Beyond Words

The manager, Sam, and the waiters who were watching the drama all turned to the direction the voice came from, no one noticed when he entered the restaurant or where he came from; and surprisingly. It wasn’t just one man. 

The old man sat on one of the fancy chairs in the restaurant, behind him were ten well-built men, with stern faces, black suits, and dark sunglasses. Only the old man was wearing a suit that seemed more expensive, it was a tuxedo. 

His hair was all gray, and there were wrinkles on his face. 

The manager recognized the kind of people who dressed that way, he must be one of the rich moguls in Los Angeles, he thought. How the hell did they get in, without anyone noticing, the manager couldn’t understand what was really happening. 

Nevertheless, he had to act respectfully. 

The old man stood up from where he was sitting and walked briskly towards Sam and the manager, the sound of his shoes was the only thing that echoed in the restaurant at that moment. 

When he got to where they were, he paused, his hands behind him. He stared at Sam for a while who was still looking sober and heartbroken. He then shifted his gaze to the manager.

“What really happened here, Mr. Borris,” 

The manager wasn’t too surprised that the elderly man knew his name. He was quite popular as the manager of this restaurant, it was normal for a few people to know who he was. He looked at the man and glanced at Sam for a second before he spoke. 

Borris explained everything that went on between him and Sam and also between Sam, Amelia, and Derek. He only told the old man what he saw and heard, as he didn’t know the details of Amelia and Sam's issues. 

The elderly man nodded, gesturing that he understood all that Borris had narrated, he then walked close to one of the tables and grabbed the ceramic plate that was on it.

He looked at Borris, then moved his eyes to Sam. 

“How did you break the plate, kid?” the elderly man asked, it was a rather funny question. 

Who in his right senses would ask Sam how he smashed a plate in a situation like this? 

The old man held the plate up close to his shoulders and released it to the floor, it crashed on the tile and startled everyone who was watching except the men in black. 

Sam was confused at the man’s behavior, what is he doing? He asked himself in his mind. His face showed the confusion he was experiencing and so did the Borris. 

Borris was starting to get angry even though the elderly man was wearing a tuxedo suit, why the hell is he breaking plates, all this waste if not paid off was going to be borne by him. He knew that, and it was the real reason he was boiling at each plate that was broken.

However, Borris couldn’t lift a finger or yell at the man, because of the men that were standing behind them. The expression on their faces hadn’t changed since they entered, they must be extremely loyal to this man, Borris thought. 

“Are you angry, kid?” The elderly man asked, staring at Sam with an expressionless face. 

It was as if the man had no feelings at all, his face was entirely blank as he spoke. 

“Yes, I am,” Sam responded slowly, he wasn’t sure why the man asked him that question.

But he knew that was the right answer, he was dead angry and he was in severe pain, even with this old man’s distraction; he could still feel his chest thumping. 

“Do you know why I asked you that question, kid?” He asked again, and Sam gave a negative nod. 

The man picked up another plate from the table, Borris wanted to move but he felt the presence of the hefty men behind him and he stood his ground, bids of sweat starting to gather on his forehead. 

“When people vent their anger, they seem to be more comfortable, take this,” the old man handed over the plate to Sam, and nodded. 

Sam understood what he was trying to say, so he smashed the plate on the ground without thinking twice. The sound was louder than all the previous ones, because this time, it didn’t fall accidentally, it was smashed intentionally. 

Sam was surprised at the bright smile that appeared on the old man’s face when he smashed the plate. The elderly man signaled to his men and they quickly went into the kitchen and brought out dozens of ceramic plates.

The female waiters that had been hiding in the kitchen since all the drama was going on, ran out in fear. 

They placed all the dozens of plates in front of Sam, Borris was almost running out of his mind, he wasn’t going to hold for long before he voiced out. 

“Now is the time, kid, extinguish all of your anger, free yourself,” the old man uttered, glancing at the plates and then at Sam. 

Sam was a bit skeptical at first, but on second thoughts, he didn’t really care. He was so angry and it seemed smashing these plates on the floor was relieving, he started picking the plates with both hands and smashing them on the floor. 

After over fifteen minutes of constant smashing, Sam was tired; he sat on the floor filled with ceramic pieces, breathing heavily. 

The elderly man clapped his hands, starting a slow rhythm before making it faster. But the clap was cut short by Borris who was completely outraged. 

With a trembling tone, he yelled. “I’m calling the police, you all are going to jail, including the old man,” 

He walked hastily towards the door that led to his office, one of the guards wanted to follow him, but the elderly man waved him off. 

Borris returned to the room with his cell phone, fumbling with it, then Sam spoke up. He was now calm and relieved of his anger. 

“I’ll take responsibility for all these, Mr. Borris.” 

“And how do you plan on doing that, Sam? Each of those plates is worth $500 and you have smashed nothing less than ten dozen,”  

Sam smiled weakly, he wasn’t sure how he was going to fix it either, but he just felt he was responsible for everything that happened in this restaurant and he should take responsibility.

Even if he worked for Borris for two years, the pay might not buy back all those plates.

The elderly man laughed lightly, seeing that Sam was trying to shoulder a responsibility he had no idea how to solve. 

“No one is going to jail, and no one is going to take responsibility for anything,” The old man said, his voice louder than before. 

“If I were you Borris I’d put the phone down, It’s a shame you didn’t know who I was, this restaurant belongs to my master.” the elderly man revealed. 

“911 what’s your emergency please,” the voice from the other end spoke through Borris’s phone, he hung up the call, as astonishment and shock took over him. 

“Because the man you see here,” the old man pointed at Sam. “He owns this restaurant. He dosen't need to conpensate for his own thing.”

All the waiters were taken aback, including Sam himself…..