Earth, New York,
Pork & fennel sausage rolls, chicken pot pies, shakshuka egg & feta danishes, dark chocolate & sour cherry cookies, blueberry & ricotta muffins, banana bread slices ; It goes on and on and on.
You name it, they have it.
Paul Allam was a proud baker, chef and founder of his multiple Bourke Street Bakery franchises.
First originating in Sydney, Australia, if you were to ask Paul ten years ago if he could foresee himself becoming a successful baker/entrepreneur with numerous franchises in the future, he would reply with a quick, "Hell no."
After many years of perseverance and hard work however, he'd now reached the point where he could sit comfortably and collect bank simply from lazing about his humble abode, without having to do any of the actual labour he once had to endure daily, whilst his head pastry chefs from among the franchises did their magic. But every once in a while, Paul himself would do the baking, for old times sake.
Success doesn't eradicate one's truest of passions.
He donned on his favourite purple polyester oven mitts and opened the oven, taking out a tray of sizzling hot hazelnut chocolate cookies and passing it to the chef pâtissier, who cautiously brought the tray out to the counter.
A veritable variety of tantalising desserts and pastries were displayed beautifully on the counter of their most lucrative franchise, the one in Midtown Manhattan, New York.
Paul remained at the back of the bakery—the kitchen—glancing at its surroundings and basking in the nostalgia, producing a smile of contentment. He wouldn't have had it any other way. He still couldn't believe that this was his life.
It was one of the franchises that produced a lot of memories, albeit some dramatic and questionable ones too.
Three years ago, he had caught two of his bakers, both male, getting in a physical altercation in the kitchen, throwing muffin batter at one another. Two years ago, the same two bakers were caught getting frisky during the bakery's closing hours. Last year, the bakery suffered a temporary closure, pending an investigation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ascribing reports from customers afflicted with food poisoning.
The sole perpetrator, a spiteful baker with a vendetta named Millian, being involved in the first two incidents, and suspected of the third, had since been fired.
But nothing would have prepared Paul for what he was about to encounter next.
Curious by a small purple glow which started near the door of the kitchen, Paul took a few steps closer to further scrutinise it.
From his experience watching countless number of movies of all genres, such mystical glows were usually an ominous sign. But to actually witness one was an intriguing occurrence, so he ignored his instincts and instead crept closer.
The glow suddenly expanded into a shape which looked like a gate with the glow then outlining it, but the sight caused him to fall to his buttocks, wishing that he should have trusted his instincts.
Swirls of airy purple tendrils started emanating from the glowing gate, then amalgamating into five figures. After the five of them solidified, the gate disappeared.
The menagerie of five looked around in a mix of excitement and confusion.
"You," Vorrus pointed to Paul, who was looking baffled and stunned while on the floor, "Is this the United Nations Headquarters?"
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Ancient Four - Initiation
Fantasy(New chapters uploaded weekly!) They live their lives following the lore and its rules bestowed from the Ancients, but with the written ominous signs coming to fruition, predicting an imminent intergalactic war between the magical worlds, the enchan...
