13 An Overload of Dumbness

"The only real diplomacy shown by a diplomat is in deceiving their own people after their dumbness has got them into a war."

-Will Rogers

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Gauhar's POV

That seemed to have pushed some kind of switch in her "Gauhar Siddique, how irresponsible of you to come to the shop fifteen minutes late! How do you think I am supposed to handle the customers without your help?" she nearly screamed at me, her already pink cheeks transcending red and going on to maroon.

Bad move Gauhar, I internally admonished myself.

I looked around the shop which appeared to have no other occupants except us, and then turned towards my employer "I'm sorry to leave you alone to handle the shop when we clearly have so many patron to look after."

Mrs. Abercrombie's cheeks flushed an even darker shade of red at my words, if that were even humanly possible without bursting due to excess blood in your head. "That is not the point young lady, it is the principle of being late. What took you so long to get here?"

"I was helping a friend out and lost track of time, forgive me this once Mrs. Abercrombie." I sighed deeply and looked up at her with pleading eyes.

"D-don't you give me that expression Gauhar, I forbid you to use those convincing eyes on me." I could see the anger slowly melting away and the usual warmth return back to her eyes.

I knew it was unethical to use the pleading puppy dog eyes on her, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Right?

I saw her shoulders slump as she sighed deeply, a sure sign of her giving away "Alright, I'll let it go for this once. Go and wear your apron now, and make sure that you don't let it happen again." I mentally jumped in triumph, but made sure that my happiness did not show on my face.

Nodding my head demurely I walked towards the coatrack which held the blindingly bright yellow aprons that Mrs. Abercrombie had decided to make her employees wear.

Although I hated the colour, I had to agree that it did blend quite well with the cosy multicolored quilts and patterns that were adorned on the sofas and chairs. The place reminded me of being wrapped in a blanket on a cold winter night with a piece of fresh bread in my hands. Which is why the customers here seemed to like to chill here for hours.

But a Monday is that day of the week that absolutely does not allow you to 'chill' which explains the silence that prevailed in the normally bustling café. If any day could be removed from the week, I would definitely give my vote to Monday.

My hatred for Mondays distracted me from paying attention to the extremely difficult task of tying the knot of my apron. I could call myself proficient at quite a few things, but tying knots wasn't one of them, especially when I couldn't see what I was doing. My hands always managed to fumble and shake as the reached behind my back.

I sighed to myself as I leaned against the counter, hoping beyond hope that my apron stayed put and the knot that I had cramped my hands tying, wouldn't break lose.

I looked longingly at the rows of decadent pastries and cakes set up in display, my head resting in my hand as I watched them look at me tauntingly through the glass casing they were in. It was almost as if they were laughing at me, saying 'lay you filthy hands on us if you can lowly human, the ultimate shield of glass protects us from your greedy gaze'.

Apparently everyone was so busy that they didn't have any time to spend or rather waste at the café. Which meant that I had no work to do. Normally it would have been a welcome occurrence, because then, that would mean less work for me. But the smell of freshly baked goods and the sight of those gorgeous cupcakes didn't help me much in my state of hunger, in fact it was pure torture.

I looked out of the glass door that held in the decadent smells of freshly baked goods, and separated us from the bustling city outside. My fingers tapped on the counter, waiting for customers that seemed too busy to notice our little café. My eyes followed the scores of people crossing the street, each one of them lost in their own thoughts, seemingly oblivious to even the person walking beside them.

How strange it was that now we preferred to dwell only in our little bubble. Not allowing entry to the people around us, even smiling at passers-by seemed like a daunting notion.

As I contemplated on how increasingly anti-social we had started to become, the shrill sound of my mobile phone ringing distracted me from my thoughts. I stretched my arms over my head before reaching into the pocket of my pants to retrieve the device.

I leaned forward onto the counter as I checked the screen to identify who had called. As Daniya's name flashed on the screen, a smile formed on my face. At least for now I would be able to distract myself from having my mind wander aimlessly.

"Are you finally fired?" came the familiar voice as I soon as I answered the call. Ah the felicity of friendship, the faith that Daniya had in me was enough to make my heart combust in gratitude.

I don't know what I did to earn a friend that had so much belief in my prowess of pissing others off to the point of getting fired. It was truly heartwarming, made me wish I could hug her hard enough to suffocate her…to death.

Nevertheless I couldn't help the smile that blossomed on my face "No, sadly not yet. Though your concern was very touching, the fact that you want me to get fired isn't too heartening. You were supposed to be my friend."

"Hello, who is this and what have you done to my friend? Bloody hell Gauhar, I was supposed to be the dramatic one here, don't try to act smart and take my place."

I rested my face in my hand as I looked out at the fast moving cars and people, it was mesmerizing how they almost appeared to blur at the edges "Don't try to change the damn topic, I know your clever little ways. Tell me now, you were supposed to be my friend, which means you were supposed to my well-wisher."

"Yeah yeah, I am your well-wisher of course, that's why I asked you to leave the campus early but you wouldn't deign to listen to my words. Mark my words Gauhar your idiotic behavior will definitely get you fired one day." I could very well imagine Daniya placing her hand on her hips and wagging a finer admonishingly at me.

"Gee what a bright ball of sunshine you are, such optimism and good cheer. I'm surprised I can handle it." I rolled my eyes.

"Shut it, no need of dishing out sarcasm, you know I am right, just effing accept it already." If Daniya had been in front of me, I would have made sure she was the one that shut her mouth.

I was surprised at my own forbearance, when did I become so patient?

"Shut up will you, I was so damn stressed. I don't need you to keep reminding me of that crap." I ran a hand down my face, pinching the bridge of my nose as I closed my eyes.

"Nah, you wish." Daniya chuckled on the other side, clearly enjoying annoying me "I won't shut up darling. Who asked you to suddenly realise your good Samaritan side and stop by to help that dunderhead….what's her name. Ah yes! Wilhelmina."

Daniya really did know how to rile me up, and here I thought I had learned some patience for once.

"She's not a dunderhead, don't be rude. And Dani call her Bill."

"Ha yeah, Bill. A dumb name for a dumbass, perfect isn't it?" Daniya laughed to herself, making me narrow my eyes at her behavior "Isn't Bill a guy's name? Is she a wannabe guy now, why not come outright and say it? Tch, pathetic."

I shook my head to myself as I held my head in my hand, Daniya could sometimes really start acting like a child "Sheesh Dani, I can smell the jealousy from here, calm down will you? Nobody can take your place, you know that, let me help her if she needs me."

"That's your effing problem Gauhar." She sighed to herself in exasperation "You go out of your way to help others, even if it puts you in trouble.��

I knew she was worried for e, but there were some things she just wouldn't understand, I actually doubt anyone would even if I attempted to try to explain

"Yeah I do that, because I know I can't live with myself if let someone else struggle while I sit and watch." I sucked in a deep breath to calm my heart that has started beating erratically.

"I never understood why Gauhar, and you won't ever tell me." I could sense the disappointment and sadness in her voice. But I could never bring myself to tell her…tell anyone about what happened.

"You don't need to know it. I don't want you to hate me Dani." I curtly replied, trying to mask the sadness I felt saying those words. Good thing she couldn't see me right now.