Luxury Cafe Owner - Chapter 34 Testing The Cake

The next morning Alan got up at the usual time, but he quickly left the cafe carrying a covered cardboard box under one arm.

He looked for a taxi to flag down, but sadly there weren’t many awake at this time. Finally, after waiting at an intersection for a while he managed to find one and flag it down.

He got in and gave the driver his parents’ address before sitting back in his seat. He hadn’t had his coffee yet so he still felt residual tiredness. A pressure headache seemed to form behind his eyes. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them he found he had already arrived.

Shaking his head to dismiss his stupor he paid the taxi driver and got out of the cab. Then he went and rang the doorbell on his parents’ home.

It took a minute, but then his mother appeared at the door. “Oh!” She exclaimed. “Alan, what a surprise. Come in, come in. Did you take a cab here? You didn’t need to go to all that trouble. I wish I knew you were coming I’d have made some of your favorites for breakfast.” Smiling at her fussing, Alan walked inside, the warmth of the house washing the cold off his body.

“No need, I’m fine with whatever.” Alan assured her as he took of his shoes and shrugged off his coat to hang on the nearby coat rack. Then he followed her to the kitchen. His father sat at the table, reading a newspaper and slowly eating a piece of toast with some jam on it. He looked up as Alan walked in, moderately surprised.

Alan nodded his head at him, and took a seat. His mother prepared a similar plate of toast for him and set it in front of him before noticing the package he still held in his arms. “What’s this?” She asked curiously.

Alan set the box on the table and opened it. Then he removed the coffee cake from it. Only one slice was missing. “This is the latest addition to the menu at my cafe. It’s a coffee cake I made. I made it last night to test it out and was satisfied with the result. I thought I’d bring it over for you to have.”

She smiled. “That was very thoughtful of you. Of course we’ll try it.” She lifted the cake and brought it to a cutting board where she cut three slices for herself, Alan, and Alan’s father.

She placed them on individual plates and brought them back to the table. “Here you go.” She said, putting it down in front of them. Then she sat down herself.

As they sat there Alan noticed they seemed to be hesitant to try it. He chuckled, lifted his fork and used the side to scoop off a piece and lifted it to his mouth. “It’s really not bad, I wouldn’t bring something inedible back to you.” Then he ate it.

Seeing this, his parents chuckled lightly, eyed each other and simultaneously ate a bite.

Alan watched as they chewed on it. His mother’s eyes widened slightly as the flavor hit her before she made a sound of appreciation. She nodded at him and she finished the bite and said, “That really is quite good. I didn’t know you knew how to bake.”

Alan laughed. “If you have a recipe it’s simple enough to do, you just have to follow the instructions to the letter.”

Remembering her own first attempts at baking she felt something was wrong, but she shook her head dismissing the thought.

His father hadn’t said anything, but he also had continued to eat bite after bite as he went back to reading the newspaper. That was a show of his approval.

Alan finished his slice, took his plate to the kitchen and put it in the dishwasher, then returned. “Well, I have to go, but I just wanted to stop by and share the cake with you. Feel free to eat it all. It was baked fresh last night so it should last for a while providing you store it properly.”

His father spoke up for the first time since he had arrived. “Is business doing well?”

Alan nodded at him. “It’s doing well enough. I’m gaining more regular customers, and I’m making enough to pay the loan and support myself.”

His father nodded and fell silent again. Though he didn’t say anything, Alan nonetheless understood that his father meant that even if business wasn’t doing well his father would do his best to support him.

Walking outside into the cold morning, a warmth lingered in him as he left his parents’ home.

As time had passed more taxis took to the street and he was able to hail a cab much more easily than earlier in the morning.

He took the cab back to the cafe. As he arrived, it was already 8:30 AM. He didn’t see Tom out front and assumed he must have left when he realized Alan wasn’t there. It was too cold out to linger in front of the cafe for an hour. As he said this, he noticed an unfamiliar face standing out in front of the cafe shivering and hugging himself.

He eyed the figure curiously as he unlocked the door to the cafe and went inside. As he did, he noticed the figure’s eyes widen. The figure reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone, and made a call. Alan loitered in the doorway despite the cold so he could listen in on the conversation.

“Sir, it’s me. Yes, the cafe is open now. Yes. Okay, I’ll return now. Thank you, sir.” The figure let out a sigh of relief through chattering teeth as he hung up the phone and put it away. Then he flagged down a cab and left.

Alan felt the whole thing was very strange. However, he went inside the cafe, letting the door close behind him. He also made sure to lock it. Then he went to the kitchen. The first thing he did was brew himself a cup of coffee. Then as he sipped it to warm his cold face, he heard a knocking on the door. Turning he saw Tom standing there, his face frowning.