Every day, she came to my cafe exactly at 4pm. She had a petite frame and stooped while walking. She used to slowly walk towards the blue chair, pull it out, hang her umbrella from the backrest, sit down carefully and then open a book, usually the same book.
I knew her food preference, cafe latte and honey croissant, and always served it with special care. She sat there till it got dark and then slowly left.
She never sat on any other chair. The days when some other customer occupied the chair, she used to patiently wait, till the customer left. Recently, I started putting a reserved board on that chair around 4pm.
Then, suddenly she stopped coming. Initial couple of days I was busy and didn’t realise her absence. Gradually I started missing her.
In this small village everyone knew each other. However, no one seemed to know her.
One day, about 2 weeks after she stopped coming, a young man came to my cafe. He ordered 200 honey croissants to be delivered at the church the next day. He said it was for his mother’s funeral mass.
I put the ‘reserve sign’ on the blue chair permanently.
Trina Looks Back 
So sweet to put the reserved sign
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Thanks kurian
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That’s a sweet but sad story.We do make strange relationships.Loved the story.
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Thanks Amrita
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So touching. Brought tears to my eyes
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Awww!!! Thanks a ton
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I loved the thoughtfulness among strangers. Beautiful story, Balaka:)
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Thanks Mayuri
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That reserved sign is the masterpiece of this story- beautifully done Balaka!!
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Thanks a ton dear💓💓💓💓
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I love your narration … Your storytelling is so beautiful, specially the ending.
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Thank you Rajlakshmi😘😘
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Touching! I remember looking out eagerly for an old woman beggar with a bent back, whom I used to help. She disappeared, and then, to our relief, was back after a hiatus. Maybe, ill health or a vacation 🙂
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I also had a similar hunch backed woman whom I used to call ‘nani’…I used to wait for her…then she vanished and later on I came to know she was bedridden and paralysed..thanks for visiting Reena
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Aww. That reserved sign was a nice touch. Such a touching story.
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I missed you…where have you been dear??
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I missed you and your stories too! Glad that I was able to catch up on all that I had missed out. I enrolled for Master’s degree. So I’ve been busy with the move and all that. 😅 I’ve been away from the blogosphere for over a month!
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All the best for your masters…have a great life ahead
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Thank you so much, dear. ❤😊
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