Chapter 1: A Swedish Lamp
Chapter 1: A Swedish Lamp and Beige Case
Let it go. Let it go. Let it go! Please! Uhhh. Nope. You're not letting it go. Ookay.
"Anjali!"
Now, who's calling me. Uuhhh. I am done with my shift and don't want to work anymore…and my head is about to explode, seriously!
"ANJALI!", it was in his fullest capacity this time.
"It's damn Kunal," I recognized his voice this time.
"Coming!" I reciprocated the same energy. I would have shouted louder but I had to be considerate. Despite everything, I still love Humpty and can't bring him any damage.
So by making sure that my tone does not disturb the nearby customers, I repeated. Also, Kunal's voice had a smell of danger that I could not waste even a second at the table. So leaving my sandwich and plates there, very much aware of how I will be bashed for such carelessness, I ran.
Sarghun gave me a glance from behind the counter but he knew nothing.
"Not my fault, boss call," I spitted the words even though I know I did not need to and I continued my race towards the kitchen door.
I know I should run but it does not seem professional but I don't want anyone to call me either, so maybe running is not a bad option.
But what if I kill him today? Will I go to jail? For him? He doesn't look that important to me. You know, his wife barely calls. His mother is too old and literally blind, so not in a condition to fight for it. His sisters are too naive and young to take any stand. I think I can do it.
Suddenly the kitchen door opened and Sara came out of it with two serving trays. She had become quite professional even in three weeks of training.
I wanted to just stop the door right there so I could go in without touching the filthy handle. But sadly I was still too far to stop the door by foot, or hands in worse cases.
I can suffocate him with my bag or let him burn in a blast, like that documentary I saw last night. I can also stab him. I opened the door and there he was. In the front.
"You free from your judging sessions?" he said.
"I don't judge anyone. I simply observe them, that's a different thing," I spoke out loud this time.
"I think it's the same" he remained firm with his stance.
I wanted to stab him right there.
I saw a knife on the left bottom side of his shelf and his hands were moving swiftly between those shelves and stove. He was putting food on plates and passing them to be served. It was a perfect opportunity for me to get my hands over him, but there was also an audience around. It's a busy hour, and everybody rushing from one place to another taking orders, cooking, and handing them to the waiters to get served.
Even Tulsi is working pretty dedicatedly. She is the laziest among all but things seemed pretty harsh at the moment.
Not to mention Ram, his swift moments were as sweet and beautiful as always. Just like the taste in his hands, his eyes beheld the similar magic. They could charm anyone with their magic and taste of their own. He looked at me. He looked at me! What should I do? Look away. Look away. Okay, yes. Kunal. Focus on him. Stab him.
"Please. Table A8!" he was emphasizing the table number unnecessarily. Anyways, taking the trays from him seemed the only way to shut his mouth at the moment.
"Okay Kunal. Sorry, boss". He smiled.
Of course, he had to smile. B O S S. He loved hearing this word. It boosted his ego. It reminded him of his power over me here, at home, everywhere, and how in every sense he was greater and better than me in every regard.
"I hated him. But he was a good chef. That I can't argue about.", I admitted as I saw the same old lady enjoying her soup. She seemed to like it too much.
Well. forget about him. He has already taken 17 years of my life. It's better to forget about him. Deep breath, remember what Mrs. Nail taught you. Deep breaths. Take a deep breath. Just don't spoil this. Okay, so serve it well today. Okay? Yes. Okay.
"Hey, I am good Sara. How're you?" I replied to Rakhi's greetings. The second shift was starting, and the remaining staff was starting their hours.
Reply. Good. Nod. Smile back. Keep going. Don't stop.
"Here it is Sir. your stuffed turkey with olives, sweet potato, mushrooms, pasta, and margarita. Anything else?" I heard myself speaking in the sweetest tone.
"No, it all smells very good. Thanks. " the bald man responded.
He was a regular customer and he ordered the same thing every time, except on Mondays. He seemed rather grumpy on Mondays as well. So he always ordered something different and a combination of two or three things. Oftentimes, he had not liked his combinations as well and ended up reordering the usual. But there was also a time when he loved the combination of alfredo pasta sauce on roasted fish and a grilled sandwich with pina colada that he ordered for the rest of the week. But, thank god! After that, he went back to his stuffed turkey, or chicken, depending upon what's available or his mood. It was easy handling him on non-Mondays, he was rather calm and tipped well. I liked this part most.
