Chapter 60: Can't Not
"I went to see her to hear what she had to say about all this," Liam said.
"And what did she have to say?" his father asked.
"She didn't know about it until recently, just like me. And from what I can tell, she's not impressed by the matter."
"Well, there's time. Marriages always require work. You'll learn to love each other with a few years of companionship."
Liam did not even respond to that. He knew that getting angry would do him no good.
"Besides," his father continued with a cold smirk, "you did not seem to have any objections until recently."
"That's because I didn't think you were serious."
"Are you sure it's not because of your little waitress friend?" His father's eyes narrowed. "Keep in mind, nothing can get in the way of this merger."
…
The following day, Jade arrived at work early at around 9:30. As soon as she walked through the door, she was greeted by Harriet and the 'angel-faced' Bernie.
"Morning both."
"You're in early today, Jade."
"Yes, I have a few things to set up for tomorrow." Jade looked at Harriet and asked, "Would you be alright to top up Patrick's training tomorrow? You know, just to make sure he's got the basics down."
"Yes, that's no problem," Harriet replied with a smile and a tear in her eye.
"Also," Jade continued, "make sure you tell Alan about the party tomorrow."
"Is it okay if he comes?"
"Of course, this party is to celebrate your marriage and pregnancy. Wouldn't it be a bit unfair if the person responsible for half of both those affairs wasn't invited?"
The three laughed before getting back to work.
In the kitchen, Bernie was completing food orders and working on his cake sets. So far, he had decided on English breakfast tea with Victoria sponge cake, Longjing tea—a kind of nutty green tea—with vanilla cheesecake, and chocolate cake with black tea.
Naturally, the customer would be able to swap the drink for one of the same cost if they wished, but those were his recommended pairings after several hours of testing.
Out front, Harriet was busy working. As it was a Thursday, the store was busier than earlier in the week. People who only worked three-day weeks would be off, and many workers who did not work Fridays would have their 'Fat Friday' on a Thursday.
So, although it was nowhere near as busy as Fridays and weekends, the store was busy enough that Harriet did not need to go looking for things to do.
In the office, Jade was looking at the books again. Her bookkeeping tasks yesterday and made her realise how precarious the cafe's situation was. While there was a steady stream of customers, that was likely only due to their low prices in an upscale district—if they raised their costs, many customers would probably move elsewhere.
'We either need to increase sales—either by raising prices or bringing in more customers—or find another revenue stream…'
Jade shook her head and placed the book back in the draw, replacing it with a pot of paint.
'Now's not the time for that—it'll have to wait until after Patrick's settled in.'
She got out a large strip of paper and laid it out on the floor.
'I know I said that she wouldn't want one, but I can't not make her a banner.'
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