A Bit Of Sweetness

That Friday didn’t start well for Charlie. At all. He arrived to work late when he was supposed to open the shop. And it was very hot as well, extremely and weirdly hot for London, probably the hottest day of the year. He ran to the changing room to leave his stuff, put his apron on, then quickly displayed the cakes on the glass cake stands at the sides of the till and set the tables which luckily didn’t take that long because the Garden café wasn’t a big place, just one main floor and lots of colourful flowers all around the white walls. So he was already sweaty and stressed out as hell by then, when he received a text message from Katia, his co-worker, saying that she would be late for her shift. “Perfect, what else could go wrong?” he thought. It was “just” the day that he really needed to leave on time so that he could go home and organize his anniversary surprise for his boyfriend.

“Ok, Charlie, you can do this! It is just 4 extra hours of work this week,” he reminded himself “You’re doing this for Eric!”. There were three words to describe Charlie: self driven, caring and stubborn, which could be both a negative and a positive thing at the same time.

At least no one was coming inside to shop so he could catch a breath and relax for a bit.

Behind that till, his dark eyes couldn't help but travel to the moment Eric would come back home, open the door and see what was waiting for him. Champagne, music, roses accompanied by a nice dinner and on top of that, the Canon EF 75 lens that Eric needed for his camera. All the efforts done would eventually pay off. And as he was fantasizing about all that, his phone started ringing in the right pocket of his trousers.

“Eric”

“Hey Charlie, how is it going? Listen. I don’t think I can make it this evening but we can celebrate tom...”

“What do you mean? Why?”

“So there is this event at Uni to showcase last year graduates' recent artworks. There will be some drinks and food and relevant people in the field and I think that this is a great networking opportunity to me and I wouldn’t want to miss it.. ”

“But it is our anniversary Eric!”

“I know and I am sorry! But we can have dinner together tomo...!”

“But I am sure that there will be other occasions for you to meet these people.”

“Who knows when! I might be getting contacts that could open doors to me. Try to understand me…”

“I do but I really worked very hard for us to be able to celebrate today.”

“I know but...!”

“Doesn’t it mean anything for you to spend this together Today? I took this evening off for you ”

“Of course it does but …”

“Doesn’t seem so”

“Don’t try to make me feel guilty like I am the bad one and you are the only one doing good things for us cause I am doing them too”

“For yourself you mean”

“You’re so full of yourself sometimes”

“Me? Ok no worries! We don’t have to meet tomorrow either!! Enjoy your stupid event!”

“Charlie, wait! ”

Charlie hung up. What else could have gone wrong? Exactly that.

All that work to organize things for nothing. “And you said I am full of myself?” said he angrily, looking at the locked screen of his phone before putting it back in his pocket.

And it was at that point that someone entered the shop. An old small lady in her 70s, wearing an elegant long light blue dress, a red cross body bag and a wide black brim sun hat. It was Miss Delia Roberts, a regular guest at the shop, approaching the till with her bright smile she brought in everyday.

“Good morning dear Charlie. Could I please get a cup of English breakfast tea and my regular please?” Miss Delia asked, as she was grabbing her wallet from her bag. “Like I always say, life is too short to refuse a bit of sweetness,” she concluded with a joyous laugh.

And as she gazed at Charlie, she noticed he looked a bit sad, and realized he hadn’t said a word yet “Are you ok today sweetheart? You look a bit sad”

“Not really Miss Roberts, I just had an argument with my boyfriend” said he, trying to smile over tears

“And why is that?” asked she.

“Today it is our anniversary and I planned everything to make sure we could celebrate it together but he decided to make other plans”

And as they were talking and Charlie was putting Miss Roberts’s money in the till, his phone started ringing again.

“I bet he’s calling you now” replied Miss Roberts with a charming smile. Charlie grabbed his phone, looked at it and quickly put it back “Yes, but I don’t want to talk to him. He really disappointed me. I am sorry Miss Roberts for taking your time. I will quickly prepare your order.”

“Listen to me dear Charlie. Whatever the reason might be, I am pretty sure that he loves you like you love him. That is why he is calling you. And that is the only thing that matters. Don’t waste too much time on all this other unnecessary stuff. Love is stronger than anything and you have to celebrate it, especially on days like this one” and in saying that she kept staring at him with her wide blue eyes.

“Thanks Miss Roberts” replied Charlie, a bit intimidated by her eyes and unsure of what to say.

“ Darling, like my beloved husband used to say, life is too short to refuse a bit of sweetness!” And she went to sit at one of the tables close to the windows, waiting for her tea and her regular.

And those were the words that he kept having in his mind all day long until, at the end of the shift, as he was about to leave the shop, he finally decided to call Eric back and make up with him.

“I just want to say that I love you and I support you”

“I love you too Charlie, and you’re right. There will be other occasions. I am coming home”

“me too”

The next day, Charlie went to the shop and it was work as usual. And this time, he promised himself he would offer Miss Roberts a free meal to thank her for her kind words. She was a daily regular so the company would allow that. So, around the time that she would usually come, he started preparing the cup of English breakfast tea and her regular, a sweet and delicious slice of chocolate cake.

But she didn’t come. And sadly as he would soon get to know, she would never come again.

Life is too short to refuse a bit of sweetness