A/N: Thank you all for your continued love and support! I hope you enjoy this next chapter.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 5: A Sprinkle of Sugar
Mia working in the kitchen for the rest of the day ended up being a huge help, Ana couldn't help but feel. She felt bad knowing that there were hardly any ingredients left in the walk-in at this point, but that was why she needed to run to the grocery store down the street to buy some more eggs, butter, and sugar. Mia insisted she go get whatever she needed from the store and Mia would make do with whatever was left in the kitchen.
Ana was only gone for about twenty minutes, but in that time Mia was able to whip up some batter for chocolate cupcakes, jam filling for the danishes, and some cookie icing with the remainder of the sugar and milk. Once Ana returned, laden with shopping bags of ingredients, the two of them were really able to lock in and start baking as a team.
For Ana, it felt a bit odd working with someone else in the kitchen: it was usually just herself working the stand mixers or rolling out the dough. However, Mia proved herself to be a very efficient and skilled baker, as well as a good team player, seeing as she did whatever Ana directed her to do without complaint or protest. She rolled out the sheets of butter as Ana prepped the croissant dough, and together they were able to get the croissants cut, rolled, and in the oven in about half the time it usually took Ana to do by herself.
All the more reason I need another baker on staff.
As Mia and Ana worked together in the kitchen, Kate was able to get the crowds (somewhat) under control. She was finally able to communicate to them that there would be a delay with some of the baked goods due to high demand, and if they were patient, they would get their treats ASAP and fresh out of the oven. A few of the more impatient customers left at this point, but most of the crowd of people finally seemed to settle down a bit and wait patiently for their turn.
The next few hours went by surprisingly quickly, with Mia and Ana cranking out multiple batches of croissants, cookies, danishes, and cupcakes with their newly replenished ingredients. The line of people slowly moved forward, and shrank smaller and smaller as the afternoon wore on.
Finally, when it was over an hour after closing time, the last customers left and they were finally able to close.
"…And that's a wrap," Kate locked the door and turned the sign from Open to Closed. "Great job team."
"Thank God," Mia said as she and Ana both weakly pumped their fists in the air, exhausted but happy.
"Perfect timing, too, since we're almost out of everything again," Ana said, glancing at the nearly empty display cases.
"Yeah. You seem to have gotten the perfect amount of ingredients at the store," Mia noted, also looking at the display cases. "You guys did a great job."
"We did a great job?" Kate said incredulously, walking back over to the counter where they stood. "Girl, you really stepped up to help us out today. I don't think we would have made it through this insane day without you!"
"She's right," Ana said to Mia. "You really saved our asses today. Thank you."
Mia gave them a small smile, though there seemed to be something like guilt in her eyes as well. "It was no problem. But I do feel like it was my fault that you've been so slammed with customers these past couple days. If I hadn't written that article about The Royal Treatment, none of this would have happened."
"It's not your fault, Mia. You had no way of knowing your article would have had that sort of effect on our business," Ana shook her head. "And it's not like I'm going to complain about getting more customers or anything."
"I might complain," Kate snorted, crossing her arms. "I had to be the one out here dealing with all their bullshit today."
"Until you're able to get more employees, I don't think having more customers is helping you guys all that much," Mia grimaced. "With this amount of foot traffic, it's pretty clear you guys are seriously understaffed."
"Tell me about it," Ana sighed. The thought of doing all of this again with just her and Kate was already giving her anxiety.
"I'm free for the rest of the afternoon if you guys need help cleaning everything," Mia offered, glancing around the messy lobby. "I'm sure it'll go along faster with all three of us."
"That would be really helpful. Thank you," Ana said gratefully. "Although I feel like we should pay you for all the work you've done today."
"No. Absolutely not," Mia insisted. "I already told you, this mass influx of customers was my fault to begin with, so this day was me making up for that."
"You never need to apologize for bringing us business," Ana insisted incredulously.
"How about this," Kate said, cutting off Mia's response. "All three of us work together to clean up the bakery, and once we're done, we all head over to that café down the street for some lattes and to relax a bit. It'll be my treat."
Mia nodded, happy with that compromise. "I'd be down for that."
"Me too," Ana agreed. She still felt it would have been better to pay Mia for her work today, but if she insisted on refusing money, this would have to do. "Thanks Kate."
"You're very welcome," Kate smiled, satisfied. "Now let's get this place cleaned up."
~/~
Cleaning the lobby and kitchen area went by much faster today since there were three of them working. It also helped that Ana didn't need to take a record of their inventory, considering the fact that their supplier was coming by tomorrow morning for a full restock. However, the truck wasn't scheduled to come by until 7AM, meaning Ana couldn't get started on baking for the day until at least 8, which was when they opened. For that reason, Ana was seriously considering holding off opening the bakery tomorrow until 11 o'clock so she could have time to bake.
"I still think we should just close the bakery all day tomorrow," Kate said peevishly. The three of them had finished cleaning up, and they currently sat together at the café, which was relatively empty this late in the afternoon. Mia and Kate had both gotten lattes while Ana opted for some earl grey tea.
"If we opened at 11, we'd only be open for three hours," Ana pointed out. "It wouldn't be that bad."
