I was prepared for life in the big city, but nothing can prepare a girl for anything like real life itself. In fantasy books, the warrior princess knows how much food she will take with her. What sort of monsters she will slay. Should she trust the witch or burn her? It seemed every moment of the journey she had to make a life-and-death decision, but at least, her life sounded more exciting than mine.
On Friday, I went down to the deli to see if I could borrow some eggs from Celie for my first business launch.
"'Neither a borrower nor a lender be', Miss. Kononovich. Fifty cents per egg."
"What? You charge higher than the supermarket," I said.
"They're organic," she replied with a shrug. "You don't plan to giv
Because I didn't have a potty mouth like the previous proprietor, the deli was fairly quiet the next day. Celie's apron was replaced by a small petal pink one. Elise bought it for me so that I didn't look like a burrito in Celie's. Fifteen minutes after the opening, destruction had found its way into the grill and was on fire. The Lovebirds and the Pole Dancer helped me put the flames out. It took some squealing and struggling and cursing before the fire stopped.I returned to my eggs, waffles, and pancakes. Some people had to wait a little longer than usual, but I made it through breakfast just fine. I told everyone that Celie was on vacation in the Caribbean, and the Jogging Grandma promised to spread the word around the building to back me up. I'm not usually a lair, but my conscience just couldn't handle telling them that I was the cause of her being hospitalized.
Karmen got fired from the publishing company. The charges were laziness and inappropriate dressing. In her defense, she said that the boss tried to hit on her multiple times and was pissed that she threatened to report him. Karmen was not one to succumb to patriarchal pressure in the workplace and could have won the lawsuit if she wanted. Not many people knew that she held a law degree, but she said she hated the job anyway, so she quit.Instead of throwing herself into the want ads, she put on the apron and came down to the deli with me."It did bring back the old days working for Celie," she said. "But now I work for you.""This is Celie's business we're running, and we're here because we put her in the hospital," I said. "I'm not the boss here, and you're not
Ihad trouble getting to sleep that night, even though I was really drained from the day's activities. Last time I checked, Clarice Kingsley was positively dating my two best friends. Karmen and Elise were both warring against each other to impress her. If they had figured out that I quite casually slipped and got myself tangled up in the web of Clarice's charm and allure, the biggest mess in Celie's building could very easily be my life.My routine was becoming settled. At six A.M. I'd rush down to the deli, set the coffee machine, heating up the grill, and defrosting the meat. The Pole Dancer was usually just coming home from work, so I'd mix her a double Alka-Seltzer cocktail and send her upstairs. Then I'd lock up and out for my morning walk. By the time I came back and showered, I was ready to open for the day.
Clarice's kiss haunted me all night. I had the same questions orbited around my head. Did it mean she liked me? And since when?So if she, indeed, liked me, then what? What about Karmen and Elise? Was she going to add my name to her long list of girlfriends?The thought sent a rush of anger through me like a hot wind from the Sahara desert. She couldn't just go around kissing and dating people as she pleased. Who does she think she is?Clarice didn't love me. She just wanted to play me like those two dummies I called my best friends. I was the smartest one who didn't fall right into her trap.But what if she genuinely felt something for me? I had to think of the other complicated things that would blow up in my face i
Ihad only a week to gather up the cash before the end of the month, or I could guarantee that the three of us would be homeless for real. I was hoping for Elise's modeling money to save the day, but she came at four in the morning and was greeted by two very light sleepers. One was ready to start another round of bickering while the other just waited to prevent it.Elise was carrying a big box of the Orion SkyQuest Classic Telescope. It looked expensive. It looked like the April rent. I was too frazzled for tact."You have to return it!""I couldn't do that," said Elise. "This is the last model and the company won't make another one like this again. Besides, it's already a little broken.""Are you serious?" Karm
In the movies, the hero jumps off a burning boat before the bomb blows up in a couple minutes, and gets to swim to the shore in safety, but in reality, I feel like I jump off a burning boat and get to float in triumph for a few seconds before I see the alligator.That's life for you.Before we came to America, we thought we had our goals figured out. Everything was clear and straight. But look at us now, going down detours and dead-ends while trying to beat the odds.Clarice and Elise both took the day off work to help me. Although Karmen was unemployed, she still insisted that it was also her day off from her day offs. And with Ms. McHugh, we completely emptied the deli.The sooner we got the work done, the less chan
Iracked my brains all day yesterday trying to figure out how to pay off the rest of the deli refurbishing, plus our rent. Elise suggested she should just go to the ATM and withdraw from our parents' account, but I strongly protested the idea."We're not gonna depend on our parents' help, remember?" I said. "We have to make it on our own."Karmen and I realized we were going to have to do this a different way to make our entrance into the business world.I figured we could just create flyers and put them in every mailbox in our neighborhood. All we needed was some cool description and graphic art to get us started. I did some math, and it would cost us at least a couple hundred bucks to make enough flyers for the whole block alone. But we had no choice.
