EPISODE 22
One
year after the colossally loud all-night howling and stomping party, I stood
before the restaurant from Hell that was legally dissolved. It had been both
long and short 12 months.
After I conceded my defeat and went out of the
picture, the restaurant staff lost their common enemy (me) to unite them. The
rift must have appeared between Miss GRATITUDE and her staff. Everything went
her way that she stopped being grateful for what she had been given. She was
fortunate enough to have found: a good chef that could actually cook; and a
diligent floor manager. I know this because my architect, who helped me
insulate my apartment professionally, asked the floor manager JOHN to let her
see the restaurant kitchen so she could plan effectively. JOHN kindly obliged
and he and I started to exchange greetings since then. The new chef was
Japanese, so I felt obliged to taste his food. It was delicious. Thus it would
have gone fine had Miss GRATITUDE had the patience to wait.
However, her restaurant was not happening soon
enough for her. This was because JOHN and the Japanese chef had to fight the
phantom of Mme HEART. Hardly anyone from the neighbourhood would come to dine
because the bad reputation was hard to erase. However, Miss GRATITUDE must not
have given JOHN and the Japanese chef, enough credit or appreciated their
efforts because they both quit after six months. A new chef that followed was
good but paled compared to the excellent Japanese chef.
It was all downhill from there. Miss GRATITUDE
forced her staff to work long hours non-stop for which she had no license. It
was hard to imagine she would pay them the legal rate. Whistle-blowing usually
triggers suspension of the restaurant by the authority. Thus less than one year
from being on top of the world, Miss GRATITUDE had to put her restaurant on the
market at a significantly reduced price. Far from being the support, the
restaurant from Hell landed her in red. Miss GRATITUDE could not possibly blame
me because I let her have everything she
demanded. The ancient old
strategy KANUCHI worked.
If I had appealed, it would have annoyed her,
but she would have had the excuse to get out of the contract with compensation
paid by Mr PRIDE. A classic example of not getting your way ends up better than
getting your way. Only the universe knows what is best for you in the long run.
Humans more often desire what or who is bad for us. Miss GRATITUDE, the woman
who callously ordered me to live without a fresh breeze in my apartment, ended
up suffocating herself financially.
But in the end, it was the universe who
demonstrated a much more positive way to execute retribution, and it concerns
that Japanese chef. I feared that he might become menacing as the former Asian
chef who deliberately turned on the ventilator even when he was not cooking to
torture me. However, this Japanese chef was different. After learning of my
plight, he set the ventilator low and closed all the kitchen doors so the noise
would not spread unnecessarily. I was touched. I became his regular client,
which was not in my interest because my contribution to the restaurant would
sustain it. But I enjoyed feeling amicable so much I became a happy fool. As I
do with all my friends, I even started wishing happiness for the Japanese chef.
Then it happened. Japanese chef was discovered
by a sponsor and would open his restaurant in Paris. When he quit the
restaurant from Hell, JOHN, the only compassionate floor manager, Miss
GRATITUDE, had also left the restaurant. In hindsight, it killed the budding
chance for the restaurant from Hell to turn good. Had the Japanese chef stayed,
it would have eventually prospered because the new restaurant in Montmartre run
by the Japanese chef is doing very well.
I am not saying that my good wish for him
brought him good luck, but my good wish kept dark thoughts away from me. I
could live feeling positive until the universe manifested the proper
retribution. Technically, the Japanese chef was on the side of my opponent, but
wishing happiness for your opponent may be the best way to be rid of your
opponent. Retaliation or revenge would have darkened my thoughts and hindered
my growth. Thus, the motto of my blog and graphic novel, Man plots revenge,
while retribution is the will of the universe. Our restaurant from Hell was to
close for several more months. I would eventually have to deal with the new
buyer and Mr. PRIDE, who still insisted on tormenting me with the noisy
appliances in his commercial kitchen. But for now, peace at last…NOT.
And then comes the third one…the hyenas. Victims lay on the trail left behind by the predators and their entourage, weak and helpless, desperate for a tiny hint of kindness. Those trodden victims may not count for much but are most likely the easiest to exploit. The third type of evil is not easy to shake off because those hyenas are after small gains even the weak victims can give if you press their wounds hard enough. It took me months to realize that I was standing next to one. It was Mme HARMONY.
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