Joel Fernandes walked into the store.
His wedding was in a week and he still had to finalize a blazer. He had visited many stores but hadn't found the perfect one yet. He decided to take his mother's advice and visit the same store from where his father had purchased his blazer. The store was really old but it looked like it was still doing well.
"Hello. I would like to look at some blazers", he said.
"Sure Sir. What is the occasion?", an old man sitting behind the counter replied, barely looking up from the newspaper that he was reading.
"A wedding."
"Oh, that is a very important occasion is every man's life", the old man replied. He put on his spectacles and looked at the young man.
"Wait, is it Mr. Joel Fernandes?" he asked.
Joel was taken aback. He didn't recall ever visiting this store, even with his father.
"Yes, I am Joel. How do you know me?"
"You look very much like your father. I remember helping Michael choose his blazer for his wedding. How is Michael now?"
"Unfortunately, he passed away last year. He kept pushing me to get married as his health was declining, but my work kept pushing the wedding ahead. But I can't believe that you still remember him and that you managed to recognize me. I will definitely tell my mother that you remembered him."
"Sir, I remember every young man that walked into this store. And I have been here for over 50 years now" the old man replied, smiling kindly.
"Wow that is really great. Can you help me buy a blazer?"
"Sure, let me show you some new pieces that just came in."
Joel tried on 6 blazers as the salesman helped him patiently but he didn't like any of them.
"I am getting some new pieces tomorrow, would you like to drop by again some time?" the old man asked.
"Sure, I will try and do that."
Joel put the last one back in the rack and was about to leave when the old man suddenly called out to him.
"Wait one minute. I have one in the back, slightly older design. But it should be similar to the one your dad wore at his wedding. I will just get it, take a look."
Joel put it on. Design was older but it fit really well. He decided to video call his mother.
She was really surprised to see him for a second, she had tears in her eyes.
"You look really handsome, Joel. I think you should take it" she said.
Joel nodded. The old man smiled. He paid for it and took the blazer. The old man went back to his newspaper.
A few hours later, the old man closed his store and headed home. He decided to drop by his brother's house.
"Hi David. You will be glad to know that the transaction was successfully closed. How are you feeling today?"
"Slightly better. My back is still paining. At this age, I don't think we should go around digging out graves at night. Also, I never realized that Michael was buried that deep. He didn't look that great but the blazer still looked really good."
"It sure did. Just needed a little dry cleaning" replied the old man, before opening up his newspaper and showing his brother the page that had all the wedding announcements. He had circled two of them.
