Chapter 6: A Day at the Mall
Date: Friday May 4rd, 2013, 2:50pm
Location: The Mall
It was almost the end of another school day, and the very end of Simon's first week in Ewen High School, and as far as Simon was concerned, his first week in an American high school had been an unqualified success, and certainly it had been different in a few ways from what his school life at home would be like. During the rest of the week, he and Carrie had spent their free time together, such as in the library, where they would read together or do homework, or would sit and eat together in the cafeteria. And what Carrie noticed was that during that time no one else pestered or bullied her, or even whispered about it, as all the other students were becoming increasingly aware that Simon was becoming very protective of Carrie, and they didn't want to risk his wrath by taking ill of Carrie.
Also, Freddy, the unpopular photographer, and Norma, the good natured and friendly, but not too popular senior class president, became very welcome additions to their little group. At first Carrie was, understandably, just a little bit wary of the two, but once she saw that Norma and Freddy had proved they weren't going to trick or make fun of her, like many of the others in the school did, and they sincerely wanted to be friends as, just like Carrie they didn't have too many friends in school, she accepted them into their little group.
Right now, the four were sitting together on a comfy L-shaped couch at one of the tables inside the near-empty student lounge on the third floor of the school as they had no scheduled classes within the last hour before school ended. They'd already been to their lockers and had left the books they didn't need there, so that way they'd be ready to leave school at once as soon as the bell rang. The large windows of the student lounge, which allowed plenty of natural light into the room, overlooked the different sports fields spread out in the grounds at the back of the school, including the tennis courts and fields for baseball, football and soccer, where the various teams could be seen engaged in practice.
The student lounge had plenty of places where Ewen High's students could relax and study or socialize with friends. There were quite a few comfy couches and armchairs with low coffee tables, as well as traditional wooden tables and upholstered chairs for students to use. There were bookshelves, going from floor to ceiling, lining one wall, and a pool table and table tennis table in one of the far corners of the room.
There were only half a dozen other students in the lounge, most of whom were at the other end of the room, either working on assignments or projects that needed to be finished or catching up with their friends about the latest news from within the school grounds.
Simon had brought his laptop with him today, had set it up and was showing them photos of the places that he'd been to; the previous year, in August 2012, he and his family had visited Austria, and its capital city Vienna, for a week for the first time to attend the wedding of one of Simon's older cousins, who'd had gotten married to an Austrian man she'd met in college. He had already shown them a few photos of various tourist places in Vienna that he and his family had visited while they were there, including the impressive sights of the Schönbrunn and Belvedere Palaces, various museums such as the Natural History Museum and the Museum of Military History, a different variety of fancy looking coffee shops with tall ceilings within the center of Vienna and views of the expanse of the city of Vienna seen from the top of the Danube Tower, as well as pictures of the sparkling blue Danube River, and now was showing them photos from the day of the wedding.
"…and this is where the wedding ceremony and reception was held; the Hotel Imperial, a five-star luxury hotel...and one of the best hotels that I've ever been to, very close to the center of Vienna." Simon said, bringing up a photo of the hotel, which he'd taken outside the main entrance looking up the building. Carrie, Norma, and Freddy all gasped in amazement when they saw the size of the hotel and how it dominated the whole scene without any effort.
"Now that's a hotel!" Norma said, as she looked over the building.
"It certainly looks quite the place." Carrie said.
"It's quite the hotel. And to make things more special, the weather there was brilliant for our whole trip." Simon said. The next few photos showed Simon in his best wedding clothes (a tuxedo), and posing, in one of the elevator foyers, with his three sisters who were wearing bright gowns. This caught Carrie's attention; with her brilliant sewing skills, she thought, she could easily make similar gowns for other people.
"And here's the wedding scene just before the wedding ceremony took place." Simon said, bringing up another photo; it showed chairs, all decked with flowers as well as white and pink ribbons, arranged in rows of six on both sides of an aisle in one of the hotel's finest event rooms.
"And how many people were at this wedding?" Freddy asked.
"There were about a hundred and fifty or so people in attendance, as well as my cousin's relatives and her family and friends. And as well as them, her husband also had his relatives and family, and some of his own friends too, from around Austria to invite to the wedding too." Simon said.
For the next few minutes, he showed them a few more photos, which included the progress of the wedding ceremony and Simon's cousin, who looked just splendid in her elegant wedding dress, as well as the start of the reception in the hotel with finely laid tables with the best china, glassware and silver. He had just reached the photo which showed the inside of a menu, and the selection of food on offer in the different courses, when the bell rang, signaling the end of school for another day.
"Aww, and just at the part where I wanted to see what food you had that evening!" Norma sighed as she reached for her bag before standing up.
"Don't worry Norma, there's always next week I can show more of them to you. One thing I WILL say though is that there was quite a bit of champagne...and it was VERY expensive champagne, served that evening." Simon said, as he turned off his laptop and then put it back in his laptop bag.
"But from what you just showed us, it looks like you all had a good time in Vienna." Freddy said.
"We did, and don't worry Fred, I'll show the rest of the pictures to you another time." Simon said, as he put his school bag on his back and his laptop bag over his shoulder. That done, they headed out into the corridors and then downstairs as all the last classes of the day emptied out from the classrooms.
As they walked down the corridors, Simon couldn't help noticing Norma and Freddy seemed to be looking at each other. Freddy seemed to be attracted to Norma's beauty, and in return she couldn't help complimenting how handsome he was, which made Freddy blush a bit. Turning away, Simon couldn't help but smile at what he hoped deep down was a brand-new couple in the making.
