Finding Me In You

11 Closer

Kiran Lin

Everything in the café seemed to lighten up these days.

Siguro dahil mas nakikilala ko ang mga bartenders and staffs. Napangiti ako nang maalala ang maliit na salo-salo kagabi.

Putting my uniform and apron on feels like it's going be a part of my morning routine. Lumabas ako nang nakangiti ngunit agad din iyong nawala nang makita ang manager ng café. I still feel wierd about her.

After the handshake, she just told me to go back to work and she'll look out for my performance.

Welp, she's still our manager.

"Good morning manager." bati ko sa kaniya nang pumasok siya sa kitchen para mag inspect. Napahinto siya sa ginagawa at tamad akong tinignan. "You can just call me Bliss. That's what they do." ginalaw niya ang ulo niya sa direksiyon ng iba pang staff. I guess I won't get used to this.

I just nodded and called her, "Bliss." She continued inspecting the place and went off.

"Dyen, paano niyo pinakikitunguhan si Manager Bliss?" I randomly asked her. I don't feel awkward with them at all. Maybe that late night talk broke the ice.

She let out a little chuckle and said,"You feel wierd, right?" I nodded aggressively which made her laugh.

"Masasanay ka rin. Ganiyan talaga si Bliss. Pero magaling sa trabaho iyan. Hindi nga lang sa pag-handle ng trabahante." I guess she's right. After all, the business won't survive if she wasn't a good manager.

Tinapik niya ako sa balikat at bumalik na sa trabaho. Business hour is open and we're back to our work. We need to work hard dahil ngayon ang schedule ng banda.

"Table 6." I fetched the order and made my way to table 6.

"Table 8." I walked across the tables and served the coffee.

"Table 2." I did the same and smiled to the customer. Bigla itong tumili ng mahina nang tumalikod ako. Oh shit, nasanay akong nginingitian ang mga customers pagkatapos iserve ang order nila. I went back to the coffee bar to fetch another one.

"Table 9." I tried not to smile after I served nang makita kong babae ang nasa table. Instead, I said, "Here's your order, maam." at umalis na agad.

"Table 5." I was about to fetch the order when I heard a familiar melody from the guitar. I stopped midway when my head suddenly ached. I tried my best to hide it at pinagpatuloy ang ginagawa.

"Table 7." Hindi ako nagpaapekto sa nangyari at kinuha na ang order saka nag-isip ng sasabihin para sa customer.

But I felt relieved when I saw that it was Yivie's table. Geez, ang layo ng pinagkaiba sa table na ito at sa table na napuntahan ko.

Ang tahimik ng table niya, siguro dahil medyo malayo ang ibang tables dito. This is definitely her space.

"You look tired." she laughed when she saw me frown. Niligpit niya ang ilang libro para mabigyan ng lugar ang kape. Putek, binasa niya ang lahat ng iyan?

"Kaya mo iyan." she raised her fist and mouthed "Laban."

I can't help but to smile with her small act of encouragement.