Dejected boyfriend, lonely cafe, unloved staff vacancy

I am going home to visit my family next month, but Maiyuu is worried I won’t come back.

Since we argued a few days ago about money, he has seemed less confident than usual.

He rarely bothers to look ‘cheery’ as such, but his spirits appear to have taken a dive.

‘Why would you come back? You will probably stay over there,’ he said bitterly.

I pressure him to supplement our income by finding work. However, most of the suggestions I offer fail to draw his interest.

I visited a cafe in the tourist district where we live yesterday. I took farang C along for company, while the boyfriend stayed at home.

The cafe, open just a few months, makes its own Danish-style baking.

It has seating for perhaps 10, so the staff of two would not be overwhelmed even when it does get busy.

I spoke to the staff briefly. The owner, who was absent, has one other cafe bearing his name in Pin Khlao, with a third cafe, in Lat Phrao, about to open.

A sign on the window advertises a staff vacancy.

‘We make our own bakery products, in fact do everything ourselves,’ one young woman told us. The owner was absent.

Farang C, who ordered his lunch there, tucked into a toastie and soup. ‘It’s just like food from home,’ he said approvingly.

The place offers home delivery, but has yet to arrange a takeaway menu. All bakery produce is wrapped individually, with a sticker carrying the shop name.

‘If they added the shop address and phone number, they could offer their bakery items for sale in other shops,’ I told farang C.

Back at home, I gave Maiyuu the details. He said he knows the place. The shop is too quiet, he said. If he took a job there, he’d be sitting around all day doing nothing.

‘I do not stay cooped up at home either. But nor do I want to take a job only to have to quit a few days later when it fails to suit me,’ he said.

When I met Maiyuu nine years ago, he was working in a city cafe. He is right: the work can be hard, and unrewarding.

I would rather he found an outlet for his cooking talents rather than toil away serving customers.

However, a course in bakery or cooking, for which savings would be needed, would give him a formal qualification, which he could use to start his own bakery or cooking business.

I can only visit so many of these silly places – and cafes really are silly places – in the hope of finding some shop where Maiyuu is willing to work.

I attempted to put Maiyuu's fears to rest that I will not return from overseas, despite his reluctance to get a job.

‘We've been together this long, so of course I will come back. If we love each other, we just can’t walk away,’ I said.