Hey guys, thank you for your votes and comments.
Continuing from the last part,
Ever since that day Monami had met Rishi, she had not encountered him in the following days; in fact, not even Karan had visited the restaurant.
On this day at noon, 『Sweet Dream』 had just opened for business. The store only had a few customers, who were seated in twos and threes. A gentleman wearing a suit entered the store. Suman ji's eyes lit up when she saw the man's handsomeness and personally went up to greet him. "Good morning sir, kya aapka reservation hai?"
Faizi tilted his head towards her. With a professional smile, he said, "No. "
Suman ji blinked with stars in her eyes. "May I inquire how many guests are with you?"
"Nahi sirf main akela hoon."
"Please come this way, sir. " Suman ji graciously led him to an empty table and handed him the menu.
Faizi flipped through the desserts, slowly scanning through every pastry. "Aapke restaurant ki cakes bahut beautiful hain.. kya reality me bhi yeh aisi hi dikhti hain..?"
Suman ji replied, "yeh saari photos original cake ki h, sir... Please rest assured. "
Faizi closed the menu and returned it to Suman ji. "I would like the wine-infused fruit cake and the swan puff, thank you. "
Suman ji was all smiles as she said, "Would you like to order anything else? Our foie gras here is quite good. "
"No thanks. "
Suman ji reluctantly left the scene.
In the end, it was Suman ji who delivered the dessert. Once it was placed down in front of Faizi, his brows raised, surprised by the exquisiteness of the cake. He picked up a spoon and scooped a small piece of the cake into his mouth. He then called out for Suman ji. "Aapko disturb nahi but kya main aapke pastry chef se mil sakta hoon?"
Suman ji paused for a moment before smiling and asking, "Is there something wrong with the flavour?"
"Oh, not that. It's very delicious. " Faizi showed an expression of appreciation. "Issi reason se main unhe personally thank you kehna chahta hoon.."
Monami was cutting dough when Suman ji walked in with a serving plate. She knocked a few times on the table. " Monami, table 9 wale customer ne kaha woh tumse milna chahta hain.."
Monami froze for a moment before looking at her, slightly nervous as she asked, "kyon.. kya hua... Cake me kuch problem hai?"
Suman ji slanted down her lips. "He said it was very good and wanted to personally thank you. "
"Really? For real?" Monami cupped her face in excitement. This was the first time a customer had looked for her. "Toh kya aap meri help karoge Suman ji.. maine oven me bake krne k liye rakha hai.. toh aapko na jyada nahi karna bas uss pan ko bahr niklana jab timer baje.."
Suman ji: "..."
******
Monami had already happily skipped away.
She neatened up her shirt and hat before approaching table 9. Very politely, she greeted, "Hello. "
Faizi tilted his head towards her, his eyes filled with deep interest as he asked, "Are you the pastry chef here?"
"Ji haan main hi hoon."
Faizi swept his eyes over her name tag. He smiled before saying, "Monami, aapka naam aap hi ki tarah sweet hain.. mera mtlb aapki bnayi hui cakes ki tarah.."
Monami turned red from embarrassment and unconsciously replied, "Not as sweet as your words. "
Faizi paused for a moment then laughed out loud. Monami was so embarrassed she quickly added, "Sorry. "
"Oh don't be; you're quite interesting," he chuckled at her. "Come sit down and have a chat. "
Monami waved her hands. "Oh no, it's okay. I can stand. "
Faizi didn't press any further. He picked up the spoon and cut into the wine-infused fruit cake, placing it on his lips. "I'm pleasantly surprised at this combination of cream and fruit. And yeh wine ki fragrance.. jo dheemi dheemi aa rahi h.. and these flavours.., it's hard to get tired of it no matter how much you eat. " He finished the cake and reached towards the puff on the other plate. "This swan puff is even more beautiful. Itni shandaar art hain ki hume isse khaane ka mann hi nahi kar raha.. kahi yeh art bigad na jae.."
