hint of accent and he remained highly professional in his interaction with his customers. He never tried to make jokes, you know like some people who feel that is there duty to lighten the mood and end up achieving something totally opposite to that. Rose liked that.
As she became a regular customer and was spending more time in the restaurant she started to exchange a few words with the staff each time she stopped by for a meal. They had always been courteous to her and to anyone else from what Rose heard but she had noticed that she was getting more attention each time. Nothing big but it was easy to notice the small things that they did for her as soon she walked into the room; Even if there was a long queue staff would suddenly materialize from somewhere at the back of the restaurant and take Rose to her favorite table that always seemed to be available on the days she visited.
The food was served to her faster if she was in a hurry and if Rose dropped by early in the morning they learned that she wanted her Turkish coffee first. I suppose they learned about me and I learned about them, Rose thought. The other thing that she noticed about the place was that she was the only one coming alone. Almost always! It did not seem to matter to them. They seemed to respect her privacy and the apparently solitaire chosen lifestyle. Not that she ever confessed to them that it was not a chosen one as she truly believed that privacy makes life easier.
The owner’s approach the customer service at this restaurant was always followed by all of his staff who were always polite and ready with aquick: ‘Did you have a good day so far, ma’am/miss? ’ and ‘What would you like to order today, ma’am/miss? ’Later on you wouldn’t need to shout to get their attention. They seemed to know what you wanted from your body language. I don’t ever recall them asking me like in some other places: 'Are you alone miss? ’Or ‘Are you waiting for someone else to join you, miss? ’As if you were not entirely capable to order food for yourself or you looked like someone not to be trusted with a fork and a knife, Rose recalled.
The greetings had evolved a bit over the last few weeks. Rose would now say: ‘Hi Stefano. How was your day? ’
And he would reply with: 'Nice to see you Rose, I’m good…we are blessed with another wonderful day here in this part of the world’. Always positive and optimistic, Rose thought.
It was an evening a couple of weeks ago when she went window shopping late at night in the nearby five levels shopping centre that was open till midnight. On return home she stopped for a quick coffee at his restaurant. It was only a few doors from her home. You see the sludge is energizing for her when taken in the morning without sugar and has a tranquilizing effect if she takes it with sugar at night time. Her doctor can’t explain the effect other than as ‘placebo’. Well Rose was not trying to find an explanation to it as she takes the effect as another self-discovery.
That night, as she was preparing to rise from the table, Rose heard Stefano saying good night to another customer that was leaving. It was said in Romani and slowly but it was late at night, maybe 11:50 and was very quiet around and she overheard it. Of course it was not the first time she overheard him say a Romani word and by now she figured that like herself Stefano had some Romani roots.
Five minutes later when Rose was leaving, aware that he was preparing to close the place for the night, as she was the last customer she said good night to him and turned to leave. His immediate reply was: 'What did you say Rose? ’ and initially she did not get it. As she automatically repeated her words she heard herself saying ‘Kushti ratti ’/ ‘Good Night’ and she understood his surprise. She was telling him that she knew something about him that he did not disclose to her.
Bloody hell Rose, she admonished herself, now what can be done about it? How much should she say without disclosing things about herself and not offending him? It was an embarrassing moment and there was this friendly and handsome guy in front of her and she did not know what to do. Rose was speechless for a moment that seemed an eternity and blushing she automatically started to scratch her neck in an attempt to brainstorm a plausible explanation when Stefano said in a soft voice: 'Please don’t lie to me Rose. Is that too much to ask? ’ he continued. Then he took her hand and slowly directed her to a nearby table. ‘Another coffee? ’ he said. ‘I think we need to talk’, then without waiting for an answer he raised his voice a bit and asked his staff for two coffees. ‘Kushti ratti? ’ he said raising his left eyebrow in a mock expression. His mouth was opening into a smile.
‘Slip of the tongue’ Rose replied with a small voice not knowing if he was upset about it.
