The Third Place (Chapter 17) - Late-night Visitor

The knock on the door came long after closing time.  Dad was seated near the front counter, going over the month’s financials.  The rains that were falling, accompanied by repeated crashing lightning, was unlike anything we had experienced in years.  Wherever you were in the large house, you could hear the water teeming through the eavestroughs and lashing every window.  Most of us were in bed, exhausted after a heavy day of business.The first knock went unnoticed, drowned out by the calamity outside.  The second was more urgent, causing Dad to put the calculator down, peer through the door curtain, and slowly open it inwards.Before him stood a tall woman and had she spent another minute outside would likely have been completely drenched.  She had immediate presence and had the smell of sandalwood as Dad closed the door behind her.  Dressed sharply in slacks and long-sleeved white silk blouse, the woman did her best to arrange her soggy black hair.“Oh, thank you for answering the door,” she said appreciatively, her voice measured but professional sounding.  “I’m driving a rental car and when the vehicle went through a puddle, the brakes suddenly stopped working and I just put it in neutral and let it come to a stop. I didn’t know what to do, but then saw your light on and thought I would seek some help.”She had a friendly though crisp air about her.  Dad merely motioned her to come into the dining area and helped remove her drenched coat, placing it on a chair near the fire that was still burning on into the late-evening.“I’m surprised anyone is out in this melee,” he offered with a smile.She smiled in return before saying, “I was driving through your city on way to the airport and somehow got lost.  It’s likely the flight was cancelled anyway.  And then I hit that puddle and everything got a little dicey.”Dad made her some tea before heading out into the storm and pulling her car into our driveway.  “The brakes will dry out soon enough and then all should be okay – as long as you avoid those gigantic puddles, that is.”  He placed his yellow rain jacket on the back of one of the doors and sat down to join her.“Where were you headed … from the airport, I mean?” he inquired.“San Diego. Haven’t been back there for five days and I’m missing my family.”She then introduced herself as Aakriti Chandra, whose parents initially came from Mumbai years earlier.  She apparently owned her own company and operations in the U.S. and other countries.“Aakriti – that’s a beautiful name.  I’m afraid I’m only familiar with Indian names like Gandhi.”They both laughed before she said, “Aakriti means ‘moonlight,’ and I’ve always loved the sound of it.  Gandhi has multiple meanings.  Some say it denotes a pharmacist or perfume seller, but others maintain that it simply means ‘grocer.’  It’s not quite what people expect when they hear that name.”“Does India put a lot of stock in the meaning of names?”“No, not so much anymore,” she replied.  “The old ways are dying off, just like everywhere else I suppose.”“Here in Canada, too,” Dad said.  “It’s hard because there were so many good things in the world that are disappearing.”“I thought of that very thing driving around in the rain and looking for a place to grab a bite.  Everything was Wendy’s, MacDonald’s, and something called Tim Horton’s.  Nothing but standard fare everywhere, I’m afraid.”“Hungry?” he asked.“Famished.”“I can cook you whatever you like,” he said, handing her a menu from the middle of the table.“You’re kidding,” she said through a giggle.  “This is a restaurant?  I had no idea.  I just saw the light on.”“You figure out what you like and I’ll switch on the oven.”  With that he was gone, leaving the woman in semi-darkness attempting to read the menu of items.“My God,” she blurted when he returned.“What? Something wrong?”She held up the front cover of the menu for his perusal.  “It says that this is the Third Place.  Is this the restaurant thatAlessandra Acampora wrote about in Home Comfort?”“One and the same.”“Then you’re … Overly, something Overly?”“Everton, actually.  And, yes, that’s me – proud proprietor of this place.”Aakriti Chandra leaned back and stared at Dad as though he was some notable figure. Everything in her mind was now falling into place.  She permitted her gaze to roam around the vast room.  “Yes, this is the place – just as Alessandra described it.  And the windows – they’re beautiful.”“You sound like you know Alessandra,” he noted.  “Just the way you said her name.”Aakriti nodded in acknowledgement.  We’ve been friends for years.  I stay with her when in Chicago and my kids love her when she visits San Diego.”“How did you meet one another?”“Well, she was writing an article on my company and came out for a couple of days – much like she did here, I suspect.  We became instant friends and my company wasn’t hurt at all by her great story.”Dad asked what she would like and was surprised when she replied that just a simple omelette with peppers and onions would suffice.  He moved into the kitchen to get it ready and she followed him into the cooking area.“This is so simple but beautiful,” she said in appreciation.  “And that ceramic oven – what a treat!”Dad appeared not to hear as he worked away cracking the eggs and sautéing the vegetables. She eyed him closely, marvelling at his efficiency.  There was nothing flamboyant about his preparation or skill, but when she later sat down to consume the omelette back in the dining room she revelled in its aroma and taste.“Wow. This makes fast food taste like wine gums,” she said following her last bite.  He laughed at the comparison before offering her some coffee, which she quickly accepted.Aakriti had only been there an hour but had quickly understood the magic of the place, as Alessandra had described it.  When I descended the stairs a short while later to see what was keeping him, I saw the two of them in animated discussion and quietly retreated back to my room.  I had no idea of just how fortuitous the conversation downstairs would be.Feeling she had likely overstayed her welcome, Everton’s guest said she had taken advantage of his good graces long enough.  “Is it your habit to just feed people off the street like this?”“I don’t often get visitors at this time of night, but given the torrent going on outside it seemed appropriate.”“I’m not used to such down-home treatment, Everton.  You are every bit as considerate as Alessandra implied.  Now, if you can just point me to a hotel I’ll be on my way.”“There are a couple not far from here,” he offered.  “But why don’t you just leave that drenched automobile in the driveway and I can get my wife Sally to show you to one of our guest rooms?  It’s comfortable and has its own bathroom.?”“Kind and hospitable too – again, just as Alessandra wrote.”  She nodded thankfully, taking her coat and hanging it back up.Just then Mom came downstairs and Dad introduced the two of them.  In Mom’s eyes, Aakriti was a remarkably poised and beautiful East Indian woman.  The two shook hands and Mom suggested they head into the cozier fireside room and have some wine.  Aakriti couldn’t believe her good fortune.  There was nothing fabricated or put on with her hosts; they were as they appeared and she found that fact inspiring.As Dad got the wine, Mom asked her guest what line of work she was in.“Food supplies, I guess is the best way to put it.  Our business supplies nutritional foods to restaurants, hospitals, hotels, non-profits or anyone else looking for a way to get locally grown food onto the table as efficiently as possible.”“Intriguing,” Dad interjected, as he offered two glasses.  “Just how big is your operation?”She was quiet for a moment, appearing hesitant to answer.  At last she said, “We’re in about 60% of the larger American cities and 19 countries worldwide.”It was at that precise moment when Daisy happened downstairs, asking what hours she was required to work on the weekend because she was going to the movies with friends.  Her arrival, unexpected as it was, broke the mood and the conversation.  Everyone was tired and Aakriti suggested that she needed to turn in.  Mom took her upstairs, leaving Dad to put things away.But there was a lingering suspense in the air.  Something about his late-night visitor carried a kind of edge with it, as though something unknown was happening and he couldn’t put his finger on it.Upstairs, finally permitting her head to hit the pillow, Aakriti Chandra was feeling the exact same thing.  Something about the Third Place and its owner carried a sense of expectancy and she was intrigued by the sheer simplicity of its success.  She made a mental note to postpone the flight of her private aircraft in the morning and dig deeper into what she was discovering. Next chapter - Words to Change the World