Laleen's short encounter with the man with shiny shoes left her with a sour taste in her mouth for the rest of the evening.
For some reason, the name he had given her stuck and it was all she could hear now.
"Hey, girl with her head bowed, one more cup of cappuccino please" A customer called to her. All eyes fell on her as a momentary silence was evoked. Then as if on cue, they all burst into laughter.
Laleen felt her stomach turn in discomfort as they laughed. Even her coworkers were not left out of the teasing.
And the worst thing was that she still couldn't afford to raise her head. If she could then...
She clicked her tongue as she felt her anger surge. If she could then she'd have glared the man with shiny shoes to death.
Speaking of the said man, he still hadn't left his table even after hours had passed. Rather, he ordered even more cups of coffee. She heard her female coworkers gushing about his appearance and she hissed. A pretty face with an ugly mouth? That made no sense to her. If only she could see the mystery man from three months ago again. She was sure he would be much kinder and gentler. And most certainly won't pass off horrible nicknames to her out of the blue.
Laleen made a conscious effort to avoid serving the man with shiny shoes. She didn't want to be anywhere near him again.
As closing time approached, the shop grew quieter as more customers left. But the very annoying man with shiny shoes still remained glued to his table.
Laleen's nose scrunched up in annoyance when he became the only customer left. She wondered what he was still waiting for. Worse still, she had been tasked with closing the shop today and before she knew it, all her coworkers had left her. Alone. With this annoying man with shiny shoes!
Laleen swallowed as she finally decided to walk towards his table. There was about twenty minutes to closing time which was at 7pm. The cafe was silent now with only the sound of cars whooshing past the air outside could be heard.
Laleen wringed her hands in nervousness as she took several steps forward. Soon, she was standing in front of his table her eyes fixed on the black shoes.
She swallowed again as she made to speak but he beat her to it, "Get me a cup of coffee" He ordered. Laleen's bent back stiffened at his words. She remained bowed in front of him for a moment longer, processing his words before she made a U-turn.
The way she moved was so akward that the man with shiny shoes tore his gaze from the stack of papers he had been busying himself with to look at her.
He found it weird that she put in so much effort to avoid people's gazes. He watched her run towards the counter and he tilted his head back to his files on the table.
Laleen's feet finally stopped at the space reserved for staff only. She stood still for a moment, her eyes scanning the equipments on the table. The man with shiny shoes had ordered only black coffee all the hours he spent at the cafe so Laleen didn't need to ask what kind of coffee he wanted.
Laleen grabbed a cup feeling a bit lost on what she was supposed to do. She paused for a moment her eyebrows furrowing slowly at the realization. The boss was gone and so was the others, so she had to make the coffee herself?!
Her eyes widened as she gasped. Her fingers holding the teacup shook and she quickly dropped it at the table in front of her as if it had been burning her fingers.
She rubbed her fingers clammy with sweat on her waiter apron. There was no way she could make the coffee right. Silently, her eyes shifted to the table of the man with shiny shoes. If only she could smack his head with those shiny shoes for causing her so much trouble.
She walked out of the counter reserved for staff and towards his direction resuming her weird walk with her body bent at ninety degrees. She was going to tell him they had run out. That was the obvious thing to do.
As she took various steps forward with her hands clasped at her back, she played the impending conversation in her head.
She had only got so close enough when she heard him mutter in exasperation, "Such bad service". Laleen's heart shrieked as she took multiple steps backwards the same way she came as quiet as she could to ensure he didn't notice.
Running back to the counter, she breathed deeply before muttering to herself with a conflicted tone, "What if he gives us a one star review?". She had done as much studying as she could about her work before starting and she knew the importance of customer reviews.
She turned back her attention to the man and her lips twisted upwards in a silent glare.
Yes, he was the devil. Who says he won't?
Laleen stared at the equipments in front of her, contemplation flashing in her brown eyes. It was immediately replaced by a determined smile. She was Laleen. Surely, a cup of coffee or two should be no problem.
***
There was ten more minutes till closing time when Laleen finally returned with a hot cup of coffee in a tray. She didn't bend as much as before but her eyes were still trained to the floor.
On placing the cup on the table beside the busy mess of papers the man with shiny shoes had made, a proud smile couldn't help but bloom in her face. She had made it exactly like her boss does. Or so she thought.
She watched as he reached for the cup a bit absentmindedly with one hand while the other continued to look through the papers on the table.
He brought the cup to his lips taking a generous sip. A frown instantly made its way to his face as his eyes flashed with annoyance. Slowly, he tilted his dark gaze to Laleen who remained silent as she stared at the marble floor with a proud smile on her face.
If only she could look up right now. She'd realize that the face masked in annoyance in front of her was the exact replica of the one she had met three months ago.