Chapter Three
"Yeah go ahead.What's up, I know you got something up your sleeve."
"When was the last time you got laid, like when was the last time you had someone over you , or under you making you feel amazing , huh. Don't you think that that is one of the reasons why you are so uptight sometimes, huh."
"I don't need a woman in my life right now , I am quite okay with the stressful life that I have already, I don't want to add to my misery by having a nagging woman on my case , everytime."
"You need to let lose my man , you really are so uptight and thats one of the reasons why you so stressed sometimes."He said as he looked me in the eye , he was clearly trying to hide the laughter that I was seeing trying to creap through his face .
We both burst out into laughter.
"you don't say"
"Okay , forget about being in a relationship, have a woman for some fun , let lose a little. we ain't getting any younger , remember. Iam sure you haven't been laid in a while . come with me to the club , tonight and let lose a little. well you ain't going to look for a wifey but at least am sure you going to get laid .
"it's been a while so I guess I'll go."
"Nice "
Moses woke up "I'll send you the feed on the optical display."
"Can you send me some of the optical specs too."
"Course man , I'll catch up with you later "
When Moses left I looked at my contact list. There were fifteen new other people I had to talk to , and that was only in the morning. I had no idea how I was going to get through the day but at least I had the nightclub and the inevitable hook up to look up to.
I felt the warm sunshine band on my cheek and smiled softly.Damn that felt good ,then my eyes slammed open and I shot out of bed . The sun was out and that was not a good sign at all, it meant I was late. Most of my money at the bakery came from the morning coffee rush in the morning.I needed to get to the bakery in the next one hour or I would not make my money. I needed to call Laura to go to the bakery and do the morning prepping. I had given her a spare key for the bakery . I couldn't find my fucking phone. I checked in the bedroom,I checked in the bathroom ,I couldn't find it .
After a quick shower I went to look for my phone again , I couldn't find it . it wasn't in the bedroom or in the bathroom either which meant I would have to go around the house looking for it.I had to call Laura , I couldn't imagine losing over fifteen hundred dollars, all for what . Just because I couldn't find my phone. No that was not going happen.I had to call Laura to tell her to bring her keys with her instead of her waiting for me at the door.
I dialled Laura's number , she didn't pick up all I heard was a mechanical lady at the other end of the call say . "The voicemail of the recepient has not been setup yet. " Ofcourse she haven't set up her voicemail urghh..
"where are you ?" I texted her as I was getting ready . After a few minutes my phone was blank no messages , nothing.That meant she slept in. I tried texting her more times afterwards all to no response. I entertained the thought of cutting this from her paycheck. She had been late the whole of last week too. I couldn't do this to her . we had been friends since highschool , I knew it wasn't right. She deserved alot more leeway than that. I am going to kill her. I am going to cut her head off and hung it beside the store and tag it "the worst employee ever."
This wasn't just the morning coffee rush, Monday was our biggest day of the week. When people finally climbed out of their hangovers and went to work . early in the morning they needed their coffee and muffins and Laura was really costing me alot of money. well it wasn't fair to blame her solely for the shop opening late . I also slept late scramming through the internet looking for recipes. btw I found the best streusel apricot recipe it will be ready for the bakery in the afternoon.
They'd come in stiff-faced and ravenous barking orders ,I was supposed to be helping them out right now . But I was six lights in almost ready to get off and walk.
when I arrived I didn't waste any more time.i hopped out of the car into the front gate and went to the back door. Normally,I liked reaching there earlier so I could make sure everything looked all nice and presentable. In food service , ambiance was everything . If your food looked good , the more customers you'll get . it was the go tip.Nobody would eat here if it looked like a rundown cafeteria.So I took pride in the shop, besides it was mine . I would set a fresh bouquet of flowers every two days ,made sure the cakes and pies were on display everyday all nice and presentable. I wanted people to feel comfortable here , not just order and leave. I wanted them to stick around and have coffee with their friends and muffins as they talked about school, work ,home whatever it was. Or even sit at the booth and read the newspaper the whole morning. I wanted Mayas to be a meeting place, where couples would meet sit and talk , where kids would come as they come off school.
They would remember it and make it their daily routine. I needed that customer bonding relationship that would lead to me having a stable and steady income from the shop. That steady income meant I needed to invest my time in the shop. Time that I honestly didn't think I had . Time that I wasn't sure I had . Sometimes just putting off the lights and shutting down the doors seemed like a hustle.
Everything in the shop hung by a thread, a slim thin fragile thread. Everyday was a hustle of trying to keep it afloat. There was no such thing as certainty in this business. There was no knowing of what tomorrow would hold and I was not happy about it all.
I kept hoping that something would happen. There could be a parade just outside the shop, or one of the chain stores would close . Then people would come rushing into the shop money at hand .
But that was just a fantasy and it couldn't just happen.No one was going to find out about my shop unless I told them. That would take years of long hard work. I just wasn't sure I could keep he shop going for that long though. it was not like my bakery was doing that badly , we were located down town. Right after the prime district. This was a prime real estate for me and we were making a decent amount of business for a shop like mine.i just couldn't stop worrying about everything. I tried to calm myself down and munch on a muffin as I waited for the customers, but I just winded up staring at the door waiting , praying and hoping that customers would flood into the shop.Every shadow that passed by was a potential customer, another reason for me to look around and make sure everything was okay .
I made sure there were no crumbs on the counter and I wiped out all the glasses and shelves around.I wiped the tables down again even though I already knew they were clean . Eventually I was forced to admit that everything was perfect . I went back to the register and took a bite of my muffin. Some of the cream icing came off and stuck to the top of my lip. I was searching for a napkin to wipe it off when a man in a black suit walked in.
"Oh God" I sighed hoping he wouldn't notice as I took the napkin and wiped it off but it was too late.
"Am I interrupting," the man said from behind me with laughter in his speech.I was blushing when I turned to him
"What can I get you ?" I asked as my cheeks were turning pink.
"That muffin looks tasty, a little messy but good. is that cream cheese icing ?"
"it is " I was beet red now.
"Perfect,I think I'll get that." a playful smile covered his lips
"Okay ,one ginger spice muffin coming right up, anything else?"
"That be all"
I took a glance at him as I went back to the kitchen.He was tall and blonde, cute but a little lanky for my taste. I brought his muffin back to him "here ya go"