Bittersweet (English)

CHAPTER 7

One morning at Sweet Macys’, Kaye walked in the kitchen with a strange-looking Jenny lining up an army of desserts. Different desserts on each plate.

“Good…morning?” Kaye reluctantly entered the kitchen.

Flowers, leaves, and coffee beans? Kaye wondered.

Jenny appeared serious at the prep table with the desserts she just made yesterday. Jenny stared intently one by one, moving it here and there, like some critic.

“Anything wrong, Jen?” she asked in confusion.

“I’m going to take photos of these and make a website,” Jenny replied not sparing her a glance.

“Okay, you’re losing me. You can make what now?”

“I’m preparing a website for the shop,” Jenny groaned before repeating herself.

Kaye was stricken with more wonder. This was the first time she heard of it. Jenny’s face was covered with frustration earlier. But now, she seemed so thrilled about her idea that her eyes were sparkling.

“I’ll be putting our facade, staff, and our menu. I already took photos of Pops’ dishes yesterday. All that’s left are your desserts. Since dessert is our main selling point, I need to make them exceptionally presentable,” Jenny was speaking rapidly making it hard for Kaye to follow.

Kaye went stiff. She couldn’t find the words to say after watching Jenny’s overpowering mood. She never once thought of such measures. Not that she was against it, but getting her works published is kinda …..

“So, what do you say?” Jenny interrupted the flow of her thoughts.

“Well….I don’t know. It is not that I hated the idea particularly...,” She didn’t want to upset Jenny. She should mince her words properly. “But you know I’m not sure this will work.”

“You’re as pessimistic as ever.” Jenny shook her head. “We’ll never know that unless we try, right?”

Jenny squeezed her shoulders. Putting on some emphasis, eh. Still, Jenny has a point. But the pressure! Various things were running on her head.

Aren’t we having a hard time in the past months? 

What if this cost more expenses?

I don’t want Macy to haunt the life out of me because I messed up.

She could foresee many sleepless nights.

“What did Pops Stef say?” Kaye asked.

Stef was the chef who prepared lunches and snacks. He has been working in the cafe for the longest time.

“He loved the idea. He prepared these yesterday.” Jenny showed her the photos taken and casually added, “I also need your photo for the site.”

“Why?!” unconsciously, Kaye took a step back.

“Of course! Being the owner and the Pastry Chef.”

“I am not prepared for that,” she reluctantly smiled.

“We can do that tomorrow so please make yourself ready and presentable.”

Outside of Jenny’s sight, Kaye closed her eyes. Trying to meditate.

A site. To go online and be known.

Kaye bit her lip. She grabbed her hand tightly as soon as she saw it shaking. As much as she wanted to say no but on what grounds?

I don’t think that’ll happen. This familiar feeling was creeping into her again. Terrible that it kept coming back periodically. 

“Seriously?” Kaye murmured softly to herself.

“I heard you. Stop whining. We’re not kids anymore.” Jenny clicked her tongue. “I’m telling you, social media exposure could be beneficial especially to our small town.”

She sighed. Good thing Jenny misunderstood. She stood upright. Unconsciously, she hunched when she imagined things. Worst things.

Anyway, when Jenny set her mind, she would actually do it. Convince her persistently.

“Are you some self-proclaimed mayor here?” Kaye laughed trying to hide her anxiety.

“I can do much better than that old geezer,” Jenny snickered. Her attention was still fixated on the arrangement of the sweets.

Their town has had the same mayor for a long time. It was like no one really wanted to step up and make a change so they just took whoever was already there.  

Some things had been changing at least. The news got out that his vice mayor was young and ambitious. So, that explained the recent construction of some businesses by the harbor. 

Kaye brushed her hair back. Her mood brightened up somehow because of Jenny’s cheerfulness. Was she being anxious pointlessly?

“Fine. I approve,” Kaye sealed the deal. I would just negotiate about the photo.

“Great!” Jenny hopped with joy. “Thanks, Kaye. We’ll surely make this work.”

“Yes, yes.” Kaye resigned.

