“How are you our regular customer? You have been absent lately? Is it macchiato you take as usual?” said a waitress approaching me with a sunny face.
“I’m fine. Thank you. Yes, I was not around. The new flue got the better of me. But now I have recuperated.”
“I like your best macchiato from this vicinity. Besides, the color and light arrangement of this café that fine-tunes the two to perfection wants me to stay long hours without feeling cooped. When light lemon color strips are seen painted against a white wall backdrop, the effect attracts people.”
“Yes, the owners have outlaid their wealth on this house to render it clients’ magnet. So clients here feel at ease. Sure, color arrangement matters. Yes, colors have psychological impact.”
Heading towards the Barista “Extra special macchiato for a special guest,” she said.
Minutes later she came back with a silver tray sporting the macchiato and tarried there as the café was sparsely populated that day. Her backs to the wall we began talking to our hearts’ content.
“Where is that girl you often came with months before? Did she dump you or did you jilt her?” she laughed.
“Which one? The one with a chocolate skin, firm breast and curry hips?” I tried to differentiate them with some movements of my hands.
“The one with a voluminous bottom?” I touched my chair.
“Yes,” she giggled.
“You mean Sara. She dumped me.”
“Why?” she projected a curious face.
“A monkey jump is her characteristic feature.”
“What does that mean?”
“You see I’m a government employee. Though I work hard and love my profession, my modest income does not allow me to indulge in a luxurious life. I may go for a luxurious life once or twice say on paydays but not always. Besides, I have to salt away money for rainy days. But Sara nonstop asked me to take her to famous night clubs and expensive restaurants.”
“Holy cow! That is terrible. I noticed she used to order the most expensive dishes whenever you brought her here,” she nodded her head indicating she observed something wired.
“If a woman truly loves you, she will be considerate to you.”
“I tried to make her see to reason in vain. ‘We have to save to chalk out our common future!’ She took my stance as frugality and began to refer to me as the closefisted one. She bent my ear about buying a car,” I became disgusted.
“Does she work? Does she share costs?”
“No,” I waved my pointing finger left and right and added,
“At the cost of her lovers enjoying life to the full is atop her agenda.”
“She must be a fool.”
“She disappeared into a thin air. She must have come across somebody who could elevate the scale of entertainment she wants,” I sarcastically smiled.
“Unlike her, many genuine girls who want to walk down the aisle botchily wait the right man. I can’t wrap my mind around this mystery,” she supported her chin with her arm.
“Such is life,” I said with you can’t help it style.
“So, Sara jumped from one branch of a tree to a higher branch of another tree.”
“Exactly!”
“Sorry you! How could she shamelessly do that?”
“Shame has no place in her vocabulary!” Once more I displayed a sarcastic smile.
“What about the former one?” she said.
“There were many as I do not have a litmus paper to outright tell the one with the right characteristic features. I have to adopt trial and error.”
“I am referring to the tiny one who is easy to the eye,” she put her arms midair to show the shortness of the girl.
“I dumped her!”
“Why?”
“But she was beautiful!”
“Though fit almost in all requirements of a would-be wife, she failed to meet one point that has a higher weight.”
“What could that be?”
“She is a girl with a baggage.”
“Meaning?” she portrayed curiosity.
“She cannot stop the relationship she started with a married man early in her life. She could not overgrow a bad habit that hangs over to date.”
“When I asked her on more than one occasion’ could you disrupt the relation you have with that man?’ ” she becomes hesitant or unwilling to answer. Her hesitancy provoked mistrust on me.”
“He may be her first!”
“I understand what you mean,” I said,
“Most girls are influenced by the eye-opener experience. But they must learn to put such a thing behind their back and start anew than continue to indulge in a malfunctioned relationship,” she said.
“The wise ones do so but the rest lament over spilt milk.”
“Jilting her is the right thing you did. Aside from facing a child born on the wrong side of the blanket, you could be exposed to HIV/AIDS and hepatitis c that could also arise from promiscuity.”
“More caution is necessary nowadays at a time condom is in short supply for some reasons. There is urinary tract infection too,” I said.
“Oh woman. They are difficult to manage.”
“Some of them are difficult. But there are many troublesome men out there. Why do not you tell me about boy friends?”
“Though handsome and hardworking, the recent one was fickle!”
“Was he a womanizer?”
“He sweet talked me into love to turn out elusive. When I raised serious issue like marriage, under a multitude of lame pretexts he deferred it to indefinite time,” she brushed her eyebrows with forked fingers.
“That is not good for you, for you allow your prime time to lie waste.”
“Forty five is the average figure for menopause. I think it depends on one’s breed. There are some that stops giving birth at thirty five and on the contrary there are some who give birth at fifty five.”
“Is that so? I must add pace to hunt for a genuine partner. Not only that waiting for this chap faithful, I had also lost the chance for a genuine life partner,”
“Don’t you have a new acquaintance?”
“I showed him a red card. An indolent lothario, he was living on my meager salary. Drinking ale nonstop, smoking daylong and watching the grass grow sitting on a stone at a cross road in the village were among his routines. I had to seek the support of the Police to get him off my shoulder. I must add pace to hunt for a genuine partner.”
“Presumably you spent a hard time with him?”
“Sure thing”
“We two are losers in the romance market. We are expected to show a sprinted finish.”
“As you are a man, you still have a chance to go for a child and marriage. I mean the biological clock.”
“Victims of similar fate, why don’t we try to troubleshoot our problems together?”
“How?”
“The two of us could try to be lovers,” I zoomed in on her lips and eyes turn by turn.
“I’m afraid I’m not that attractive,” she blushed.
“Who said so? You have a charm I’m attracted to.”
“Such as ?” she became inquisitive.
“Your bewitching eyes, dimples and elegance strike me. You cast a spell on me whenever you smile.”
“I like your square shoulder and white teeth. You are not hard to talk too,” she eyed me with some sort of appreciation.
“Physical appearance does not matter much. Besides there is a saying ‘beauty is a magician cruel to the beautiful and kind to the less beautiful.’ ”
“Could you explain that?
“When the man closely observes the beautiful one he gradually detects her shortfalls. On the other hand he sees more qualities of the one dubbed less attractive. The same holds true to the opposite sex.”
“So, you do not want to put me under your microscope to see covert physical beauty of mine including the internal one,”
“You got my point?”
“In that case why don’t you start today?” she once more blushed.
“I was thinking about that. when do you finish job to go home?”
“Right after 2 PM.”
“We could have dinner together at a nearby restaurant,” I coughed simultaneously getting up to go out.
“Why do not we make it for tomorrow? I will bring to you a thermo flask full of soup for your flue,” she picked the cup I drank macchiato with.
“I would be grateful,” I said happily and studded out.
BY ALEM HAILU G/KRISTOS
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD WEDNESDAY 29 NOVEMBER 2023