"We made more than enough money over the last few days. Taking one day off isn't going to kill us," Kate insisted. "Whereas I think one more day like today is going to kill us."
"Kate's got a point," Mia said fairly. "You guys mentioned that you had to shut down your online form due to the high demand. I'm sure customers would understand that your bakery's been overwhelmed with business these past few days and you need an extra day to restock."
"Restocking the kitchen won't take more than a few hours," Ana said stubbornly. Truthfully, she was worried that this surge of new customers was bringing too much attention to the bakery, and that attention would bring negative online reviews. With how much she and Kate had been struggling to keep the bakery afloat these past few days, the last thing she wanted was to give unhappy customers something more to complain about.
"We're already exhausted today. Imagine how much more exhausted we're going to be after lugging a shit ton of boxes into our walk-in?" Kate stated. Ana sighed, realizing there was no use fighting her on this.
"Fine, we'll shut the bakery down tomorrow," Ana said, exasperated. "But I'm going to offer a 10% off coupon on all items for any customer who shows up tomorrow."
"I think that's a good plan," Mia nodded approvingly. "If you'd like, I can come by tomorrow morning to help you unload your truck."
"No, Mia. That's really not necessary," Ana insisted. "You've done more than enough for us."
"Oh please. I don't mind at all," Mia waved off. "In fact, I could probably–" she paused mid-sentence, seeming to realize something as a wide grin suddenly spread across her face. "I could probably get my brothers to help us out tomorrow."
Before Ana or Kate could say anything to that, Mia whipped out her phone and tapped on the screen a few times. Ana, who was sitting beside her at the table, saw her pull up the FaceTime app and tap on a group called 'Brothers Grey'.
"You're gonna get your CEO brother to help us restock our kitchen tomorrow?" Kate asked skeptically, though her voice sounded amused. She and Ana exchanged a glance.
"Of course," Mia grinned. She propped her elbow up on the table so her phone was right in front of her face, and a moment later, Christian Grey's handsome face appeared on the screen, looking like he was sitting in a home office. A second later, the screen divided into two and another guy appeared, this one blonde but equally as handsome as his brother, although he was clearly at the gym.
Why are all the Grey men so damn attractive? Ana couldn't help but think.
"Hey guys," Mia waved, grinning.
"Hey Mia," Christian said, sounding amused. "Long time no see."
"Mimi, what's up?" the blonde guy asked, and there was a tinge of concern in his voice. "Is it Mom and Dad?"
"No, no – Mom and Dad are fine," Mia assured him. "I'm calling you guys to ask for a favor. Are you free tomorrow morning?"
"Depends on what the favor is," Christian said, his voice skeptical. Ana let out an involuntary giggle.
"It's actually to help my new friend Ana, here," Mia said, leaning over to wrap an arm around Ana's shoulders and tugging her so she was visible in frame. Ana smiled a bit awkwardly, waving at the two brothers on screen. "She's the owner of The Royal Treatment. Christian, I believe you've met her before."
"Oh, yeah," Christian Grey said, blinking in surprise upon seeing Ana sitting there. "I remember her from the small business expo. Hello again, Miss Steele."
"Hi," Ana smiled, blushing for some reason.
"Hey, I'm here too!" Kate declared loudly from the opposite side of the table. Mia giggled before turning the phone screen to face Kate.
"And over here is Kate Kavanaugh," Mia introduced. "She works at the bakery too and would like to be acknowledged."
"Why hello there," the blonde Grey brother said, a clearly flirtatious lilt in his voice.
"Hi," Kate grinned, also acting flirtatious as she propped her chin on her palm. Ana had to fight not to roll her eyes. "What's your name?"
"I'm Elliot… the handsome Grey brother," Elliot said silkily, and Kate giggled.
"Okay, weirdo," Mia rolled her eyes, bringing the phone back so the screen was facing her again. "I was hoping the two of you would be available tomorrow morning to help us restock the bakery when the supplier comes by. Are you guys free?"
"Why are you helping them to begin with?" Christian asked. "Did Miss Steele hire you or something?"
"We were slammed with customers earlier today and Mia offered to stay and help us out," Ana piped up. "We pretty much ran out of all ingredients so we need to fully restock the bakery tomorrow morning. I told Mia that she doesn't need to help us out but she's pretty insistent."
"Sounds like our sister," Elliot mumbled.
"Guys, it's pretty much my fault that The Royal Treatment's been completely slammed with customers these past few days," Mia said, frowning. "I wrote that article about them, and it became way more popular than I intended. The least I could do is help them out when they most need it."
There was a short silence on the other end. "Fine, I'll help," Christian spoke up after a moment. "I don't have much to do tomorrow anyway, and I saw firsthand how slammed the bakery can be."
"I'm in too," Elliot stated. "You ladies could really use a few big strong men to help you move those heavy boxes."
"Great, do you know any?" Mia asked dryly, and Kate and Ana laughed. "But seriously – thanks guys, I appreciate it."
"You're welcome. And after this, you can owe us one," Elliot smirked. Mia rolled her eyes.
"Fine."
"See you tomorrow, Mimi," Christian said, and he flicked his eyes over to look at Ana. She blushed.
"See you tomorrow, guys," Mia said, and they waved goodbye before hanging up.
A/N: It's the Grey brothers to the rescue :)
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