Kaye offered assistance with the photos. Aside from being presentable, it should be appetizing enough that would make the viewer come and get one right away. With this portrayal, the usual market could be from teens to young adults. A person with a sweet tooth.

She doesn’t have experience in this though. All she knew was that this requires careful presentation. People in town would usually say it was the best but how would you exactly make it look virtually tasty?

Hours later, two of their staff and Stef came into the shop. They updated everyone with the changes. First time in a long time they had a formal meeting. 

“Well, the populace is now active on social media. Even toddlers have phones already,” Stella, the dining staff, recognized the idea.

“It was great to place the foods by the windows. The sunlight gave it a natural warm look. You have a c***k on this Jenny,” Stef patted Jenny’s head.

“I know,” Jenny laughed confidently.

“We need to make it more appealing, too.” Keith, the other part-timer intercepted. “You know, like aside from the pictures we need to tell people it's good.”

“Right. But of course in our customer’s point of view.” Stella beamed before adding, “I know, we can gather comments from our customers.”

“Oh! How about our own slogan?” Keith suggested.

“Let’s do that! Oh, we're off to a good start,” Jenny enthusiastically giggled as she continued tapping on the keyboard. All suggestions were being taken into consideration. A team effort.

They discussed designs and features that have to be included. Stef and Kaye prepared descriptions on the menu items while Keith and Stella created the cozy ambiance.

“This part here should be the shop’s name.” Jenny drew a draft for the website. “Here should be a blow-up of our slogan. Let’s have the Home page. Menu. Gallery…” She went on listing things to be included.

“How about for the colors on the site? This builder has a wide selection,” Keith questioned as he kept on scrolling on the color schemes.

“Hmmm. Let’ see. I was thinking of the pastel colors since it will look vibrant and inviting.” Jenny mumbled. She was scratching her forehead as she checked the other colors. “Well, the coffee tone with different shades of brown looks so cafe-ish. It's somehow soothing and comforting. So I’m considering that, too. What do you guys think?”

“I guess I can agree with the shades of brown since we are a cafe after all. But pastel colors bring out a lively environment.” Stella answered looking at the choices. She examined the colors then looked around the cafe. “Other colors look gaudy. Not suitable for our place.”

They paused for a moment to contemplate. The color was essential since it could either make or break their image.

“Maybe it depends on how we view the cafe?” Stef said after the long silence. Then he added seeing some baffled faces. “You know, like how we want people to see in our cafe.”

“I get what you mean, Pops.” Jenny snapped her fingers then turned to Keith. “What was your first impression coming here? Not as an employee.”

Keith looked up for a while as if pondering on what to say. Then, he looked back to Jenny. “I was thinking of the exterior before I came in. It looked alive seeing the vines and flowers outside.”

They giggled hearing Keith’s answer. He was still a kid after all.

“For me, I consider this my second home and family,” Stef said with a gentle smile on his face.

Everybody was moved by this declaration. He was right. They were a family. They may not be blood-related but definitely considered each other a family.

“I think the pastel colors could work. Since we wanted the viewers to perceive the cafe as something comforting and lively. I like the coffee tone but some people will find it intimidating. They’ll probably think we're too sophisticated having hefty prices,” Kaye proposed. From where she worked before, people often had doubts about going in the shop since they were intimidated by its reputation.  

Jenny smiled from ear to ear after hearing Kaye. She went deep into the planning. She just didn’t need her approval. She wanted Kaye’s undivided attention to the matter. And she was glad to hear that she thought it all through.

They made some rearrangements to the furniture. Even recycle few decorations. They also wanted to add some books to the shelves by the corner. And perhaps some fresh flowers inside would brighten the mood, too.

“You know what could be better? A journalist or vlogger review. Wouldn’t that be convincing?” Stella pooped the idea while they prepared to open up.

“Hmm, well I don’t know any journalists or vloggers,” Jenny slumped her shoulders. “For now we have the menu. We just need to finish the facade and interior. I’ll take pictures afterward.”

Neither did anyone in that room. However, the idea wasn’t dismissed.

The idea of having a media feature was far-fetched. They would just make do of whatever was already there. Maybe later on as they improve, they could attract such people.