Gnawing on the hem of God's robe

“Babe!” Sydney groaned lightly from where she was strewn out on the couch, dropping her phone onto her chest.

“Yeah?” you called from the bedroom, still getting ready.

The two of you were going to the Chicago Food Festival for the day, partially a date, partially research for Sydney.

She’d been going crazy trying to perfect The Bear’s newest menu and was praying the demoing Michelin star chefs would inspire her. Getting to go taste-testing with you was just a bonus.

“Are you ready?” she asked, not even lifting her head, knowing most likely you weren’t. You were already running twenty minutes behind the schedule Sydney’d come up with.

You hummed, slipping on your shoes, “Yep.”

You stepped out into the hallway, smoothing out your outfit, and Sydney glanced over from the couch. A grin spread across her face.

“Damn… okay,” Syd grinned, standing up dazedly, as if you’d knocked the wind out of her, “You look stupid good. Like insanely good.”

You did a little spin and she let out a soft laugh, coming to stand beside you.

Her hand fell easily to your waist, as she kissed your cheek, “You look really good.”

You gently cupped her face with one hand, pecking her lips once, twice, three times over, “So do you.”

Sydney looked down at herself. She was wearing the striped shirt you liked best on her, slightly baggy, with a white vest beneath it, “This old thing?”

You smiled amusedly, fingers tugging gently at her belt loops. Sydney smiled cheesily, tilting her head to the side to meet your eyes, “Thank you, milady.”

You laughed, eyebrows raising at he as she tipped her non-existent hat to you, “Milady? What century did you just get here from?”

“An incredibly chivalrous one, you’re welcome.” she hummed cheekily, squeezing your hip.

She pulled her phone from her back pocket, other hand still holding you close, “We should probably get moving.”

“If we leave any later, we won’t get there until like one,” she pointed at your face, slipping her phone away again, “and, if you make me miss this white truffle demo, I will literally never forgive you.”

You grabbed her finger and pulled it down, interlocking your fingers with a teasing smile, “Let’s go then, bossy.”

The journey on the L didn’t take long and, within twenty minutes, the two of you were heading into the festival.

Your senses immediately became flooded with the smells of herbs, spices, sizzling meats and fresh pastries all at once.

It was a little overwhelming, but, looking over at Sydney, you knew you’d made the right decision. The childish excitement in her eyes spoke for itself.

Stalls of street vendors lined the streets, as far as the eye could see. You smiled softly, “Do we wanna do a lap or something or just dive right in?”

“I mean… let’s not waste valuable time here. We can get food now and lap later, right?” Sydney looked around for a moment, then grinned at you, raising an eyebrow.

You rolled your eyes, smiling, “Okay, weirdo. Lead the way, since you clearly have a mapped out route.”

Sydney’s smile turned fond with how well you could read her. She started leading you through the stalls, with purpose, “Okay, I may or may not have read up on some of the vendors attending…”

You smiled, biting your lip as you watched her effortlessly slip into her element, “Mkay, so, where’re we headed?”

Her smile widened as she went over her mental schedule, “Okay, well, the truffle demo starts in like ten minutes, which gives us just enough time to check out the smoked brisket booth on the corner.”

Sydney paused, squinting further down the rows of vendors, “In fact… they do pulled pork a few stalls down too.”

You raised an eyebrow at her, smiling, “Is that you asking me to go get the pork whilst you get the brisket?”

Her shoulders relaxed as she looked back at you, a relived smile spreading over her face, “Would you? Please, oh my god, I’d love you ten times more than I already do.”

“Yeah, ‘course.” you pecked her lips, “I’ll grab it and meet you at the brisket booth?”

“Okay, yeah,” she nodded, brushing her braids over her shoulder.

“Okay,” you laughed softly, squeezing her forearm and starting to walk over to the stand.

“Thank you!” Sydney called, a little clumsily after you. You smiled fondly as you looked back at her.

You got in line, glancing at the time on your phone quickly. Even at midday, the atmosphere of the festival was electric.

You could hear live music echoing from the main stage and you perked up slightly, making a mental note to convince Syd to get closer later tonight.

You placed your order and handed over some cash. The stand was family-run, local, friendly. You handed them a tip, without a second thought.

“BBQ sauce?” the guy asked you, holding up a bottle over your steaming pulled pork.

“Yeah, please.” you nodded, watching the brown sauce drizzle over the meat.

You thanked him again, cradling the tray to your chest as you headed back to where your girlfriend waited for you, brisket under her own arm.

“Look at how good this looks,” you gushed as you drew nearer, holding it out for her to see.

“Wow, okay, that does look good.” Syd laughed, tilting the tray to look better.

“And look, I got the sauce for it too.” you hummed, proudly pointing out each element of the dish.

Sydney indulged your enthusiasm, smiling affectionately at you, “Yeah, I can see, you didn’t lack on the sauce.”

“I think my haul earns me at least two bites of your brisket.” you replied, the two of you walking in stride towards the demo tent.

You took your seats, as close as you could to the stage so Syd could have the best view. Settling in, you leaned your head on her shoulder, happily munching on the pulled pork.

Sydney didn’t speak much once the demonstration started. Her eyes flicked rapidly between the chef, the food, and her notebook, where she eagerly jotted down everything being said.

Occasionally, she’d rest a hand on your thigh or, wordlessly, offer you a forkful of her brisket to try. But, for the most part, she was totally absorbed in the culinary performance in front of her.

You found that your own eyes kept drifting away from the chef, to Syd. Watching your girlfriend so enthralled by what she loved was a far more valuable use of your time than the demo ever could be.

“How was that?” you asked curiously, reading over her shoulder as she scribbled the last of her notes. The chef exited the tent to a round of polite applause.

