The Girl in the Corner Table

Ratul kept a close watch on the regular customers at the Lisboa Café where he was the manager. He would personally walk up to them and exchange pleasantries and at times offer freebies. These repeat customers were to him the brand ambassadors for the café, and surely keeping them happy meant them visiting the place more often and also recommending it to their friends. Business was brisk but the pressure to increase sales had greatly increased in the last six months since the time the promoters had sold majority stake to a VC. Earlier his simple daily excel sheet sales reports at the end of the day were acceptable but lately he had to get into virtual calls that would keep him away for long from his actual work at the front desk. He was a hardworking young man and always had a smile on his face no matter what the situation was.

For the last couple of days, Ratul was finding something amiss. One regular customer had not been coming. It was the girl who would take the corner table and sit with her back to the customers. This girl had been coming daily to the café everyday sharp at 10am and take the most remote table facing the wall, take out her laptop, connect it to the mobile blue tooth device, put on her headphones and start working. She stayed there till 4pm and in between ordered a coffee in the morning and one in the evening. She carried her drinking water in a plastic bottle and would be working quietly without disturbing anyone. She had become like a permanent fixture at the cafe. She was a slim lass of no more than twenty. She had short hair that would fall on her face when she bent over to work on the laptop and always wore simple casual clothes. Ratul would get to see her face once when she would enter the café in the morning and a second time while she would come back to her workstation at the noon after a short luncheon break. She was not someone you would notice twice while walking on the streets but Ratul somehow began admiring her simplicity and in her found one unique customer who was neither demanding, nor rowdy like the many other youngsters who frequented the place.

Ratul could not talk about the missing customer to his people in the café but it was not difficult for them to understand the sudden slackness in his behaviour lately. They would observe how, every morning at 10am, Ratul would stand up and keep looking at the entrance, hoping for the girl to walk in. His eyes would be fixed there till about 10.30am after which he would slump on his chair. During this phase, if any customer opted to take the corner table, Ratul would quickly go across and offer them a larger table than their need. One day, the staff planned to overturn the chair on the corner table to make sure no customer even attempted to occupy it but then decided against it. They knew their good boss would not like their making fun of him. Moreover, if there were to be an inspection by the HQ team, this would go against the café in general and the manager in particular.

One afternoon, Ratul decided to go out for lunch as his maid had not come to work. He loved the chhole-bhaturey of Bhatia Sweets nearby. He walked in there and ordered for a plate of bhaturey with pindi chholey and a glass of special lassi that came with a layer of cream on top. While waiting for his order, he saw the ‘missing customer’ sitting on a small table near the kitchen and working on her laptop with her head bent low. Ratul could not see her face but having observed her demeanour over time, he was certain that it was none other than the corner girl. Waiting for the food to be served, Ratul found courage, of which he knew not before, and walked towards the girl. The air around the place was hot and there were thick fumes of spice coming from the kitchen. He could not help coughing and the girl, hearing it, straightened her neck, moved a lock of hair from her face to lookup at the man standing.

“Hello, may I talk to you for a moment?”

“Yes.”

“Why have you stopped coming to the Lisboa Café?”

The girl looked very surprised at the question. She kept looking at the man without uttering a single word.

“I am sorry to interrupt your work and ask you this question but since you were a regular there, couldn’t help wanting to know the reason for the change.”

The girl kept quiet and once again went back to her work as if Ratul did not exist. Not getting any response from the girl, he stepped back and went to his table to eat his lunch. Bhatiaji, the proprietor of the shop who had heard the conversation, came and sat down opposite Ratul and said, “Arrey bhai, I saw this girl was working outside my shop for a few days and then I asked her to come inside. I gave her a small wooden table and chair and since the other pieces of furniture in the shop are made of steel and cannot be moved, she agreed to sit in this place and work near the kitchen. Despite the heat and smoke, she seems to be always engrossed in her work and never ever complains. Every day she makes it a point to thank me both when she enters the shop and also when she is about to leave for home. Once in a while she brings in homemade puranpoli for me. That is the only time I see her smile; for the rest of the time, I hardly get to see her face.”

Ratul finished his lunch and went back to his café. He was even more ruffled than before and no one in his team knew why. He was working mechanically, supervising his staff but not interacting with the other customers. Around 4pm, he decided to go out for some fresh air in the hope that it might clear his mind. He went to the chaiwala around the corner and lit a cigarette. As he was enjoying his tea and the smoke, he heard a soft voice from behind, “Hello Sir.” He turned around and found the corner girl standing before him. Ratul quickly dropped his cigarette and stubbed it out and looked straight into her eyes as she spoke.

