Luxury Cafe Owner - Chapter 24 Completing The Mission
Gerald’s driver took him from the cafe back to his local residence, a large penthouse apartment in one of the tallest buildings in the city.
He nodded a greeting at the doorman, and walked to the elevator. He scanned a card, and the penthouse button lit up. He pushed the button and took the long ride to the top floor.
As the elevator reached the top floor, the doors slid open revealing an unbelievably luxurious apartment that took up the entire top floor. Windows revealed the city lights on all sides. A butler stood by and took his coat as he walked out of the elevator. “Welcome back, sir.” The butler said.
Gerald nodded, paying little attention. “Ask Chef Monroe to order some coffee beans from Prosperidad, it’s a Colombian coffee farm. I’d like to have a cappuccino made from those coffee beans as soon as we get them.”
The butler nodded, and left the room to hang Gerald’s coat and talk to the chef about this latest demand. As someone who worked for the super rich the butler was used to random, extravagant demands.
Gerald went and sat on a long leather couch, picked up a remote and turned on the television. However, this television was actually an entire wall of windows.
As he sat, not really paying attention to what he was watching, Gerald pulled out his phone and looked at the picture he’d taken of the cappuccino from Alan’s cafe.
Comparing it now to the view he had in front of him through his windows, he realized it was actually extremely accurate, and captured the feeling of looking out over the city.
He couldn’t help but admire it. He thought about it, and opened up a social media app on his phone. As the CEO of a large chain of department stores, he had a large number of followers, many of whom were young and aspiring businessmen and women who hoped to gain hints about how to be successful in business, or even to see how someone with so much money lived their life.
In general, Gerald didn’t post often, and when he did it was usually analysis of various markets or speculation about taxes on imports or that sort of thing.
However, he was so impressed with the cappuccino that he decided to share it as a lesson to those with entrepreneurial spirit.
He typed a message on his phone. “The key to success for young entrepreneurs isn’t just passion or intelligence, but a selling point that is unique to you. Take this cappuccino from Lux Cafe in City A; it’s a good cup of coffee, sure, but the real selling point is the artistry.”
Then he added the photo and uploaded the post.
He saw it almost instantly got reposted and commented on by his followers. He didn’t pay too much attention to it though and turned off his phone’s screen as he redirected his attention to the television to catch up on the day’s news.
***
The next morning, Alan got up early. He’d slept very well last night, satisfied with the way last night had gone.
He took his time showering, getting dressed, brushing his teeth, and washing his face. When he’d finished his morning routine, he went downstairs to the cafe below. Still somewhat muddled with sleep, he went into the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee.
Carrying his coffee back into the main area, he prepared to sit and enjoy it when he heard a loud knocking on the door. He startled, jumping slightly and nearly spilling coffee on his hand.
He cursed softly under his breath as he turned to look to the door to the cafe, where the knock came from. As he looked, his mouth dropped open. He saw a man standing at the door.
It was a super famous author! Just kidding, he’d never even seen that author before, he must not have been very popular. What shocked Alan wasn’t the impoverished author at the door, but the long line of customers stretching out behind him.
He rubbed at his eyes with his free hand, doubting his vision. But when he checked again he saw it really was a huge line of customers.
He quickly quaffed his coffee and checked his watch. He saw it was after 6:30 AM, and so he could technically open the shop under the system’s rules. Though his hours were written as opening at 7:30 AM, he didn’t want to miss out on whatever miracle was happening right then.
He hurriedly walked to the door after putting his emptied cup back in the kitchen and unlocked the door before opening it for the first customer.
Then he walked back to the counter and waited for the shabbily dressed author to approach.
However, after seeing the price of the coffee the author coughed and left the line. Alan sighed in understanding. “It truly isn’t easy being broke.”
Then he put it out of his mind and went about taking orders.
The line of customers continued unabated until almost 7:30 AM. As Alan leaned against the counter and took a breath, he celebrated inwardly. His cafe was completely packed. Moreover, many customers had already come, drank their coffee, and left. Even after they read his strange rule about no takeaway coffee, most of them chose to buy coffee anyways.
He’d long since completed the mission the system had given him. Thinking that he had a bit of a break now, he went to click on the mission to collect his reward. However, as he was about to do so, he heard the bell on the door ring loudly as another customer walked in. He looked up and saw Tom standing there, looking around at the packed cafe in surprise.
Alan gave a small wave as Tom approached the counter.
“What happened?” Tom asked.
Alan shook his head. “I have no idea. I went down to make myself coffee this morning and there was a line around the block.”
Tom gave him a peeved look. “No not that. How come the cafe opened early?”
Alan stared at him a little dumbly, before realizing what he talking about. He felt somewhat sheepish before clearing his throat and making an excuse up off the top of his head. “Today is a national holiday, so I decided to open early to celebrate.”
Tom seemed confused. “What holiday?”
Alan hesitated when the system chimed in his head. “Host, coincidentally today is Earth’s Rotation Day. Happy celebrating.”
Alan did his best to keep a straight face as he said to Tom, “It’s Earth’s Rotation Day. To celebrate I opened an hour early.”
Tom did a quick search on his phone and found it was a real holiday. Putting aside his skepticism, he asked, “Does this mean you’ll open early on all holidays?”
Alan shook his head. “Only the ones that hold special meaning to me.”
Tom wanted to ask how exactly Earth’s Rotation Day held special meaning to him, but felt himself getting a headache from this conversation and decided to let it be.