the invisible villain

Cafe

Their first meeting was something neither would forget. Though, how they felt about it was significantly different.

August needed money for his novels. He certainly couldn’t ask at home. Let alone the fact that he didn’t want to step out of his room and see anyone, even if he did venture to ask he would be laughed off. How could he, the illegitimate son, even dream of getting money from the family? Who did he think he was? But all he had was his novels. And he couldn’t not read. And so, he searched on the internet for little jobs he could complete on his computer, that could earn him enough to buy his novels.

Alex was looking for someone who could analyse large amounts of data. Make sense. See patterns. Most importantly, prepare simple and easy to understand spreadsheets. She posted a job on a freelancing portal. August replied. She was hiring more than just one person for the job. So, she hired August as well.

And well, rest was history. She was impressed with August’s work. Then amused as much as stupefied at his reason for needing money.

Three years later, Alex was Abe’s mother. They were sitting in the balcony, looking out at the serene lake while enjoying coffee and butter cookies. She couldn’t understand his tongue. He liked his coffee black with a lot of sugar. And he loved dipping the cookies in coffee and munching on the softened cookies. Exactly two cookies. And then, slowly drinking his coffee, so it was room temperature by the time he sipped the last of it. And through it all, looking as if he was relishing some rare delicacy.

“I want to open a cafe,” he told her.

She was stunned.

“Why?” She asked. “If you want money, can’t you earn enough from your jobs?”

“I can, I guess,” he answered honestly. “I still want to open a cafe. It’ll be like our place. And although it will be a cafe, it will also be a place where we gather. You. Me. Our friends. Discuss jobs. Have coffee. Snacks. Enjoy the lake. It’ll be nice.”

She didn’t reply immediately. She thought about it all evening and all night and all morning. She had an answer at lunch.

“Alright,” she said. “We’ll open a cafe. But it’ll be your responsibility. I’ll help. But it’s yours. You cannot forget that. And you cannot take anyone offering help for granted.”

“Yes,” he said without hesitation. “It will be my responsibility. But it will be our cafe.”

That very evening they got started. Two days later, they found a storefront on the lakeside. Alex bought it under his name, with her signing as his guardian, a necessity since he was still a minor. And a month later, Cafe was open for business.

*

As always, at 6:30 am the doors were unlocked and the open sign was up next to the door. The entire front of the cafe was glass. It was spotless, squeaky clean. And at the right time of day, it became invisible, along with the street and the trees in between, so the cafe seemed to be floating upon the lake. And when it rained, it was so much more stunning.

MET predicted that today was going to see no rain and no clouds. And it might just be a hot day. Accordingly, Abe had brewed cold coffee overnight. And coming in, ensured there were enough bottles of iced tea in the refrigerator. Also, for some reason he couldn’t fathom, spicy snacks sold more on the hot days. And the ice creams sold only after the sun had set.

At 6:45, April walked in on the dot. April claimed it was a gift she was born with. Most of the others called it boasting. But no one could deny the fact that one could set their watch by April. The woman was never off by even a second. It was a great advantage just as much as it was a necessity.

“Hot day,” she said in greeting.

“Coffee should be ready,” Abe said. “It’s been ten hours.”

“Got it,” she said with a salute. “I’ll pour it into the high jar. Also, we haven’t got enough iced green tea.”

“I’ll place the order.”

The two conversed while they worked. By 7:00 am, they were ready. And the first customer walked in, the same as everyday. She was also a part owner.

“Morning Alex,” April greeted brightly.

“Cold cheese sandwiches,” Alex announced.

The three sat down for breakfast on the first table on the left. On mornings they usually only had the neighbours, the residents of the lakeside villas, walking in. And all of these were stopping for a quick bite after their walks and runs around the lake, before heading home. April made mouthwatering healthy snacks. She needed no more than a few weeks to conquer the tongues.

Their friends showed up slowly by afternoon. The first one today was Ludwig. Ludwig was a connoisseur of art, in his words. All the artworks hung on the walls of Cafe were his donations. And all of them were replicas. They were also replicas of the artworks he had stolen and sold off for handsome money. And his greatest achievement was being unidentified by the police or other authorities despite being in the field for so many years.

“It’s so weird seeing you without your books,” Ludwig said drinking the cold coffee. “College starts in a week, doesn’t it?”

“Yes,” Abe said, taking a bite of the nougat chocolate bar.

“I’ve got you something.

Ludwig gave Abe a beautifully wrapped box. Abe accepted it gracefully, with a happy smile.

“Open it now?” Abe asked.

“If you want to,” Ludwig said.

“I do,” Abe said.

Alex and April came over as he unwrapped the box. An exquisite wooden box was revealed, inside which was a fountain pen.

“For college,” Ludwig said. “Handmade. It’s a gold nib. Fine tip. Perfect for a student. You’ll learn so much better too, just as your handwriting will improve. Like it?”

“Yes,” Abe said honestly.

“So what do you think college will be like?” Ludwig asked.

That was the question on all their minds.

“I hope it’s quiet and boring. Four years of nothing happening. That’ll be the best.”

All three of them sighed. And April voiced what they were all thinking.

“You’re really sad, you know. You never say such things out loud. You’re jinxing it.”

Abe was stunned.

“What do you mean?” He asked.

The three just shook their heads sadly, and left him alone at the table. Just then, Emily barged in like a storm.

“Abby, we’ve got work,” she screamed. And continued without a pause. “Analysing security detail for a critical target. It’s big, BIG money.”

That was the perfect thing to distract him from April’s scary words.

Two days later, Alex and Abe were enjoying the quiet and dark lake. It was 10:30 pm. Business hours ended at 10 pm. The closed sign was hanging by the door. April left at 8 pm, her usual time. They had no customers tonight. And so, they decided to close the cafe at 9:30 pm. They also felt like hanging around a little longer. Enjoy a drink. She wasn’t fond of alcohol. And he wasn’t yet old enough. And so, tea it was. Lemon flavoured for him. Peach for her. The two were drinking from the cold bottles, enjoying a quiet night. And conversation inevitably steered toward college.

“Do we need to hire some part timers?” Abe said. “For when I’m at college. Or maybe full timers.”

“No,” Alex said decisively. “That’s too much of a pain.”

“What if you need help?”

“April and I can manage. Maybe I’ll invite the others to operate from here. We’ll never be short of hands then.”

“Yes, that definitely works.”

He had spent time with all of them. Helped them. Seen the closeness they shared. Alex was the hub that brought them all together. And they had all promised that one day, when the time was right, they would tell him how all of this came to be. He was eagerly waiting for that day. And now that Alex said she would have them over, he was excited about the prospect of that right time getting nearer.

“And I really hope I didn’t jinx college,” he said softly.

“Oh, you most definitely did,” Alex teased. “What could be the worst that could happen?”

“That I somehow get caught up in the plot,” he said, and shuddered. “That’s how it is in the novels. All of them. For the transmigrator, there’s no escaping the plot.”

“We’ve had three years,” Alex said, trying to sound more confident than she was feeling. “Nothing wrong in hoping the future to be the same.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “I hope. So very much.”

The mood turned dark made them long to remain at Cafe for longer. Just sitting and staring at the lake under the night. A little after midnight, they finally went home.

Four days later, Abe went to college. And nothing changed. College was quiet and boring. And nothing happened. And everyone at Cafe celebrated with him.