38 The Approaching Date (1/2)

Gerald's assistant got back to him quickly.The date had been set for two days from now.Natasha had to travel to City A, so that was already the soonest they could meet.

Sighing at his fate, Gerald walked to the counter where Alan stood.

Alan looked at him as he approached.”Is the date set then?”

Gerald nodded.”I'll be troubling you.I'd like to reserve the cafe from 8:00 AM to 10:30 AM two days from now.”

Alan pulled out his phone and made a note on it.”Okay, that's fine.Now let's talk about the price.”

”Would $5,000 cover it?” Gerald asked.

Alan was taken aback.That significantly exceeded his income from a typical morning.”It's more than I usually make.$1,000 would already be fine.It's only two and a half hours.”

Gerald shook his head.”Don't refuse it.You're still trying to establish your business, so losing morning hours means losing chances to bring in regular customers.For it to be worth it you need the short term gain to be significant.”

Alan thought about it before shaking his head.”Even if that's the case, just pay me $2,000.I really can't accept $5,000, it's not a fair price.”

Gerald could only helplessly write a check for $2,000.However, he made a promise to himself to try to bring more business to Alan's cafe.

Alan took the check and took it back to the desk in the kitchen.He would deposit it using his banking app on his phone after business hours.

The day passed quickly.After closing up, Alan deposited the check from Gerald and went upstairs to get ready for sleep.

The next morning, Alan got up early and prepared the coffee cake.He made two cakes this time in anticipation of more people wanting it.He also sent out a tweet announcing he would be serving coffee cake.

Satisfied with his preparations, he made himself his morning coffee and set about his day.

Time passed quickly.The cake sold decently well, but it was mainly his regular customers who ordered it.Still, he managed to sell all of it by the time lunch rolled around.

As afternoon rolled around, Alan stood at the counter noting down his sales on a notepad.He would add it to an excel spreadsheet later.He wanted to track his sales to better predict how much cake he should prepare each day.If he screwed up he'd have to save the cake for the next day.It would keep, but it wouldn't be as good.He didn't want customers to complain about the quality as that was his main selling point.

Alan finished writing the last sale as the door opened and the bell rang.Tom walked in.

He nodded his head at Alan in greeting.”I'll take a cappuccino.”Alan nodded and went to prepare it.As he brought it back out, Tom started making conversation.

”So the date is tomorrow right?What are you going to make for them?”

Alan looked at him.”Coffee and coffee cake.”

Tom stared at him.”You're going to serve a former model and successful fashion designer...cake?”

Alan nodded.Tom's eyes widened.”That won't go well will it?”