"So, Simon, tell me…how was your first week here in an American high school? Do you think it went well?" Norma asked, as Simon chuckled.
"Well Norma, I think I can safely say that my first week here was an unqualified success. I hope the rest of my time here will be just as successful." Simon said.
"That's great, Simon. I'm glad everything went well for you this week." Norma said, as Carrie and Freddy voiced their agreements.
Exiting the school at the main doors, the four turned and headed toward the main parking lot.
"What a day it was!" Freddy said, as they entered the parking lot.
"Indeed, and I'm glad it's over for another week. So, what are you doing for the weekend, Fred?" Norma asked.
"I actually had no idea what I was gonna do, though I was thinking I might go to that huge mall tomorrow. I haven't been there in some time." Freddy said.
"You know, I was half thinking of going there too…after all, I've got nothing else planned for this weekend." Norma said.
"Maybe we could…meet up there and spend some time there together?" Freddy asked, a little nervous.
"Yeah, I'd like that. But first, how about we exchange numbers?" Norma asked, with her usual peppy smile.
"Sure thing!" Freddy said, as he pulled out his phone.
As Norma and Freddy exchanged numbers before saying goodbye to Simon and Carrie and heading off home, Simon turned to Carrie.
"Well…would you like to go to the mall tomorrow, Carrie?" Simon asked.
"Of course, and it's good timing too; my momma's gonna work all day tomorrow, from 8:00am and won't be finished until well after 6:00pm. She works at the local laundry place in the older part of Chamberlain. So yeah, I'd like to go to the mall with you, as I usually don't go to that place very often." Carrie said.
"Great! How about I meet you in front of the building where I'm living, and we'll head into the mall from there?" Simon asked.
"Sounds good, but which apartment building are you staying in?" Carrie asked. Simon pulled out his smartphone from the pocket of his safe travel bag under his jacket, opened the photos app and showed Carrie photos of the building he was staying at.
"It's in this one here, on the top floor." Simon said, pointing to the building in question.
"Oh, I know exactly where that is; it's only about a walk of about fifteen minutes away from my house!" Carrie said, now seeing exactly where the building in question was.
"Excellent! So, I'll see you at ten tomorrow morning outside this entrance here?" Simon asked, pointing to the door on one of the pictures.
"Yeah, I'll be there. I'll see you in the morning!" Carrie said, as she set off home.
"See you then, Carrie!" Simon called, as he turned and headed towards the car park to meet up with Rita at her car.
(On the way back to the apartment buildings)
"So, you and Carrie are meeting up at the mall tomorrow morning?" Rita asked, as they drove on down the street.
"Yes; she lives not too far from the apartment building where I'm currently staying at, and she says that she can walk there in a fairly short time. And she seems to be more confident than she was earlier this week." Simon said, as Rita smiled.
"Oh, I've noticed that; I think it's a great thing that you're helping her, Simon. She does seem to be much more confident than she was this time last week." Rita said, as she vividly remembered what had happened in the locker room. They were quiet for a few moments before Rita spoke again.
"You haven't had any trouble from Chris Hargensen and her Ultras yet, have you?" Rita asked.
"No Rita, not yet, but it's inevitable that it's gonna happen…at SOME point in the future. You told me Chris was suspended this week for what happened in the lady's locker room last Friday, so I haven't seen her face to face yet." Simon said, not sounding too concerned, at least on the surface.
"Well…you just please take care if or when you do; to say that she can be a bit of a handful at times would be a drastic understatement. And don't you EVER underestimate somebody like Chris Hargensen." Rita said.
"Yes ma'am, but I won't worry about that just yet. After all, I'm just looking forward to spending tomorrow with Carrie." Simon said, as Rita smiled.
"Okay Simon, just have a good time and make sure you keep Carrie happy." Rita said.
"Well, Rita…if I can make someone like Carrie a much happier person than before I arrived, I think I'm doing a good job." Simon said, as Rita pulled into the parking lot outside the apartments.
"Absolutely, and that's something that'll get you far in life." Rita said, as she smiled again.
After stopping the car in front of the main entrance, Simon grabbed his bag and got out.
"Thanks Rita. I'll see you out here on Monday morning at the usual time?" Simon asked, as he looked in the open passenger side window.
"Of course, Simon. Have a good time at the mall with Carrie tomorrow. See you on Monday!" Rita called, as she drove out of the parking lot and headed home.
Once back in his apartment, Simon changed into more comfortable attire, picked up a blue cardboard folder from his bedside table and went out into the kitchen area. Inside the folder were photocopies of a few cake and pie recipes his mother used in her extensive bakery business, and now that school was over for the week, Simon wanted to try one of his absolute favorite recipes. Opening the folder, he flicked through the different pages until he found the recipe he was looking for, an old favorite of his, a self-saucing butterscotch pudding.
After checking round to be sure he had the necessary ingredients on hand, which he had, he set to work. Allowing the oven to preheat, and after brushing melted butter on the inside of a baking dish he wanted to use, he began mixing flour, brown sugar and baking powder in a large mixing bowl, and, once the dry ingredients were mixed, he then added one egg, melted butter, melted golden syrup, a few drops of vanilla essence and some milk before mixing it all together. Once it was all mixed, and using a spatula, he spooned all the mix into the baking dish and evenly spread it out over the bottom of the dish.
In another mixing bowl, he mixed brown sugar and some corn flour until it formed a fine powder and then he spread it over the cake batter as evenly as he could. Then he carefully poured hot water over the top of the cake until it was just covered and then placed it into the oven for about 30 to 35 minutes.