“I am very sorry for my rude behaviour this afternoon. Actually, I was completely shocked to see you and did not know what to say.”

“That’s all right but would like to ask the same question again. Why did you stop coming to our cafe? “

“I am a student in my final year in college and additionally do Japanese translations for some corporates. I get paid for my work but it is not much. It helps me take care of some of my expenses and a major portion of it I give it to my mother to run the household. I just cannot afford the hourly charges your café has recently introduced.”

Ratul realised the problem. A week ago, the new management put up small cardboard standees on each of the café tables stating that customers using the place for work purposes will have the option to either pay or spend Rs 500 for every two hours of stay.

“Please come to the café once again from tomorrow and let me handle the problem,”

“Please do not take any obligation or pity on me. I am fine at Bhatiaji’s shop and he is a very kind and loving person and the staff there is also friendly.”

“I am not doing you any favour but actually asking you to help me in my work appraisal. My bosses want us to have more footfalls and I need loyal and regular customers. As a manager, I also have some discretionary powers without violating any guidelines. More importantly, I will feel happy if you were to accept my offer.”

The girl smiled and went her way. Ratul went back feeling happy. He saw the girl take the Metro elevator and he punched the air with his fist as if saying hurray!

Next morning, sharp at 10am, Ratul saw the girl with big eyes and pearly white teeth walk in and he gave her a smile that she reciprocated immediately. The girl walked towards her corner chair-table and noticed that the dreaded card which was at all other tables was not there on hers. She once again turned around and nodded her head to her benefactor and got down to work. From then on Ratul’s energy at workstation was contagious and the team members knew his secret source of adrenalin. It was business as usual, in fact better. Ratul made sure customers were welcomed and delighted to be spending time at the café and spending good monies there on food and beverages. The corner girl once again had become a regular customer. Once in a while the happy manager would add a cookie to her order of coffee and she did not object.

Things at the store looked up and Ratul was happy at his work. Just a nod or a smile from the girl in the corner table would make his day even better. This went on for almost a month till one afternoon, a staff member requested Ratul to accompany him for a cup of tea at the corner stall. The moment the duo left the café, the other staff members quickly brought out a couple of packets and started decorating the place with balloon and small electric lamps. Some customers also joined the fun and helped the employees in making the place look colourful. The girl did not know what was happening. The staff switched off the lights and as soon as Ratul walked in, the lamps lit up and music started playing. The manager was completely flummoxed when Rashmi, the senior employee at the café said… “Sir, our café has been ranked among the top five cafes among the 192 in the Lisboa chain across the country and you have been promoted as General Manager. We made sure you did not see the Managing Director’s mail to all that came in this afternoon for we wanted to give you a surprise.”

While all the customers stood up, clapping and cheering, the girl just clapped a couple of times and sat down. All in the café went up to congratulate Ratul in person. When the celebrations were still going on, the girl picked up her bag and went out without meeting Ratul. There was cake cutting and some food the staff had arranged that was shared with all present. When things calmed down, Ratul thanked everyone and decided to call it a day. He stepped out of the café and went towards the parking space where his motorbike stood. He was pleasantly surprised to see the corner girl standing there. She stretched her hands towards him and said, “Congratulations Sir. I got some sweets for you from Bhatiaji’s shop. Have it with your family at home.”

Ratul accepted the small box in a brown packet and said, “Thank you. I love sweets. My parents live in Delhi so I will eat all the sweets alone. My promotion is good news but am sorry to tell you that I will now have to relocate to our head office at Bangalore in the next two weeks. Who will take my place here at the café is something that I have little control.”

“Don’t worry about me. While I have had my share of difficulties and hardships in life but I am always blessed with good people like you around to help me out. I am sure someone good will come here, but if not, my seat at Bhatiaji’s is assured for all times. I just want to thank you for your kindness and will pray for your success. Goodnight, Sir.”

Ratul stood still for sometime and then went home. He unlocked his one room home, threw down his bag, took out the box of sweets and started eating the motichur laddoos, one after another. He turned to looked into the mirror and saw himself as a perfect picture of charmolypi or a state of joyful mourning in Greek with his mouthful of happiness and eyes that were moist, waiting to burst. He knew that there was still some time before he left for Bangalore but he was already missing his girl in the corner table.

SS