Art By Sarps

I looked around awkwardly as I entered the cafe. This was the largest crowd I had ever seen at Bluest Cafe on a weekday. And I have no plans to scour the area for another place because my deadline is fast approaching. I still cannot understand how my dearest boss could randomly call me during the holidays and push up my deadline by a good 3 days! Who does that?! And now, I have less than 24 hours to finish a 20 pager, well, 10 pages as I am halfway through.

“Hello Tomi, how do you do? Come with me and let me get you a seat”, Iya smiled as he welcomed me to the cafe. The perks of being a regular here, I thought proudly as I walked past people trying to get a table. I followed him. Although I knew better than hoping for an empty table, I still did and was utterly disappointed. I had to share a table with someone.
“Lord, let her not be a chatty person”, I prayed silently. Iya pulled out a chair for me, and I smiled at him and then at my tablemate.

“Would you like your usual drink to start with?” Iya asked as I sat. “Yes, please”.

“Hello, I’m Otto”, my table mate stretched out a hand with a huge smile.
“Tomi. Nice to meet you”, I said as I shook her hand.
“Pleasure”, Otto responded.
Otto engaged me further in small chitchat in an attempt to get to know me. I replied as politely as I could, yet brief so as to end it soon. I really needed to start working.

Iya brought my lemonade just as I finished setting up my things to begin work. I took a long sip of my drink with the aim of giving myself some time to get into work mode. And it seemed Otto wasn’t chatty, fortunately. She had a book beside her meal. So hopefully, she’d go back to it when she was done eating, I thought.

I whispered a prayer before getting to work. I smiled at Otto when I was done and soon wished I hadn’t.
Otto half-smiled back and almost immediately burst out into tears. Uncontrollably sobbing.
I looked around awkwardly, trying to see if anyone was looking in her direction. Maybe, someone had mouthed something mean to her or something of the sort. Why was she crying? Just when I was about to start working. Oh God, what do I do now?

I scooted my chair closer to her. I didn’t want to touch her for fear of creating a scene if she didn’t like that. So I settled with sitting next to her and tried to comfort her. She threw her arms around me and buried her face in my neck. Now, that’s uncomfortable. And awkward. And there’s no way I can push a sobbing person away without appearing mean. Aaargh, why today? I exhaled and put my arms around her, and asked if she wanted to talk. She kept crying. I waited.

After what felt like hours, she stopped crying and pulled back. I handed her more tissues. I waited. And after another long minute, she finally spoke.
“Tomi, I’m sorry. I’m really sorry, this is extremely unlike me. I don’t know what happened. I’m sorry. Please forgive…”.
“It’s okay, Otto. Whatever it is you’re going through, I’m pretty sure it will work out fine. If you do want to talk, I’m here. And if you simply want us to move on and forget this ever happened, that works for me too”. Although this situation is highly inconvenient, I want to help Otto. She seems really pained.

“You see, this holiday season has been one of the hardest I’ve had in my life. And when you smiled at me, it brought so much warmth to me. I couldn’t help the tears”. I smiled. She went on. “No one in my family has smiled at me since I returned. I’d walk in on them smiling and talking happily. The room would suddenly become dead silent. You’d ask why”. She sniffed and wiped her eyes. Then took a sip of her water.
“Coming from a family that owns a hospital, my siblings and I were expected to learn and follow in our grandparent’s and parent’s footsteps. Become a doctor and follow. My older siblings did. But I couldn’t become a doctor. Blood scares me. I can’t even make a smooth incision on meat! How am I to become a doctor and save lives? I’d probably kill many more for every one I save. I’ve loved any and everything creative so I decided to venture into art therapy. That way, I’d still return to the family business, but with something I can actually do”. There was a long awkward pause.
“Well, they disagreed but I went on to do it. They cut me off financially first, then eventually, communication seized. First, it was my parents, then my siblings followed. I was fortunate to get a full scholarship, and then a job which takes care of my needs. I came home to surprise them because Christmas was our favorite time of the year, we had so many traditions. I hoped the Christmas joy we shared would overshadow their disappointment and hate towards me but it only made it worse. I feel like I’m some disease they can’t get rid off so they’ve come up with ways to tolerate me. Like COVID-19, maybe”. She chuckled. “I planned on coming to set up a space to start practicing for them to see how art therapy helps, but they haven’t even asked how I am or how school is going. Nothing at all. And it’s been hard but I’ve had to put up a face because I don’t want to ruin Christmas any more for them. This has been my spot, to get away from everything”.

That’s a lot. Whew. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.
“I’m sorry you’ve had to go through all of that. And I can definitely understand. My brother went through a similar ordeal, although there’s no family business, he wanted to pursue something our parents didn’t agree with. He went ahead despite their disapproval. You know what, if you don’t mind, I’d set up a meeting with you both. He’d be the better person to share how he went through it and eventually got our parents looking for opportunities for him. How does that sound?”
“Yes, that would be great, Tomi. Thank you so much. Thank you”.
“Great! I’d take your contact and talk to him and get back to you, then. Again, I’m sorry your holidays didn’t go as planned. Things will work out eventually.”

Otto nodded and smiled before she spoke again. “Keep smiling”. She paused. “Really”, she added as though to emphasize her point. “You have such a beautiful smile that carries so much warmth and love. And I’m sorry for taking your time, you seemed like you were about to work and here I am, throwing a pity party. Ha!”
“Thank you, Otto. I’m glad I could be of some help. Yes, I have to get to work now. I’ve got some deadlines to meet”. I moved my chair back to its original spot, rummaged through my bag, and handed her my card. She said thanks and immediately called me to get her number too. I smiled at her and then went to work.

When I got home and told my brother, Yemi, about Otto, he was anything but pleased. I bribed him with lunch at Bluest Cafe, and he finally agreed to meet with Otto the next day if she was available. Her schedule was free, so we decided on a time. Yemi and I decided to get to the Cafe 15 minutes before the time to hang out for a while before meeting Otto. Well, Otto was there already. I had forgotten she mentioned this was her spot since her home wasn’t pleasant at the time.

We walked over to her table, and I introduced them. I started pulling out a chair to sit, but my brother stopped me halfway. “Aren’t you going somewhere?” he asked with a look that said, “get out of here”.
“Oh right, see you guys later” I smiled at them and left.

“And so, that’s how my brother met his beautiful wife, Otto”.
I ended my long speech to applause. “And yes, I’d repeat this story at any opportunity I get. I warned them. I need to promote my matchmaking skills with their success story; it was the first one. I can share another one of my success stories if you permit me”, I said amidst laughter.
Yemi stood up and shouted, “No, that’s not happening!” Everyone laughed.

“A toast. To the couple. Yemi and Otto”.

A friendly reminder to be kind always! I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing this.
Please leave a comment or two below, letting me know what you liked, loved and disliked! It would make me happy reading what you think!

-Sarpomaa