[Continued from last week…]
He has had three dates here so far. Every one of them was at the alcove table. The first was a girl from his university. That was when he was an undergrad and I was just a couple of months into the job here. I knew they were university undergrads from the bits of conversation I was able to eavesdrop on while slowly clearing tables and walking past them. And they weren’t talking in whispering tones either. They looked like they knew each other for some time. Words like ‘campus’ ‘lectures’ ‘strikes’ ‘mid semester’ ‘thesis’ were key words that I caught clearly.
I was not a barista yet at that time but the first female server at Coco Lounge. She was quite the bomb. A striking beauty. Long straight hair, fair, tall, not very, very tall, but tall for a girl I mean. She was exactly his height and I thought that was not a good match.
The very visible height factor when the two of them walk side by side would definitely make him look a shorty. And she’s the kind of beauty who turns heads. Clear, flawless, fair skin, a winsome smile. The kind of face which should be on TV either reading news or hosting a TV show or acting in beauty care TV commercials. But the woman was already spoken for! Ha, ha! Turns out the man is in Australia doing his Masters and due to come back in a few months. The poor fool had not even asked her if she had a boyfriend before asking her here to the alcove table! I was well positioned just when that part happened. Took some extra effort to make a table nearby spotless clean and take out all the stains.
So, while I was extra hard at my duty, I caught the climax! I almost burst out a laugh, but quickly held my breath and alerted by brain that I can’t show any reactions and must pretend I didn’t hear anything! But I slowly turned round and pretended to look around as though looking for someone and managed to catch sight of what his face looked like at that moment. It was very clear his heart got shot down for the first time in his life. Right here at that table. The alcove table. Felt sorry for him the way his face just burst into deep pink with embarrassment when she broke to him the bad news. Looked as though he was almost ready to up and run away but couldn’t because of the last remaining shred of dignity was keeping him glued to the seat.
Poor fool must have thought it was all a real sure shot. That she was surely fully available and it was just a matter of asking her to be his girlfriend over a romantic cup of chocolate mocha! Poor fool. She felt sorry for him too I think. But she looked flattered too. Flattered that he would bring her to a place like this to ask a question like that which he could have surely asked at their university, over a cup of tea at the canteen. Grand gestures gone to waste. Never saw him here with her again. Though she did come here on and off with other friends of hers. And she still does once in a while. Saw her a couple of months ago in fact. Came with the husband. All chiselled straight nose and high cheek boned face, tall, fair and handsome six plus feet of gold band on the ring finger wearing husband. It was pretty clear she had a much better deal already in place. Way before he thought of putting a cup of Coco Lounge coffee to her lips and telling her how much he liked her. That is assuming the husband she came in was the boyfriend in Australia she spoke of when she was sitting at the alcove table years ago. The first date I saw this guy have with a girl, here at Coco Lounge, at the alcove table he loves so much.
Second date
Then about a year after that, there was a second date. Yes, would have been around a year after that I guess. His visits here began to become more regular even after the disastrous first date. Most times he came with guy friends. Some who were clearly earning well and in good positions in private companies. People with much more money to spend here than he had. Clearly not undergrads. But, his solo visits slowly started to increase too, I noticed. And his solo visits are always at the alcove table. A mainly loner who is a part time group socialising person I guess. So, this second date would have been about a year after the first date disaster with the bombshell beauty. The second was a dainty little china doll type. But she wasn’t Chinese. Turned out to be Japanese. How do I know for sure she was Japanese and not Chinese?
Because, after all, I honestly can’t tell by just looking at them if they are Japanese or Chinese or Korean. Sometimes I wonder if even they can tell their nationalities apart just by looking at each other! So, anyway, the little fair Japanese doll was with him at the alcove table one early evening. He looked pretty eager in the way he spoke to her. She was more about politeness and being civil I thought. Must not have not known her long at all. The look on her face was clear that she didn’t seem she was enjoying the coffee date as much as she should have. The first date bombshell beauty on the other hand was quite a contrast in behaviour. She was clearly comfortable with him and enjoyed the occasion.
Only thing was that it didn’t work for him. But she didn’t seem down about it at all was what the look on her face said. But the cherry blossom who had coffee with him was different. She seemed to be hiding a small sense of nervousness almost.
No idea if she was also someone who was spoken for, but clearly he couldn’t win her over. Finally he saw her out to where her vehicle was parked. A white Prado jeep with a driver waiting inside for her. And since I happened to be out there as well, just at that time to check if anything was needed at the tables outside, at the frontal lounging space for customers who want to sit out and smoke, I happened to see that the vehicle she climbed into had ‘JAICA’ printed on it with its logo. It was on the vehicle door. JAICA is the Japanese aid organisation. That much I know. So, she was surely a Japanese working at the JAICA office. A cherry blossom here for official work and he would have thought he could snare her with a ‘coffee evening’ for two, at the alcove table. Pathetic. All hopes for him ended then and there, is what I think. Never saw him come here again to meet her. So, the Sakura date also ended as a no go for him.
[To be continued…]
