The Spice of Life

Too Many Cooks

Too Many Cooks

Brynn yawned widely and felt her jaw pop from the force of it. Tears came into her eyes and the force of it made her a little dizzy. She finished it off with a sharp shake of her head to help clear her mind.

She supposed she should have seen it coming, anyone else would have. The harsh truth of it was that working full time at The Spice of Life and Thyme & Sage was quickly wearing down on her.

Not that she would ever admit it to anyone else. She stretched and felt her tired muscles protest at the movement.

She was sitting at the front counter of the empty Spice of Life Bakery. The bakery closed at two, which was great because Thyme & Sage opened at noon. She got off at the bakery and rushed right over to Thyme & Sage where the hostess, a nice girl by the name of Kayla, had opening and managing their light lunch rush well in hand. Unfortunately, Thyme & Sage closed at one in the morning which was just enough time for Brynn to stagger back to Grace's and collapse, catatonic, onto her bed before she had to wake up to help open the bakery at three.

She grabbed quick bites to eat on the job and she took quick naps when she could but the full schedule was quickly exhausting her. She might have too much pride to admit it to anyone but she couldn't deny herself the truth. She couldn't keep up with both jobs and she couldn't just up and quit one of them.

If it were that simple, she would just pick Thyme & Sage over The Spice of Life. The restaurant didn't pay as well being a new business and everything but Brynn didn't even like working at the bakery. If it were a choice, it would be easy.

But it was not. The deal she made with her evil dictator of a mother was that she would work at The Spice of Life. Probably for the rest of her life, she thought with a frown. She hadn't told her mother about Thyme & Sage, she had requested that Grace not either. Her cousin didn't understand why she didn't want her mom to know but she agreed when Brynn pressed the issue.

Sometimes Brynn wasn't even sure why she didn't want her mother to know. It was hard to explain. Thyme & Sage was hers. Alright, yes, it was Leo's as well but at least half of it was hers. She didn't want her mother to know about it. Brynn still couldn't understand how a mother who claimed to love her daughter would cut her off from everything she loved. So, in retaliation, Brynn would no longer let her mother know about what was happening with her.

The good or the bad, it didn't matter. Jess Porter was not going to be part of Brynn's life anymore, Brynn was determined of that.

That meant that she couldn't just stop working The Spice of Life. Her mom didn't know about Thyme & Sage, she wouldn't understand if Brynn just quit her job. She would consider that breaking their deal and Brynn had no doubt her mother would enact her revenge in some other petty, underhanded way.

So, if just to spite her mother, she was going to stay right where she was and be fantastic at both jobs even if that meant sacrificing sleep and nutrition.

The cheery bell over the door rang signaling a customer coming in. Brynn's eyes, that she didn't even realize had drifted shut, shot back open. It took a few seconds for them to focus on Lance.

“Morning, Brynn.” he greeted, looking around hopefully.

“She's out getting sugar.” Brynn told him before he could ask. “We ran out and the next batch isn't due to be delivered until the day after tomorrow. If she had let me look over her ordering and inventory like I asked, we wouldn't have this problem. She should be back soon if you want to stay and drool over her a little bit though.”

Lance smiled at the friendly jab, then got a good look at her and frowned. “Wow, you look tired.”

“Thanks.” she smiled sarcastically. Being this tired was leaving her in a very sour mood.