The former deli lay in readiness for tomorrow night's big opening. But today, I was getting ready for the fashion show with Clarice Kingsley. Both Karmen and Elise wanted to come along, but I insisted that the deli had to be looked after."Besides, Clarice could get only one VIP pass to the event," I said. "And we don't want to risk coming back to a pile of wreckage in our deli again."The police still hadn't found any lead to the crime yet, so we had to be on high alert. And if Karmen couldn't come along, Elise was not allowed to come either, even she was officially invited."It's only fair that you stay behind too," Karmen said. "You already had all the fun.""Remember, this is business," I said. "I'm not going ther
Of course, we didn't get the rent-free deal with Celie. We still had to pay her every month, but she did give us a 30% discount and offer me a job as a pastry chef in her deli.Karmen was promoted to a manager, who would have to manage three new staff in total. Even it was just a title, she seemed pretty pleased about it. I personally promoted Clarice to my own sales rep. She was very persuasive and good at introducing my dessert menu to the people. She could still do a side modeling if she wanted to. Elise also held a part-time position as my social media agent. She set up an Instagram profile dedicated to my dessert making. It became a hit among all the young baker-wannabes.Soon news reporters came to our place and asked to film me. My fame began to soar up, and then people started calling me 'Dessert Princess' on th
The restaurant critic wrote about us. The review was a rave. I had it framed on my wall, and I told everyone I wanted to be buried with it. It said the desserts were— "surprisingly delicious and creative," the decor- "charmingly underrated," the service—"satisfactory," and the entertainment —"unparalleled in its energy which brought back childhood joy and pure comic appeal. Anyone who doesn't pay a visit for the sweets and the lovely atmosphere is a shame."I was so pleased.Then Karmen and Elise went to the hospital to check on Celie and make sure she wouldn't see the review and freak out to death.I knew we were going to get a crowd the next few days based on this, but nothing could have prepared me for what showed up on Saturday. The Gourmet Week a
Business continued to bomb and by early next week, I was totally exhausted. There was no way I could continue to be a cook, dessert chef, and landlady for a going concern like a clogged pipe. Besides, Ms. McHugh could only cover for the morning shift. Now, the deli was making more than enough money to spring for another staff member, especially since I was working for nothing more than tips and glory.The Help Wanted sign spent about forty-five minutes in our window before I had to interview my first applicant. Guess who?"I love what you've done with the place," Clarice raved. "Do you know that the whole neighborhoods have been known to turn on one or two little renovations like this?""Do you have any restaurant experience?" I asked, figuring I would go through the m
"Tell me," I said to Clarice. "When did you start to notice I exist?""Hmmm, is that a tone of sarcasm I hear?" she said.I pursed my lips."Well, this was the girl who went out of her way to date everybody I knewexceptme!""Azra, I can't believe you're still mad about it even now we're in bed?" she said with a disapproving look. "Can we talk about it in the morning? We have other important things to do."She went to kiss my lips and collarbones again. We hadn't even turned on the light yet, and we were both in Clarice's apartment. I had to take a moment to soak it up. Actually, I had to take a lot of moments to soak it up. After we left the fash
The fight that never happened before happened. I would cut all the crazy parts and fast forward to us sitting at a table together during the after-party.The fashion show had ended in the weirdest way possible. I kind of expected to find security guards to come and escort us out of the place, but nothing happened.After being on the receiving end of Karmen's bewilderment and Elise's strange stoicism, Clarice insisted we all sit down and be civilized adults. Little did she know that being adults were our less favorite thing in the world.But I still thought it was a clever move since Karmen couldn't yell at me for stealing her girl in front of people, and Elise didn't want to be seen as the melodramatic one, so she remained calm and collected. Clarice was safe from bein
The former deli lay in readiness for tomorrow night's big opening. But today, I was getting ready for the fashion show with Clarice Kingsley. Both Karmen and Elise wanted to come along, but I insisted that the deli had to be looked after."Besides, Clarice could get only one VIP pass to the event," I said. "And we don't want to risk coming back to a pile of wreckage in our deli again."The police still hadn't found any lead to the crime yet, so we had to be on high alert. And if Karmen couldn't come along, Elise was not allowed to come either, even she was officially invited."It's only fair that you stay behind too," Karmen said. "You already had all the fun.""Remember, this is business," I said. "I'm not going ther
Iracked my brains all day yesterday trying to figure out how to pay off the rest of the deli refurbishing, plus our rent. Elise suggested she should just go to the ATM and withdraw from our parents' account, but I strongly protested the idea."We're not gonna depend on our parents' help, remember?" I said. "We have to make it on our own."Karmen and I realized we were going to have to do this a different way to make our entrance into the business world.I figured we could just create flyers and put them in every mailbox in our neighborhood. All we needed was some cool description and graphic art to get us started. I did some math, and it would cost us at least a couple hundred bucks to make enough flyers for the whole block alone. But we had no choice.
In the movies, the hero jumps off a burning boat before the bomb blows up in a couple minutes, and gets to swim to the shore in safety, but in reality, I feel like I jump off a burning boat and get to float in triumph for a few seconds before I see the alligator.That's life for you.Before we came to America, we thought we had our goals figured out. Everything was clear and straight. But look at us now, going down detours and dead-ends while trying to beat the odds.Clarice and Elise both took the day off work to help me. Although Karmen was unemployed, she still insisted that it was also her day off from her day offs. And with Ms. McHugh, we completely emptied the deli.The sooner we got the work done, the less chan
Ihad only a week to gather up the cash before the end of the month, or I could guarantee that the three of us would be homeless for real. I was hoping for Elise's modeling money to save the day, but she came at four in the morning and was greeted by two very light sleepers. One was ready to start another round of bickering while the other just waited to prevent it.Elise was carrying a big box of the Orion SkyQuest Classic Telescope. It looked expensive. It looked like the April rent. I was too frazzled for tact."You have to return it!""I couldn't do that," said Elise. "This is the last model and the company won't make another one like this again. Besides, it's already a little broken.""Are you serious?" Karm