I stumbled upon the chocolate café in a Sunday newspaper. Immediately, began salivating. Descriptions of dark chocolate infused with lemon, raspberry, orange made my tongue explode with happiness.
The café was a little out of my reach geographically, but I told a friend who lived in the area about it and she became a convert. This boosted my own chances of experiencing its delights one day.
And so it came to pass that I visited the café. But my encounters with it were not quite what I expected.
Are Those Chocolates Free?
The first time I went, I feasted my eyes upon the dazzling array of chocolates, then sat down at one of the tables and ordered a coffee.
Husband and I were delighted to see two of the café's chocolates resting on the saucer beside our cups. It felt too good to be true.
Photo Description: This is a bowl with slabs of dark chocolate in it, and there’s a spoon to the right covered in chocolate.
'Are these chocolates free?' we asked the owner.
'Of course they are. It's a chocolate café, isn't it?'
The chocolates didn't taste so sweet now.
The Perils of Publicity
The next time I visited the café, it was in a new space, a narrower space, with high stools lined up in front of a strip of counter.
All was white. Clinical. But the hot chocolate was the kind of thick dark chocolate that you eat with a spoon. Bliss.
Afterwards we met the owner. My friend was now good buddies with her. I told her I had alerted my friend to the café's existence.
'Oh, none of that publicity does any good,' she said.
The thought bubble above my head read: Well, didn't it bring you my friend. Who's now one of your regulars?
No Discounts for Milk
Recently, I found myself in the chocolate café again with my friend and her two boys. The owner wasn't there this time, but my friend was also good buddies with her assistant.
Good enough buddies that when said assistant became overwhelmed with a large order, my friend offered to run to the shop to get milk.
The original confections were my treat, but when my friend returned, she decided to purchase more chocolate for her husband and her other son. The assistant searched her price list.
'I can't seem to find it. But I suppose I can let you have them, since you got the milk.'
I should think so, said the thought bubble above my head. Would she have let my friend off if she had found the correct price?
The confections in this café are as scrumptious as that Sunday newspaper article promised. But if such confections are served without soul, they leave a slightly bitter aftertaste.
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