TWENTY-THREE
Hartley
“Does this sound alright?”I ask Eli as he lounges next to me on my couch.
He came over for a late dinner after work and has been helping me set up all of my social media. The bakery officially has a Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter account. I had hired someone to make me a website and it was finished this afternoon. I already showed that to Eli and he loved it.
The sweet pastel yellow and pink logo looks exactly like how Grams and I had imagined it and seeing it now still gives me a thrill.
It’s real now.
I know that the bakery is done, but seeing the logo and having people already like and follow it on social media changes it. I’m terrible at Facebook and all of that, so I’ll have to set reminders to check and update all of it. Eli said it will be easy. Just snap some pictures of whatever I’m making and post it. People will flock to the store then.
The menu boards came this afternoon and Eli helped me install them on the back wall behind the counter before we came up here to eat. I’ll have to write all of the items and prices on it tomorrow. The bakery name was stenciled on the door this afternoon and the sign should be installed tomorrow.
Eli had laughed when he saw what name I had picked.
Crumbs.
I told him that I had him to thank for it since it was him constantly telling me that there was going to be nothing left but crumbs. That had been stuck in my head for weeks and every single time that I tried to brainstorm name ideas, that was what I heard. He had joked that he would just take a small consulting fee, made payable in baked goods.
“I like it. It’s friendly, welcoming,” Eli says as he passes my laptop back to me.
I give the flyer I just got done making another once-over with a critical eye, scanning for spelling mistakes.
“Does it look, I don’t know, a little plain to you? Boring?”
“Sweets, it’s going to be printed out on neon pink paper. Trust me, no one will be missing it.”
“Alright. I’m printing it,” I tell him as my finger hovers over the button.
“Sweets,” Eli groans, reaching over and hitting the button for me.
“Ugh, I feel like I’m second-guessing everything. I’m a mess,” I groan as I sag back against the couch cushions.
“It’s just nerves. Next week, you’ll see that you had nothing to worry about and soon everything will be running smoothly.”
“As my best friend in town, well, second best friend in town, I’m going to need you to keep me from freaking out.”
“Second best friend? Who the hell is the first?” Eli demands, looking outraged.
“Brennan. Duh,” I tease him, rolling my eyes.
“Yeah, yeah. Alright, take a deep breath. You’re going to be great. I promise.”
I take a deep, calming breath, nodding at him.
“You’re right. I know you’re right, but it’s still hard to remember that all of the time.”
Eli leans over, wrapping his arm around my shoulders as we lean back against the cushions and sprawl on the couch. We’re silent as we both stare around my tiny apartment.
Papers and desserts are strewn around the entire place. There’s flour and sugar dusting the kitchen floor and trailing into my bedroom. Dirty dishes are piled in the sink and there’s some kind of dark smear on one of the cabinets. It’s probably chocolate. I hope it’s chocolate.
“I need to clean this place,” I mumble.
“You really do,” he jokes and I elbow him.
The printer whirs to a stop on my desk and I gulp when I look over and see the stack of bright pink paper waiting for me. I printed off one hundred copies, not sure where all I would be able to hang them up.