Indebted Love

Jasmine 

"Hello Hello Hello Teawan City , Cottagecore Pie is open! start your morning with our coffee! Yes ; along with ice creams now we have delicious coffee for your mornings that will enrich your day , so come on" I grin at william after I speak in the loudspeaker and my bubbly voice echoes outside of our ice cream palour and my smile widens as I see a man passing by turning to look at my voice .

At least one person noticed ; that is a good sign.

"Well , I hope our idea of morning coffee with snacks works" William says adjusting newspaper on book shelf "not until you stop putting boring politics newspapers on the top of spicy romance novels" I say and nod and he chuckles.

He shakes his head and takes the news paper bundle from the shelf and walks towards me , his kind eyes smiling at me and I grin at him , bending a little to grab my coffee whisk and mug as he puts the bundle on the coffee table "decoration is on your account , daughter ! Keep it wherever you think people will look at it" 

He says with hope dimming eyes and my smile threatens to fall.

Oh no ! He can't give up! 

I and my friend , professor and father's best friend,  we both have put all our savings for our this little start of ice cream parlour shop and it's only been two weeks since we opened it , it'd take time but we will have whole city talking about our delicious hand made ice creams and special coffee with spicy books to grab , at least that is what I hope for.

He looks outside at the crowd rushing and sighs and I put the whisk and mug on table and grab his aging and wrinkled large hands in my smaller ones "hope is the most beautiful thing in the whole world, if not today then someday , if not 50 customers then 5 , our Cottagecore Pie will grow" I say to him and nod with a smile . He looks me in the eyes and something unreadable crosses his face and his eyes saddens more.

Oh no.

What wrong did I say? Dad is probably right to say that I never learnt when to speak and how !

I open my mouth to say something more to cheer him up but he speaks "I am not worried about spending all my savings in this shop , neither for only getting 9 customers in two weeks , as long as you and cassie - my two baby girls are happy , I'm fine" 

Then what is it?

My eyebrows raises and then lips parts as I try to remember his medical reports "did the doctor-"

"It hurts to see a rare selfless good girl like you suffering , Richard will realize his mistake but it'd be too late till then" 

He says and I swallow deeply and bite my lip as the memory of dad getting angry at me for making him slightly burnt omelet flashes through my memory .

Two weeks ago , at lunch, I was making him omelet and on the edge , it somehow got burnt and I missed to see it , if I'd have seen then I would have kept the burnt omelet for myself and would've served him another but it was mumma's death anniversary,  that was the day I lost my mother to cancer ten years ago , I could barely focus on anything , I could barely eat or talk or so much as breathe , I was so lost in my grief that I missed seeing the slight burn in his otherwise perfect omelet and I was startled when he threw the plate with omelet and it crashed against the wall and he started yelling , I could barely speak through my tears of knowing he won't hug or console me at mumma's death anniversary like some part of me, hoped ,  not like he remembered the day and then as he was yelling at me , saying words no father should say to his daughter and I broke down and started whimpering thinking of mumma , If she was alive then she'd never have let dad treat me so bad , he said he doesn't want an absent mind crying mess in home and dragged me out of the house and then he threw me out . Ever since mumma died , he despises me with every morsel of his because by some dirty game of fate , she got cancer the same year that I was born. Unlike every other time , that day I could not fight or beg him to calm down , I let it happen and one moment I was making omelet in kitchen - another, I was pushed and thrown out in our garden .

And then after hours of silent crying in garden, I stood up and walked to my one and only friend Cassie , William's daughter and she was kind enough to hug me and force me to stay with her in her house when I said I didn't want to be a burden on her , not like I had money for hotel or anything .

The only reprieve was this shop that I and William were planning from two months , so I started giving my every second to this shop from that day.

I stop tears from threatening my eyes at the memory flash back as horns blows outside in the busy streets.

I can't cry.

I . Can . Not .

William has critical medical conditions and I can't cry in front of him , I can't stress him !

