Serena watched the number display on the lift count up from one to ten. Please be Alicia, please be Alicia, please be Alicia…
It was Alicia.
She sighed in relief and ushered the girl in.
“Where were you out so late? I was getting so worried! Have you eaten dinner?”
“Yes.” Alicia locked herself in her room.
“What did you—” She should get the key, unlock the door, and interrogate the girl. What if Alicia was up to more trouble? What if Alicia was in trouble?
But she couldn’t. Not after that night.
She reheated dinner and ate both servings by herself. Before the silence grew uncomfortable, she switched the TV on. A medical drama was on; Wei Xiang hated those.
After dinner, she did the chores. Vacuuming the floor, she swore to herself to never let that night repeat itself. Folding the clothes, she promised herself to learn from her mistakes. Taking inventory of the fridge, she committed herself to do things different.
When she bought chocolate mix, muscle memory led her to pick the bigger package, hence leaving enough chocolate mix leftover for a second batch. Why not use it? Her colleagues would love these.
Serena set up the kitchen and got to baking. As she lost herself to the batter, she recalled the gentle way which Dania examined Alicia’s sprained ankle. Which reminded her that Alicia has a sprained ankle. She thought of calling the girl out to examine it, but decided not to. Old Serena knocked all the time; new Serena will not.
She can examine it tomorrow morning.
After setting the tray into the oven, she laid on the couch to catch some shut-eye within the forty-five minutes. As her eyes shut, she recalled Alicia asking, ‘Anymore?’. Maybe Wei Xiang was right. Maybe it was time. Maybe sixteen was old enough.
Ding! The oven chirped. She let them cool overnight and brought it to work tomorrow.
As expected, everyone loved it. They clung onto anything that saved them from cafeteria food like a life buoy. Though reluctant, everyone was too polite from having seconds. Except Kelly, who wanted to save one for her husband. Serena allowed it.
It was just like Chinese New Year, where everyone in the village came knocking for Ma’s pineapple tarts. The wave of nostalgia brought a smile to her face.
“Mm!” Kelly said with a full mouth, “You should sell these! It’ll make the perfect business! People would pay good money for this!”
“Thanks Kelly.” She scratched her head.
“It could be like a physical retail store, or entirely online, and you hand-deliver the cookies to the customer.” Off she went into her entrepreneurial dreamland again. “So it’s like food delivery, but for cookies. Imagine having cookies hand-delivered to your doorstep! Isn’t that so convienient?”
“That sounds like a good idea.” Serena nodded, keeping the container back in her handbag. “Cheryl—”
“And you could sell a container of them for like…”
The tables had turned. It was the first time Kelly cut someone else off. Her eyes watched the ceiling as she crunched the numbers before she gave up and used her phone instead.
“Twenty-five? And if you sold one every day, that’ll be… seven-fifty. And that’s only one container a day!”
“What about a cake?” Serena suggested. That same sparkle ignited in her eyes.
“You can do them birthdays! You can offer to bake birthday cakes for people according to whatever flavour or topping they want! Customised. You can charge more for those! You can earn good money with this!”
Better yet, Serena thought. She could live off this.
“Better not let your bakery distract you from work.” Cheryl chimed in. “Just like how I don’t let doodling distract Zack from his studies.”
The tables turned back.
“Cheryl, does Zack get tuition?” Serena jogged her memory awake.
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“Of course! You think school materials alone are enough to prepare your kids for their exams? Their teachers have forty students to handle. You think your kid will get enough attention from them?”
“Could you recommend some? I think Alicia could benefit from some tuition.”
“Of course!”
Every tutor and tuition center Cheryl had listed were too costly for Serena’s budget. and the glowing reviews made them sound too good to be true.
She sighed.
“Or… Since we are all being creative today… Why not I let my Zack tutor Alicia for you?”
“Oh?”
“Yeah! It’ll give him some working experience. You can discuss the rate with Zack. Teach him how to make business negotiations.”
“It’s okay Cheryl, you don’t have to. Thank you so much—”
“Ah!” Cheryl patted her shoulder a little too harshly. “It’s no trouble at all. We’ll set up a date for it later.”
“Uh…Uh sure! Sure!” Serena bowed, “Thank you Cheryl, thank you so much!”
If Cheryl liked it, she would’ve hugged her. Old Serena left Alicia’s studies in the girl’s hands; New Serena will not.
