Every customer that walks into this cafe has their own special story to tell.
This short story collection explores those individuals' day-to-day tales and heartwarming everyday instances. Observed from the warm, blue eyes of the quaint little hot ch...
"Sometimes, things work out better when they don't go as planned"- Grams
"Umm..." the girl who just entered the store looked around at 5 people who were awkwardly staring back at her. "Are you guys open yet?"
Her question was greeted with an odd silence, to which the girl on the right continued, "I mean, your Facebook event page said 7:30 p.m. So we wanted to get here early to reserve a table of six."
"7:30? But I thought I updated the time to 6:30..." Delia looked confused and flipped out her phone to check. "It's 7:30!!" she yelled happily! "I had just written the wrong time! It's not a complete bust!"
The two girls suddenly questioned this lady's sanity with their eyes till Aiden quietly led them to a table of six.
In less than an hour, 80% of their tables were full. The shop was happily busy, buzzing with the energy of light conversations and the smell of delicious chocolate.
Gramps surveyed his busy shop from Betsy and smiled at how wonderful and bright the atmosphere was. He nodded and smiled at Delia who put her hands on her hips, looking quite proud of what she had done.
The team, now including Aiden's mom, who pitched in last minute given the how busy everything got, were just about to start the show. They switched the screen on, they booted the machine, they also got a popular track set up and some people had already called dibs on the song they wanted to sing. Everything was going well.
Too well, actually.
It wasn't anything big. It just started to rain, just like Gramps predicted at first. The soft torrent didn't bother anyone, but Gramps. And he thought of voicing out his concern again, but given how happy everyone was, he decided not to bother. Why be the wet blanket on such a fun night?
But just when they were about to play their first song. The lights went out.
And Delia freaked, to say the least.
"Don't panic everyone! The lights will be on in a moment and we will get this show on the road!" she forced her enthusiasm. Reassuring no one else but herself. Gramps and Aiden went to the back room to check on the generator and after a bit of tinkering, the lights came back on. But not for long.
The generator couldn't take it. And for the first time, Delia has no idea what to do.
"This is a disaster," she slumped in the corner, holding up her phone flashlight and casting a shadow of her sad face onto Betsy. "I am so sorry Gramps, I am so sorry..." she said dejectedly.
The shop was now gently murmuring in confusion. A couple of people wanted to leave, but the rain outside didn't let them. They just ended up back at their tables, ordering a couple more things off the menu to wait.
Gramps put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and looked up at the others. "I have an idea," he said softly. "But I need you to help me with something first."
"What?" Andy asked.
"Light up the candles on the tables. I had a feeling this would happen. I will be back with something."
10 minutes later, Gramps walked in holding something in one hand, Aiden shone some light on him and immediately let out a laugh when he realized what Gramps was holding.
"Now everyone," Gramps called out loudly and placed a stool in front of the now obsolete projector. "In my time, we didn't have a fancy machine to sing songs with. When we wanted to, we just took this out and started to sing. It was that simple."
And with that, Gramps brandishes a beautifully aged, dark brown acoustic guitar.
Delia stood up from the corner and softly cheered.
"So old-school!" One of the customers called out. "I love it!" and the other's thankfully murmured in agreement.
"Now, what would you kids like to hear?" Gramps settled himself onto a stool and strummed his guitar, tuning it wherever required.
"You pick, old man!" another customer yelled, "Pick any song you like!"
"Yeah, Gramps!" Andy hollered from behind, "Sing anything you want!"
Gramps chuckled and paused for a moment before he started to play a song Grams used to like, and to his surprise, the crowd began to sing along.
Delia and the team took the performance as a cue to get their act together and set up their flashlights behind the counter to work on the rest of the orders, Aiden's mom helped her while Aiden and Andy started to bust tables.
Gramps continued to sing, song by song. Some the crowd knew, some they didn't do anything but attentively listen. But gladly, no one left till the very last song.
And so, on a rainy Friday night, the hot chocklit shop had its first semi-karaoke session with cozy, dimly lit tables and a wonderful old man playing nostalgic tunes.
It wasn't what anyone was expecting, and it most certainly wasn't a big production. It was just inviting, simple and happy. And most importantly, it goes to show that sometimes, things work out to be better if they don't go as planned.
So what more could anyone ask for?
"Ain't no sunshine when she's gone...
It's not warm when she's away..."
***
Phew. It has been a while. Hello, how are you? :)
To those wondering what the song Gramps was singing, here is a link to a more recent cover.
www.daysofrainandsummer.com
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