After serving him the order with my widest smile and delightful manners, I went to pick up the empty trays from table A5 and clean table A6 too, when I was serving him I saw Adrian picking up the plates and used napkins from the around, so I could at least clean the tables.
It hardly took me five minutes. The kitchen was not far away, and empty dishes went into the tub by the sink, and the 'cleano' cabinet, as we called it had numerous towels and liquid spray bottles if required. So I didn't have to wait either, it was an easy job.
I was certainly allergic to dust, but with a little care, I was able to do the job pretty efficiently. I greeted Adrian in the kitchen, Sara was already in her working mode by then, washing dishes as fast as humanly possible, Jenno was lost in her cell phone, not unusual for her though, and Kunal was reprimanding someone else on the cell phone. He was on the opposite side, so I couldn't make sense of what and who he was talking to, but maybe it was his wife. They have not been doing quite well lately.
I left the kitchen, and in the wish for some fresh air, started brisk walking towards the main door. It was then I saw Arthur sitting alone at the far right lonely table, with his head bowed down and pale expressions.
I stepped back immediately and went straight to him.
"You alright Arthur?", I asked.
"Ye..." his cough caught him for a moment, after a probable twenty-seconds-straight-terrible- cough, "I guess..." after catching his breath,"...mean no." he continued, honestly this time.
He was gasping and stretching his chest abnormally to exhale the air.
I took his hands into my hands and sat by his side, giving him a moment to recover from his second attack of coughing. I asked him politely if he needed to go home but he refused.
"Okay, so I think what we can do is take you to your room, you can take a rest there"
"No, no honey. It's the adrenaline hour. I can't", he denied again, he knew how to play with words to convince everyone to go his way.
I noticed that his hands and lips trembled slightly. His queer body, soft and drowning in fear with losing the ability to maintain breath still had the composed enough aura around him.
He was truly the master in pretending composure.
"Are you sure you don't want to lie down?", I tried with no hope of success this time.
"It's alright. Can you please get me my med bag from my case", he said with a slight tone of command and request at the same time, pointing towards his room.
I knew he would not agree to take a rest but at least medicines were better than ignoring it altogether.
"Okay, sure", I surrendered delightfully, patting his hand softly.
"Brown bag. Small. In. my…", his fragile body bowed further with his fourth cough attack.
"Beige case", I continued his sentence. I knew the colour of his case. I placed my hand over his with a warm smile, "who can not remember it, Arthur. Your classic case."
The words seemed to relieve him as he smiled warmly through his eyes. I knew it made him happy and I was glad I could make him smile.
***
It was not like I never went to his room, but it was his place to take some rest without wasting time in transportation. He also occasionally had his meetings with management staff, or handled VIP guests like investors and if somebody wanted to book the exclusively for any event here. So it was quite an exclusive space, but I was quite familiar with everything here.
I always felt comfortable here. Maybe it was because of the way he treated me.
The door was open. So I went in quickly and there was no point in knocking. It had two double sofas on the left side and one dark brown table at the top right corner, opposite the door, with minimalistic gadgets. All the decoration pieces, furniture, and all things were quite old school. He liked keeping the essence of his era alive in his private space. He wanted to do the same with the restaurant but the investors insisted on the renovation last year. I still remember how sad he was the day it got completed.
He said it felt like slowly losing all he identified about the place. He had bought and decorated the place with Ruby.
"It's just like when she first got sick. I feel like I am losing her all over again and slowly." I still remember his words. They killed me and it was the second time I hugged Arthur.
But it also reaffirmed my faith in true love. He is such a sweetheart, I know.
"Ah, it's here", I said, announcing it to the thin air.
His famous case. It was by his Swedish lamp, as always. I smiled at this fact. He had bought the lamp from Sweden around five years ago, the time he went to visit his family. The last time he met his son.
"I knew it would be you, dumbo!", Kunal sarcastically passed his remarks and went on to pick up the case and quietly walked out of the room without waiting for her to say or do anything.
He had caught me off guard and my mouth felt like the Arabian night's desert. I could not speak or even process anything for a second.
It was not the right thing to think but all she wanted to do was to pull his head out of his body.
It was not my very best day at work as all I could think about was how to kill him.
"Bastard. I would not wish such a brother to my enemies even. You dumb! and evil!"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Maham_Amir_4391
Maham_Amir_4391 I'd really appreciate your gifts at this stage. They are the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation if you want to know more about what follows in her journey!