They got back to work. A customer asked which brand of soap was best for corgis. Another’s child begged and begged for permission to play with the hamsters. Cans were arranged, baskets were stacked, floors were swept.
Nearing the end of their shifts, she did something unlike herself. She invited Kelly to dinner. Kelly also did something unlike herself; she accepted.
Empty bottles, tissue packets, and newspapers filled every nook and cranny of the car. When was the last time Serena cleaned the car?
Her phone connected to the speakers and auto-played her playlist. Her face went red as she rushed to mute it.
“Wow, this is my mother’s favourite song,” Kelly said.
It made her feel old. She hated feeling old.
“How is she?” She only turned the volume up after switching it to the radio.
“She passed a few years ago. Bone cancer.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
She thought of her joints. She hated thinking about her joints.
“How is Alicia?” Kelly asked.
“Fine.”
“How are her grades?”
Serena laughed painfully. “Hopefully Cheryl is right, and tuition will make a difference. If not, I don’t know what else to do! It was nice of her to offer that though.”
“Yeah. She’s cold, but nice. You know what I mean?”
Serena knew exactly what she meant. They gossiped about how Cheryl flaunted her necklace, how Gen could not eat civilly to save her life, and the part-timers that dropped everything they carried.
Then they cooed over the animals. Poor things trapped in those tiny cages. If either of them had the money and time, they’d save them from these hellish conditions. Kelly always tried to play with them as much as possible to Cheryl’s dismay.
One glance at the drying rack told her Alicia did not do the chores. The house had no dinner prepared, unopened mails littered across the dining table, and a lazy teenager sat before the television on the couch.
This was a first for Alicia.
“Alicia, this is my colleague, Kelly. From the pet store.” Serena gestured to Kelly.
The girl didn’t react.
She cleared her throat, bulging her eyes out, “We have a guest!”
“Hi Alicia! How are you?” Kelly added.
The girl changed the channel, then laid down.
“Don’t watch the TV lying down! It will spoil your eyes! Do you want to wear spectacles?”
“You—” Forget it.
Serena made dinner. Kelly complimented her cooking, whilst Alicia criticised it by eating it in her room behind closed doors. This warmed her heart, then cooled it back down.
Following dinner, she made tea and got down to business. They dreamt of the perfect bakery: A sleek website, a following on social media, and Serena making art in her kitchen.
But perfection was impossible, especially with them at the helm. Compromises had to be made, leaving them with:
One, they split the labour in half; Kelly handled business, Serena handled baking. Two, they made the deliveries themselves. Three, once the business took off, they’ll quit the pet shop.
On the customer’s end, they would first come across Kelly’s marketing online. Then, they would call Serena to place an order. A few days later, their cookies would appear by their doorstep.
Serena wrote this all down at light speed. She doodled some ideas for the website design too.
With the plan finalised, they only had one thing left to do: register the business. Time was getting late, and Kelly had a husband waiting for her, hence leaving this in Serena’s hands.
Alicia came out the moment Kelly left and dumped her plate in the sink.
“Alicia.” Serena called her.
Alicia stopped, but didn’t turn to face her. The girl sat on the fence of replying or ignoring her.
“Did you hear what me and Kelly were discussion earlier? I’m starting a bakery business!”
“Ok.”
“What do you think I should name it?”
While the girl contemplated, she filled in the registration form.
“What is the business about?”
“I’ll be baking pastry for people to eat, like the cookies I baked you that time, after we came back from Dr Wang’s? How is your ankle? Does it still hurt?”
She couldn’t tell if the girl was brainstorming a catchy name, or deliberating whether to spend the energy required to answer the question.
“—and maybe I’ll bake a cake too in the future!” She added when the pause grew too long.
“Cookies and cakes P-T-E-L-T-D.”
“That stands for private limited.”
“My leg is fine.”
“Can I see? Do you want to see Dr Wang for it?”
Alicia locked the door.
After registering, she got to the chores and daydreaming what the website ought to look like (one of the more feasible ideas they thought of). The first words that came to mind were pink and hearts. Was that too girly?
She’ll discuss it with Kelly tomorrow.
Cheryl suggested tomorrow afternoon for Alicia’s tuition session, which didn’t clash with the girl’s schedule.
Serena knocked on Alicia’s door to inform her of it. “You have tuition tomorrow afternoon with Zack. My manager’s son, the auntie with the necklace. Don’t be late.”
No response.
She wanted to keep going, but stopped herself again. Old Serena nagged; new Serena will not.