The Coffee Cup 02

Each morning I would get the key to the dining room from the front desk and unlock the ornate gate with stained glass panels that served as the dining room’s front door. The dining room always was very dark as its windows were shuttered each night, the sun had not yet risen when I arrived, and the alcove in which the lobby doorway was located did not let light spill in from the lobby, so I would quickly maneuver around the cash register area and grope for the panel of light switches under the counter. Although the dining room had been cleaned by the previous night’s crew, I noticed that there always was a half-drunk cup of coffee left on the table nearest the kitchen.

　　That table’s chair at the cup’s position always was pulled back as if someone had just been sitting there. This never fazed me, but it struck me as peculiar and rather rude that someone would leave a dirty cup like that. The kitchen crew would show up just a little after I had, but they entered through the loading dock doors at the back as they were not supposed to be seen by hotel guests. The other busboy who opened on the weekends told me he often found a cup on Saturday mornings but never on Sundays. 　

神秘的咖啡杯 02

每天早上,我都在前台拿餐厅的钥匙,打开餐厅的前门,那是一扇华丽的,镶嵌着彩色玻璃的大门.餐厅总是很黑,因为每晚窗户都被百叶窗遮得严严实实的,而且我到的时候,太阳都没有出来.大厅的入口处在一个凹进去的地方,所以大厅的光也到不了餐厅,所以我总是很快地转到收银台,在柜台下面摸到灯的开关.虽然昨晚上班的员工已经打扫过餐厅了,可我每次都能看到离厨房最近的一张餐桌上放着一杯喝了一半的咖啡,而且那张餐桌的椅子也总是被拉了出来,好像有人刚刚在那坐过一样.可这从来没有让我觉得害怕,我只觉得奇怪而且很不礼貌,居然有人就把一个脏杯子这样放在桌上.厨房的工作人员就比我晚一会儿到,因为不能被酒店的客人看见,所以他们都是从后面装货的门进来的.另一个负责周末开门的服务生告诉我他也经常在周六早餐晨看到一个杯子,可周日就没有.