Luxury Cafe Owner - Chapter 32 Nebulas And Mood Swings

As evening rolled around, an expected face appeared in the door. Zachary Taylor walked through the door. He looked slightly gaunt, and Alan could imagine the way he’d spent the past few hours.

“What can I get for you?” He asked.

Zachary eyed him dourly. “I’ll take a cappuccino please.”

Alan nodded his head and went off to prepare it.

Zachary gingerly sat in one of the chairs at the counter. He looked around and was surprised to see Gerald in one corner sipping a cappuccino.

Wasn’t this what started the conspiracy in the first place? He was extremely tempted to sneak a photo and tweet about it, but as he thought about it his stomach rumbled with discomfort and he was forced to remember the way everything had turned out before.

He took his hand away from his phone and waited sullenly for his cappuccino to come.

When it did he was taken aback by the nebula on the the cappuccino. He couldn’t help but sigh. Regardless of whether Gerald was behind this, it was without a doubt that this cafe was the real deal. He resigned himself to fate and took a picture of the cappuccino before drinking it in a rush.

Even though this cappuccino was fresh, he’d developed taste aversion and felt himself growing nauseous despite his best efforts. He nodded to Alan and left in a hurry.

Alan shook his head. Maybe others would think he had gone overboard teaching that kid a lesson, but Alan himself was still pretty young so he had less sympathy for people close to his age. If he could act like an adult so could they. Youth wasn’t an excuse for lacking morals.

The day ended uneventfully. Alan didn’t bother looking at Zachary’s tweet. Since it wasn’t trending it was likely he’d just posted an image and a good review.

That night Alan dreamed of floating through a nebula. A smile appeared on his face while he slept.

The next morning Alan woke up per usual. However, unlike in the past, he didn’t go down to prepare the cafe. Instead he took a look at the calendar and sighed. Today was the day he had to make his first loan payment.

He had calculated his income this month and he’d earned more than enough to pay the loan and to buy supplies for running the cafe next month. Still, he hated to part with the money he had earned.

He reluctantly got dressed, grabbed his checkbook, and went to the bank.

His heart bled a little as he wrote them a check for over $4,000. He could afford to pay them more, but he wanted to add the coffee cake to the menu this month. Also, he couldn’t guarantee he’d have such a good month next month. Thus, he decided to pay the predetermined amount.

Leaving the bank he found himself in a bad mood.

However, his mood was mirrored by a certain individual standing outside the cafe.

Tom stood in the cold, his breath misting in front of him, livid. The cafe wasn’t open.

“Is that guy still asleep?” Tom thought to himself angrily.

Muttering to himself he was torn about whether he should leave or wait. He wasn’t used to waiting for what he wanted as he was wealthy enough that people tended to wait on him.

However, as he was debating, he suddenly saw Alan walking down the street towards him. He greeted him as he approached.

“What’s the deal with not opening the cafe?” Tom asked doing a poor job of suppressing his annoyance.

Alan, who was already in a bad mood, grunted and said, “Opening hours are fluid. They depend on each day.”

Tom was helpless in front of this moody Alan and quickly changed his tune, trying to butter him up. “Of course they do. After all you work so hard. Did something happen today? Come, come tell Tom what’s weighing on you.”

Alan was unimpressed, but unlocked the door and let Tom in. “Had to pay the loan.” He said shortly.

Tom showed a look of realization. “No wonder this guy is in such a bad mood. He had to pay bills. For a money grubber like him it must have been painful.” Tom took secret pleasure in Alan’s misfortune as he gave him some very fake, superficial consolation.

Alan ignored him and went to prepare coffee. He made a cup for himself and Tom and took them out.

Tom paid in cash every time which was refreshing in this day and age.

Alan felt a little better as the coffee warmed him up. He chatted casually with Tom.

“When are you going to start serving food?” Tom asked hopefully.

He’d been pestering Alan about this for a while. If he could have breakfast and coffee here it would be perfect.

However, whenever he asked about this Alan always just brushed him off and said he’d serve food when he felt like it. Today, though, Alan surprised Tom.

“There should be food on the menu in the next week.” Alan said.

Tom looked shocked before growing excited. “Really? What are you going to serve?”

Alan shook his head. “Just wait and see.”

Though slightly dissatisfied with this answer, Tom obsequiously said, “Of course, of course, I’m just excited is all. You have to tweet about it when you start serving food. It’ll be a good way to draw in customers.”

Alan thought about this before deciding it made sense. He nodded.

Tom was thrilled. He knew it would be pointless to ask this guy to tell him ahead of time, but if he put it in terms of getting more business then he could convince this guy to announce it on Twitter at least.

Tom finished his coffee and went off to work, leaving Alan to his own devices.

Alan sat down at the desk in the kitchen and started up the laptop. He looked up the grocery service he’d used previously for basic supplies and began his order, making sure to restock on the supplies he’d run low on while also ordering the new ingredients he needed for the coffee cake.

Spending money left him in a foul mood once again, and he closed the laptop with a little more force than necessary before walking out of the kitchen to the lounge area of the cafe to wait for customers.

“System has detected that Host is suffering irregular mood swings. System advises Host to work on this before he breaks the laptop.”

Alan grumbled. “Whose fault is that system? You’re the one who made me take out a huge debt to start a cafe when I could have just rented a place.”

The system ignored him and Alan grumbled some more to himself before taking a deep breath and letting the negativity out with it. At the end of the day, even with the loan, he’d managed to earn money. It would only improve from here. Consoling himself with that thought he cleaned up the two empty coffee cups on the counter and prepared himself to face the customers.