Luisa walked into the coffee shop on a busy Monday night, ordered a regular coffee, and took a seat with a view of the busy city streets.
She had a terrible time that day. With long meetings and projects with short deadlines, she hoped to find some time to relax before going home, where she needed to look over some papers before going to bed.
She told the waitress quietly, “Thank you,” as she put her order on the table.
Luisa put away her iPad, sipped some hot coffee, and looked around. Then she looked over and saw a baby with applesauce all over his face staring at her from the table next to hers.
She thought the man on the phone while her baby played with food was a single dad. Why else would he be in a cafe at 7 p.m., feeding a child while wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase?
“Gross!” Luisa muttered something and then turned away.
She did not like babies. She didn’t like how often they cried and how desperate they were for love and attention. But the child at the table next to her seemed happy to see her.
When Luisa turned around, the baby started crying, and her tears fell like a waterfall down her cheeks.
She was angry and thought, “What a mess!”
When Luisa turned to look at the table, she saw that her father was still on the phone, which annoyed her. She had been at work all day, and the last thing she needed was to hear a child crying.
She called out to the man from her desk, “Excuse me!” “Tell your child to be quiet! “Why does he cry so much? she asked for.
The man said he was sorry before going on with the call, all while trying to calm down his baby. Before Luisa called the waitress, nothing had changed.
“Give them another table, please! Or just get rid of them! “Do something, and get them away from me!” she yelled. But she couldn’t do anything.
“I’m sorry, ma’am,” the waitress said in a sorry voice. “As you can see, all the tables are taken. The only ones left are on the terrace, but the baby can’t sit there because it’s too cold.
She said, “I’ll talk to the father anyway.”
The waitress went over to the man’s table and spoke to him. Luisa saw that the man ended the call.
“I apologize. I think he is sleepy and tired. He will probably calm down soon. “I’m sorry for the trouble,” the man was heard to say.
Luisa’s anger was too much for her to handle. She walked up to the man’s table and told him to get up. The crying child then threw up on her clothes, which made her even madder.
The man told Luisa, “I’m so sorry, I really am.” “Please let me make it up to you.”
“This is crazy!” Luisa exclaimed. “I’m leaving,” she said as she stormed out of the cafe, giving the man and the waitress an angry look. She never went back to the café, and she hoped she’d never see the man and his son again.
After a year, Luisa met a handsome man who was a contract worker at the same company where she was. He was sweet, kind, and sure of himself. He was everything she had ever wanted in a partner.
They fell in love quickly, and not long after that, she found out she was pregnant. When she could see it, Luisa told her parents, but they weren’t too happy about it.
“We don’t want that man to have anything to do with you or our family,” her grumpy father said.
Her mother told her, “Your father is right.” “He doesn’t deserve you. He doesn’t have our class, and as for the baby, well, we can help you learn how to be a good parent.”
Luisa was taken aback. She thought her parents would be happy to hear that she was getting married. Since her father owned the business, they kicked them both out when they decided to go ahead with their plans.
A few months later, when Luisa could no longer pay her rent, she moved into Teodoro’s studio. At the time, he worked for a small private company and was happy to take care of her while she was pregnant.
When the baby came, they were so happy and knew that everything they had done and given up was worth it. Teodoro got a second job, and Luisa decided it was time to look for one, maybe part-time.
She got an interview at a publishing house out of the blue one day. She didn’t have enough time to find a babysitter, so she had to bring her daughter Eva with her.
Since she was a child, Luisa loved to write, so she was very excited about the interview. As she got closer to the room, though, she saw that she was the only one holding a baby.
When her name was called, the woman outside the interview room told her, “I’m afraid you won’t be able to come in with her.”
“I’m sorry,” Luisa said. “I can’t let her be here by herself. Please understand.”
The woman let out a sigh and agreed. Luisa walked into the office and stopped when she saw the face of the interviewer.
It had been a long time, but she had a perfect photographic memory, so she knew it was the same man she had been rude to months before.
The man told Luisa to sit down and then asked, “Do I know you?” “I’ve seen you before.”
“Oh, well,” Luisa said shyly. “We met at a cafe, and your baby was crying…”
He said, “Ah!” with a smile. “I remember. Please sit down. I hope you know that babies aren’t common in interviews.”
Eva started to cry before Luisa could say anything. She was very embarrassed and upset at that moment.
“Oh no, I’m sorry. I couldn’t leave Eva alone at home, and I thought…”
He asked, “May I?”
“What?” she asked in surprise.
“Can I hold her for a little while? I think I can make her feel better.”
Luisa said “yes” because she had nothing to lose. He gave Eva to her, and as soon as he began to play with her, the little girl stopped crying.
“She seems to like you,” Luisa said. “She wouldn’t do that!”
The man said, “I love babies.” “Hi, my name is Jonathan. I am not only the head of the company, but also a single father.”
Luisa’s tears would not stop.
“I don’t know how to say this any other way, but I can’t leave Eva by herself. I’m not in the best financial shape, and I don’t think I’m the right person for this job if I can’t bring her to work. I apologize.”
“No, it’s okay. It can all be done. I’d like to interview you. We really liked reading about you. Please…”
Jonathan talked to Luisa and decided to hire her. He told her that the company had a small daycare for its employees, so she could work and keep an eye on her daughter while knowing she was safe.
He said, “I’m a parent too, so I get it.” “Not to mention, Mrs. Vidal, at the end of the day, we all have problems to deal with. You just have to be patient and understanding of other people!”
Jonathan did more than make Luisa happy. She not only got a job that day, but she also learned that empathy is important for living together well.
Jonathan was a single dad who raised his son while taking care of most of the company’s duties. And he did all of this while being an amazing person.