While waiting for it to bake, he sat down on the couch and thought about what to have for dinner tonight. Then, remembering that it was Friday night, he decided to treat himself to a takeout from a local fast-food place. He remembered there was a K.F.C. just across the street from where he was and decided to get a takeaway from there and eat it in his apartment.
Back home, it was always a tradition within the family to have fast food for dinner on a Saturday evening, or sometimes to even go out to eat on the odd occasion, and Simon decided to carry on that tradition for the time he was over here. However, with the pudding still in the oven, he decided to wait until maybe around 5:00pm or a little after before he went over to the K.F.C.
A little over half an hour later, Simon put on the oven gloves and took the self-saucing butterscotch pudding out from the oven. Setting it down on a cake rack to cool, he deeply inhaled the scene; and it smelt really fantastic! Leaving it aside to cool, Simon decided to have some after he had eaten dinner.
Time: 5:50pm
Arriving back in the apartment, Simon set his K.F.C. takeout order down on the coffee table in front of the TV; four pieces of the Original Recipe Chicken, some popcorn chicken, a BBQ sauce dip, two portions of French fries and a side of sweetcorn. He then went to the refrigerator and took out a bottle of Pepsi from the freezer. After grabbing a knife and fork, he sat down and tucked into his Friday evening dinner with the 2012 Batman movie The Dark Knight Rises, which was one of his favorite Batman movies, being played on his laptop before him.
Taking his time to enjoy the feast before him, he savored the moist chicken really thoroughly before swallowing. He hadn't had anything from K.F.C. in some time, and so was really taking the chance to enjoy the meal before him.
Once he finished dinner, which was getting very close to the point where Batman fight with Bane in A Night to Remember, he paused the movie and then tidied up, put the empty K.F.C. packaging into the bin, placed the cutlery in the dishwasher and condiments in their presses. With that all done, he could really get a chance to enjoy the self-saucing butterscotch pudding.
Scooping a good portion out from the large baking dish and making sure he got plenty of the sweet butterscotch sauce on the bottom poured over, Simon warmed the portion for a brief time in the microwave during which time he took a big tub of vanilla ice cream out from the freezer and setting it down on the counter. After taking the bowl out from the microwave, he placed two scoops of bourbon vanilla ice cream on the side of the bowl and settled back down on the couch to continue watching the movie. He spent the rest of the evening just taking it easy, relaxing and, after The Dark Knight Rises had finished, he then settled down to watching YouTube videos and doing a bit of work on the novel he had been working on for some time.
But soon, he looked at his watch and was surprised to see the time being 11:10pm. Deciding to call it a night for now, he turned off his laptop and, after placing his laptop in his room, turned off the lights in the kitchen and living area. Setting his alarm to go off at 8:20am, he changed into his pajamas and went into the bathroom.
Once finished in the bathroom, which included brushing his teeth, Simon stepped back out into the bedroom and climbed under the quilt before picking up one of the books he'd brought with him, On A Sea of Glass: The Life and Loss of the RMS Titanic. For about 20 minutes or so, he laid back, head resting on his pillow, and just read through the chapter describing the last evening aboard Titanic just before she collided with the iceberg.
Eventually though, at 11:45pm, Simon placed his book on the bedside table, slid under the quilt and, turning the bedside light off, fell into a deep sleep, lulled off by the familiar low sounds of trains running in the distance and police sirens rushing past nearby on their way to an emergency somewhere nearby.
Date: In the morning; May 4th, Saturday
Simon was up at 8:10am and, after opening the curtains and seeing it was a gorgeous and sunny morning outside, he went over to his phone, plugged it in to charge and turned off the alarm as he woke before it went off, and went into the bathroom. After shaving and having a quick shower, he stepped out a few minutes later, wrapped up in towels. After thoroughly drying off and putting on some anti-perspirant and aftershave, he dressed in some fresh clothes and went into the kitchen to prepare himself breakfast.
As it was a Saturday, he treated himself to a full Irish breakfast, which included sausages, fried bacon, black and white pudding, fried eggs and hash browns with toast and tea. Once it was all prepared, he laid the table out on the balcony and had breakfast there. As he ate out on this gorgeous and clear late spring morning, he looked over the main road going by the mall; so far it was a reasonably quiet morning, but Simon knew that would change soon, considering it was the weekend and everyone would have plenty of time on their hands.
Once finished with his breakfast, Simon tidied everything up, placed the dirty dishes in the dishwasher and set about getting ready to go to the mall. By 9:55am, with his fully charged smartphone and wallet, with card keys, securely tucked away into their pockets of his safe travel bag and his multi-pocket waist jacket being worn over that, and his empty laptop bag slung over one shoulder, Simon left the apartment and headed downstairs to the main entrance.
After going through the reception area, where he said "Good morning" to the receptionists who were working away behind the reception counter, he stepped outside the main entrance doors and, after waiting for only a moment or so, saw Carrie walk up along the sidewalk.
"Hey Carrie! Over here!" Simon called with a wave, as Carrie picked up her pace and headed towards him.
"Hey, good morning!" Carrie said with a smile, as she and Jack hugged each other.
"And good morning back! Did you sleep well?" Simon asked.
"Yes, I did." Carrie said, with a smile. It was a particularly good night's sleep as Margaret hadn't thought she'd sinned and put her into the praying closet the previous night.
"Well, shall we head into the mall before it gets too crowded?" Simon asked.
"Yeah, let's go." Carrie said, and they headed towards the mall.
