Totally Bubbly- Cheesecake's New Stories: The Second Series

Cheesecake's New Stories #2: The Three Others Part Two

Cherry P.O.V.

“I still think we should film a commercial for the company,” argued Sesame, our chief marketing officer. “If we do it right-hire a good director and actors-we can gain a lot of people’s interest.”

Flower, one of our newest employees on the marketing staff, interjected. “What about making something new? Something that everyone will want to buy? Something that will be talked about for a year? Something that-”

“Something that will flush our money down the toilet?” Sesame interrupted. “Are you serious?”

“He’s right, Miss Pots.” This time it was my father who stood up to speak. “That’s already been done. We’ve tried, and sometimes it has worked, and, other times, it has failed.”

“Yeah,” laughed Marble, our CFO, “like those Butter Biscuits!”

Another employee joined in. “Oh, yeah! And those Carmel Candy Cookies!”

“And the Creamy Dreamy-”

My dad cleared his throat, “Anyway! The point is, we need to find a better way to make Desserts’ Dessert Company more popular. We can’t just waste money on things that might not be beneficial.”

Flower slouched in her chair, turned red, and looked embarrassed for ever suggesting the idea. Feeling bad for her, I smiled and said, “But good idea!”

“Cherry,” my dad groaned, “you don’t encourage a bad idea. Especially if you haven’t thought of any ideas yourself.”

“Hey!” I exclaimed. “I’ve thought of some things! I just haven’t shared them because you’ll think it’s stupid!”

“Oh, stop acting like a child. Let’s hear your ‘ideas.’”

It was silent for a moment. Everyone was watching me, and I already felt humiliated. How long have I been here? I thought. It felt like hours, but it was probably just forty five minutes or something like that. Sure, I’ve been listening to the meeting...sort of...but mostly I’ve been drifting off, thinking about how jealous I am that CherryPie gets to see Cheesecake, and I don’t. 

Cheesecake...No, stop! Focus! Everyone’s staring, you idiot!

I cleared my throat, took a deep breath, and said, “Well, I’ve been thinking, your guys’ ideas are headed in the wrong direction. You’re all thinking, ‘What can we do or advertise to make our products more popular?’ When really, the question you should be asking is, ‘What can we give our customers to make our company more popular?’ We need to have a new plan. Start fundraisers for schools, donate to the less fortunate, and even give out free samples. The more giving, the more people will spread the word. We’ll become a well-known and loved company, and it costs less than making a commercial or paying for advertising since reporters and journalists will put our name in things from newspapers to news channels.”

My dad was quiet for a moment, staring at me intensely, and I heaved a huge sigh. He gave me the don’t-embarrass-me-in-front-of-my-employees stare, the one he gave me at every meeting. He just can’t consider anything I say, can he? Why can’t he just respect me? This is why I left. Why does he want me here if he’s not even going to listen to what I have to say?

“Cherry,” he muttered.

I rolled my eyes. “Here it goes...”

“We are not the type of company who supports fundraisers.”

“But we could be,” I replied, hearing my own annoyance.

“Son, we are not going to change the business’s prospective. Your ideas should be a little more professional.”