Kabir's eyes glistened as if recalling a bittersweet time of his life. I pushed a glass of water that the waitress had left on the table towards him. He took a sip, and seemed to be collecting his thoughts before he continued narrating his story.
~
'May I have a cold coffee with ice cream?' a sweet voice said while I was busy making entries in the café register.
When I looked up, it was the girl for whom I had been waiting that past one month. There were no tears that day. She was wearing the most beautiful coral dress. She looked amazing.
'Yes. Sure, madam,' I stammered nervously.
'Nisha,' she smiled.
'Kabir,' I smiled back.
I prepared her coffee while she walked over to an unoccupied table. She sat in her chair and kept looking at me. It was as if she had this hypnotizing spell she was holding over me—I couldn't understand why she was making me so nervous after a whole month.
'Thank you,' she said as I placed the coffee on her table.
'You are most welcome,' I said.
She took a dainty taste and smiled. Satisfied that she was content, I began to walk away when I heard her voice. 'I am sorry,' she said innocently.
I turned back to face her. 'Why?' I asked.
'For that day,' she said, gesturing for me to sit near her. There were only a handful of people in the café, so I could sit without feeling like I was abandoning my other customers.
I sat down and then shook my head, dismissing her apology. 'I should be thankful to you for all those days,' I said.
She put her hands on the table and leaned towards me. 'I need to explain,' she insisted. 'My boyfriend broke up with me and I was very depressed those days. I want to thank you for those coffees. They really made me feel better.'
'Thank you,' I said softly, though I felt something breaking inside me. 'I'm glad I could help in my small way.'
'You did,' she responded. 'More than you know.'
'Why did he break up with you?' I asked. It might have been rude to ask such a personal question, but I was puzzled that anyone would want to break up with her. She was beautiful beyond words or description. She had the face of an angel, and her hair seemed to frame it like a halo. Her eyes were large and I felt like she could search through my soul. Her lips were perfect in every way, as if she was a porcelain doll.
Nisha continued. 'We studied in the same college and became friends very quickly. He proposed tome within six months. I accepted. He loved me very much, I knew. He bought me a lot of gifts, and he seemed to care so much. We took our relationship to the next level after some time. We became very intimate and made love regularly. And then, one fateful day, I found out I was pregnant. He was scared and asked me to abort. I refused and asked him to marry me immediately. After all, he loved me, right?'
Tears were bright in her eyes. 'He said he wanted some time to think and would call me later. He never called me back and would ignore all my calls and messages. I was completely broken.' She couldn't control her tears anymore and started crying.
'Please don't cry,' I said, reaching out to hold her hands.
'I'm sorry,' she said, sniffing loudly.
I asked fearfully, 'Did you abort?'
'Yes. I had to. The day you asked me what happened to me was the morning of my abortion and I was very depressed.' Her voice was firm and I knew she was trying to act strong.
'I am sorry to hear that,' I said with tears in my eyes.
'It's okay. I am fine now. Thanks to you.'
I was surprised to hear that. 'Why me?'
'Not you. Actually, your coffees,' she laughed. 'Every day I would come here to sit alone and think about what I should do. I was on the verge of committing suicide. I had lost all hope. I no longer believed in love, life or anything good. But when you gave me different coffees every single day without me even asking you, I felt alive again. You showed me there were choices. Someone was there who genuinely cared how I felt without even knowing me. I knew there were bad people in the world, but now I also know that there are good people like you as well. Thanks for everything. You are the reason I look forward to moving on with my life,' Nisha explained with a smile.
'I am glad I made a difference in your life,' I said, a warmth filling my heart. 'I never knew such little acts of kindness could have such an impact on people's lives. But I wish you could have talked tome that day,' I said.
'What could you have done?' She was surprised.
'I could...' I stammered.
'What?'
'I could have saved your baby.'
She sat straighter in her chair.
'What do you mean? How?' Nisha asked.
'I would have married you,' I said, holding her hands.
She pulled her hands out of mine. 'What are you saying?' she asked angrily. 'Are you out of your mind? Why would you do that? Why would anyone do that?' Nisha was furious.
'Because I love you, Nisha. And love makes you do everything. Will you marry me?' I said, closing my eyes.
~
'Kabir! Did you really ask that?' Vivaan asked in disbelief.
He nodded, smiling. 'Yes, I did,' Kabir said calmly.
I wiped my tears as curiosity pushed away my sadness. 'Did you really mean that? Or was it just an impulsive thought?'
'Did she say yes?' Both Vivaan and I asked at the same time.