Stepping in through one of the main entrance doors, they went to an open area on the ground floor and stood looking up where they could see the other floor high above them. The clear blue sky was visible through the glass ceiling stretching down the length of the side of the mall they were at and there was plenty of activity in the now open stores, with people going up and down the escalators, having coffee at tables outside some of the visible coffee shops or walking in and out of the stores.
"Goodness me…it's been so long since I've last been here, I've forgotten just how big this place is." Carrie said, as she surveyed the different levels, and all the activity going on, in the biggest mall in the United States.
"Yeah, I know how you feel about the size of this place. We don't have any shopping malls as big as this back in San Francisco. This makes all the shopping centers back in San Francisco, or anywhere else in Europe that I've been to over the years for that matter, seem pathetically insignificant by comparison...even the biggest ones." Simon said. After a moment of taking in what was going on before them, Simon turned to Carrie.
"Well Carrie, where do you want to start first?" Simon asked.
"How about we just start right here on the ground floor and pop into stores that catch our interest as we pass them by, and then go up to the next floor and do the same thing?" Carrie asked.
"Yeah, that sounds like a fair plan to me…let's get started then." Simon said, and with that they began their walk through the mall.
Date: An hour and a half later – 11:31am
Simon and Carrie arrived at one of the food courts, eager to get something to eat after their walk around the first two levels of the mall. They both had a bag in one of their hands, evidence of things they'd bought while on their travels within the mall. Now feeling hungry, and their feet more than a little sore after all the walking they'd done so far, they decided to stop and recharge their batteries for a while before they carried on going round the mall.
They sat down at a table by one of the windows where they had a good view of the park across the street; they had ordered hot drinks, Carrie ordered a hot chocolate and Simon had San Francisco breakfast tea, and some pastries from one of the service vendors. After they sat down, Simon looked round; it was certainly a lot busier now than it had been earlier on, with more people going in and out of stores with bags in their hands. Some were even carrying larger boxes they'd paid for out from some of the electronics and sports stores. Some boxes were large enough that they had to be transported out from some shops on hand trucks.
"Oh, my feet are killing me. I haven't done any walking like that for some time." Carrie said, as she started sipping her hot chocolate.
"My feet are feeling okay, but then I'm used to walking; I've done a lot of it every day on the treadmill we have back home." Simon said, as he took a bite out of a vanilla custard Danish.
"So, Simon, please tell me…what made your mother want to start a bakery business? What is something she always wanted to do?" Carrie asked.
"She always loved baking; it was something that she got from my grandmother, who was the one who started the business back in 1965 with a bakery along the north end of O'Connell Street, right in the center of San Francisco. When she retired from the job back in 2005, due to some health issues she had back then, my mom, who had been in a "second in command" position in the business for a long time and who, by then, was doing a lot of the work at that time, took over the business and it really started to grow from there. My mom's a very strong-willed person, and always looking for ways she could use to her advantage to give her growing business the edge over the competition. Something my grandmother would be very proud of." Simon said, before he took a sip of his tea.
"Is your grandmother still alive?" Carrie asked. Simon paused for a moment, then shook his head.
"No, I'm afraid not; she…died almost five years ago. Her health had deteriorated to quite a considerable extent by late April 2009, and she eventually passed away from natural causes in San Francisco's Mater Hospital just before the end of May that year...just a little over half a mile away, as the crow flies, from the first bakery she helped to set up all the way back in 1965. She was the very last of my grandparents to pass away. Her beloved husband, who was my grandfather - and a damn good man he was too, had already passed away from natural causes early in 2005." Simon said, with a heavy sigh.
"I'm so sorry about that. What kind of a person was she like?" Carrie asked.
"She had a great sense of humor and was a very kind woman, like most grandmothers are, and was also a popular woman in the community where she lived, especially considering the business she ran, and was very good at helping people solve whatever problems they may have had. Her death was a bitter grief for the whole community." Simon said.
"And did you know any of your other grandparents? Those on your father's side I mean." Carrie asked.
"Yes, I did. Sadly though, they're both dead too." Simon said, with a solemn tone in his voice.
"Well, you were very lucky to know and meet your grandparents…mine all died before I was born, so I never knew them." Carrie said.
"I'm sorry." Simon said, as he took another sip of his tea. They were both quiet for a few more moments, as they quietly reminisced about events that took place in their past as well as about the events that might have been, as they enjoyed their hot drinks and pastries before they spoke again.
"What sort of things does your mother make in her bakeries?" Carrie asked.
"Well, generally everything you'd expect to find and buy in a bakery, like cakes, cookies, pies, donuts, confectionaries and so on, even things you wouldn't usually find, such as ice cream and custard. Her bakeries don't do breads or rolls though as the business is really specializing in making sweet confections. However, the one thing her bakeries are famous for is the hot chocolate, which she serves year-round but is especially popular during the winter when it's very cold. For instance, the hot chocolate that you're drinking, is that made from that powdered chocolate stuff?" Simon asked.
"It is, I've drunken it since I was young. I don't mind the taste of it of course, but it could be of much better quality though." Carrie said.
"Yeah, that's why my mom serves the popular hot chocolate in her bakeries. It's made from solid chocolate, not chocolate powder, as well as a 50-50 mix of milk and heavy cream as well as the use of vanilla essence, cinnamon powder and even a bit of espresso powder to enhance the chocolate flavor. The result is the best, richest and thickest hot chocolate you've ever had in your life. And believe me…it's much better than the powdered stuff most people buy in places like Walmart." Simon said. Carrie looked at Jack a little surprised at the description, while trying to imagine what his mother's hot chocolate must be like.
