To Make It To Forever… I

To Make It To Forever… I

Diary of a line cook 

10/25

A small ramen shop hides its doors in a back alley between two towering complexes. 

He comes in at the same time, on the same days, with the same look in his eyes. I wonder what happened to him? A breakup? Or maybe he’s just tired. He looks like he’s old enough to be in university. If so, maybe a long day? You may be wondering why I’m even thinking about this person and well, I kind of have a crush on him. Though I still don’t know his name, the conversations we’ve had are the reason why I look forward to my shifts these days. He looks kind of scary and seems hard to approach, but he’s a pretty normal guy once you’ve talked to him a few times. Though you probably won’t recognize him being in a room with you even if you were the only two people inside. To me, he has a very quiet demeanor. I always give him extra eggs even though he doesn’t order it and I wish he’d just take the hint but a girl can only dream.

Anyways, today was stranger than usual. I received two orders that were exactly identical. From the side dishes to the bowls, to even the toppings on the bowls! I had thought the server wrote it down twice for some unknowable reason but it was to two different people. I kinda found it funny but what made it unfunny was that one of these orders was the guy I was talking about earlier. My heart sank to the floor. Did he bring somebody? Naturally I was scouring every part of my brain to rule out all possibilities of the person he brought to be another woman and thankfully enough, I was right… kind of.

Out of curiosity I delivered his bowls myself and to my surprise there was nobody across from him. I asked the man, “So who's the special lady?” like a dork because now he definitely knows he’s been on my mind and after putting his phone down he laughed and said, “looks like she couldn’t make it today”. Damn. Not only did he confirm my worst fear, but this guy, that I know next to nothing about, has been stood up by his partner whom I’ve deduced that this other bowl belongs to for no adequately good reason. At that point, I knew what time I needed to be on. 

“Hey, I can ask the server not to charge you for the other bowl and stuff if you’d like” I said.

“Nah, it’s fine I’ll eat everything here. By the way, what’s the dessert menu look like this month?”, he responded.

“Forget about the dessert menu, you can have me for dessert.” I said, seductively.

Ok I didn’t say that but I was thinking about it. I guess there’s a certain sensation you feel when someone you barely know but you’re kinda into from the, what, two conversations you had, is in a very secure and strong relationship with another individual. Oh infidelity, what a timeless plot device to abuse. They should call you, “infinitedelity”... due to your everlasting existence in literature…

Fuck I’m so lonely.

Anyways, after I gave him the dessert menu, I also went to deliver the other order as well. Curiosity has gotten the best of me. To my surprise, this was another one of our regulars. This one was different from the former because unlike him, she had a very demanding presence. Of course that’s not to downplay the way he makes me feel but she carries the kind of confidence that you only have on payday, except for her, everyday feels like payday. The guys in our shop stop working just to talk to her all the time. She doesn’t come here often anymore but everyone in the store knows her. Her name is Mira or something like that, I forgot her full name.

“Hi Ma'am, your order.”

“Thank you. May I also get the bill now? I shall pay in advance.”

“Sure. It’s my pleasure to serve you!”

As for me, I don’t really talk to her. Her eyes were as sharp as kitchen knives and her clothes looked like the same price as my rent. I felt jealous. She looks around my age and yet, she seems like she got everything figured out. Ok, starting tomorrow, I’ll figure out what to do with my life! I will go start my own business, and invest in stocks and such! What the hell am I even saying?! See, this is the presence I’m talking about. Being around her makes you feel like a loser because she’s just so perfect! I don’t even say those things to people and yet she made me say it to her without even trying!

 I swear this girl is like a witch or something. 

To get back on topic, I assumed that she also ordered two bowls for the same reason as the guy. But the thing is, after my shift ended about half an hour later, I glanced over the serving hatch and she was still in the shop just sitting there, and she was alone. Was her partner not able to make it as well? Wow. I cannot believe that. Anyways as I left the kitchen to leave work, I felt a deep sadness come over me for some reason. I still don’t understand because the happiest time I’m at work is when I leave but it was as if the whole store was wrapped in a deep melancholy. There wasn’t any of the customer ambience, my coworkers were a lot slower than they usually were, and what’s more was that the two regulars I served, for just a quick second, almost looked something other-wordly; something horrific. I just brushed it off as my imagination was playing tricks on me because I was tired and just wanted to leave right away, but I was genuinely terrified.

I wonder what the deal was with those two?