A sardine and her fingers, that’s all Mademoiselle Jeanine needs for her lunch. Seated at the table of a Parisian café she savours the bits and pieces she rips from the body of the fish. The garcon de café placed salt and olive oil near her plate but she barely noticed the condiment. She likes her sardine ungarnished, cooked of course, but bare.

Behind her, the caterer service is busy serving clients. The weekend is almost there and they need supplies and foods to enjoy. Cheese, ham, wine and bread of course! Mademoiselle Jeanine is a regular. She comes in every day except for Wednesday when she visits her lover Monsieur Raymond, an American gent who was on his way to Lyon but decided to stay in Paris after he met her. It has been ten years. She doesn’t seem like it, but Mademoiselle Jeanine is a charming lady and behind her rough manners she is an enchanting woman.

After she is done with her sardine, she licks her fingers one by one (the ones she used of course, not the ones which didn’t touch anything) and grabs the cup of coffee the garcon placed behind the condiments. At the sound of her fingers coming out from her mouth, people lunching around her glance at her with disdain. She glances back with even more contempt and pushes her plate aside to make room for the coffee.

This is Mademoiselle Jeanine, she eats and licks her fingers, and eats with her hat and coat on.

Listen while reading: Les jours tristes – Amelie soundtrack