The Wife & CEO

It was past nine. The tangerine light of the bulbs spread throughout the cafe. The cafe looked like it was a place built in the '90s - bright red bricks, carvings on the wall, wooden floors which creaked when someone walked by, retro music which would set the mood for the cold and dizzy night. The bell on the cafe door kept jingling every now and again. It was a busy night. The chit-chats of the people, sipping hot coffee could barely make it possible for anyone to listen to music in the cafe.

The counter was facing a large window just adjacent to the cafe entrance. The window was encircled with money plants which made their way all the way to the top on both sides of the window. A plank as high as an average person's waist was set up on the huge window. The plank had pots on them which had some diversified collection of flowers. The contrast of the green and lush money plant looked graceful with those violet and blue flowers. Sitting in the cafe, looking outside the huge window, having a glimpse at the busy world outside, everything seemed so peaceful.

There was laughter, joy and happiness in the ambience. Amidst everyone, there was this guy sitting on the left side table of the cafe, with eyes glued to the laptop. His fingers were moving as quickly as they could and the click-clack of his typing could often be heard in the cafe. He was trying hard to not get his eyes off his laptop.

With hesitation, he had to look at his silver watch which showed it was past nine.

"Don't people have anything to do? It's almost night and the cafe gets busier and busier." He said to himself.

"I'll just concentrate and finish my work." He calmed himself down.

He adjusted his specs and again stuck his eyes on his laptop. It was just minutes later when a black coat stood right next to his table.

"Excuse me, do you mind if I sit here? Everywhere else it's taken." A delicate voice spoke.

"Umm...Yeah, sure." He said, gawking his eyes at the woman who just adjusted herself in front of him.

She was a tall woman. Fair, black hair. Her eyebrows were long and thick. Her eyes were big and brown. Her nose seemed too long as if God made a blunder while making her. She carried a black purse with her which matched with her coat. Her hands were still freezing which depicted that she had just come in. She was waiting for her hot coffee, desperately.

"I hope I am not disturbing." She said.

"Oh! Not at all." He said looking up from his laptop.

"It's almost night and still the cafe is jam-packed. Actually, I wanted to spend some time alone and I thought this would be the perfect place to get my mood going. Instead, it's all crowded with damn couples." She tried to explain.

"It's fine. I also thought of getting my work done listening to some of the retro music but I'm listening about break-ups and relationships from the time I have been here." He said.

"Oh, by the way, I'm Prachi!" She said, putting her hand in for a shake.

"Aditya! Glad to meet you." He said, shaking her hand.

"Here's your coffee, miss!" Said the Waiter
serving the hot coffee on the table.

Aditya again tried to focus on his work, when Prachi spoke softly,

"Damn, these couples!"

Aditya, who heard her asked with a smile,

"You don't like couples?"

"These couples promise so many things to each other. And eventually, they don't stand by any of those promises." Said Prachi while some of the coffee gushed on her black coat.