Luxury Cafe Owner

by Andrew Reise

  Then he stood by and waited for Gerald to come.

  He didn't have to wait long as Gerald arrived slightly early. Even though he wasn't excited about the date, this was business to him; he wasn't the sort to disrespect the opposite side in a business deal.

  "Good morning," Gerald greeted as he walked into the cafe.

  Alan nodded back. "Morning. I have cake fresh out of the oven ready for you and Natasha. Additionally I'll make you coffee when the time comes."

  "Could I ask you to make espresso instead of coffee?" Gerald asked.

  Alan smirked. "Don't want to drag this out? That's fine."

  Gerald raised his hand and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Thank you."

  Gerald looked around and debated where to sit. Normally he'd sit in the armchairs, but they weren't placed too closely together. On the other hand, the tables were meant to seat four.

  He looked to Alan. "Would it be possible to move the two armchairs slightly closer together. They don't need to be that close, but it would be weird to have too much distance. I don't want her complaining that this didn't count as a date."

  Alan thought about it. The system never prohibited from moving chairs around.

  "That's fine, but you'll have to stick around afterward to help me move them back into place." Alan said.

  Gerald nodded. "Of course."

  Alan and Gerald worked together to move the large armchairs slightly closer together so that they would be at an ideal distance to hold a conversation.

  After they finished, Alan checked his phone. "Isn't it about time?"

  Gerald checked his watch and nodded. "Yeah it's supposed to be. I guess she's running late." He shook his head. He tried not to hold it against Natasha, and made some preemptive excuses for her. "She's probably just stuck in traffic or got stuck dealing with some business."

  Alan didn't say anything and just went back to the counter. He thought to himself that if that was really the case she should have at least called to let Gerald know. Still, he kept his thoughts to himself.

  About fifteen minutes later, Alan saw a car pull up to the curb and a glamorous looking woman step out. She was tall and blond. She wore a fur coat that bordered on gaudy. She also had extremely ostentatious jewelry on, as though to say to everyone that saw her that she was extremely rich. Alan silently judged her as he went to open the door for her.

  "Ms. Bianchi, this way please. Gerald is inside." Alan held the door for her and gestured for her to enter. She ignored him and walked inside. Taking off a large pair of sunglasses she looked around the cafe and tsked under her breath. Seeing Gerald she strode over to him and offered her hand like she expected him to kiss it.

  Gerald's face furrowed into a frown. He himself was extremely wealthy, but he disliked people who felt the need to flaunt wealth. Furthermore, she had clearly been dismissive of Alan. Rather than kissing her hand, he simply gripped it in a handshake.

  "Ms. Bianchi, a pleasure." Gerald said coolly.

  She looked annoyed briefly but quickly her features smoothed out. "None of that now. Call me Natasha please."

  "Natasha then," Gerald acquiesced.

  He offered to take her coat and she accepted. He walked over to Alan and said, "Could you?" Alan nodded. He was being paid very well for this, so he was willing to treat them a little specially. He went and put the fur coat on the coat rack standing by the door.

  Then he went into the kitchen to prepare the espressos for the two.

  Walking back into the cafe he went over to where they were sitting. He handed them each their espresso.

  "I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of having Alan, the cafe owner, prepare espresso and coffee cake for both of us." Gerald explained to Natasha.

  "It's no problem," She said tersely. She took the espresso and sipped it lightly.

  "Well then, shall we discuss moving your line into my store?" Gerald said once Alan had finished giving them their food and drink and had left back to the counter.

  A frown passed across Natasha's face. "This is a date, why must you ruin it with business?"

  Gerald sighed. "Very well then, what do you want to talk about?"

  Natasha looked dissatisfied with his performance. "Shouldn't the man at least try to make conversation? I feel like I'm forcing you at gunpoint here. If I'm not welcome I'll leave and take my business with me."

  Gerald frowned in annoyance. On the one hand she complained that she felt like she was forcing him, and then in the next sentence she threatened him. He really couldn't deal with people like this. They were so self-centered they refused to recognize the problems in their own behavior. However, he really wanted her fashion line in his stores.

