Favorite Restaurant

 

The restaurant owner saw from the cash counter that his regular customer had arrived at table number 4. He was sitting at the table and calling the waiter for food. But the waiter was late. Seeing this, the restaurant owner himself came and said, ‘Sorry, you know my restaurant is small. There are only 3 waiters. Two of them are on vacation. And the one who is there is new. That’s why he doesn’t realize you are my regular customer.’

The restaurant owner name was Benjamin. An elderly gentleman. A small restaurant on the side of the road. He was doing well by selling coffee and fast food. I heard from him that there is no one in this world who is his own. He lost his parents when he was young. He grew up with a lot of hardship. He came to this city from another city to earn money. He lived in a small city, so there were not many job opportunities. In fact, it is not right to call it a city. It is better to call it a village. Slowly he came to love this city as his own. First, he worked as a waiter at a street food shop on the side of the road. From there, he gradually became the owner of his own restaurant through his own hard work. He himself never expected that he would ever be the owner of such a restaurant. What he has become is definitely due to his own ability.

I also have another favorite restaurant like this. Its owner’s name is Sebastian. There is not a day that I don’t go to one of these two restaurants. I don’t know why, but I prefer the food of these two small restaurants in this city. If I ever go with someone, I may have to go to their favorite restaurant, but these two restaurants are my favorite. I even had a fight with a friend once about which one is in favor of these two restaurants. But since I have been out of town for office work for the past month, I have not been able to go to either of the two restaurants for the past month. I returned my home after finishing my office work yesterday. So I have come to the restaurant today.

Benjamin: First tell me, how are you? I haven’t seen you almost a month, where have you been?

Me: I’m fine. I went out of town for office work. Give me the best item from your menu today.

‘Did you come today or yesterday?’ Benjamin asked with a smile, then asked the waiter to bring me the best item and walked towards the other customer.

In the last 2 years, I have developed good friendships with Benjamin & Sebastian. I don’t really hang out much due to pressure of work. So, I don’t have many friends except for those two. On top of that, I’m quite a foodie. And their items are so tasty. So I have a little more sincerity towards them.

The waiter brought a new item. I have never eaten this before. The food was so tasty that I was overwhelmed with emotion. I get very annoyed when someone disturbs me while eating. While I was eating, my mobile phone rang. My mother had called me. I hung up the first time. I also hung up the second time it rang. I didn’t want to hang up the third time.

Mom said, ‘Have you eaten?’ I said, ‘You know. It’s Sunday. And I don’t pick up the phone when I get something I like to eat.’ Mom said, ‘Sorry, I forgot. I found some more girls for your marriage. I will send their pictures and details to your WhatsApp. Remember.’ I said, ‘Okay. Let me eat now.’

Now Benjamin came closer and said, ‘Did your mom call you? And how long will you stay single like this? Get married now.’ I said, ‘For the last 3-4 months, mom and my aunt have been giving details of girls one after another. I am meeting them but I don’t want to get married at all.’ Benjamin said, ‘Don’t be a virgin like me.’ I said, ‘Apart from all this tell me first, I told you about opening another branch of your restaurant. Have you thought of something? If you want, I can get you the tender for the canteen where I work. Your restaurant will run very well.’ Benjamin said, ‘it’s very difficult to run two brances alone. But if I find a way, I’ll let you know.’

As I spoke like this, my food was getting stuck in my throat. After drinking some water and looking at table number 3, I saw a girl sitting there. I know the girl. The girl’s office on one of the floors of the building where I have my office. I often meet the girl while go up and down in the elevator. But we never talked. I am a bit of an introvert anyway. And the girl also goes up and down in the elevator with her colleagues most of the time. I don’t know the girl’s name or address. But even though the girl is not so beautiful, there is such an allure in the girl’s face that you can’t help but stare at her.

I asked Benjamin, ‘Well, who is the girl? I have never seen her before.’

Although the restaurant is small but it is almost two decades old. So Benjamin knows all the news about who comes to Benjamin’s place and where it comes from. Benjamin smiled and said, ‘That girl? She has been coming here every Sunday for the past month. The girl said that she lives next door.’

Meanwhile, the girl was also calling the waiter exactly like me. But the waiter was not responding. So Benjamin came close to my ear with a smiling face and whispered, ‘What? Are you going to open another branch? I smiled & replied, a little embarrassed, ‘No.’

If you like to read bengali stories you can visit this blog also. Link

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