Monami smiled. "If the guests leave their cakes intact on the table, the chefs will scold me. "
With a smile on his lips, Faizi took out a business card from his shirt pocket and gave it to Monami. "Aapse mil kar achha laga mohatrama.. "
Monami took the card, blankly staring at him for a bit. "A psychiatric doctor?"
Faizi nodded his head at her. "Ji haan agar aapko kabhi koi psychological problem ho jisse aapko deal Krna ho toh Hume yaad kr sakti hain.., you're very welcome to find me. "
She accepted the business card, grinning to herself. This person looked expensive; if she really needed psychological counselling, she'd just go to the supermarket and consult the instant noodles.
Faizi seemed to have heard her thoughts as he softly laughed and said, "Seeing as you have made such a wonderful cake for me, hum aapko aadhi price me counseling de sakte hain.."
Monami became a little embarrassed again. I wonder if all psychiatrists know how to read minds.
Once she returned to the pastry kitchen, Suman ji excitedly rushed over to her. "Suman ji dekha unhone tumhe card dia Monami.. Suman ji ko bhi dekhna hain.."
Monami casually handed the card to her. Suman ji held it as though she was holding a treasure in her hand. "Oh, a psychiatric doctor. High income and high IQ type. " She took out a pen and paper from her skirt and swiftly copied his number down.
Monami glanced over and asked, "What, kya aapko koi psychological problems hai..?"
Suman ji responded, "Does lovesickness count?" Speaking of this, with some hopefulness, she asked, "Do you think that psychiatrists would sacrifice their sex appeal to cure their patients?"
Monami pursed her mouth. "Depends on their face. "
Suman ji: "..."
*****
Inside Shergill's 's building, Karan was reading over some documents in his office when his phone vibrated on his table. It was a message from 「Faizi」.
Karan picked up his phone and clicked into it.
"Janaab hum aaj unn Mohatrama Miss Monami se mile.. unki cakes sach me lajawab hai.. unki cakes me aisa Jadoo hai ki koi bhi insaan khush ho jae.. waise hume ab samjh AA gaya ki aapne unhe kyon hire Kiya hai.. par hum aapko yeh nahi btayenge ki humne apna card unhe dia h.. and I am intend to hire her as my personal pastry chef.."
There were two pictures of cakes attached with the message.
Swan Puffs
Wine Infused Fruit Cake
Karan stared at the message for a while. He then saved the two photos onto his phone and deleted the text.
******
Monami was busy the whole day. As soon as she got home, she lay flat on her bed with no intention of moving.
Koel was holding a cup of instant noodles while standing next to the door. "Monu, tu Aaj dinner nahi karne wali hai kya.."
Monami lazily rolled onto her stomach. "Maine restaurant me kha liya tha.."
"Oh. Lekin agar tu raat aur kuch khae toh mujhe bhoolna mat.."
Monami: "..."
'khud se nahi bnaya jata kuch..'
Monami silently decided that if she did get hungry later, she would just secretly eat the biscuits inside her room instead of spoiling Koel and feeding her bad habits.
*****
She lay down for a while before she searched for Karan's number again, silent as she looked at the numbers. She then took out Faizi's business card from her bag, hesitant on whether she should ask about the split personality issue. No, no, no, he would definitely charge a fee; she should just ask something that was free.
She turned on her computer and typed the words 「split personality」 into the search engine.
The search engine immediately listed multitudes of results. She skimmed over a few. Many of the articles said that split personalities usually stemed from childhood trauma. Monami's eyebrows lifted a little. What kind of childhood trauma would KS have? He seemed like the type to be someone else's childhood trauma.
Hm. Then again, we can't be certain. Somebody of his status would have some sort of unspeakable secrets, like XXplay or bdsm...
Stop it, Monami! What kind of stuff have you been watching!
*****
Monami shook the mosaic of thoughts out of her head and rushed into the living room to find Koel. "Koo, mujhe na kuch khana hain.. tujhe bhi kuch khane ka mann h kya?"
"Want, want, want!" Koel lying on the sofa and watching TV shows suddenly sprung up, almost knocking over the instant noodles on the glass coffee table.
