Bon Appetit

Soft Pretzel

BIIP BIIP

BIIP BIIP

BRAAKK!!

I hit my alarm clock hardly with my right fist. For the first time ever, I hate hearing my alarm clock yelling early in the morning.
Can't see that I barely slept last night? All this doom made me want to close my eyes and never open again.
Feeling all fiery inside, I looked at the time. 5 AM.
So, I actually only slept for two damn hours because of that brat.
This is outrageous. Am I going to have to endure this for the rest of my life?
I mean, does she not have any empathy for her neighbors.
Particularly me who has to work long hours??
With eyes half closed, I jumped out of my bed and took a shower.
A really long hot shower to calm myself down. With the calming water pouring down on me, I started to relax for a bit.
Guess I just need to adjust to this situation.
Be a gentleman, I can't hit a girl.
Just need to focus on my business so it won't go down into flames.
After I put on my clothes, I took a sip of coffee just to waken my body up.
Going to need a lot of caffeine if I have to put up to this Angel Pretzel girl.
"Meow" Princess greeted me with a purr.
"Good morning, Princess," I said. "I have to go soon, see you tonight."
I stroked her ears before I head outside.
All the way to Dimanche, I started to think why did I build this restaurant in the first place.
It was all because food always made me feel at home. And this good feeling that started to grow in Dimanche as well.
Even though it can be hectic where there are dozen of people shouting over each other, running around with knives and fire, clanging pots and pans onto stoves and into stoves....over the din of all of it, I could always hear the laughter of joy from my staff and customers.
This beautiful restaurant that brought people together, created happiness and become a part of everybody's lives is what made me feel so accomplished.
My dream to create happiness and memories in people's lives is what I ever wanted.
Dimanche, was my dream and now is my life.
My steps stopped as I arrived in front of the door of Dimanche.
After taking a deep breath, I opened the door and to my surprise, I found my staff are already here.
That is early. Are they all so eager to start today?
"Hey bro, how are you doing today?" Heath asked with a smile.
I smiled back at him, only my smile is not as brightly as his. With a lack of sleep, I really don't have much energy left in me.
"Kinda. I'm still thinking on how to save Dimanche. "
Heath grinned. "No worries, bro. Look, yesterday was going just fine. And so will today."
"Hope so," I answered and went to the kitchen.
There I found Sam dealing with a lot of pretzels on the kitchen table. His eyes brightened up as I entered.
He took one pretzel and handed it to me. "How is it?"
I accepted it and started to munch. "It's good, but why a sudden making soft pretzels?"
Sam laughed. "I didn't make those, they were from your parents. They sent me a whole box of it!"
Nearly choked, I yelled, "Why did they do that??"
"Because they liked me like a lot, you know that already since we were kids!" Sam grinned, no innocent on his face. Just a sly smile.
Well, that is true. My parents liked Sam since we met for the first time twelve years ago. He was my new neighbor and we got along well in the end until today.
He was my best friend ever since then.
Didn't think that we would even open up a business together.
"Well, would you like to try another one? This one I made myself," offered Sam as he took out a huge apricot scone.
I took a bite and the taste started to melt in mouth. His food is delicious. I always know that Sam loves to share his baking, and I have to admit this one is really good.
"It is really good, kind of citrus-y?" I said with my mouth full.
Sam smiled. "Yeah, I glazed it with the marmalade I made last week. Can we add it to the menu?"
I nodded. "Sure, this is great. You know, this felt so homey and comforting. One of the satisfaction in cooking is to make the customer feel at home, and this definitely does make feel at home."
Sam gave me a wink and took all the pretzels and scones outside the kitchen.
We started to open at eight and our routines begin.
All the prep work, gave our customers' dogs some treats, all the baking, ordered stock, and dealt with a lot of customers.
Felt so normal, nothing has changed much.
Guess I could calm down now, nothing to worry about.
Even though I am the one who opened Dimanche myself, and Sam joined later, he will always be my co-owner. He is talented enough to help me grow Dimanche to be this successful.
Without him, Dimanche would be long gone.
And to be honest, his soft pretzel today was truly amazing. The color, the softness, the taste and even the smell was mouthwatering.
To this delicacy, many of our customers started to order it.
One woman with nice sleek black hair smiled at me. "Can I order that soft pretzel?"
"Absolutely, would you like me to warm it up for you?" I asked.
"Sure!"
I put the pretzel straight in the microwave and took another deep breath. Guess everything will run fine.
"Wait, why would you take that offer?" Heath asked in a high pitched voice.
That nearly made me dropped the warm soft pretzel. I gave it to the customer and rushed over to the kitchen.
"Well, there is this awesome chef I knew from college who offered a favor of one day work. I don't think we should reject it." Sam chuckled as he took out a tray of baguettes from the oven.
"But, my cooking..." Heath started to complain.
"Look, Clementine is the best chef I know. She clearly holds us in high esteem if she asked us to cook for her."
Sam took a deep breath, knew that he needed to say this calmly. "You are a great chef, Clementine certainly thinks so. This is a great opportunity to advertise Dimanche as well. We need to save-"
"Save what?" I asked.
"Oh!" gasped Sam as he realized I was standing at the kitchen door all this time.
"Bro, perfect timing!" Sam smiled brightly at me.
"Really?" I asked, not convinced.
"I just got a phone call from Clementine. You know my old pal from college. She is now working in that luxury restaurant at that five stars hotel in the city. A great opportunity for us just popped up!"
Heath started to open his mouth. "You can reje-"
"Nonsense!" Sam hit Heath right in the belly, made that poor guy to stop talking. That must have been hard since Heath looked so in pain.
"You would be happy to accept that offer, right?" Sam asked enthusiastically.
"What kind of offer?" I asked coldly. Still not sure if this is a good idea.
Sam chuckled as he layed out the baguettes on the bakery stand. "How about we go help out with a wedding?"
Wait, what?