As soon as Rudy stepped foot inside the store after opening the glass door, he was hit by the delicious fragrance of bread and creams.
He walked to the counter and asked, “Excuse me, would you happen to have a five-layer chocolate cake?”
The man at the counter gave a weird look to Rudy and answered, “No one happens to have a five-layer chocolate cake lying around.”
“Yeah… obviously…” Rudy sighed.
‘What should I do now? Get a small cake?’
“Do you have any other type of chocolate cake?”
“Sadly, no.”
“How long would it take if I order one right now?”
“We are always full on orders, and the waiting list is long. If you order now, the earliest you will get it is in two weeks,” the employee calmly responded.
‘Even their service is awesome. He is talking to me politely and in a friendly way. No wonder it stayed famous and a luxurious company even in the future.’
“Err… is there a way I can skip the waiting by paying more money?” Rudy asked awkwardly.
“No,” the man responded immediately. “And even if you could, there is no way we can make a five-layer cake by today.”
“Can I talk to your manager?” Rudy asked politely. “And your bakers, too, please.”.
“Uhm… sure. But they will tell you the same thing I just said.”
The man left the counter and returned with a man in a suit.
“Excuse me, I am the manager of this cafe? You were asking for me?”
“Yes. I need your help.”
“Sure, go ahead. Would you like to give a mega order from a function or something?”
“Oh no. Well…” Rudy glanced around, seemingly looking for the baker. “I need a five-layer chocolate cake as soon as possible, so if you let me talk to your baker, it would be a great help.”
A few seconds later, the baker arrived while taking off his clothes.
“Finally done for today,” he said excitedly, seemingly happy that the day was over.
“William, this man wants to ask you something,” the manager prompted and left the scene while doing something on his phone.
William turned to Rudy and asked, “Yes.”
“I need a five-layer cake as soon as possible.”
“Ouh! That’s tough.” Wiliam raised his brow curiously and asked, “Is there any reason why you want a cake so badly? A function, maybe?”
“Yes, actually. It’s me and my sister’s birthday today. And tomorrow is my to-be wife’s birthday and also our wedding day.”
“That’s… seems to be a very important reason. But even if I start making it now without any preparation, it would take me a day. There are a lot of procedures to make the best cake without sacrificing the taste and the quality.”
“Well, I know a few tricks to speed things up, so if you don’t mind helping me make a cake…” Rudy shrugged without completing his sentence.
“Let’s wait for the manager’s permission, shall we?”
A minute later, the manager arrived and said, “I just talked to our few other franchises in this city, even the one in the next city and none of them have a cake available. There is a two-layer cake available in the next city because the person who ordered it canceled the order at the last minute without asking for a refund.”
‘Going so far to help a customer? I am really impressed.’
Willian took the manager to the side and discussed something with him while the manager glanced at Rudy repeatedly.
“Do you know how to make a cake?”
“No. But I can speed things up.”
“Well, then, what are you waiting for? Wash your hands, wear gloves and come into the kitchen.”
After doing everything, Rudy entered the kitchen and saw a teenager wearing a high school uniform working.
“….” Rudy glanced at William to ask him what a high schooler was doing in the kitchen, but he stopped himself as it was none of his concern.
Willian tapped on the boy’s shoulder and said, “Joe, you are here again?”
“William… I thought you were done for the day, so I came here to practice.”
“I was done, but… not anymore. Go back to your father’s office.”
“Okay…”
“…” Rudy narrowed his gaze a little and wondered, ‘It’s not the Joe I think he is, right? In this timeline, he should be in high school, but what are the chances that he is the same Joe? I don’t know the manager’s full name, so I can’t confirm it. But I don’t see that many resemblances, but he is going through puberty now and will probably change a lot in the next ten years or so.’
“Shall we start?” William asked.
“Ah, yes.”
Meanwhile, the girls were waiting for Rudy outside the cafe.
“Where is daddy? Lilim asked Elena.
“He should come soon.”
Five minutes later, Rudy came with a small bag in his hand and a wide smile on his face.
“What happened?” Elena asked curiously. While looking at the bag in his hand. “Couldn’t get one?”
“I did. We saved a lot of time by making a small palm-sized five-layer cake— although they didn’t let me see their recipe. I will enlarge it after we get home, and voila.”
“….”
“Daddy~ I want to eat ice cream!”
“Yeah, sure. We will get some ice cream and buy some food from a restaurant.”
?r???eb??vel.c??
“Shouldn’t you teleport this bag too?” Elena asked while pointing her gaze at the bag in Rudy’s hand.
“Well, this bag contains a surprise for Rebecca, and if she ends up looking inside…”
“Yeah…”
“I don’t think she will be,” Elena reassured Rudy with a smile on her face. “Thirty minutes isn’t that long. And frankly speaking, we didn’t waste any time, did we?”
Rudy gave Elena a judging look and said, “I wouldn’t call what we did in the dressing room a waste of time, so yeah… you are right.”
He chuckled.
“Let’s get the food and leave before Rebecca starts pouting.”
===
Thanks, @Velden91, for the gift!