  Swallowing his annoyance he proceeded to make casual conversation with her about what it was like in Italy, her upcoming fashion shows, and other aspects of her life. She still seemed dissatisfied though and she was recalcitrant in her answers.

  Gerald quickly grew frustrated. From across the room, Alan was able to read the mood from where he stood and quickly brought them cake. If they hadn't even had anything to eat then Natasha might claim it wasn't a date and refuse to allow her fashion line to be sold in Gerald's stores.

  Carrying two plates with a slice of coffee cake on each, Alan walked over to them clearing his throat as he briefly interrupted Gerald. "Here is your cake. Enjoy."

  Natasha was annoyed at the date was going. It wasn't at all as she had imagined it. As Alan interjected her annoyance peaked and she lashed out at him. "Can't you see we're trying to have a conversation? Go to the side and stop interrupting."

  Alan raised an eyebrow but didn't bother responding. He couldn't care less what this woman said to him or thought of him. Gerald, however, had similarly reached a breaking point. "He was just bringing us food, there's no need to snap at him like that."

  Natasha looked at him eyes widening with anger. "Are you serious? You barely managed to engage in conversation with me, and he comes and interrupts. Then you get angry at me for telling him to not interrupt us? You're ridiculous. In what way is this a date? If you were really on a date with me you'd have told him not to interrupt us yourself." She was practically sputtering in anger and failed to articulate the true reason she was annoyed very well.

  "He was just bringing food that was hardly an interruption. Even if he had interrupted it would have been a welcome change from talking to a bratty woman like you. You've done nothing but complain since you got here." Gerald's tone became cold as he spoke.

  Natasha stood up, indignant. "I don't have to take this. I've never met such a rude man. You can forget about having my fashion line in your store. I'd rather have it in a dollar store than in your cheap place."

  Gerald snorted. "I won't bother seeing you out then. I'll find some other fashion line. With such an idiotic owner I'm sure your line will tank soon enough."

  Natasha went to grab her coat.

  At this time, Alan cleared his throat calmly. He felt slightly awkward in this situation, but knew he wasn't the real problem here. The real problem was this date was forced to begin with. He looked to Natasha as she walked towards the coat rack.

  "Excuse me miss, before you leave I do have something to ask of you."

  Natasha looked back at him in annoyance. "What?"

  Alan looked at where Gerald sat and then back at Natasha. He walked over to where she had sat and picked up the cake.

  "It's about this cake."

  "What is it?" Natasha asked impatiently.

  Alan paused before continuing. "My store has humble origins. It's a new business and is still just getting started. I'm trying to build my business and gain new customers."

  Natasha looked at her watch and then back up at him. "Get to the point would you?"

  Alan raised an eyebrow. "Very well then. My business may be just getting started but I have my own morals and values. One of them is that I don't allow anyone to waste food. Thus, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you to finish your cake."
/>   As Alan finished speaking, both Gerald and Natasha's mouths dropped. In this situation, he dared to demand she finish the cake?

  Natasha gave a snort. "You want me to finish the cake? And if I don't?"

  Alan remained calm. "Then I'm afraid I'll have to blacklist you from my cafe. I can't abide by a person who doesn't finish their food."

  Natasha eyed him coldly before putting her jacket on and leaving without a word. As she left the system's voice rang out in Alan's head.

  "Customer Natasha Bianchi did not finish her coffee cake. She is henceforth banned from the cafe. Host is forbidden from serving her any more food or drink."

  Alan sighed. Truth be told he didn't really care if she finished the cake or not. In his mind a customer was a customer and it was fine if they paid. Unfortunately, the system didn't give him a choice.

  Gerald remained seated where he had been. He watched Alan. "To think he would actually blacklist a customer. I really underestimated his guts. Still, this is exactly how that guy should be. People like him, artists, have to have pride in their work."

