Total distraction

No elaborate tense meetings, this one is a strictly no-nonsense, express style meeting at the corner table in a cool coffee place. Both sets of parents sit across each other. The tone looks set, never mind Bryan Adams playing on the Worldspace radio in the background. No butterflies-in-the-stomach anticipation in the air. The usual chit-chat about ‘How’s work going beta’ and the likes, is as cool as the cafe special frappe. Give the hushed tones a miss, the conversation is at times loud enough for the next table to overhear.

Now the ‘girl’, of course, arrives in due course, and the nudge-nudge-wink-wink ‘let’s take a walk in the garden’ is replaced by the matter-of-fact ‘shift to the next table’ for the private conversation.

Will they, won’t they? Sitting at the opposite table, I scan their faces for the stolen glances, the furtive smiles or any indication of considerable interest. They exchange polite conversations and smile at each other in easy ways, even as the parents look approvingly at the Barista-made union. Soon enough, it’s ‘Cheque please,’ and time to seal the deal.

I was still bemused by this encounter when just the other day mother, who has stealthily been on a lookout, suggested an evening brew at the cafe and I squealed in horror. As the popular tagline of a coffee chain goes, a lot can happen over coffee.