Tea Stories on a Warm Afternoon

There I was, sitting at a lonely table, sipping my tea as I worked. It was past 2:00 in the afternoon but I still had the taste of baked scallops from lunch. I was in the midst of finishing a task for a client when a couple of people came inside the shop. They took a seat at a table near mine.

As I looked in their direction, I caught one of them staring at my monitor. Sure, this wouldn’t have been a big deal, but I’m terribly conscious about people looking at my work when it’s not finished and I swear I quickly pressed command + tab as a reaction. It must have sent the wrong idea because the guy was now looking straight at me in a weird way.

I shifted my glance back at my monitor, trying to ignore the awkwardness of that brief moment. Things picked up immediately and I was back in my zone.

A few minutes later, another group arrived. There were five of them, 2 men in semi-formal attire, one younger guy, and an older lady. They were looking around for seats. The only available ones were both tables on my left and right. I should’ve moved so they could use my table but I didn’t budge. I was feeling a bit lazy. I think they looked at me for a minute trying to give a hint, but they eventually ended up using one of the small tables.

I swear I wasn’t intentionally eavesdropping when they started discussing doing business with the other guy. At first, they were speaking in English, but as the conversation progressed, they spoke in our Cebuano dialect. I found it interesting that their conversation shifted from the salesperson trying to promote himself to the other guy, who was the owner of some company, trying to impress him.

When they left, a young couple came in. It looked like they weren’t on speaking terms because the girl was looking down at the table and the guy was trying too hard to talk to her. It was so awkward.

It’s interesting to think that on a regular weekday afternoon, there are snippets of stories in an ordinary tea shop. I’d forgotten how fascinating humans are.