  Alan walked back to pick up Natasha's plate of cake, unaware of the fact that Gerald mistakenly thought he had some sort of pride. If he'd known he'd have said something like, "What are you crazy? Can pride pay my bills?" He took the cake into the kitchen and then came back out.

  "Sorry if I caused trouble for you," Alan told Gerald.

  Gerald shook his head. "There was already no hope that she would put her clothing line in my store at that point. I just enjoyed seeing her getting knocked down a peg." He gave a slight grin. He quickly finished his slice of coffee cake and drank the rest of his espresso.

  Alan shook his head. "I'm not one to talk as I'm not some relationship expert, but I don't think that was the way to go about the date."

  Gerald sighed. "I know. I just got annoyed with the way she was behaving. She already forced me to go on a date with her against my will, and then she complained that I wasn't the way she imagined? So I have to change my personality just to please her? From the beginning I'm someone who thinks about business first. If she couldn't handle that then she couldn't handle dating me."

  Alan understood where Gerald was coming from. Still, if he had been able to fake it better he might have at least been able to convince her to put her clothing line in his store. However, Alan quickly stopped thinking about it. "It doesn't have anything to do with me," he thought to himself.

  Alan and Gerald said goodbye as Alan cleaned up the cafe. Just like that, he put the events of the morning behind him. He readied the cafe to receive customers, putting the furniture back where it had been.

  Then he went and took down the sign on the door. Since the date had ended early he'd go ahead and open early.

  He picked up his phone and sent out a tweet saying the cafe was once again open to the public.

  The day progressed normally from there. Tom came in and begged for details about the date, but Alan told him he'd have to ask Gerald. Alan ran the cafe just like normal and put the events of this morning out of his mind.

  After Natasha Bianchi left the cafe she had her driver take her to the hotel where she was staying. She felt humiliated by the date, and she turned that humiliation into a fury towards Gerald and towards Alan who she felt had humiliated her at the end.

  As her car pulled up to the hotel, paparazzi seemed to materialize out of thin air. Ignoring them she started to press towards the hotel, her security personnel making space for her. However, as she was heading inside one reporter managed to slip past.

  "Excuse me, Ms. Bianchi, my name is Anaiya Williams. I'm a reporter with City A Daily News. I was wondering if I could talk to you about your meeting this morning." As she finished saying this, the reporter showed an image of Gerald on her phone.

  Natasha eyed her and then nodded her head, waving her security personnel, who had come forward to move Anaiya, aside. Then they went inside together.

  Natasha led her to the penthouse suite and sat with her in the foyer area. Then she looked at Anaiya.

  "Very well, Ms. Williams. What do you want to ask?" Natasha said coolly.

  "Please, Ms. Bianchi, Anaiya would be fine. I'm simply curious about the purpose of your meeting today with Gerald Acadian. Is it business related? Personal?" Anaiya tried to keep her question as broad as possible at first so she could get an idea of whether there was any interesting new to be found here.

  Natasha looked at her before asking. "I will tell you if you tell me how you found out about the meeting."

  Anaiya frowned. She was torn on what to do. On the one hand, she suspected there was something interesting going on here. On the other hand, if she gave up her source she'd lose credibility and find it harder to get sources to confide in her in the future. However, as a new and struggling reporter, her hunger for breaking her first big story surpassed her reticence.

  "It was one of the assistants on Mr. Acadian's end. I can't be any more specific than that." Anaiya said measuredly.

  Natasha frowned. It wasn't enough that Gerald had just treated her like crap. Now it turned out someone on his side broke the news to a reporter too? "Fine then, let's see how you like seeing what happened appearing in the news." She thought to herself.

  "Ms. Bianchi?" Anaiya prompted.

  "Pardon me, I was thinking about something. Very well, Anaiya, I will tell you what happened today. I had a date with Mr. Acadian." Natasha began. She continued to speak with Anaiya for a good half an hour, much longer than it would take to simply relay the events that had taken place.

  After they finished talking, Anaiya quickly bade Natasha goodbye and ran off in a hurry, calling someone as she went.

