From Me

6 years later

MASON

"oh no-no griffin not now," I said to the short fellow beside me

He nodded and tightened his hold around the handle.

I could feel the sweat roll down my back, tracing my spinal cord making its way down.

Griffin too had his forehead covered with a layer of sweat just like mine, the air near the stove was too hot, especially at this time of the year.

It was like torture to stand in front of those big flames in the month of august, but it didn't matter, this was our work, our passion.

The weather could go to hell for all I care.

"Now?" he asked, impatient tapping his left foot.

"No," I said then I moved the stove nob to full

"Now," I said and his hands started the swift movement.

Flipping the special ingredients on the pan just the way I had taught him minutes ago.

Smiling I patted him on the back lowering down the flames, I praised "Good job, you got it"

walking out I noticed his winning smile.

Just like I had when I first learned it years ago, this never gets old.

The Café was in a full-blown hustle.

Waiters roaming around with letters in their hands, tables full with customers chatting and counter buzzing with order placements, payments, and the machines behind the counter producing that delicious drink people are obsessed off, coffee.

Wiping my hands on the waste napkin I stuffed it in my apron pocket and looked up to see my brother sitting on one of the tables with a girl, but instead of conversing he was volunteering a starring match with his drink.

Frowning I walked towards him, this was new.

Carl my youngest brother can finish the food before you can say eat, and starring at his drink deep in thoughts, that's not him.

He eats more than anyone can think and still owns a shaped body, where I have to train day and night to maintain mine.

"What's up buddy?" I asked sitting in the chair in front of him and greeted the girl beside him, who was looking at his match amused "hello".

"I got a letter saying don't fucking touch that drink or I'll beat the living shit out of you," He said pointing at that drink and then at the letter beside it while the girl beside him after greeting me with a hello started laughing.

I couldn't help at that and laughed with her ignoring his eye roll.

"Dude you deserve it, and besides if you had just drunk the drink the letter writer wouldn't have known it's you who he or she has to beat the living shit out of," I said still grinning and the girl nodded still giggling.

"Right!" He said smiling cheerfully and reached towards the drink.

The girl swept his hand off and he looked at her confused.

"Why'd you do that, I want to drink that!" He said

"Do you want to get a beating for the living shit of you?" I asked arching one of my eyebrows before the girl could respond.

"But you said they wouldn't know!" He argued looking at the girl then at me.

"She said wouldn't have, not wouldn't, now that you've been starring at your drink, your ME would already know it's you," I said and the girl nodded her head in agreement.

"Shit man it's so freaking confusing, you really had to build a café like that, couldn't have gone simple and do just 'food-serve-earn and be done'" He said and chuckling I shook my head and carl introduced me to the girl.

"This is Meegan, Meegan this is mason, my brother and one of the owners of 'from Me' café," He said pointing at me.

"Nice to meet you, meegan" I said shaking her hand

"You too, mason," She said smiling

"So besides starring at the drink, what ya two been up to?" I asked

"Actually I wanted to write an article about this café, but I had no idea of its origin, schedule and...............these letters, so I asked Carl to help me as he is," She said pointing at me "the brother of the owner, but instead of telling me he bought me here"

"And your gonna explain her everything, cause honestly I can't," Carl said taking his drink he stood up and went in the kitchen.

"Okay, so you'll practically be taking an interview?" I asked

"Yes" She responded

"Ah. I have no idea how to give an interview have never..........how do we do it?" I asked confused, do I just tell her everything that comes to my mind about the café or would she be asking questions and I'll just have to answer them, will she take notes or write the article right now.

"I'll ask questions you just answer and that'll be good, I'll record you and later I'll write my article," She said while tucking her blonde hair behind her ear.

Meegan looked like the same age as carl, and she is cute.

With those glasses and small chubby face, so doll type.

I smiled at her appearance cause she could be sewed in a teddy bear and no one would argue with her cuteness.

"Okay," I said and she took out a notepad with questions written on them.

"Came prepared," I said

"Yeah," She said shyly than asked the first question, her demeanor changing into a professional one.

"When did you start 'from me'?"

"About five years and a few months"

"How did you come up with the idea to open a café or was it your dream from the starting?"

