Chapter 7: The Exceptional Waiter
It was around 15 00 hours when John Moyo took off from the construction site. Today he was lucky because before he took off they had provided everyone with lunch including him. Even though some preferred to eat what they have brought from home, John was more than happy to gulp down every grain of rice that he was given. Even though everyone was asking questions on his strategy, he was enjoying the meal more than the conversation.
The meal was rice with beef stew alongside green salad with a fizz drink on the side. To everyone, this was just another meal, I think everyone around him would rate this with a five out of ten but John would rate it nine out of ten. He only enjoy this kind of food once in a blue moon. So, yes this was heaven to him.
He was carrying his stomach with satisfaction as he went on to search for another piece work. Now he had to look for a lighter job. Even though he needs money desperately, he knows the capability of his body so he tries not to overwhelm his body as much as possible. So he was looking for a job in the kitchen as a waiter.
Most restaurants has plenty of waiters but during this hour of the day when most people are getting off work, they will be looking for a place to eat. So the pressure on the existing waiters would be great and some of then would be assisting in the kitchen living some customers unattended, therefore, these restaurants would hire part-time waiters. However, these are occasions that happen without notice, so it goes with luck of the said waiting waiter. So John Moyo announced his arrival to the restaurant manager so that they will know he is here to help.
The restaurant he chose today was Hot Spot Restaurant. This was a very prestigious restaurant in the kingdom with more than three outlets in every major cities kingdom, so customers would be flooding into the restaurant every minute of the day. But the most busiest time was in the evening starting from 17 30 hours, every table will be occupied inside and outside the restaurant. There were also private rooms where people can have their functions like birthdays, unions, business meetings and so on.
As the time approach even civil servants and other private sector employees will be looking for a place to eat their dinner. Only those with families will be heading home as soon as they get off work, though others will even choose to eat out with their family.
Hot Spot Restaurant had a weekly promotion every Tuesday where customers will be given a 40% discount for the second plate bought and a 50% discount for the third onwards. So everyone in the city wanted to take advantage of this promotion leading to the restaurant flooding with customers. That's why today chose Hot Spot Restaurant instead of any other restaurants. Others have their own promotions but they made sure to do it on different days so as to give each other chances to make money.
Some might think that they were not making profit by giving away these ridiculous discounts, but these restaurants would still make profits even with the given discount. For example, the cost of making a meal that costs $20 was around $9, so even though they give a 50% discount they would make a $1 profit for that meal. And even if its a loss, it won't be huge as the first and second meals would have covered their costs. And it was not possible for customers with families to come with more than ten people unless it's a party which would have it's own conditions for discount.
So John watched as people, individuals, couples, colleagues, business people, families and many other groups enter the door starting from 17 00 hours. The restaurant manager came to where he was seating and told him to get ready to help. He was given a uniform to wear, though it was a little different from those who were permanent workers there, the distinction was minor. The difference was to make sure that if the part-time waiter made a mistake with customers he was to be blamed for the said mistake. Therefore it won't damage the restaurant's reputation that much unlike if the permanent worker did it.
John was very happy at this moment, 'I hope I get private rooms today,' he said inward. Private rooms were dangerous in some instances but when it comes to tips, you can come out with more money from them than you have actually signed up for. The danger was that some of the people who request private rooms are gangsters and drug lords who will be discussing their private matters and if you overhead what they discuss, they will definitely kill you. The other problem might be those who get drunk and demands unreasonable things. But if you get business people, prestigious families and sometimes celebrities, you will come out with a fat pocket.
John changed into the uniform and waited inline with other to be given instructions. At this moment he looked like a waiter with experience, which is true though because he has been doing this for a long time now that he knew how to handle the tray, how to pour wine and even mixing cocktail. And his posture was the same as the employee of the restaurants that customers mistook him for a permanent Hot Spot worker or even better than them.
After the instructions were given he went to serve a couple who were on a date, the guy was looking nervous, it looked like he was about to propose to his girlfriend. In situations like this the guy is always clumsy and sometimes saying to many things that he doesn't want say. So John decided to help the the guy and boost his confidence a little. The guy excused himself to go to the restroom and John followed him but he made sure that his girlfriend did not notice them going together. In the restroom John was direct as he stated his mission, the guy was taken aback by his directness.
"I can help you propose if you like", John paused and continued to explain. "I can..."
His name was Tinashe Jena and his girlfriend's name was Nala. When Tinashe came out of the restroom, he was a man full of confidence and pride. His face shone bright that even his girlfriend was surprised by the change. They had finished their meal and now they were on dessert eating the restaurant's special. Suddenly John appeared with a bottle of wine which was had a tag on it. John placed the tag facing Nala so that she will notice the tag. " To my special Nala Karichi, let's drink this to start our next journey", that's what the tag said. As if it noticed that she had finished reading the tag, the screen in the restaurant facing them showed their table focusing on Nala. There were words which were written at the bottom of the screen, "Nala I love you from the moment we met ", at this moment the screen changed to the pictures they took on their first date and the dates that followed until the screen changed back to the table but now it was not focused on Nala but on Tinashe who was on one knee with a ring box open showing a dazzling ring inside. At the bottom of the screen it read,"Will you marry me".
All this time Nala was focused on the screen not looking at Tinashe who was on the other side of the table. She didn't notice him moving to the side and kneeling. Surprise was the expression that was written on his face right now. She did not know how he had done all this when he was with her all this time. The time he went to the restaurant was very shot that he could never had done this.
For almost a minute she was frozen in place until every emotion hit her hard that she forgot to respond to the question and started crying while embracing him with a big kiss. Everyone around cheered into a loud applause while the couple kiss.
The moment they let go , they were breathing heavily like they just ran a marathon.
Nala looked into Tinashe's eyes, "I love you more than you think and I want to spent every day of my life with you. And of course I want to marry you".
The crowd cheered again for a while until everything came back to normal and people started eating again.
The couple was overjoyed about everything, Tinashe was also surprised with the development of events because the only thing that John asked was his pictures of their dates. He also told Tinashe to kneel before their last date.
After a moment the couple rose from their table and were about to leave when they noticed John standing, waiting for another table to serve. "Thank you for everything, you are an exceptional waiter Mr Moyo", Nala said while extending her hand with courtesy and John shook her hand likewise, and they left the restaurant but not before Tinashe slipped a $50 into his pocket together with his business card. It turns out Tinashe was a entrepreneur running a repair shop for computers.
His night was just starting.