The cafe owner woke up that morning and looked at the mirror. As he stared at his own reflection, he felt disgusted. No matter how many times he tried to feel the connection with that person behind the looking glass, he didn’t find any. His long fingers touched the surface, and at the same time, the fingers belonged to that man, did the same. His eyes lingered at it. The twin orbs carefully observed the gap between his own fingers and the reflection. Everything looked fake. He then moved away from the mirror to get ready for the day.
*
The Cafe had special rules. People are welcome to stay as long as they want, use the free wifi however they please, but they are not allowed to look at themselves. That means, using mirrors and cameras are off limits. The cafe itself was not equipped with mirrors anywhere, so if one is not confident with their appearance, they should look for another place to stay.
Despite these strange rules, it didn’t drive the customers away. They were drawn by the aroma of delicious coffee made by the owner, after all. Many of them chose to have coffee on the go, and not linger for too long. Some others took pictures at the front of the cafe instead. Updating location at social media platforms was very important these days.
After the owner opened the cafe in the morning, it didn’t take too long for people to start pouring in. The street outside displayed by the broad windows looked busy, making all sorts of different types of people queue at the counter. Some wearing formal business attire, others wear casual clothes that made the owner think that they might be students from the university nearby.
As he was taking orders from a young man who was wearing a hoodie of a certain football club, he noticed a young lady that stood in the middle of the queue, busy taking selfies with her mobile phone. That very gesture made the owner flinch, almost pushing the wrong button at the cash register. He could also hear people that stood behind her whispering and looked at her funny.
It bothered him, and it showed. As he wrote down the order on a takeaway coffee cup, he couldn’t stop stealing glances at the lady. In his head, he already imagined himself stomping towards her and throwing her mobile phone to the wall. But, it wasn’t wise to make a scene like that. Not at his own cafe. That young man with a hoodie noticed how uneasy the owner was, and glanced at the source of his annoyance. After he saw the lady taking a selfie, he looked back at the cafe owner and shrugged his shoulders as if saying what can you do, mate? The owner saw him and threw a faint smile.
That lady finally arrived at the front of the queue. While she was contemplating on what to order from the menu, the cafe owner also weighed the choice of telling her about the selfie situation or not.
“I’ll have one cafe latte,” her words made the owner snapped from his thought.
“Hot?”
“Yes, please.”
The lady paid the amount of the beverage, but as she was about to move away, the owner stopped her.
“Sorry, we have a rule here about using your phone.”
“Pardon?”
“No cameras and mirrors allowed in this cafe.”
“Why is that?”
“That’s just the rules.”
“Well, that’s very odd.”
“Yeah… anyway, I saw you taking pictures while waiting on the line. Can you delete those pictures?”
“Oh, don’t worry, I was just taking selfies.”
“I know, but it’s still against the rules. Can you delete those, please?” The lady started to feel annoyed by the owner’s unusual request.
“What is your problem? I didn’t take any pictures of the cafe, it’s just my face.”
“That’s still not allowed.”
“You know what? Just forget about the coffee. I’m leaving.”
Before the owner managed to say anything, she stormed out of the cafe. Other people that were queuing gazed at her, and as soon as she was out of the cafe, they shifted their eyes towards the owner. Silence fell for a long minute until a man that was in front of the queue cleared his throat that made everyone look away.
“I’ll have what that lady ordered.”
“Oh, right.”
The cafe owner input his order but he was still distracted by the thought that she left without deleting her pictures. Maybe I should put a sign at the front door next time.
*
The cafe owner looked at the mirror in the morning and felt disgusted. He even felt more disgusted as he recalled what happened the day before with the young lady that took selfies. It was very irritating for him that she would look at her own image and just agreed with it. He couldn’t understand how she seemed content with the way the camera reflected herself.
On the other hand, the cafe owner looked at the mirror every morning, but couldn’t stand the person that stood at the other side. No matter how many times he tried to get used to the features that the mirror offered him, it still didn’t sit right with him. Something was wrong with that person who was standing right in front of him.
He couldn’t look at his reflection any longer and decided to prepare himself to open his cafe.
*
The cafe owner was too busy fiddling with the cash register that he didn’t realise there was a mobile phone in front of his face. And once he looked up, he heard shutters of the camera went off several times. Realising what was happening, he put his hand up to cover his face, even though he knew it was too late. Whoever it was, they already successfully took pictures of him. Who was it, anyway?
As he moved his hand away from his face, he was surprised to see that it was the same lady as the day before. She looked down at her phone, and before the owner could say anything, she held her phone up. The cafe owner could see the picture of himself and he immediately looked away, feeling uncomfortable. It felt as if someone had put a gun on his forehead. What does she want now?
“Is this what you don’t want people to see?”
She suddenly waved her hand that was holding her phone from side to side, taking pictures of the cafe while at it.
“Or these?”
The owner was about to snap at her, but a man that was standing behind her grabbed her shoulders and she stopped, surprised by a stranger’s sudden touch.
“I think that’s enough, miss. You are disturbing the line, and especially the owner. Clearly, you knew what the rules are and decided to act the exact opposite.”
The lady shoved the man aside and stormed out of the cafe without saying anything back.
“People can be a bit crazy like that, huh,” that man gave out a slight chuckle.
“I’m sorry for that. It must’ve been uncomfortable.”
“Don’t worry about it. She shouldn’t take your pictures without your permission like that.”
The owner paused at what he said. Once again, she left without deleting the pictures.
*
That morning, the cafe owner felt a lot more irritated than usual. He had been staring at the mirror for the past five minutes and the connection between himself and the person who stared back at him stretched further and further away. He was becoming an impostor.
His fingers once again touched the surface of the looking glass, and his reflection never fails to mimic his movement. He traced upwards towards his chin, his nicely shaped jaw, then his plump lips. Up until this point, he started to have flashes of images about what happened with the lady the day before. A phone camera in front of his face. The sound of shutters went off. That wretched lady showed a photo of himself.
The cafe owner shuddered at the memory. His fingers stopped at the reflection of his eyes. As the photo of himself on the phone flashed inside his mind once again, he thought that the twin orbs looked funny.
He didn’t remember ever having green eyes.
Kita's Nook 