Mystery [SEPTEMBER 13th 2007]

L ens was on the phone in great confusion. He scratched his head with his free hand. ‘Eka, Can you repeat the names you just mentioned. Who is working in the morning shift?’  The first anniversary of the Eastern Promise had been an enormous success. Somehow, parties with free flow always seem to be popular.  But it had taken its toll. The staff had worked hard and the next morning Lens counted the staff that had managed  to show up  for the morning shift. Eka repeated the names  slowly: ‘Neneng...,  Yessy... Emilia.....Jenny....’.  Lens slowly raised his hand.  ‘Kiki....Retno...’. ‘STOP!’, shouted Lens. ‘Who is Emilia!? We don’t have a girl working in EP named Emilia!’  I looked at Lens. Lens his mouth hang open, his hand still up in the air. ‘Did I hire her? When? I never hired an Emilia...  Let me talk to her.’ He quickly took a large sip of his hot coffee. ‘Hi. Who are you?’ He was quiet for a few seconds and his face showed more and more surprise and disbelief. Lens repeated the words of Emilia. ‘You forgot when I met you, but I promised you a job?!? Starting today? ‘ He was obviously confused.  ‘You came with four other girls?’ Ask Eka if she looks alright, I advised Lens. ‘Not bad’, according to Eka. ‘Well, I need staff anyway, let the mystery girl stay’, and he hung up, still in deep thoughts who the girl could be.

I went to BuGils for the ladies night. Sitting at a table with two friends, a girl knocked on my shoulder. She was sitting with two friends at the table behind us. Of all three she was definetetly the most attractive. Maybe sexy was a better word. Dressed in a long black dress and wearing high heels,  this tall girl certainly had the attention of most male customers.  ‘Are you the owner?’ she asked me while looking at me with sleepy eyes. ‘Well, uh..., kind of...’. Without interruption she fired her second question. ‘Are you married?’  My friends at the table grinned, while I uncomfortably looked for an answer on a seemingly easy question.  ‘Why?’ I asked. She ansered with a diplomatic attitude. ‘If I was your wife, I would never allow you to give away free wine, the whole night, to women. You lose money.  I can drink 20 glasses in one night all by myself ... , ‘  My two friends clapped their hands. I cleared my throat. ‘If you were my wife, I would never allow you to wear a dress that shows your naked back !’ I had hoped my remark would be good enough for her to turn around to her friends again, but I was on the losing end again. With a cool look she waived her long hair over her shoulder, and slowly turned her back to me. There was a huge round tattoe,  a kind of sun.  ‘I live in Bali. This tattoe is to keep evil spirts at bay...many bad people in the world,  you know..’, she explained.  I tried to look impressed. She asked for a namecard. It is my new namecard that needs a bit of explanation before I continue. I have a Scratch & Win on it. The prices vary from a bottle of Jack D to 100 % discount in one of the 5 bars. ‘Scratch and you can win a car if you are lucky!’ I told her.  The girl in black was not impressed. She slowly unfolded her own card from her gold glitter bag. ‘Here. This is mine. You can scratch it too. If you are lucky, you might  win me...’. My friends cheered. She finally turned around. I was sweating and it was not because the AC did not work. (It turned out that she worked in the Hu Bar  in Bali. I hope for the owner that free drinks is not part of her package).

The next day I went to Eastern Promise for the Jazz night that we do every Wednesday. The decision was made to paint the walls in the bar in nice, warm color. It looked a good idea to let the guys start at 4 in the morning, so it would not disturb the customers and they could be finished before it would become busy in the afternoon hours.  Lens was disappointed the painters had not shown up in the morning.  ‘Maybe they come tomorrow morning’, he said while checking how the new waitress Emilia looked. “I swear I have never seen that girl before. But she looks pretty good and she is funny.  Maybe she is an angel from heaven..’. We had some discussions in the office and when we walked back to the bar, it had pretty much filled up. I picked up The Guardian when I suddenly heard Lens shout: ‘STOP! What the heck are you doing!? I told you to start 4 in the morning, not 5 in the afternoon!’ I saw an Indonesian worker standing  on a bar stool, dangerously balancing with a white paintbrush in his hand. He looked confused at Lens and was not sure if he should stop or continue. After all he probably did not speak English and one shouting bule plus some 20 others all looking in his direction, did not make him feel comfortable. He slowly came down from the bar stool, almost losing his balance and sweeping a few bules with his paintbrush .’And there is another one!’, joked one customer at the bar pointing to another corner. Lens, clearly speechless turned to  another painter who was hastily coming down his chair. His brush was yellow. They were not only painting at the wrong hour, side by side they painted the wall in two different colors! They had not even bothered to take away the many paintings but were carefully painting around them.

The surprises in Indonesia never end. You can get frustrated, but don’t let that last for too long. Looking back at it, it is all worth a good laugh. And that makes living in Indonesia still a beautiful thing.

The mystery girl did not show up for a week after her first workday. Suddenly she was there again, carrying plates as if nothing had happened.  She decided she had a week off because she was still tired from the first day. She can now rest a bit longer, as this angel is not working in EP anymore.  (we had walk interviews yesterday.  One girl wanted a job, but only on the days that it was not too busy. Could it have been her sister?  Another one was hired. Today she showed up with missing front teeth! That was why she turned down her head every time she spoke during the interview!  Nice girl though...).

The sexy Bali girl sent me a text message the next day.  ‘It was nice to meet you.  I would like to visit your other bars.’  I replied: ‘Sure. But I am not always there. ‘ Again she destroyed me in one sentence: ‘You think I come for you!?  I am not that easy, you know... Jangan salah (dont be mistaken)’.    

The paint job is on hold after our new roof collapsed after the first downpour of the season. The calm Javanese contractor Pak Samudi has it all under control. ‘Sabaaar.... Mister.... Gambang di terpaiki.... (relax, easy to repair)’.  They repaired the gypsym in the bar (see picture in the EP newsletter), but not sure if they repaired the roof above it.  Don’t leave your umbrella outside next time you visit the EP bar...  

Life is getting better every day. I hope the above (all so true) stories bring a happy smile to your working day.  --  Bartele