Tea Room in Sint-Amandstraat.

“Prose should feel effortless,” she says with a smile.

I think I get it.

Watching her. Her long hair, the lavender bow, hint of a smile on her red lips. Admiring her skirt, the elegant sweep, shapely yet streamlined—it’s just the right combination of formality, sex and adornment.

I think I feel it.

She knows I’m watching her move across the polished hardwood floors, thumbing the pages.

(Rumor has it she cut 20,000 words from last year’s Man Booker winner.)

“But I thought,” I say, “the alliteration, there, the thought, thesis, thinking…”

Prose Skirt (No. 6829). Sophisticated 100% silk satin maxi skirt. Subtle A-line volume for sleek movement. Narrow waistband and back darts. Minimal seams and faced hem adds some weight to the hem. Hook and eye; side zip closure. Imported.