  Natasha sat in her hotel room and thought to herself, "Let's see how you enjoy being humiliated."

  Chapter 17

  Alan ran the cafe as always. He took quiet joy in seeing that he continued to gain more and more regular customers.

  As the sky darkened and the moon rose, Alan prepared himself for the evening rush of customers seeking their fix.

  As he wiped down the counter, removing the few coffee stains that had formed from the spills of his customers, Alan heard the familiar jingle of the bell on the door as someone entered the cafe.

  He looked up to see an unfamiliar woman. He nodded his greeting. "Good evening, what can I get for you today?"

  "Are you Alan? The owner of the Lux Cafe?" The woman questioned.

  Alan nodded. "That's me. Can I get you a cappuccino?"

  The woman hesitated for a moment. "Well, before that, I'd like to know if you think Gerald Acadian will be in this afternoon. You see I have something I need to discuss with him."

  Alan frowned. "I'm afraid you'll have to reach out to his office directly. I do not keep track of the whereabouts of my customers."

  The woman shrugged. "That's fine. I don't mean to cause any trouble. I'll take a cappuccino please. And could I have some coffee cake?"

  "My apologies, the coffee cake is only served before noon. Temporarily we do not have any food available. However, I can get you that cappuccino."

  The woman gave him a peculiar look, but nodded. "That's fine."

  She handed her credit card for Alan to swipe through the card reader. As he took it, he glanced at the name on the card. Anaiya Williams. Noting it down in his memory, after he got the confirmation that the payment went through he handed the card back to her and went to make her a cup of cappuccino.

  As Alan went through the door to the kitchen, he pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to Gerald. "Some woman named Anaiya Williams is here looking for you. It's not a problem for me, but I wanted to let you know before you came in."

  Satisfied at having notified one of his best customers of a potential stalker, he put his phone away and went to make a cup of cappuccino. He found this woman creepy, so he got creative with the foam art. He drew a scary looking woman with crazy hair and wide eyes peeking over the top of a wall.

  He chuckled to himself as he ca
rried the cup of cappuccino out of the kitchen and brought it to his muse.

  "Enjoy." He nodded at her.

  The woman took the cappuccino and seemed surprised at the art. There was no telling if she realized that she was part of the inspiration for this particular piece of art. However, she did seem slightly impressed by the craftsmanship Alan demonstrated.

  Sipping at her cappuccino, Anaiya remained seated. She had taken a spot that gave her a good view of the door so she could see anyone who entered. As she sipped the cappuccino, she glanced surreptitiously around. At the moment she was the only person in the cafe.

  Contrary to what Natasha had told her, she thought the cafe looked pretty nice. It wasn't a five star French restaurant, but it certainly wasn't low class. However, the interior did match the description she gave. Furthermore, the owner did seem to have a peculiar temper. First he had refused to serve her an item off the menu. Then he had given her such a strange, if finely made, cappuccino.

  Still, noting the chalkboard listing the rules, she guessed he was just a strange person rather than a malicious person.

  Alan stood behind the counter unaware of Anaiya's thoughts. Customers began to filter through the door into the cafe and he became busier. As Alan prepared cup after cup of cappuccino, he decided to stick with the image of the crazy woman peeking over a wall at some unsuspecting victim below. It just fit his mood. Between Natasha and Anaiya, it seemed to be a day for crazy women to appear in his life.

  As Alan continued to take orders, the cafe gradually began to fill. It wasn't completely full, but the air had a nice buzz to it as muted conversations began between customers, some who had come to know each other as regulars, others who had come into the cafe together to begin with. Alan thought for a moment before going to a panel behind the bar. Lifting it, the controls to the sound system were revealed.

  Alan put on the coffee house jazz mix he'd prepared ahead of time. The volume was set low, so that the music sat in the background, not interfering in the conversations taking place, but present.

  Alan cocked his head to the side as he listened to the sounds of the cafe for a moment before nodding in satisfaction. This was the atmosphere he'd imagined when he'd first conceptualized his cafe.