"Everything is okay at the end and if it ain't then it ain't the end , I don't know what will happen but I hope someday I will be dad's little pie again , every thing will be fine once again" I say and feel my vision blurring with tears as William squeezes my hand.

I don't know if I'm optimistic or deluded...

"You are forever my daughter though , remember?" He says and I nod and smile as he pats my head , nodding and then puts on his croaky specs and walks towards the registers .

For a brief second , the flash of dad dragging me out as I hiccuped and sobbed comes in my thoughts and I squeeze my eyes.

No ! 

Don't think about him now! 

Don't! 

It's a bright morning and you need to be happy! 

I huff and put on a smile before I look at william staring at registers with tensed eyes and sigh knowing now he will calculate how much money we spent and how much profit we earned and in this much time and if it means profit or loss .

I raise eyebrows at my whisk and mug and pick up the newspapers .

We practically just yesterday bought the newspapers shelf for newspapers outside our shop ! 

I purse my lips comically at my old friend which he doesn't sees and walk out to decorate the shelf that has no newspapers on it yet! 

It's 9 in the morning ! 

And William wonders why we have no customers! Who wants to visit a shop this unorganized? 

I roll my eyes with a smile and look at the news papers , my eyebrows scrunches as I see all newspapers of one edition .

I said that 40 newspapers of at least four editions should be here , 10 of each , on the outside shelf for customers to choose from and what Cassie ordered is 40 newspapers of 1 edition ! 

This girl! 

Brilliant!

I look at william and pout and he is already looking at me . He chuckles and mouths "not my mistake"

He already knew ? Didn't he?

I shake my head and start putting the papers on the shelf as the soft music from our radio crashes with the horns of busy streets. 

As I put the last paper on shelf , I make a mental note to order flowers for decoration of newspaper shelf.

"I am leaving , my students must have been waiting , cassie will come in an hour after finishing her class , you know to call me immediately if anything happens? And you don't have classes today? Right?"

I grin at him and touch his chin "yes my old friend! And no I don't have classes" 

I say and he huffs a laughter "do I even look like a professor?" He says making a comical face and I laugh and rush to adjust his tie "yes professor!" I say and he smiles , raising his eyebrows at organized newspapers "from tomorrow we will have 4 editions of news papers" he adds with a chuckle and i pout as he walks out and gets in his car with a nod at me and I nod back before I turn around and blow air on the hanging board saying 'we are open' before I walk in and stop and take a look at my ice cream parlour shop .

Two book shelves kept on opposite sides , just beside large Italian windows that has pink curtains , tables with linen table clothes with menu cards and stools kept in the center and our working countertop stall at one side that has ice cream fridge behind and another glass counter attached to stall, displaying our bakery and cookies to be served with coffee .

It has been two weeks and no matter how much customer we've had yet , our efforts could be seen in the decoration and arrangements of this place .

This place smells like new start with hopes.

A ray of morning sun falls on me through the upper lane of window and I smile and raise my eyebrows at myself.

I walk in and pick a butter chocolate that is kept in check out tray for customers to grab on (for free)  , and till now , It's just us munching on our free give out!  I giggle at myself and look out to see if someone saw me giggling on my own and thought if I'm mad , but no one is there .

Good for me!

The chocolate melts in my mouth and I nod at myself and walk behind counter.

My day at my shop begins now

Two weeks later

Zander

My footfalls echoes in the hallways as I stride through the halls , puffing out my cigarette as I enter dad's room.

"Come! son , I was waiting for you" He says, looking up at me and then he closes his file and I nod as I enter and drag a chair to sit in ,looking at the clock , it's been four hours since I have been at dad's place and I'd leave in an hour after I've heard what dad has to say.

"Any revert from Alrick ?" I ask and cock my eyebrows because why else dad would call me in mid night , not like we sleep at night but still , it has to be something important . Important like our biggest enemy and rival ! Alrick !

"This is 19 years old , Jasmine Brandt , Richard Brandt's daughter and she could become yours if you like"

I cough and look up at him and narrow my eyes.

Well!?

I will need more than that!

"Mine?" I include.