HoP: Chapter 23

HOUSE OF PANCAKES: WILLOW CREEK

Chapter 23

A new chapter for Bob and Eliza Pancakes was about to begin. Many years ago their marriage had drifted apart. Neither of the two knew what to do about it. But one morning, Eliza took a step forward to figuring out what to do. Slowly there was change. This change was about to take them on an adventure together on a road they have never traveled.

It was early on Sunday morning. So early that the sun hadn’t risen yet. Bob and Eliza were getting dressed in separate rooms. Today was their big day. The grand opening of their restaurant, Bob’s Breakfast.

“Are you almost ready?” Eliza shouted from her room across to Bob’s.

“Do I really need to wear a tie?” Bob shouted back.

“We have to expect the unexpected.” Eliza said. “We don’t know who’s going to show up for it’s debut.”

“That’s what I am afraid of.” Bob replied.

After Eliza finished getting dressed, she approached Bob and helped him with his tie.

“You look just as handsome as the first day I met you in highschool. You in your little boys uniform jacket. Not as chubby as you are now and you didn’t have this cute little beard and mustache.”

Eliza turned Bob around and gave him a peck on the cheek.

“Now let’s go. I want us to get there plenty early.”

Luckily they didn’t have to go far. Just a walk across the street. Their plan was to have the restaurant open from seven o’clock in the morning to four o’clock in the evening. Their menu consisted of breakfast food items made up of Bob himself and the help of their new chef, Bob Filet.

Eliza only advertised locally with flyers as the two had to save up for food costs as well as costs to pay their three employees. For which were told to come right before opening. Bob would start the preparation ahead of time before their master chef arrived. Because they had a tight budget they wanted to make sure to only have to pay their new hires when needed.

Bob and Eliza stared at each other outside the restaurant.

“I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I am a nervous wreck.” Eliza quietly said.

“You’re a nervous wreck?” Bob asked. “Look at me. I’m already sweating and the weather isn’t even hot. I work with a group of younglings under me. I should be ready for this. But I already want to go hide.”

Even though he got a small chuckle out of Eliza, he was being truthful. Bob hated crowds. Him being teased all through his childhood about his last name turned him into a loner. The only person who he really wanted to be around was his wife. And just his wife.

Bob entered the kitchen and started preparing the pancake mix and other recipes that would need to be ready ahead of time. Bob didn’t like to use store bought boxed items. The only spots he would go to in the grocery store was the fresh produce section. And now that he had grown his own garden at home, he would use many of those as well.

Bob learned to cook when he was a child watching his own parents. They couldn’t afford to send him to culinary school when he got older, so he learned to cook special dishes on his own by reading cookbooks and watching the food network on t.v.

Eliza did a quick cleaning of the tables and made sure everything looked nice. She was a perfectionist afterall.

She also knew she had what it takes to run a business. Although she was nervous because this was her first ever attempt and running a business, she was confident enough she would succeed alongside Bob.

Soon, their three staff members arrived.

Eliza gave Milan his notepad for taking orders. She also wrote him a little note in the front which he noticed. It read:

Good morning, Milan.

Today is going to be a great day. Keep your head up and I know you’ll do well. We’re all in this together on our big grand opening day. I’ll be assisting you as needed, but the floor will be all yours. Let me know when if you need help.

Eliza

Chef Filet immediately headed to his kitchen station after greeting Bob and Eliza. He is used to working in high end restaurants and wanted to take a step back for some time from that scenery. He still wanted to cook and when he saw the ad for a first time restaurant, he thought this was the perfect job to keep his cooking skills going and not working as hard. But he did want the Pancakes to succeed in their restaurant to grow.

Eliza had already gone over the POS (Point Of Sales) system with Florence in the days prior to today’s opening. Florence wanted to familiarize herself with it some more before customers started rolling in.

When seven a.m. rolled around, Eliza unlocked the doors. She grabbed Bob’s hand and squeezed it. They both anxiously waited for their first customer to arrive.

“This is it!” Bob exclaimed as he turned his head to face her.