting herself organised for the swim, the Sydney Skinny.

Oh yes, he thought, the Sydney Skinny, she was registered to swim the 900 metres and today was the day. She had been in training over the summer holidays, the swim, a nude swim, was a fundraiser and she’d raised over $2500.

Tic admired Pon’s resilience. She was a determined woman, enthusiastic, a participant in all life threw at her, including him.

They were both on the upward side of the age clock, well past the perpendicular and heading rapidly south. But Tic loved her, she was a strikingly beautiful woman and he felt happiest when he was supporting her endeavours.

He felt the brush of her lips on his forehead as she headed out the door to pick up her friend Doris who was accompanying her in the swim.

Swimming naked didn’t bother her, it was an adventure, a challenge, and Pon was always up for either.

Today, he planned to take himself to Lamington Park where a walking path enabled him to circumnavigate the park in relative safety. The footpath was pretty much trip-free, the path bathed most of the way by tall shade trees and, you never know, he might see someone he knew.

He set off with the thought of breakfast at Mario’s café, a motivation in itself. Apart from the dog walkers and the trim young men and women jogging he saw no one he knew.

Ahead, and looming closer, was Mario’s Café.

It had once been a corner store but now served as a small café, with a few tables spread about on the meticulously clean floor. Mario had turned the shop into a takeaway coffee shop by cutting a hole in an exterior wall through which he sold coffee and countless bacon and egg rolls.

He placed his order, scrambled eggs on sourdough and a large half-strength skinny flat white.  As soon as he sat down he thought he might have mucked up his coffee order. Where was Pon when he needed her?

Breakfast soon arrived, a very generous serving, and after his walk he was feeling fairly peckish. He was right about the coffee, he had forgotten the half-strength part of the order. It was more bitter than he expected.

The eggs he got stuck into, only to check himself and realise that they were powered eggs.

This for Tic was a no-no. His taste buds were alerted to the sensation of eating something spongy and tasteless. It didn’t feel right. He added salt and pepper but that did little to curb his disappointment.

His breakfast did come with two pieces of sourdough toast but he contended himself with eating only one. Pon’s voice whispering a warning in his ear.

From his seat, he looked out over Lamington Park, a sight that did lift his spirits when the scrambled eggs had been more deflating than uplifting.

Well, he thought, I have saved Pon from a source of disappointment; I’ll cross this one off our list.

Mario’s Café 2/10, the atmosphere and staff were its saving grace.