"Well, if that's the case…can you show me how to make your mother's hot chocolate at some time?" Carrie asked.
"Of course. I've even brought along a few photocopies of her different recipes - all which are of my own personal favorites - over here with me so showing you sometime should be no problem at all." Simon said.
"Thanks Simon." Carrie said, with a smile.
"No problem, and it's not just hot chocolate, it's a lot of the other products in her business which brings the customers in, like cakes, pastries and so on. She always puts the best possible quality into her cakes. For example, many times, she's tried out the desserts that you can buy in fast food restaurants. After sampling them, she often thinks to herself "I can do better than this." And she has! A lot of the cakes, donuts and pastries, and even the ice cream and custard she makes are indeed much better quality than what you get in fast food places." Simon said.
"So, your mother is driven by a determination to succeed?" Carrie asked, astonished by how such a woman could drive herself.
"Absolutely, she's that kind of person...and she managed to do quite a lot while raising four kids, including me, in the process. Both my mom and dad were 24 and 25 years old respectively when I was born, and they were 28 and 29 years old respectively when my three sisters came along to join the family. But despite having her hands full raising four kids, my mom's sheer determination to succeed is what's made her business the big success that it's become. In fact, when we were in Vienna for my cousin's wedding last year, we went to a number of very famous Viennese coffee shops and my mom tried a number of different pastries, confections and cakes on offer. Now she's working to bring the taste of Vienna, and samples of Austrian confections, to her business back home." Simon said.
"WOW, that sounds interesting. And how many bakeries does your mother have in Ireland again?" Carrie asked.
"There's twenty so far; there's four in San Francisco, and two each in Belfast, Galway, Limerick, Cork and Waterford. And one each in Sligo, Derry, Tipperary, Tralee, Killarney and Ennis. The bakery in Ennis, Co Clare is the most recent one to open, which took place in late October of last year, just in time for the Christmas shopping rush. There's another two due to open a little later this year in late June or early July; one in Dundalk and the other in Athlone, with plans to open another one - the twenty third - in Kildare Village sometime in the near future, and there are also plans to set up another four in the future as well; one in Roscommon, the second in Westport, County Mayo, a third in Wexford, and the fourth one in Lisburn, just outside of Belfast. And the immense success of her business certainly proves quite well that you CAN make a great living selling baked goods, contrary to what a lot of people told my grandmother when she started, and then to my mother. And each bakery at its own location has its own fleet of white vans, with their own designated drivers, to make deliveries of the products to customers, whether it's to a special private gathering in a private home in the Irish countryside or to a big party or a wedding or some such celebration like that in a big fancy hotel within one of the towns or cities nearby." Simon said.
"That sounds nice, but what's the Kildare Village?" Carrie asked.
"Kildare Village is a very specialist luxury designer shopping outlet on the outskirts of the town of Kildare - hence its name - and it's not too far away from San Francisco. There's about 100 or so stores in there, all of which are specializing in selling different luxury fashion items, along with a few different eateries as well. The place is okay, but really isn't for someone like me who likes his books and building model kits." Simon said.
"But even so, that does sound like my kind of place...and which of your mother's bakeries is the best of them all?" Carrie asked.
"Oh, that's an easy answer; it would be the one along upper O'Connell Street right in the center of the city of San Francisco, no doubt, as it was the very first one opened, and with five storeys - not including the ground floor - it's also the largest and is the main headquarters, or H.Q. of the business. It's the crown jewel of all twenty bakeries, and is a combined bakery and coffee shop, as the ground floor and first floor both have their own seating areas for customers as well as a bar where a variety of soft drinks as well as hot drinks like tea and coffee is served to customers, along with pastries and cakes, with a kitchen behind the scenes up on the first floor. There's even special kitchens set up on the other upper floors where my mom and her staff can prepare new recipes to serve in the other bakeries. And as I work in that bakery on certain occasions, I've even made a few things in those kitchens over the last few years, including brownies, apple crumble and chocolate cakes." Simon said.
"Wow." Carrie said, and she paused a moment to take another sip of her hot chocolate before she asked another question that was on her mind.
"And what's the busiest time of the year for the twenty bakeries?" Carrie asked.
"Always Christmas time. It's always our busiest time of the year, as a lot of the people around Ireland...and I mean a LOT of them...do want to have certain things prepared for them in time for the Christmas season, including different varieties of festive cakes, cookies and other baked goods. And the white vans with their drivers assigned to each bakery are also kept busy making their deliveries to private homes in time for Christmas. And believe me...I've worked in the main O'Connell street bakery during the time leading up to Christmas in the last few years whenever there's a chance for me to do so...as I usually had exams at my school at that time ...in order to take some pressure off those who work there full time. And it's always busy there, with customers coming in to either place their orders, or to collect their orders that are all prepared and ready for them to take away. And for the days that are as busy as that, I'm usually on my feet for much of the day and rushing back and forth to make sure the customers are kept satisfied with what they're getting, either working behind the counter downstairs attending to the customers, or sometime upstairs in the main kitchens to get things made up there. And all of my mother's twenty bakeries run full steam ahead in the leadup to Christmas, just as all other businesses do at that very busy time of the year." Simon said.
"And are you always tired after working on a busy day like that?" Carrie asked.
"Oh, I always am. And I'm always glad to get off my feet, which are always sore if I'm standing for a long time, and to get home when a day as busy as in the leadup to Christmas is done...and I always sleep well for the night after days like that." Simon said.
"And has your mother ever entered any baking competitions?" Carrie asked.