Sydney let out a breath, “Insane,” she murmured, still writing, “The way she layered the truffle with the mushroom consommé? That’s some next-level flavor theory. Like… it seems simple, but it’s so intentional.”

She shook her head, finally turning to look at you with excited eyes. “I have like ten ideas already.”

“And, I will be here to taste-test them, happily,” you nodded against her, smiling satisfactorily, “What about the pork and brisket? Good? Bad?”

Sydney leaned back in her chair, pondering on your question. She chewed the inside of her cheek, “The pork was good. Solid. The sauce had a nice tang. The brisket was better. It had this sort of… depth to it.”

Your eyebrows lifted in surprise, “Really? I liked the pork better. It was super juicy, I could’ve eaten it all day.”

She tilted her head at you, grinning, “I mean, yeah, it was juicy, but the brisket had a way better flavour. It was slow-smoked, it had layers, it told a story, babe.”

“I just liked the pork,” You shrugged, smiling innocently, “But, that’s probably why you’re the chef and not me.”

“Probably,” Sydney smiled, tapping the underside of your chin, “Guess that just means we need to put those tastebuds to work today.”

“Mm, not 100% food-related,“ you stuck your tongue in your cheek, smiling, “but, we did pass by a cider stand earlier… if we happened to stumble across it again, I wouldn’t be mad.”

Syd laughed, pecking your lips, “Okay, let’s go get you a drink, babe. Come on.”

She dragged you to your feet, pulling you toward the cider stand.

You glanced around at the stalls, “Could we, perchance, get some more food on the way through?” you asked, biting your lip as you looked up at her.

She rolled your eyes, chuckling at your use of the word ‘perchance’, “Oh my god, you need to spend less time on the internet. Yes, we can get some more food.”

“Jerk chicken?” You asked, pointing out the stand as we get closer, “I know we’ve been a little meat-heavy, but it smells really good.”

“A little meat-heavy? Do you know where we are right now?” Sydney laughed, turning you around, “there’s no such thing as too much meat.”

“Mkay, let’s get a serving and we can split it.” you nodded, looking over the menu. Sydney placed the order for you and with many thanks to the vendors, you had your jerk chicken secured.

You moved off to the side, drizzling the jerk sauce over the chicken, already anticipating the tingle of the spice on your lips.

Linking your arm with Sydney, you picked up the tray and set off again. You took a bite.

“Mmph, baby, try this.” you moaned and gathered a piece of chicken on the fork, holding it to Sydney’s lips and cupping your other hand beneath it to catch any drips.

She chewed thoughtfully, before nodding in agreement, “Okay… this was a great call.” she swallowed the bite, “This is really fucking good.”

You grinned, taking another bite of the chicken for yourself, adding some rice and peas to your serving, “Really good.”

You strolled along until you reached the cider stall, where you came to a stop, and scanned the menu, “Oh! Look, they have a mango cider. That would pair so well with this.”

Sydney’s eyes lit up at the suggestion and she nodded, “Wait, yes, that sounds so good right now,” she was already reaching for her wallet, “Let’s do it.”

You stepped up to the counter, ordering two glasses, whilst Sydney paid for them. Once she was done, you handed her glass alger with a smile, “Thank you.”

Sydney kissed your lips softly, taking the glass from you, “You’re very welcome.”

You clinked your glasses with one another and took a sip. As you’d predicted, the mango did wonders to compliment the jerk chicken’s spice, rolling refreshingly down your throat.

“Oh yeah, this is it,” Sydney nodded decisively, taking another sip of her own, “We might have to come back again later, this is nice.”

You nodded, leaning against her shoulder, “I agree, five stars.”

The roars of the crowd gathered by the main stage caught your ear again. You turned your head to see the next performers coming out.

“Do you want to go over?” Syd asked, one hand resting on your hip.

“Can we?” you asked tentatively, “I know you have a lot of things you want to look at.”

Sydney’s smile warmed as she squeezed your waist, “Babe, of course we can. Yeah, I want to check out loads of stuff, but, so do you. The stalls can wait.”

“Okay, cool. Let’s go then.” your shoulders relaxed at her affirmations, laughing softly.

The two of you gathered beside the crowd at the main stage. You’d never heard of the band, but they weren’t half bad, so you didn’t mind.

Sydney stood behind you, arms wrapped protectively around your middle, keeping you close in the sea of festival-goers.

Bopping from side to side, you occasionally reached over your shoulder to feed her a spoonful of jerk chicken, which she hummed appreciatively, in response to, lips curling into a smile.

As the band’s set drew to a close, the crowd cheered loudly once more. You found yourself still swaying slightly in Syd’d arms.

She tilted you, from side to side, exaggeratedly and you laughed, making groans as she tossed you to and fro, before setting you upright.

“Mm, so, what now?” you asked, spinning around to face your girl, arms slipping around her neck.

“Now… we could do one more round through the stalls. Grab some dessert… maybe churros or gelato?” Sydney tilted her head to the side, eyes following every movement of your body.

“Ooh, yeah, I saw some cannoli earlier too.” you perked up and Sydney smiled coyly, nodding.

“Yeah? Let’s go take a look together, then.”

The two of you made your way back through the festival, weaving through the smaller crowds. The day had started to wind down with people slowly trickling out.

You grabbed a collection of desserts on your way to the exit, feeling them melt together with the cider still in your system on the walk home.

You stopped at a nearby park a block away from your overground station. You settled down on the grass to indulge in more of your treats.

Sydney leaned her head on your shoulder, her hand still wrapped around yours. “I’m really glad we did this today,” she said, her voice suddenly soft.