I was punched in the face by a waitress’ jealous ex

There is this place near my home where I go sometimes. It is a bar of sorts, just that it is mostly open roof. There is a small metallic house that houses a fridge, and a radio. The rest are seats and a few tables. I used to pass by this place everyday on my way home and I would wonder what all that noise was about.

But this one day, about two weeks ago, I reached home and walked back to the metallic house. Before I even reached, a short girl in her mid-twenties came rushing towards me, beaming, as if my arrival was all she had been waiting for. Ushering me in, she led me to a chair and sat down with me.

Then she went on to ask about my day. All this time, I was wondering if she was a waitress. But then she asked if there was anything I would like to drink. I have to say, their prices were pocket friendly. I asked for a beer. Three hours later, I was beginning to nod to the music. My personal waitress- she certainly acted like she was - kept me not lacking, drinks-wise. And she had quite a sense of humour.

Four hours later, I had even stopped wondering about what time it was. It was approaching mid-night by now. Somehow, there were three other people at my table. I had never seen them but it was all good; we were already good friends. At those prices, we were all jostling for who buys the next round. I was having a terrific time until this one guy walked right up to me and punched me in the face.

I fell down. I was confused. What had I ever done to this guy? I had never seen him before. And from the look of things, he had not even been drinking. As I staggered back to my feet - I was quite tipsy by then - he raised his fist to punch me again. But my newfound friends held him back. Then, before I could ask the million dollar question ‘why?’, the issue became quite obvious; it was all to do with the waitress.

As the story unfolded, I learnt that he considered her his girlfriend still, even though they had nearly dated more than six months back. He used to be a regular at this spot, even when she started working there, he had been around. And he had quickly laid his claim on her. Which she neither encouraged nor snubbed, her being in the hospitality industry.

And him being a client, overtime, they had become friendly, and he had taken that to mean that she liked him. But she said they had never dated, he just believed what he wanted to believe. He had become a nuisance, fighting with patrons who were overly friendly with her. Until they had banned him from ever coming there again, at risk of getting arrested.
And then he had been transferred to work upcountry, to the relief of everyone most especially the waitress. But, he still came around once in a while to particularly look for any guy he found being friendly with his girlfriend. That night was my bad luck.

My very first night there. Apparently, he had been watching us from a distance, collecting evidence. When he was satisfied that I was the one hitting on his girl, and the way she was overly smiling at me, he attacked. Nothing I could tell him would convince him. I had to leave the place, my fun suddenly cut short.
My jaw was swollen. It was not an experience that would make me return to that place. Or so I thought.
The very next day, as went home, I saw the waitress waving happily at me. I stopped. She asked me if I was coming back. I said no. She insisted. She told me that the guy of last night was history. I still refused. So she offered to bring me drinks home. Now that was a game changer. I could not let her do that so, I turned in for ‘just one drink’. I left at 3am. I am now officially a patron with my own seat. And personal waitress.