His eyes misted up. 'Yes, she did,' Kabir smiled.
I was so excited, I was almost vibrating in my chair. 'So when are you guys getting married?'
'I don't know,' he said. Disappointment was in his voice again. 'There is a problem.'
I groaned. 'After all this, what can be the problem now?' I was shocked.
Vivaan and I exchanged a look and he shrugged. 'Tell us,' he prompted. 'What is the problem?'
'She belongs to a rich family and I do not,' Kabir answered.
I was furious. 'Don't tell me that her parents refused to let her marry you.'
'No, they didn't. They agreed to the marriage and were actually quite happy about the idea.'
'Then what's wrong?' I asked.
Kabir sighed. 'I want to keep her very happy; I want to give her a secure future. I know money can't buy happiness, but the fact is, it's needed. I don't want my kids to grow up as I did. I want to earn a good living before I marry her.'
Vivaan nodded his understanding. 'But this is a steady job,' he began.
'It is a good job for a single person,' Kabir explained. 'But a family would struggle on my wages. Nisha is so used to a comfortable life. And, above all, I want to give my kids the best education and the lifestyle I couldn't afford.'
'True,' I admitted.
'Love is powerful,' Kabir continued. 'It can make you do things you could never imagine doing otherwise.'
Vivaan looked thoughtful. 'How do you plan to earn a more steady income?' he prompted.
'I want to start my own café,' Kabir responded. 'It had always been my dream, and now, it is more critical.'
'You would be so successful,' I sang. 'You do such an amazing job here, and if it was your own place, I bet everything you do now would be so much better there.'
'Thank you,' he said humbly. 'But it's not easy to just open up new doors. I need a lot of money and people to work for me. As much as I want to, I am very afraid I will never ever be able to start my café and marry Nisha. Right now, I am just trying to save as much as I can,' Kabir explained.
'How much money is needed?' Vivaan pressed further.
I wanted to cry once again. It was almost cruel to ask Kabir such things when it didn't seem to be something he could afford.
Kabir held up his hands. 'About fifteen to twenty lakh.'
Vivaan reached down to pick up his laptop bag and took out a cheque book. Kabir and I exchanged curious looks. What could he be doing? 'Here is a cheque for five lakh rupees.' Vivaan's voice took on a firm tone. 'Get started with it. The rest will be deposited soon in your bank account,' he smiled.
I was simply stunned and at a loss for words.
Kabir looked at the cheque in disbelief and shook his head slowly. 'But Vivaan, I can't take this. You don't even know me!' he cried out, pushing the cheque back to Vivaan. I watched several heads turn in our direction.
'Do I really not know you, Mr. Lover?' Vivaan dropped his voice so nobody else in the café could hear our conversation. He smiled and continued. 'And it's not a favour; it's a business deal. We will be partners on this. I will invest in the business and you will run the café. Do we have a deal?'
It didn't take long for Kabir to answer, although I could tell from his expression that his mind was racing in a million directions. 'Thank you so much.' Kabir was overwhelmed.
We were all silent for a moment. 'So have you thought of any names for your café?' I asked.
'I haven't really allowed myself to think that far ahead,' he admitted. 'Do you have any suggestions?'
'Kafe Kabir,' I suggested with a smile.
Kabir nodded and reached out to take our hands. 'We will do this together,' he said, determined.
~
What a day it has been, I thought as I pulled my favourite nightshirt on and climbed into bed. The sounds of Pune were already starting to dissolve as my mind began to drift.
This sudden change in our stories brought up a lot of questions inside of me. I wondered if we would really be able to start Kafe Kabir, but I also began to think about other things.
We all seemed to have a deeper perspective in life, we knew what we wanted to achieve, but were we really ready for that day when the change came? Kabir was afraid of change, and it was noticeable. He wanted to make his dreams come true, but he was unsure. Vivaan wanted to travel the world. I wasn't able to imagine not sitting in a café, drinking my coffee while speaking with him face to face. Without Vivaan, my comfortable surroundings would become very foreign.
Although I had my own dreams of being an author, it seemed as if reality had set in. Where would I fit in with everyone else, as they moved forward with their own lives? Would they forget about me ...or would I be too busy launching my novel to even remember them?
My thoughts were interrupted by a beep from my phone. I turned on my side and picked up my phone, smiling as I guessed who the message was from.
Sure enough, it was from Vivaan. 'Did you get your story?'
'Yes. I did,' I replied quickly.
I curled my body around the phone as I waited for his response. 'What's the name of the story?' he asked.
'Everyone has a story!' I texted back.