"Eh.... No actually, my mom is a really good cook and back then Carlson and I were kids, we used to help her around, learn to cook do experiments, then I wanted to become a cook and Carlson wanted to do the administration kind of work, we were both getting our degrees for the same and one night we were drunk and all alone at home"

I couldn't help the smile forming on my lips remembering those good old days " It was our first year in college, we were talking all stupid and just talking about dreams, we talked and blabbered and tried to mix our professions and we ended up deciding about opening a café, so that's how the idea came, because of drinks" I said and she giggled.

"So you opened a café the same year you got the idea?" She asked

"Yeah about eight months apart"

"How did you arrange and actually established it, I mean your father is the sheriff of your town and.........." She trailed off

Translation: Low income, how did we manage to earn enough to be able to own a place and call it a café?

"We were in college, doing odd jobs, sold the car and some stuff after finalizing that Carlson and I were really on it, mom had savings and dad helped a bit loaning and all" I answered

"Oh, that is really good family support and all, how do your parents feel about all this?"

"They are really happy. I mean branches all over the country and soon there will be an opening in India as well so spreading out of the country, what else would we want, we are happy. Mom, dad, carl and us we are happy we spread so far and are successful at the moment, earning enough to satisfy our wants"

"Great, so let's jump to all the unique things around here, no questions just tell us your self," She said and this time I looked around breathing in.

"There are in total two things, table no. and letters" I said then continued "there are in total thirty-five tables here, and none of them have a particular table no. when people walk in, they go for the table they like and when they come to order at the counter, they tell us where they are seated and choose a no. between 1 to 35.

If the no. they chose and the table they are seated on are the same they are discounted 30 percent if not then no discount. The tables are numbered every day by software so it is very rare that the table which was numbered 1 would still be one, the software changes the number daily."

"Wow, that interesting, which table is this today?" She asked with a mischievous smile"

"Even we don't know that, but your order is on me," I said playfully and she grinned, looks like aside looking like a teddy bear she is foody too.

"That is awesome! Now what about these letters?" She asked, impatient much.

"When the person comes to order they are also asked to write whatever they want on a paper, where the sender's address is printed as FROM ME.

Now ones they have written whatever they want, they tell a table no. where they want to deliver, though they'll have no idea to whom they are sending or which table did they choose.

So yeah they tell us the waiters roaming are pointed to the table and handed the letter, they deliver it, and if the receiver of the letter or the sender somehow finds out another person they are given a 10 percent discount as well"

"That is cool and all mischievous, what is usually written in the letters?"

"We don't read the letters, but assuming they are usually, pranks like this one," I said pointing to the letter in front of us.

"Or confessions maybe, social media id's wishes it is anything"

"Woho! I'm gonna do that!" She said enthusiastically and I laughed.

"Is it done, I need to be in the hotel in 15 minutes," Carl said standing in front of our table.

"It is actually," Meegan said grabbing her notebook and mobile "It was nice to meet you and this café is amazing!" She said hugging me sideways.

"Thanks!" I said doing the same

"Okay so we'll be leaving then, but Carl first let's write a letter, please!" She said smiling and waving both Carl and Meegan went off to the counter.

Meegan and Carl have recently started dating and looking at them, they look cute, with carl all tall and lean and Meegan all short and chubby.

Smiling at them I was about to walk out of my seat when I saw a paper cutting of a newspaper.

Frowning I read the whole article as the headline caught my attention

CLARE INDUSTRIES ONE OF THE RICHEST IN THE WORLD

Its been what six years since that night, I still have no answers to my questions, no answers to all those why's.

For the next twelve months after that night, there was no news of Clare industries except that one about Alaaiya Cassendria Clare being alive after getting shot by her brother in the left side of her chest because apparently, her heart was in the right or some shit.but just in the thirteenth month, the whole month actually there was news after news of Clare industries, and if I speak honestly all good, profitable booming news.

The girl after recovering or something had become the CEO and to say the least was kind of rocking the world, but there was nothing else about her except for this that she was the reason Clare industries were now one of the top ten richest in the world.

There was a line written in the end, a very familiar line I read a billion times now everywhere where Alaaiya's name was mentioned.

Since it had nothing new or intrusting news shrugging I dropped the paper back where it was and went to the counter for work.

But even after working I couldn't remove that line out of my head, couldn't throw it away, it just kept on repeating itself in my head.

A NAME OF NO FACE

Was she really alive, was she after all these business decisions or was it just a bluff, a game.