"She has entered some competitions on the odd few occasions over the last few years, but…actually NOT as many as you may think. Even though she's determined to have her business be successful in order to support the family, she's not really that keen on taking part in competitions. But she has won some prizes in a few competitions she's entered for some really fantastic cakes, and she was really proud of those. And also, she always sets up a stall or two with some of her work colleagues at the San Francisco Christmas market each year." Simon said.
"Oh, I see." Carrie said, with a smile. She took a sip of her hot chocolate and then asked the next question on her mind. "And when did you first start working there?"
"I started working there back when I was twelve years old, initially helping out on some weekends and on some selected days during holidays and so on, and yes, I did get paid for the work I did there. It certainly beats doing chores at home. In fact, my three sisters also started working there too not long after they turned twelve years old, again on selected days, and we're the third generation of our family to work there. Not only that, but some of my friends from my school also work there on certain times too. And during all the time that I've been working there, I've learned literally EVERYTHING that there is to learn there, including using the baking machines, mixing the correct quantities of ingredients, making pastry, how to decorate cakes and everything business related to how to run a business. You name it, I've more than likely done it. And my sisters are also learning the ropes about how everything there works too." Simon said.
"And how well can you decorate cakes?" Carrie asked.
"I think I'm an expert at that now, and I've done a LOT of cake decorating in that bakery over the last few years, including with special modeling chocolate and fondant icing, and I can ice a cake with a pastry bag even better than some of the other bakers can, even better than my three sisters and even better than my mentor who works there, my grandmother's old friend Marie Ryan who helped my grandmother set up the business." Simon said.
"That sounds like something I could do." Carrie said.
"Yeah, and when the cakes and pastries are finally completed and decorated, some of them are put on display within the glass display case downstairs on the ground and first floors ready for customers, while others are put into boxes ready to be sent out in the white vans to the customers who ordered them. But sometimes the cakes and pastries that I've made there have often been decorated to such a good standard that it's nearly a shame to cut them up and eat them. I've always treated everything I've made there as a work of art." Simon said.
"And have you ever made any wedding cakes there?" Carrie asked.
"Oh yes, I've helped out many times in making wedding cakes there, as have some of my friends from school who work there too. It's one of the reasons the business is so successful is due to the quality of the wedding cakes that can be provided to the couples looking forward to their big days. And a lot of work is needed to be sure that the wedding cakes that are sold are some of the best and highest quality that can be provided, which does lead to working overtime and many long hours on the job, but the effort more than justifies the long time needed. In fact, when my parents got married their cake was supplied from one of the bakeries, and it was a chocolate fudge one...both my parents aren't too fond of traditional wedding cake." Simon said.
"It must be a very difficult thing to decorate a wedding cake if it had to be done a certain way." Carrie said, with a smile.
"It can be, especially when making roses made of icing and placing them onto the cakes. But I've mastered the technique of how to do it by now." Simon said.
(A short while later)
Having finished their hot drinks and pastries, and with their feet well-rested, Simon and Carrie stood up from their table and left the food court. They took the escalator up to the next level and proceeded to walk around and pass shops while looking for the ones likely to catch their interest to go inside.
"How about we go and have a look in here?" Carrie asked after a short while, indicating a large candy store, with its front windows filled near to overflowing with bright vivid colors of different confectionery and chocolates.
"Certainly, this looks like an interesting place. Come on." Simon said, and into the candy store they went, and their nostrils were instantly filled with the scent of chocolate and flavored sugar as they entered. Simon was just astonished by how large the store was, and how bright it was with all the many splashes of colors.
Going along the different aisles, they were in awe at the enormous selection of candies and chocolates on offer, many of which were wrapped up in brightly colored paper and foil, and there even large wicker hampers filled to the brim with candy and chocolate.
"Do you think you'll buy any of these hampers while you're here?" Carrie asked.
"I don't know, Carrie; they all seem to be a bit big for my liking, and there's the difficulty of flying them home. But…I'll give it some thought." Simon said.
"Okay, but what about these?" Carrie asked. Simon turned and saw a long shelf filled with many different varieties of Hershey bars, including some quite sizable ones.
"Now this is more like it! These would be perfect to take home, as they'll easily fit in a suitcase. Even the largest bars shouldn't be too much of a problem." Simon said, surveying the Hershey bars neatly arranged before him, some of which were about five pounds or so in weight and cost up to $75 per five-pound bar.
"How about one of these?" Carrie suggested, taking one of the one pound Hershey milk chocolate bars.
"Yes, that's something I could easily take home…or even a few more. Yet there's plenty of weight to it." Simon said, picking up two of the bars and checking them out. The bars were cookies and cream as well as plain milk chocolate, two of his favorite Hershey bar flavors. As he checked out the other one-pound chocolate bars on the different shelves, a thought suddenly came into Simon's mind.
"Hey Carrie, how about I show you my mother's hot chocolate recipe today?" Simon asked. Carrie looked at him for a moment.
"Really? At your apartment?" Carrie asked.
"Sure, and we can use chocolate from one of these bars for it." Simon said, as he picked up three large bars of milk chocolate.
"Thanks. Shall we go to your apartment once we finish here later?" Carrie asked.
"Sure, but shall we continue looking around the different shops here first before we go back?" Simon asked, as he and Carrie went into another aisle.
"Okay." Carrie said. And after looking through the different shelves for anything they wanted before they went to the checkout.
Coming out of the candy store a few minutes later, they turned and headed towards another of the bookshops Jack wanted to have a look in. Then, among the small groups of people milling about, they suddenly noticed two familiar faces in the distance and coming closer to them. It was Freddy and Norma.
