Thai Restaurant

Saturday is always the busiest day for Nati Lotus. When the owners flipped the sign to “open”, another day began.

-Redemption Birthday-

He’s not been the greatest father in the world. He put his career over his daughter. Because of this, she is so cold towards him. Today on the thirty-first year of her existence, would be no different. She sat at the table with a scowl on her face. He looked rather uneasy.

“Happy birthday, sweetie,” he said. His daughter snorted.

“What’s the matter?” he asked. She kept her back to him.

“Why are you trying to care after all of these years?” his daughter asked. He never appeared to care about her when she was a child. Ever since he left when she was a baby, it had been just her and her mother. Was he dying? Why did he have to show up after all of these years?

She was already having a bad day on her birthday. Did he have to come along and make it worse?

-Gentleman’s Agreement-

The Sand Tiger fracture sat at their usual spot by the window. Today, they vowed to get real work done. They had to keep their line of work secret, of course. Nati Lotus was the only safe place to do business. However, one of the young men has his eyes on the daughter of the man trying to make up for all of the times that he wasn’t there for her.

“We can’t let those guys take over our turf,” the underboss said. “We have to make them see that we mean business.” The fifty-something boss drank his bitter tea. He always ordered the same drink in the restaurant. The mobster with his eyes on the bitter daughter asked him about that one day.

“It clears my body and helps me to think,” the old boss said. The young man tried to order the same thing today and took a sip. He made a face as the liquid washed over his tongue. The mobster happened to catch the eyes of the dark-haired birthday girl. He held up his cup.

“Mmm, this is good!” the young man said, clenching his teeth. She rolled her eyes and shook her head. The mobster lowered his cup and turned back to his party. The muscle of the mob smacked him in the head.

“Pay attention,” he hissed under his breath. The younger man nodded, but kept his eyeing on the frowning birthday girl behind her.

-The Anniversary-

Fifty-one years today. The old man took his wife out to lunch to celebrate. His wife was always the daring one in life. She was the one who wanted to out to Nati Lotus. While the couple waited for their food, the old woman looked around.

She spotted the frowning birthday girl at her table.

“What’s the matter?” the old woman asked. The daughter pointed to herself in the chest.

“Me?” she asked.

“Yes,” the old woman answered. “Why do you look so upset, if you don’t mean me asking?” The daughter pushed her bangs back from her eyes.

“Today’s my birthday,” she muttered.

“Oh, happy birthday,” the older woman said. The birthday girl waved her off. Her father grinned and put his arm around her shoulders.

“Today’s my baby’s birthday!” he repeated. His daughter stuck up her nose and shoved him off.

“I didn’t want to spend it with you,” she muttered. Her father pouted like a heartbroken little puppy.

“Aw, why are you so mean to me?” he asked.

“Why are you taking to care all of a sudden?” she asked. “You were never there for me. Why now?”

“Because he is your father,” the mob boss said at his table.

“And what would you know?” she asked.

“I lost my father when I was a boy,” he said in a quiet voice.

“Boss…” the mob guys said in a quiet voice. The birthday girl lowered her eyes. The old man took a sip of his water as he could see where this would be heading next. His wife always has to stir up old wounds. But somehow, she would always end up fixing their problems.

-Cosplay Group-

There is an anime convention today. A group of cosplayers sat at their table, waiting for their lunch to arrive. An Alucard cosplayer looked at one of the mobsters at their table. He noticed the gun packed in his holster. The nineteen-year-old young man whistled to himself and made a face. The mobster looked up at him with an evil glare. Alucard stared at him for a good second.

“Cool gun,” he mouthed. The mob guy gave him a confused smile. Kids today are weird, he thought.

“I like your costume,” the old lady said to the leader of the cosplay group, dressed as Luffy from One Piece.

“Thanks,” he said, rubbing the back of his head. A Death the Kid cosplayer and the daughter tried not to make eye contact with each other. The father looked back and forward between the two.

“Do you two know each other?” he asked. The daughter folded her arms across her chest.

“No,” she said, clicking her tongue. The Death the Kid cosplayer lowered his head. Meanwhile, the old lady smiled to herself as she had a guess as why the birthday girl was in a sour mood other than having to spend her birthday with her estranged father.

“Don’t be so hard on them both, dear,” she told the birthday girl. “Both of them are here on your birthday now. They may not be perfect, but they are here now. Isn’t that what counts?”

“Shut up!” the daughter yelled with a red face. She grabbed her glass of ginger ale and drank it down as fast as she could. The guys from the mob looked at the Death the Kid cosplayer.

“You ditched your girlfriend on her birthday to dress up with these weirdos?” the underboss asked. The cosplayers glared at him with eyes of a hungry demon.

“It’s not like that!” the Death the Kid cosplayer said, waving his hands in the air frantically.

“We are not weirdos!” a Morgan cosplayer snapped.

“Yeah!” a Vash cosplayer shouted.

“Could’ve fooled me,” the underboss muttered under his breath. The cosplayers and some of the mob were about to get into a heat argument when somebody whistled loud enough to call nearby dogs. Everyone looked up to see the cook peeking out from the kitchen.

“Why is everyone fighting?” he asked. “Eat some food and be happy!” When the waitress came out with their food, the patrons went quiet.

Saturday is always the busiest day for Nati Lotus. Next Saturday will be no different.