She grabbed some spare change and Monami's hand, walking out to buy some food. Although the suburb they lived in was rather old, the area had many street stalls. The lineup was almost like the backdoor of a university.
Once they had both chosen their dish and ordered some momos, they simply sat down in front of the stall and ate there. Monami watched Koel sitting opposite her, who was indulging herself in the food, and casually asked, "tujhe kabhi koi bachpan me trauma hua h.. koi sadma..?"
"Huh?" Koel looked at her for a few seconds. "Tujhe mere childhood trauma nahi pta.. class 1 me maine class monitor se dosti krni chao.. par usne reject kar dia.. class 2 me discipline incharge se dosti Krna chahi.. usne bhi reject kia.. aur class 3rd me kisne reject kia tha.. chhodo rehne do.. phir class 7 th me woh Rohit.m itne ache se hum dono the but jaise hi maine usse bola ki I like him.. agle din se usne mujhe school me baat karna chhod diya.. or phr 9 th me bhi aisa hi hua aur toh aur University ke 2nd sem me bhi..."
Monami: "..."
She already knew about all these events, but once it was listed together in a row, it sounded really tragic.
She brushed over her jean pockets and handed Faizi's business card to her. "If you can't figure it out, go find this man and talk to him about it. "
Koel: "..."
She took the card and placed it in her bag. Rubbing her nose, she faced Monami and said, "Dekh Monu agr sach me tujhe meri fikr h na toh pls KS ke sath interview karwa de.. main tere liye dua krungi and If I could get an opportunity to meet him, then the next 'promotion' would just be minutes away!"
Monami pursed her lips. "Tujhe kya lagta hain woh roj itne saari branches me se sirf humare restaurant me aake khada rehta hai aur phir bolta h.. "hello Monami.. acha hua tumse aaj phir mulakat ho gayi.. huh? "
Koel blinked a few times and placed her momos plate down. "Monu, mujhe aisa kyon lagta h tera attitude iss baare me kuch ajeeb h.. bilkul waise.. umm haan jaise ek wife complain karti h agar uska husband Ghar nahi aata.."
Her words made Monami's face go bright red. She immediately kicked Koel under the table. "Koel, have you no shame?!"
Koel laughed out, "What is there to be shameful about? It's okay as long as you're not shameless. "
Monami frowned at her, picked up the momos plate, and eaten them all.
Koel: "..."
What a savage way to take revenge... But itna teeka kaise kha payi.. bina pani k'
***
The next day whenMonami went to work, she was called into the restaurant manager's office. Her heart was a little nervous, and she was asked to sit in the chair opposite. The restaurant manager gave her some documents. "Humare city ka Exhibition center ek pastry exhibition hold karne wala Hain.. aur as humara restaurant new open hua h isliye head office ne decide Kia h , ki isse hum apne business ko promote kar sakte hain.. So, we have decided to send you as our representative. "
Monami stared at her in a daze. "Sending me?"
"Yes. Of course, Shergill's ke aur bhi doosre restaurants ki pastries execution me hogi but woh pastry chefs wahan present nahi honge.. jo documents maine tumhe abhi diye hain woh pastry catalogue hain.. Our restaurant has accounted for the majority of them. And Since you need to prepare for the exhibition, your day off may be postponed until after it has ended. Are there any problems?"
"No, no problems. " Monami was still a bit stunned. She had previously attended Bengaluru City's pastry exhibition, but only as a taste tester. The dazzling array of cakes had left a deep impression on her, and she had even been fortunate enough to meet some famous pastry chefs. She had never expected that after a few years, she would be given the opportunity to participate in this exhibition.
"Well then, thank you for your hard work for the next few days," the restaurant manager said as she smiled at her.
A fire brewed within Monami's heart, so hot that was burning up. "Rest assured restaurant manager, I will prepare well!"
*****
Yeah so no MoRan scenes here.. sorry..
But next me Karan will be there..
Tab tak k liye
Ta-ta
Your writer
Kriya