"Hey there, you two!" Norma said, as the four came close to each other.
"And hello back…are you two enjoying yourselves?" Simon asked.
"Yeah, we are. We've just been going round the mall, looking for something to keep us interested in for the rest of the day. We were just at one of the food courts, where we had a bite to eat, and now we're looking for one of the bowling alleys." Freddy said.
"Oh, we saw one of them somewhere back that way." Carrie said, turning round and pointing back the way she and Jack had come from.
"Thanks; Norma and I talked about going bowling sometime and we wanted to know where the bowling alleys are in this mall." Freddy said.
"So, what did you guys purchase while you were here?" Norma asked, noticing the bags Simon and Carrie were holding.
"Well, I bought a poetry book…I'd been looking for this one for quite some time." Carrie said, pulling out a book of poetry, with a dark green cover, from her bag.
"I also bought a book I'd been wanting for a while." Jack said, opening his black laptop bag and taking out the book, a hardback; The Locomotives of Sir Nigel Gresley, by O. S. Nock.
"Now that looks quite interesting." Norma said.
"It does certainly looks like it. I've been looking for this book for some time, to add to my collection of railway books, and now I'm very glad I have it. I looked for it in many of the bookshops back in San Francisco, but none of them had it available." Simon said.
"What's your plan for the rest of the day?" Freddy asked.
"Well, Carrie and I will hang around here for a while longer and then we'll head over to my apartment." Simon said.
"Sounds good, we're gonna stay around here for a few hours and then we'll head over to the park while the weather's still nice out. Or if the weather turns bad, we'll head into the library down on the ground floor." Norma said.
"Fair enough. Well, we don't want to delay you any longer, so we'll let you go on your way." Simon said.
"Okay, we'll see you both in class on tomorrow morning." Norma said, showing off her usual peppy smile.
"Right-o, see you then." Simon said, and after giving their goodbyes, he and Carrie went on their way as Norma and Freddy went along towards one of the mall's bowling alleys.
At one point, when Carrie and Simon were passing by one of the electronics stores on the third floor along the eastern side of the mall, they didn't know they were being watched closely by Chris, Billy, Tina, Jackie, Kenny, Nikki and Lizzy, from inside the store, all four of whom were wondering what the two were doing here, particularly as Carrie rarely went to the mall. As Chris watched Carrie and Simon disappear into the crowd, evil thoughts were flowing through her head on getting revenge on Carrie for getting her banned from the prom, even though it was Chris's own fault entirely due to her stubbornly refusing to stay with Rita's boot camp style detention on Monday morning.
Smiling an evil smile, she turned back to her three friends in their little group, and they carried on browsing through the aisles in the electronics store.
Time: 2:55pm
Simon and Carrie arrived back in Simon's apartment and went towards the kitchen space. They were tired after walking around the mall and eager to rest their feet. They had eaten lunch, French fries, burgers, and vanilla milkshakes, at one of the fourth-floor food courts at about 12:45pm before going on to look at more of the shops. At one of the model shops, Simon bought three model kits: two British Centurion Mk III tanks and an American M26 Pershing tank, all at 1/56 scale. Now eager to rest for a while, they left the mall and went back across the street to Simon's apartment.
Carrie was impressed by the size of the apartment and how spacious it was. Putting her bags with her purchases down behind the sofa, she turned and watched as Simon started getting things ready to make them his mother's hot chocolate.
"This is quite a nice place." Carrie said as she stepped up to the kitchen city where Simon was placing all the ingredients. After placing a pot on the stove, he turned to the city.
"Well, let's get down to this, shall we?" Simon asked. Mixing equal amounts of milk and heavy cream in the saucepan, and gently heating it up until it was simmering, Simon then added in a little brown sugar and mixed in half of one of the one-pound milk chocolate Hershey bars, which he chopped into smaller pieces so they would melt quicker. Turning off the heat and starting to whisk, he added in a small amount of vanilla essence, a pinch of salt and espresso powder and then thoroughly whisked everything together. All the time, Carrie was standing by Simon's side and observing while he explained everything.
She watched as the steaming liquid got thicker as Simon whisked the mixture together. After a minute or two of watching everything come together, and taking in the rich chocolatey smell, Simon turned off the heat and then looked at Carrie.
"Yeah, I reckon it's done now. Time to serve up." Simon said, and taking two mugs from one of the cabinets, he carefully ladled the hot, rich and thick chocolate into the two mugs. Then, taking a can of whipped cream from the fridge, he sprayed some cream into the two mugs before taking a grater and the other half of the Hershey bar and grated some chocolate over the top of the whipped cream.
"And there we are." Simon said, carefully handing one of the mugs to Carrie. She took it, slowly brought it up to her lips and sipped. She then looked back at Simon, a big smile spreading slowly across her face with a little hint of a chocolate mustache under nose.
"That's really nice! It's much, much nicer than the hot chocolate I had earlier on today." Carrie said, as she took another sip.
"I'm glad you like it, Carrie." Simon said, as he took a sip from his own mug. They went and sat down out on the balcony, enjoying the warm spring weather. In the last few days, the weather had improved quite a bit since Simon arrived and the air had slowly warmed, giving the pleasant feel of a normal American spring day.
"So, what are you gonna do with those model kits you bought?" Carrie asked, as she sipped her hot chocolate.
