The Peacock 1647

The four comfy chairs in the back are all available and Stella has pulled up another chair she has conveniently robbed from the next table and now she sits, towering over us like a queen. "This is a lovely little café", she says as she tucks into her cappuccino. "Almost as good as the espresso in Amsterdam." "Do you still live there", asks Carl. "I still have the house on the canal. It is empty now, as I have been all over the place." "What are you doing for income these days." "Like you, Carl. Inherited wealth. My father, whom I never actually ever met or laid eyes on, made both of us, Sven and I , the beneficiaries of his estate. "When did he die", says Carl. "That", she muses between sips of her cappuccino, "Is going to be a little bit complicated to explain..."