In the absence of her mother, Martha spoke up to the waiter, "The sandwich was really good and so were the services of your staff. I really liked it" Benjamin was putting the money for the meal inside the payment book brought by the waiter when he heard Martha saying so.
Upon realizing she liked the experience at the restaurant, he posed a very short lived smile and thereby added two more ten dollar bills in the payment book as a way of extra tipping the restaurant.
It was somewhat an unbelievable experience for Martha since it was the first time in the last 24 hours that she saw his father smiled, even if it lasted for a second.
And evidently, his reason to smile was nothing but her daughter's satisfaction with a regular meal at a restaurant.
At the same time, the doorbell rang and it was none other than Cindy. The restaurant had a small bell attached to the door so that whenever someone would arrive at their place, they'd be informed and one of the staff members would then attend them and lead them to a vacant table.
Cindy opened only half of the door just to signal her daughter and her husband to exit the place and resume their journey.
They both responded in accordance to what Cindy had signaled them to do and thereby left there table. Still, neither Martha nor Benjamin had uttered a single word to each other.
In fact, Benjamin hadn't even uttered a word from his mouth the moment the trip began.
Benjamin was the first to go through the door followed by Martha.
As Martha closed the door behind, she brushed her ankle against a sharp iron string emerging out of somewhere. She shrieked due to sudden piercing of her ankle skin, "Ouch!" Her father turned behind to investigate what made her daughter say so.
Just after she said so, a tear escaped through his eyes that caught the attention of Benjamin. He quickly said, "Martha!" Martha, upon hearing her father's voice clearly after so many hours of silence, forgot if she's gotten injured on her ankle in some way.
Let alone that, even if a bullet would have passed through her, she wouldn't care to feel the pain of it since she had at last heard from his father after so long and that too, he called her daughter's name only.
Benjamin quickly got down on his knees as he saw Martha's left ankle moving abruptly, believing the cause of her pain must be somewhere there only.
As he held her ankle in his own hand, Martha very slightly lost balance to which Benjamin raised his other hand for Martha to hold on to in order to balance herself. As he investigated the degree of the cut on her ankle made by the string, Martha balanced herself by holding his father hand and another hand resting on the restaurant walls. Honestly, she didn't feel any sort of pain even if the skin was cut deep by the string, for she was finally able to see his father being sensitive and precautious towards her which she felt was enough to survive even the greatest of pain.
In a nutshell, she wasn't experiencing any sort of pain but was rather delighted. Her mother soon arrived at the scene as Benjamin was keenly engaged in determining the nature of the wound. At prima facie, even her mother seemed worried upon seeing some blood emerging from her ankle.
She too bent down to examine the wound and after few seconds, clarified to the other two that it is nothing and that this could be treated with the first aid kept in the car.
She rose up and walked towards the car to bring the first aid. Benjamin, on the other hand, now held both of Martha's hands in a way to give her support to reach the nearby bench situated a couple of meters away from them.
Once ensuring that she is seated comfortably on the bench, he went back to the same sport where now stood one of the restaurant's staff who had come there to give support if needed.
Benjamin now said, "Call your manager" I am really apologetic for what happened sir. "I will begin the repairs as soon as…." said the staff boy when he was interrupted by Benjamin, "Did I seek apology from you or did I ask you to make repairs here? I just asked you to bring your manager here!" said Benjamin, almost yelling the last sentence.
The staff boy, realizing he would not be able to handle the situation by himself, rushed inside to call the manager. In the meantime, Cindy had returned with the first aid and was cleaning the wound with some antiseptic liquid.
The manager came out, accompanied by the staff boy who was asked to bring him out. Benjamin spoke to the manager, "I do not expect such mishaps from a public place where hundreds of visitors keep visiting every day. I do not want to make a fuss out of it but today it has happened with my own daughter
. Maybe some other day it may happen with someone else or maybe with one of the staff who are working here.
So it would be better of you to look after the safety standards as much as you look after the taste of the food you serve. In that case, it'd be better for me and my family to visit you again."
The manager listened patiently and understood the point made by Benjamin. He responded in a nod and said, "Worry not gentleman.
The next time you visit us with your family or friends, you would find our safety of the highest standards. Also, I am sincerely apologetic for what happened with your dear daughter.
I pledge not to let the same happen to anyone who visits our restaurant." Benjamin responded with an almost imperceptible smile to which the manager smiled in satisfaction.
He then said, "Is there anything else I can help you or your family with gentleman?" Benjamin said, "I assure you not" The manager said before leaving, "Then I shall take your leave. You see we have a lot of customers incoming today.
Also I will ask one of our staff to cut this string to prevent any further inconvenience to our customers." The manager then left the scene along with the staff boy.
Within that time, Martha's wound had been applied a dressing by her mother. At the time she was dressing her wound, Martha could observe a sense of motherhood in the way she was doing it.