“I have to. I’ve come this far. He is the only family I have left in this world, and I have to find him. Or at least try.”
“How can we help?” Naresh Uncle asks.
She shakes her head. “You’ve helped me more than you will ever know. Especially Manoj. He gave me the answers that I have needed for so long.” She smiles hesitantly at him again. “The only thing you can do for me now is let me help you with the books and find you some ways to save. Your kindness has allowed me to go on this journey, and I cannot believe my good fortune to have met you. I want to make sure the two of you and this wonderful place will be secure for many years to come.”
Sophie thinks about Saumil and Anjali from when she first arrived and how much Naresh Uncle and Manoj helped her at a time when it was hard to trust strangers. That little bit of faith that she had, and their generosity, helped pull her through and ultimately allowed her to discover the answers she had needed to continue with her life.
Manoj gestures toward the office. “Why don’t you two manage the books tonight, and I will handle the kitchen.”
“You will be okay cooking on your own?” Naresh Uncle asks him.
Manoj scoffs and does not look at Sophie. “I’ve done it for years before now, and I will do it again after.”
Sophie is surprised by his tone, given how much they have shared in the past day. She feels they are starting to form a bond, or at least she had thought so. But she follows Naresh Uncle to the office, determined to tackle that task first.
The desk has a laptop in the center of it and different piles of papers around it. Sophie sees a stack of bills and asks if she can start with those. She sits, and Naresh Uncle pulls up a chair next to her. He translates the French on the different invoices, and she begins creating a spreadsheet.
“I’ve never used this program,” Naresh Uncle confesses, running a hand over his head.
Sophie smiles at him. “It’s okay, Uncle. I will teach you how to use it. I will set it up so each month you only have to enter the new amounts and it will tell you all of the data you need for that month automatically.”
Naresh Uncle looks appreciative. “My wife—I don’t know if Manoj told you—but she used to handle the finances for the restaurant. Manoj and I did the kitchen and front of the house. As you can see, I’ve never been much good at the numbers.”
“Maybe we were meant to help each other, then,” Sophie says. “I’ve always loved working with numbers. With maths there is a right and wrong answer. No gray area. I like the security and certainty that comes with that.”
For the next several hours, Sophie works with Naresh Uncle on creating a program that will manage the expenses and revenues. She looks at all the expenses and finds a few areas in which they could cut down on costs, like switching to a lower-tier internet plan, given how little they use it at the restaurant, and buying certain food supplies in bulk online rather than from the more expensive local vendors. She shows him how to determine the food costs of each dish based on the ingredients and says she has been observing how much food waste is being created. She uses the program to show how much more profitable the restaurant would be if they reduced the portion size by 30 percent and kept the pricing the same. The new portion size would more accurately reflect what people eat, with the benefits of less waste and more profit. She shows him how to turn the raw data into charts and tables that can help them identify the dishes that are the most profitable for them so they can cut back on their menu items and eliminate the ones that have very few sales but require many ingredients on hand that will spoil if the dish isn’t ordered by customers.
“I did not know how much having this information organized in such a manner could be so helpful!” Naresh Uncle’s eyes light up as he watches Sophie change one number in the spreadsheet and sees it automatically flow through a series of formulas and cells to change the bottom-line profits or losses.
Sophie taps the laptop. “Yes, Uncle. This little device will be your guide. I’m confident that you can get to the profits you want now that you are armed with the accounting knowledge. The food you and Manoj prepare is delicious, and now you just need to make sure it is working for you as well. And if you have any questions, I will just be an email or phone call away!”
He smiles at her. “I think you were right before. I think we found each other at a time when Bhagwan deemed it so.”
She nods. Her life had to work out exactly the way it had for her to be in the same place as Naresh Uncle and Manoj, and in her short time with them she feels she has made a difference to them, just as they have to her.
Naresh Uncle looks at Manoj working in the kitchen. “You may not realize,” he says to Sophie, “but your time here has affected him. He does not have friends. Not since his mummy passed away. He’s a good man. So determined to help me with the restaurant that he does nothing else. I feel guilty for the life that has been taken from him with these burdens.”
Sophie had suspected that was the case from her conversations with him.
Naresh Uncle continues, “He’s just a boy, though. He grew up early because he had no choice, and, as a papa, I wish I could have protected him from that.”
Sophie touches his arm. “Don’t be sorry, Uncle. He’s grown into a fine adult. That is because of the example you set for him. Just like my papa tried to set a good example for me, but I now realize that he protected me too much.” Her voice catches as she thinks of him.
“What do you mean? It is a parent’s job to protect,” Naresh Uncle says.
“In some cases, yes. But if you protect too much, the child never learns to grow up and develop any resiliency. I was dependent on Papa for everything until he died, and I did not realize how much so until I came here. I’d never taken care of myself—or anyone else, for that matter—and I think that is a lesson better learned much earlier in life.” She looks at Manoj. “I think that is something you managed to teach Manoj long ago, and he is stronger for it. I admire his strength. It is something that I will aspire to after I leave here. I may have learned the lesson later in life, but at least I’m learning it now, and I can grow and take care of myself.”
Her journey, self-discovery, and new insights about Nita and Vijay are just starting, and she is excited to see where they lead her, but they don’t change the fact that her papa is gone and has left a hole in her heart. Even if she is angry at him for hiding these facts from her, he was still the person she ate dinner with each night and spoke to about her day. He was the person who protected her from life’s evils, even if he took that role too far. He was the person whom she loved, and who made her feel loved, every day of her life. No amount of anger can replace that.
Naresh Uncle looks kindly at Sophie. “I have no doubt that you will accomplish everything you wish in life.” He looks from her to Manoj. “It was nice to see him have a friend.”
“It was good for me, too, especially in this strange new world.”
“Perhaps you can still stay in touch and be friends after you return home.” His expression is hopeful.
Sophie touches his arm. “I’d like nothing more. With both of you.”