On most days, for him, a happy start to a good day depended on a nice, relaxed breakfast.
“Does my room include breakfast?” he asked the person at the other end of room service. “Yes, Sir, it is on the first floor,” the person said. He loitered around for a while in his room. He wondered whether his nightdress was ok to wear for breakfast. He washed his face, combed his hair, and wore his slippers. He peeped into the mirror on the wardrobe checking how he looked.
For a moment, he opened his wardrobe. He thought if he should wear the jeans and T-shirt from yesterday’s sightseeing. He let the thought pass, picked up the keys to his room and stepped out.
It was a big breakfast area for a small hotel. The spread though didn’t have a lot of items. Cornflakes, milk, and juice on one end. Bread butter and tea on the other. Some poori and idli in the middle.
He looked at the small board on the table that said, ‘eggs to order’ and pointed to it.
“Masala omelette?” The person behind the spread asked. He nodded and said, “No onions.”
“Bread toasted?” The person asked again, and he nodded again and said, “No butter.”
“Tea?” Again, he nodded again and said, “No sugar.” The waiter smiled and went to the kitchen.
He took a glass of water. With a plate filled with a bowl of cornflakes and milk, he turned around looking for a place to sit. There were many tables with four or six chairs around them. There were none with two. He first walked to the table a bit further down from the spread. But he realised that there were sun rays falling on it and changed his mind. He looked around and finally took a lonely chair on a big table with three more empty chairs around it. It was near the spread. He started eating his breakfast.
The person at the spread got his tea without sugar. He waited for his omelette and bread to arrive.
A salesman in his company’s uniform spoke on the phone on a table opposite his. He reminisced on his working days, relieved that they were over. A good-looking young mother with an infant and a toddler tried to manage them. Three breakfasts and two howlers at the same time. He smiled at the thought that those days were behind him. A couple of well-dressed corporate employees sipped their juice while reading a newspaper. He didn’t envy them at all. They were far from realising the joys of freedom, he thought.
He wondered if he was under dressed for breakfast. Were his three-fourths and t-shirt not right? Especially for his age? He took a gulp of tea with that lingering thought.
That’s when he noticed movement at his table on the chair next to him.
He turned his head to see that a young girl sat on it. He stole a glance towards her. One quick look. He deciphered that she was in her mid-twenties. Recently married. A bunch of bangles on her wrist. A splash of vermilion in her hair parting. A bindi on her forehead. A gold chain on her flawless neck.
She moved her chair closer to the table. Closer to him. Her dull, staid perfume lingered near him. He shuffled himself on his seat. He became conscious of her shorts and flowing sleeveless t-shirt. Fair arms and legs. From the corner of his eye, he could see that the mehndi on them was still fresh.
The person behind the breakfast spread got his omelette. He placed it in the space between him and the girl. He pulled it towards himself. Then another waiter got his toasted bread. He placed it in front of the girl. He pulled it again towards himself. They weren’t together. Did he look that young?
The girl turned her slender neck and smiled at him. His eyes had the girl on their radar. But his sight was elsewhere. He smiled back though. Out of courtesy. She told the waiter to get her tea. The waiter took her order. The waiter asked him if he also wanted some tea.
No, dammit, he felt like saying. They weren’t together. She was only a few years older than his elder son. If he had one that is. His wife wouldn’t have liked this at this age. If he had one that is. He didn’t reply to the waiter. The waiter went away, leaving him with his silence.
“Mummy, I will.. umm.. call you later. I am having.. breakfast,” she said on the phone. “No, mummy, I don’t know where he is.”
He took a deep breath while placing his omelette between the two slices of bread.
“I told you Mumma. It’s not ok,” she said, raising her voice.
He felt that his lips and throat had turned dry. He needed some water. He stood up and signalled to the person behind the spread. The waiter walked towards him with a jug and two glasses. He placed it on the table, again in the common space between him and the girl. He pulled one glass and the jug towards himself. He poured some water in it and had a few sips while she spoke on the phone. Then he poured some water in the other glass and left it untouched. Out of courtesy again. She didn’t notice. He looked the other way.
