I Learned That My Regular Customer Who Always Leaves Huge Tips Is My Father – My Story

Janet never knew her father, and her mother often avoided the topic altogether. Years later, a revelation from one of her customers at work would make the issue no longer avoidable.

My name is Janet, and I work as a waitress at a local restaurant. Most people wouldn't think much of my job, but I take great pride in my work. Serving people brings me great joy, and since I couldn't be a doctor or fireman, making coffee will have to do.

I try to be polite with my clients, giving my work my all, no matter how small the task. In my line of work, I meet new people every day, and that's very exciting. I also have a couple of regulars who made the place feel homely.

One regular customer, in particular, comes often and always asks me to serve him. I find it odd, considering he barely ever says a word to me. But I don't mind, he is always nice and always leaves a huge tip on his way out.

One day, the man left his wallet on the table and up and left. I inquired about him to one of my colleagues.

"Hey. Do you, by any chance, know the man I was just serving? He is a regular," I said.

"Yeah, he is always here, and you're always serving him. If anyone would know his name, I thought it'd be you," my colleague responded.

"Nope. He barely says anything."

"Some people just wanna be left alone, you know?! It's okay. I'll keep it till he returns for it," I concluded.

That night I went back home with the wallet. I figured the man would be back at the restaurant around the same time tomorrow, and I would hold onto it for him until then.

I got home to find my mom, Lisa, cooking up a storm. Before I could even say "Hi," my mother shot me a look that said, "Drop your bag and grab an apron!" As I put my bag on the table, the wallet fell out.

"And then? What's this? Are you pick-pocketing at work now?" Lisa asked.

"Oh, c'mon now, mom! No, one of our regulars left it at the restaurant earlier today. I'm going to get it to him tomorrow. Let me see if there's anything in here that can help," I said, opening up the wallet.

"There doesn't seem to be any address or anything, but this is definitely him," I said, pulling out his picture from the wallet.

As I showed her the picture, she instantly froze up, dropping the plate of chopped vegetables to the floor. The plate shattered on the floor as I looked at my bewildered mother, who had suddenly gone pale.

"Mom, are you okay?" I asked with concern as I tried to clean up the mess.

"Uhm... I'm okay... I—I just thought... Sorry, I'm just feeling a little lightheaded, that's all. Do you mind finishing off here?" she said, quickly exiting the kitchen.

I had never seen my mother like that. Something about the man's picture clearly rubbed her the wrong way. We had a quiet dinner that day which was quite unusual for us.

"Janet! I told you, I don't know him. Now please, drop it! I'm not feeling great, that's all. I'm off to bed. Goodnight."

I could talk to my mother about everything. Well, almost everything. The topic of my father was the only thing off the table. I had never known him; my mother told me he had left when I was a baby. I had long given up on getting information about him beyond that.

As we were cleaning up after dinner in silence, I finally mustered the courage to ask her. I simply had to know.

"Mom... Who is that man? Do you know him?" I asked.

"Do I know him? I should be asking you that. He is your customer," she nonchalantly responded.

"Well, his picture clearly triggered something. So, I have to ask, who—" I said before my mother interrupted in frustration.

"Janet! I told you, I don't know him. Now please, drop it! I'm not feeling great, that's all. I'm off to bed. Goodnight," Lisa barked, leaving me even more confused.

Several days passed, and the man never pitched to pick up his wallet. I began to fear that he would never come back. At this point, I couldn't care much for the wallet at all. I just wanted to get to the bottom of this man's connection to my mother.

And then, one day, the man finally arrived. But, to my surprise, so did my mother. As I watched from inside the restaurant, I saw my mother run up to the man as he approached the restaurant. She stopped him just as he was about to reach the door and barked something at him. He instantly turned back and left.

As the days passed, I couldn't stop thinking about the whole saga. I concluded that my mother would not give me the answers I longed for. So, I decided to give his wallet another look. Perhaps there was something I had missed.

"You just left us?"

I found a business card in his wallet, as fate would have it. From there, it wasn't hard to find him as he was the company's owner. I went to his office, and as I stepped into the lobby, he recognized me instantly from a distance. He ushered me into his office so we could talk.

"Thank you for bringing me my wallet," he started.

"How do you know my mother?" I asked without hesitation."Uhm... Well, there's no easy way to say this... So, I'll just go ahead and say it. I'm your father, Janet," he said.

"M—m—my father?" I stammered, trying to find my words.

"Yes, your father. I would come to the restaurant in hopes of seeing you. Your mother must've found out about this when I left my wallet and forbade me from seeing you," he explained.

"And where were you all this time?" I asked.

"Things weren't working out between your mother and me, and I wasn't ready to be a father. I was young and a coward. So, I left you and your mother," he explained dejectedly.

"You just left us?" I asked, in tears.

"I'm sorry, Janet. I panicked, and I thought you would be better off without me. I realized my mistake years later and wanted to make things right, but I never found the courage to. Once I tracked you down at the restaurant, I thought I could at least check up on you from a distance," he concluded.

I was completely shattered. For the longest time, I had wanted answers about my father. And now that he was in front of me explaining everything, a part of me wished he had never popped up. Should I forgive or forget about him and not give him a chance?

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