Pull up your cheese tasting pants and get to work, we are at 37,774 words

 

Yesterday, I dragged the whole family to the real The Milky Whey cheese shop for research purposes. In my fictionalized version, it is owned by Colm Reaume's mom, a fellow Cheesemonger. We meet her in the excerpt below.

With only 12,226 words left to wrap up the major plot and four subplots, I feel that I may go quite a bit over the 50,000 word mark. We will see if I run out of steam and tie up all the loose ends in a slap-dash fashion as I head back to work this week.

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Once my eyes adjust from the bright sun outside to the relative dim of the shop, I start to take it all in. There is a cheese counter along one wall. Along the other, I find many varieties of crackers, jams, chutneys, and other cheese pairing items. At the back, there is a cash register. On the back wall, in very large letters, reads ‘Cheese - milk’s leap towards immortality.’ Standing behind the cash register is a slight woman with greying hair, styled in the fashion of Flock of Seagulls. She is wearing a bright yellow shirt, and I notice that she, too, is wearing her cheese tasting pants. I approach the counter to introduce myself.

‘Hi. I’m Serena. Your son Colm has talked to you about me? I’m the one doing the George Brown Professional Cheesemonger Program.”

“Of course!” She says, her voice exuding kindness and warmth. “Welcome, Serena. It is so nice to meet you.”

And rather than introducing herself by name she points to an overlarge name tag on her shirt. It reads: ROMEY (pronounced: like “Comb” but starting with an “R” and an “EE” sound at the end) REAUME (pronounced: Ray-ome) She/Her, Professional Fromager.

“It is so nice to meet you, Romey. I can’t believe that I’ve been living here for 2 months and this is my first time in the shop. I’d love if you could show me around.”

“Well, dear, I’m sure that work has kept you very busy. I hear that you are behind that new build on William St. And of course, there is the renovation across the street from here at Fellini’s. How is all of the going? Agatha has absolutely been hounding city counsel, trying to get them to put a stop to everything,” Romey says, rolling out from behind the counter. I see that she, too, has a proclivity for rolling sneakers. 

“She is certainly trying to make things difficult,” I reply.

“I wish you the best of luck with her. When she gets onto something, she is like a dog with a bone,” Romey says. “But anyway, let us talk about more pleasant things. I'll give you the tour. This is the back room where we host larger gatherings. We have monthly cheese tasting events that I host. But it can also be rented out. I call it ‘The Whey Back.’” She says that last part with a snicker, appreciating her own pun.

Just then, I hear a ruckus outside. Joe is loudly whispering something into a headset that I had not noticed he was wearing before. 

“CONSTRUCTION IS UNETHICAL! STOP THE STEAL!” A familiar voice screams from outside.