Jessica's Fate

Chapter 138

A few days after the shower, while I was baking up a storm in the kitchen to prepare for the farmer's market, I was able to have my meeting with Owen and Sang while I worked.

It's just how it was, I didn't have time to sit down and talk when I could be working with dough or batter and creating the way that I was going to make money. I dished up cinnamon rolls for both of them, gave Owen coffee – just how he liked it, and poured Sang a glass of milk so that she could take a picture of it and send it to North.

He was such an overbearing nutrition freak. I mean he sorta was already but while she's been pregnant? Over the top. And he was currently focused on making sure she was getting enough calcium.

"Thank you." She smiled, taking the picture before grabbing a fork and taking a bite of her pastry. "Oh, this is good. Did you change something? It's more gooey..."

I laughed. "I did, tweaked a bit of work with the filling by mixing the butter, sugar and cinnamon into a paste instead of brushing with melted butter and then sprinkling it with the rest. Cut a little time off the process and I can have big containers of the filling mixture available to use all the time. Like it would also go in a cinnamon swirl bread or in muffins as a surprise filling."

"Coffee cake..." Owen suggested.

"Yes, that too. See, now I have more things to work on." I smiled before returning to the pretzel rolls I needed for the market online specials. "So, employees. I need them."

"Yes, you do." He nodded.

"What about pairing up with the culinary institute for internships?" Sang asked. "A lot like what you ended up doing in Paris. Were there things that your chef there would have appreciated you knowing how to do ahead of time? Because it would seem that you could take on anyone interested in that program and at least give them a head start on what they'd need to know for Paris."

"I like that idea." I said. "I suppose that I could also maybe just hire from them too. There's always people not planning on doing their own thing who want to work at a bakery." I mused.

"I think that would do a lot of good for the community that you came from." Owen said. "We should talk and look at the budget first before you are offering salaries but we have some things to talk about for at least your first year of business."

"Yes, we do need to talk about this corporation that I'm apparently a part of." I raised an eyebrow at him and he actually blushed.

"We felt a need to be anonymous. You cannot fault Victor and I for that. What it also means is that we are perfectly comfortable supplementing salaries and operating costs. You need a salary of your own as well."

"You mean I can't just live in the apartment above my bakery and eat out of my business kitchen?" I teased. "Just kidding about that, I'll be at your table, mom's table or the diner because I can eat for free as long as I bring cake or cookies."

Sang laughed. "She does have a point about that, my love."

He frowned. "If that's what you wanted, then you could make it happen. But we have a five year plan for you to look at later. I think that you'll like the way it was designed. It ensures that you are able to make a profit, pay bills and your employees. We knew that you wouldn't want to hold off for too long before paying back the costs of your building and things that were provided for you while you were in Paris."

"No, you're right about that." I agreed. "I would love to start paying back immediately but is that a five year plan where I get to start paying in five years?"

"Absolutely."

"Then I'll review it later but agree to accept the terms now. I trust you and Victor aren't going to screw me over or call in a loan like a bank might." I said.