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Marsch felt the summer sun shine on his face as he opened the kitchen window. Sure, his house in Yorkshire felt like a little cottage—but who cared? It had Vieira inside it, and Monique, and that was all that mattered.
The kitchen was an eat-in kitchen, with a view of the garden and a small mini-fountain in the back. A bright, sunny window illuminated the room, and a cheerful sunflower wallpaper adorned the walls. The curtains were light and gauzy, as were the warm, light wood cabinets and floral furnishings. A blue, gold, red and white cat food bowl rested on the floor near the stove. And on top of all that, there was a table that was the perfect size for three people.
Currently, the table hosted two people--Vieira, reading his newspaper while enjoying a mocha latte, and Andersen, stirring a glass of bitter orange juice with a spoon. Vieira glanced up from the paper and smiled at Andersen, who smiled back in response. It was more like a smirk, honestly, but it was still a smile.
Andersen didn't spend much time at Marsch's house. But he was very close to Vieira, and so he was visiting for a couple of weeks after the season ended. It had been Hodgson’s idea, who had thought it would be good for Andersen to spend some time with Vieira after the latter had been fired from Crystal Palace.
Marsch and Andersen barely got along. They were polar opposites in just about every way, and it was hard for them to find any common ground. Andersen was always neat and tidy, while Marsch was more laid-back and didn't care much about rules and regulations. Andersen was a morning person, while Marsch preferred to stay up late. It seemed like they were always at odds with each other.
Today was more peaceful. It was a Sunday, and that meant a calm and peaceful breakfast before heading off to do their own separate activities.
"Bagels are ready!" Marsch exclaimed, carrying in a mountain of bagels on a floral platter. "We have cinnamon raisin bagels, everything bagels, blueberry bagels, and the boring as heck flavor, plain. We even have bagels that don't want to be bagels and are secretly spy donuts on a mission of world bakery infiltration."
Andersen shook his head at Marsch's silliness, while Vieira laughed and picked out a cinnamon raisin bagel. Monique meowed from the floor, jumping onto Andersen's lap. Andersen batted the cat away, but Monique returned to his lap, purring.
"How many bagels are you planning on eating?" Vieira worriedly eyed Marsch, who was busy stacking up an alarming amount of bagels on his plate, complete with multiple toppings: smoked salmon, cream cheese, maple syrup, sprinkles, and even chocolate syrup.
"I'm planning on eating at least eight," Marsch answered confidently as he added yet another bagel to the pile. "In other words, as many as it takes to get me to the top of Mount Bagelmore!"
Andersen rolled his eyes and sighed, nibbling at a plain bagel. "This is going to be a long morning."
Monique smelled the food from her spot under the table. She yowled in protest, as if to say "how dare you". Vieira smiled and fed the tortoiseshell a fat piece of smoked salmon. Monique gobbled it up and immediately started searching for more. Marsch snuck Monique a bagel when he thought Vieira wasn't looking. Unfortunately, Vieira was watching, and he took the bagel away from Monique before slapping the American on the elbow.
"No pastries, remember Jesse. They're not good for cats."
"And a lack of maple syrup is bad for Marschs. Gimme that!"
"You already have a Sugarloaf Mountain on your plate."
"That's Mount Bagelmore to you, sir!"
"At least Sugarloaf Mountain exists, you idiot!"
Andersen groaned, sticking a pair of earbuds in his ears. He pressed the play button on his phone, humming in rare contentment as his favorite music played.
Vieira finally finished his argument with Marsch and spotted what Andersen was doing. "Joachim, no phones on the table."
"Who do you think you are, my dad?" Andersen grouched, crossing his arms.
Marsch held up an everything bagel, eating it in one gulp. For once, the Wisconsin native sounded serious. "He's a person who gives a damn about you, so you’d better listen to him. He's the kind of friend who will be there for you. No matter how much money you make, or how many crazy models you build out of food, or even how many times you accidentally set your kitchen on fire!"
Vieira blushed faintly at the praise, feeding Monique a piece of salmon. Marsch chuckled and slung an arm around his best friend's shoulders. "Same with the vieil idiot here. He's been there for me through it all. I don't know where I'd be without him."
Marsch just laughed and gave his friend a tight squeeze. "So you don't regret all the times we sort of overindulged in Budweiser sundaes, do you now?"
Andersen almost spat out his bitter orange juice. "You two did what ?!"
Marsch chuckled, slicing into another bagel. "Oh, come on, it was only once or twice. Live a little!”
Andersen shook his head in disbelief. "You two are like an old married couple."
Vieira and Marsch both looked up from their bagels, eyes wide in surprise.
"What? It's true. You alternate between bickering and flirting, it's disgusting." Andersen picked up Monique, who proceeded to steal his serving of salt-free smoked herring. "And you two treat me like your kid. Vieira I can tolerate, but Marsch? He's the walking definition of a lunatic."
Vieira shrugged, taking a sip of his coffee. "That's why I love him."
Marsch gave a hearty laugh, slapping Andersen on the back. "Ya, I love it too. We make a good combination, don't ya think? I'm the brains, and Patrick's the brawn!"
"More like I'm the brains and the brawn."
"Then what am I, chopped liver?”
"No, you're where all the world's bacon comes from."
"I beg your pardon?!”
Andersen rolled his eyes, but couldn't help but smile as Monique settled on a different chair. "I guess you two do work well together.”