Dream Bakery - Completed April 7, 2018

Chapter Twelve: Profitable Endeavors


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Unable to sleep, Masami woke early even though she didn't have to work that day, and decided to make breakfast at the stove in The Cakery rather than in the apartment. There was just something about being surrounded by all the delicious smells of a bakery while cooking that made a difference, at least to her.
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Masami wasn't the only one getting an early start to her day.
Both Kengo and Kimi woke too hungry to go back to bed and grabbed an early breakfast, Kimi choosing to watch TV while she ate.
Restless and too busy thinking to settle into sleep, Molly decided to try working off some of her energy by dancing before goinhttps://i.imgur.com/Z2wA42y.png?1g back to bed.
Kengo spotted Ricky setting the table while holdng a plate of French Toast, and came over to speak with him. "Nice job of multitasking," he said, impressed.
Ricky grinned. "Thanks. Just wanted to see if I could."
"Lucky you didn't drop anything or get syrup on the settings," Kengo observed.
"Yeah, I know." Ricky turned his attention to his breakfast while admiring his work.
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Kimi noticed the fridge was broken and decided to see if she could figure out what was wrong and fix it.
"Oh, Kimi, you don't have to do that. I was going to just as soon as I finished eating," Masami said, noticing her out of th ecorner of her eye.
"It's all right, Mama, I've got it. I wanted to try anyway," Kimi called back, continuing to work.
"In that case, thank you. Let me, Mom or Kengo know if oyu run into trouble."
"I will, don't worry." As it happened, Kimi successfully compleated the repairs on her own, which left her feeling confident and proud of herself.
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Ruby took her breakfast outside, wanting to be alone. She just needed her space, though she was actually starting to miss being with her family all the time. Growing up was so confusing, sometimes she just didn't understand why she felt the way she did, espeially when those feelings were conflicting or constantly changing. If she and Kimi hadn't already made plans to open the bakery by themselves that morning, Ruby would go for a jog to clear her mind. That always helped, and felt good too.
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Ruby and Kimi opened the Bakery together, while the rest of the family napped to recover form their very early morning. The two teens were the most rested and knew how important it was for The Cakery to be open early enough for more customers to arirve. Especially since it wold be closed again for the wedding in a few days.
Wanting to test her baking skills, Ruby whipped up a batch of brownies, leaving Kimi to handle what little restocking was left to do.
"Is this right?" Kimi called across to her older sister, showing her the screen.
"Yeah, you're fine," Ruby answered, looking over.
"Okay, thanks."
"Welcome."
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By the time Molly came down, Kimi was trying her hand at the cupcake factory, making plain muffins.
"Good morning, Diya," Molly said to their employee. "I meant to tell you your work has been excellent lately."
"Thank you," Diya answered, pleased. "What do you need me to do today?"
Molly looked around. The bakery was clean and fully stocked. They only had one customer so far, who wa sstill rbowsing. "You can answer customer qestions today," she decided.
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Eager to try out her retail skills, Kimi greeted the next customer. She head listened to her parents and older siblings often enough that she thought she knew what to do. Fortunately for her, her customer was a regular, and led the process a little bit by asking questions.
Kimi was glad she was able to answer all of them, gaining confidence as she went through the process, hoping for a successful sale.
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Upstairs, Masami, thinking the bakery needed to increase its offerings with something new, made a fruitcake from a recipe in her gourmet cookbook. It gave her the perfect excuse to practice her gourmet cooking skills at the same time. She hoped it came out well and actually sold.
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With five family members working, the customers didn't have to wait long to get help even though there was quite a crowd, as usual. It wasn't long before sales were being made.
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Molly made the first sale of the day, which was not only their biggest that day, but a record sale. She was pleased, because it had seemed that Billie Jung might not buy anything at all at one point. The sudden turn around added up to half the day's profits, and Molly decided selling something other than baked goods might be a good idea after all. Putting the old sign up for sale had been a test, and a successful one, as it turned out. Now the family needed to get together and decide what else to put up for sale. Everything at once? Only certain things in each room? One room's worth at a time, like a rotating special sale? Oh the possibilities!
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After the last sale of the day, in which Ruby sold a plateful of doughnuts to Austen Wood, Ruby and Kimi took charge of restocking while their parents went upstairs to nap and Kengo made a dash to the bathroom, not having had a chance to go earlier.
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Restocking done, the girls went upstairs. Kimi was hungry and grabbed a plate of garlic noodles.
"Don't forget, we're going to the Romance Festival later," Ruby said as she walked past.
"I won't. Thanks again for letting Ricky and I tag along," Kimi answered.
"It's no big deal." Ruby yawned, curling up on the couch for a nap.