"I'll build them when I return to Ireland. If I were to build them now, returning them home without damaging them would be difficult at best. And besides, I'd rather not stink up the apartment with the smell of modeling glue. I don't think many people on this floor would like that. And besides, I don't have the glue, paints or necessary tools here with which to build them." Simon said. Carrie just smiled and nodded; then she carried on with her hot chocolate.
They sat in silence for a few more minutes, watching and listening to the world go by as they finished their hot chocolate. Going back inside after a while, they placed their mugs into the dishwasher when Simon remembered something.
"Carrie, last night I made one of the things my mom sells in her bakeries. And I think you might like to try some of it." Simon said, as he went to the oven and opened the door. Carrie stood at the kitchen island as Simon came over and placed before her the pudding he had made the previous night.
"Oh, this looks like a nice cake…but what is it?" Carrie asked, as she looked over the dish.
"This is a butterscotch self-saucing pudding, basically a pudding that makes its own sauce when it bakes. It's one of the popular cakes my mom sells and it's particularly popular in the wintertime, as it's usually served hot." Simon said.
"And are there other flavors besides butterscotch?" Carrie asked.
"There are. There's lemon, chocolate, caramel and sticky toffee to name but a few. And they're quite nice served warm with vanilla ice cream." Simon said.
"Can we have some of this now?" Carrie asked.
"Certainly." Simon said. He took two bowls from one of the presses and spooned two decent portions of the pudding into them. Then he put them into the microwave for 40 seconds each. As the second bowl was warming up, he took a full tub of Haagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream from the freezer. With the two portions of pudding nicely warmed up and the sauce running, Simon gave himself and Carrie a decent portion of vanilla ice cream on top. And then he handed one bowl, with a spoon, to Carrie.
Carrie took in her first bite and savored it as Jack watched with some trepidation. Then she looked at him with a growing smile on her face.
"This is delicious! I don't think I've ever tasted something like this before! And the ice cream goes really well with it too!" Carrie said, taking in another mouthful of the pudding.
"I'm really glad you like it, Carrie. When this appears in my mom's bakeries, whether it's butterscotch or any other flavor for that matter, it usually sells out pretty fast." Simon said, tucking into his portion.
"How's your cousin Tommy?" Carrie asked.
"He's fine. My uncle and aunt and my cousin Matt were fine." Simon said.
"Good." Carrie said, with a smile.
For the rest of the afternoon, until just after 4:45pm, Simon and Carrie relaxed, and he showed her around his apartment. During their exploration, he showed her every room within the apartment, and even showed her the balcony where Carrie stood and watched the view from there for a few moments. She wished that she could have her own place, just like this one, to live in when she got the chance to move out of her home and away from her mother's religious dominated iron fist.
At one point when Simon was showing Carrie around the master bedroom, she noticed how large his en-suite bathroom was and the large closet just beside it was. She mentioned to Simon how lucky he was to have his own bathroom this size, knowing how her own bedroom at home didn't have its own bathroom attached to it.
"This apartment seems a bit big for one person to stay in for only two months, doesn't it?" Carrie asked at one point.
"I know, and my parents would've wanted me to have something smaller. But…when we were making the arrangements for me to come over here, this apartment was all that was available. So, I had to take it, and I'm very pleased that I have it. Plenty of space for me to relax in and plenty of storage space for my things too." Simon said.
"Yeah, I suppose there's that." Carrie said, as she felt herself smile.
But soon, a little after 4:45pm, Carrie decided that she'd better get herself back home as soon as her mother was due to finish work at around 6:00pm. Simon understood and asked if he could walk her home. Carrie agreed, and they left the apartment and headed down the street towards Carrie's house.
Location: Nearing Carrie's house, a short while later
"So, Carrie, did you enjoy our day today?" Simon asked.
"I did, Simon. And thanks for giving me a good time today. I haven't had a good time like today in a long while. And thanks for serving me your mother's hot chocolate. You must make it for me more often while you're here." Carrie said, giving a broad smile.
"I'm very pleased to have given you a good time today, Carrie. And I'm really pleased that you liked my mom's hot chocolate, and her self-saucing pudding recipe. After Miss Desjardin told me what happened to you, I made it my personal mission to help you and make you more comfortable in any way I could." Simon said.
"Thank you for doing that for me. No one's ever done something like that for me before." Carrie said, with a smile.
"I'll always be happy to make you happy and to help you whenever you need it." Simon said, as Carrie smiled at him, and they carried on walking.
A little over 15 minutes after they left Simon's apartment, they arrived in front of Carrie's old home along Carlin Street. The weather was still bright, warm and clear, with the sun just starting to set off to the west in the cloudless sky.
"Here we are. And with plenty of time to spare before Mama gets home." Carrie said. Simon smiled; he wanted to ask Carrie about her mother but decided not to press the issue for now.
"And only about fifteen minutes from where I'm staying…just like you said." Simon said, looking at his watch. Carrie smiled, and then she looked back along the street towards the older part of Chamberlain.
"Well…I better get inside and wait for my mama to get home. I'll see you in class on tomorrow morning?" Carrie asked.
"Of course, and don't worry Carrie…I'll always be there for you." Simon said, with a smile. But then before he could do anything else, Carrie rushed forward, threw her arms round Simon's shoulders and hugged him tightly. Though Simon was surprised by this, he gratefully returned the hug, wrapping his strong arms gently round Carrie's waist. They both held the hug for what seemed like ages but was in fact only for a minute or so before they let go of each other. "Well, I better get inside now." Carrie said, and she turned and went inside her house. After he watched her go inside, before she turned and waved at him, Simon turned and walked back along the street to his apartment.
To Be Continued…