‘Yeh, shrink talk’, Stefano said softly. ‘You can do better’, he encouraged her. Now looking closer at him, Rose could see that he did not resemble the typical chef or restaurant owner: his body was in an excellent condition with no evidence of protruding belly and his muscular torso and arms were highlighted by the dark T shirt with short sleeves that he was wearing. And although it was very late he had a clean shaved face and eyes sparkling with energy and interest although his face looked tired. It must have been a long day for him and she was stopping him from going home and getting some due sleep.
‘I’m sorry if I discombobulate you’, Rose started to say.
‘Discombobulate? Are we talking English? ’ he asked with a serious voice. He raised his brows and waited for more.
‘Spooked. . , confused…, upset. .? ’ Rose said. ‘I have to confess that I suspected that you are familiar with Romani language’ she blurted out quickly.
‘Why do you say that? ’ was Stefano’s fast reply.
‘I overheard you talking’.
‘Stalking? ’ he said with pressed lips.
‘Good God’ Rose managed to utter.
‘Christian, huh? ’ he pursued. ‘Police? ’ he continued.
‘Be serious’ Rose said managing finally to snap out of her misery and take back some control over the scene.
‘Huh’ Stefano replied and continued to stare at Rose. By then the coffee came and he dismissed the staff. ‘Go home Simon. I’ll close here. See you tomorrow, ’ he said to the young male apprentice. Aishe the young female that was helping today just starred at them and did not appear happy to let him with Rose.
‘We don’t mind waiting for you Stefano, ’ she said smiling at him.
‘See you tomorrow Aishe, ’ he said with a voice that did not give a choice. They left quietly. ‘I’m listening, ’ Stefano said turning his attention to Rose. He looked very serious. Rose took a sip of her coffee, added more sugar and feeling more comfortable she smiled at him.
Go girl, she thought to herself. Kill him with your smile. You can flirt girl you just need to remember how to do it. It should be all there somewhere. It is like driving. Once you have the skills you’ll never forget them. Procedural or implicitor whatever it is called. She was now bluffing to herself as she was never much of a flirt. As she was preparing to speak she felt a lump rising up in her throat. Stefano smiled back and had some coffee.
‘Do you know Romani? ’ he asked directly looking straight into her eyes and Rose could see his pupils dilate a bit. She felt she could not lie to these wonderful eyes although it crossed her mind that he was betting on that.
‘A bit, ’ Rose agreed. ‘Look my name is Rose and I really hope that I did not offend you tonight, ’ she said rapidly while holding her breath. ‘I live nearby and I enjoy your food, ’ she continued her speech more in an attempt to cover the annoying silence. ‘Are you going to banish me from your restaurant? ’ she blurted out with a big sigh. He was just staring at her.
‘Stefano, ’ he said. ‘Dza devlesa’, he added.
‘God go with you? ’ Rose asked with astonishment. He said nothing just kept looking at her and Rose was not sure if he was angry or amusing himself. Then she realized that he was sending her home.
‘Kestra? ’ Rose asked managing to gather her wits at last.
‘You want to be friends? ’ Stefano asked her smiling with all his face and eyes this time. It was a lovely
view.
‘Baktalo? ’ Rose said rising from her chair. Now she wanted to leave as there was no much energy left in her and if she stayed longer she might have been tempted to hug him.
‘Happy, ’ he said touching lightly her hand then added ‘I’ll take you to your place, ’ and closed the door behind them as they left.
‘Is not far from here, ’Rose said in an attempt to convince him that he was not needed. Not what a flirting women would say, she admonished herself immediately. Another skill that I might need to improve, she thought with annoyance. That’s if I ever decided that I want to get married or I want a boyfriend.
‘I know. ’ Stefano answered briefly with a warm smile.
Rose looked at him in surprise and she said ‘And you accused me of stalking? ’ His smile broadened. They walked in silence the rest of the way to Rose’s place. ‘Thanks, ’ Rose said when they arrived in front of her door.
‘Kestra’, he said looking at her silently, nodded and left. They never talked about that night later but their greetings have been friendlier.
As she approached the café today Rose noticed the Police car parked nearby and wondered if that meant business or pleasure? Then she laughed with embarrassment realizing that not many people would identify their everyday lunch as a pleasurable activity. The