“Mumma, No.. I am not calling him,” she yelped on the phone this time, losing patience. “And will you now let me have some breakfast in peace?” she shouted. “I am done with him.”
He munched into his breakfast conscious of every bite. After every few moment, when he finished chewing and gulped, there was silence. He heard the girl munching too, right next to him, too close for comfort. Or not? He didn’t turn his neck but sensed that she had turned it towards him. His neck stayed still. His eyes wandered, strayed, roved around a bit. They caught a sly glance of her elbow near his. He wanted his breakfast to end fast. Or he didn’t? He wanted it to last longer. A bit longer.
Her phone rang again. “He called you? No way Mumma,” she howled in the phone. “You must have called him, I am sure. Why?” She cried out. She got up from the chair and started walking away.
He looked up from his almost ending omelette sandwich. He saw her in front in her shorts and t-shirt. She was shorter than he had felt. Cute, he thought. He saw her walk away from their table.
The salesmen and the corporate workers had finished their breakfast and left. They are always in a hurry, he thought. No time for a breakfast in peace, he sympathised for them. The young mother with the kids still struggled trying to juggle between three mouths. He felt sorry for her too.
He finished his breakfast, but he was in no hurry to leave. Will she be back? he pondered.
The person behind the spread saw his empty plate and asked if he needed anything. He shook his head. The waiter then asked him if he could clear his plates, to which he nodded.
“And For madam?” the waiter asked. He didn’t reply, but the waiter didn’t go. Then he shook his head. The waiter cleared both their plates, lying next to each other on the table.
Breakfast was over, was it? He wondered. He peeped ahead and didn’t see her. She wouldn’t come back? It was time for him to go, he felt.
He walked out of the breakfast area and towards the lift. The girl was standing in front of it.
He pushed his finger in the tiny space between her and the lift and pressed the lift button. She looked at him, not for the first time, while she had the phone on her ear. She had a faint smirk on her face. But when she saw him, he sensed a relieved expression.
Mummy was badgering her from the other side. She pretended to listen, but he knew she wasn’t listening. She smiled as their eyes met. He smiled back, while his heart fluttered.
He entered the lift with measured steps. She followed him in a quick rush. He pressed 6. He waited for her to press her floor number. She didn’t press anything. He looked at her, waited for her. She looked at him. She didn’t do anything. The doors of the lift closed, and it moved up.
“I can’t hear you, Mumma,” she said. “I will call you back,” she said and disconnected.
A few silent, awkward seconds ensued. He felt the space between them get narrower. The lift reached floor 6. He stepped out, again with measured steps and she followed, again in a rush.
He reached the door of his room. He stopped and waited in front of it. He swiped the key in from of the sensor which made a sound. When he opened the door, he held on to the handle for a wee bit longer. She passed behind him and stopped in front of his room. He kept the door open and made sure she registered it. She did. He walked inside. She waited outside. Her phone rang.
“Mumma, I have had enough of him I said…Don’t force me. This was wrong from the start,” she cried out aloud. “Why did you force me into it? I want to get on with my life,” she yelled.
He heard her for a bit. The voice faded in the lobby outside the closed door of his room.
He looked at the mirror on his wardrobe. What he saw pleased him. Despite some grey hair, he saw a glow on his face. He combed his hair. He felt that his three-fourths seemed to match her shorts. It was not such a bad dress for breakfast, after all.
He sat on his bed and thought about the girl outside. Twenty years back, life wasn’t like this, he passed a judgement. Freedom was hard to get, he thought. Time, it passes you by before you realise it, he told himself. He smiled at his wistful thoughts.
He decided it was time for him to get ready for the sightseeing of the day. The lone traveller had to move on to his next destination. His heart missed a beat when, ten minutes later, he heard a knock on the closed door of his room.
***