"I remember asking Grandma to let me continue running her bakery before she passed away. I thought I could transform this place into something different, but my best never yielded the results I wanted," Jane stuttered, staring at the heap of snacks and bread sitting on the bakery display shelf.
She paused to wipe the tears gently rolling down her cheeks and looked around the bakery slowly for the umpteenth time in less than an hour. Memories of how the place used to be crowded when Grandma was in charge flooded her head, and Jane couldn't help but cry.
It's been two decades since Grandma passed away, and she was one of the best bakers in the small town of Albapi.
People came from far and near to enjoy her recipe and the bakery was always full to the brim. The residents of Alpabi graced the bakery with live music and even drama shows, which further helped the bakery to flourish; it was a center of attraction for the small town.
Jane spent a good time with Grandma while growing up and learned almost all her recipes. She even got the inspiration to own a traditional bakery from the old woman, and luckily for her, grandma gave her permission to run the place when she passed away with a condition that her recipe and legacy must continue. Moreover, none of her children or grandkids were interested in the bakery business.
Jane couldn't start immediately because she was a student. Life took her back to the city for studies, and Jane settled thereafter; she got a good job and married her dream man.
Exactly seventeen years after Grandma passed away, Jane started having dreams about the old woman, so she made up her mind to bring Grandma's bakery back to life since it was her childhood dream.
Her decision almost broke her home, but Michael being a gentleman, didn't let that happen. Instead of insisting they remain in the city, he supported Jane with anything related to the bakery but somehow, Jane never succeeded despite everything she had done in the past three years.
"Common honey, don't do this again. Crying won't solve anything," Michael tried comforting his wife but she couldn't control her emotions anymore and wept uncontrollably.
"I have invested a lot into this place. Owning a bakery has always been my dream and you know that," Jane's voice trembled; she paused again to wipe her tears.
He hates seeing his wife in that state, but telling her to give up on what's making her sad all the time wasn't an option.
"I left my good-paying job, left the city, forced my family to relocate, abandoning the life they used to know just to make myself happy, and yet, I have nothing to show for it," Jane continued, burying her face in her hands with regrets.
"Sweetheart, we are in this together. Please stop crying," Micheal drew Jane closer and hugged her.
The couple were stuck together for a few minutes and a customer eventually interrupted that moment.
Jane felt a little bit better seeing the first customer walk in at noon, he was a teenager returning from school. Jane recognized him well because he comes often to get bread from the bakery.
"Welcome to Mama's bakery, what can I offer you?" Jane asked, wearing a smile to cover her sadness, but it was obvious because her eyes were red and puffy.
"Good afternoon, ma. I want to buy some barley bread," He replied.
"Okay," Jane replied and packed what her customer asked for.
"Thanks for patronizing," She said stretching a small pack containing the barley bread. The boy took it and gave her some cash.
"Hi, I forgot to ask your name. I should know my best customer's names right?" Jane asked as the boy turned away from the counter.
"My name is Kelvin," He replied.
"Wow, that's a beautiful one. I am Mrs Jane," She replied.
"Everyone knows your name," Kelvin replied and left after the brief introduction.
Jane felt a spark of hope from Kelvin's response and she turned to her husband immediately.
"My bakery isn't invisible, right?" They know me, but only a few patronize me," She said to Micheal.
"Yes, maybe there's something we aren't doing right," Micheal replied, and for the next few weeks, Jane tried interacting more with the few people who came to the bakery, but that didn't change anything.
Months passed, and sales deteriorated further to a point where Jane thought of giving up.
"It's not getting better," Jane told Michael when he asked if there was any improvement.
"I really don't know what next," She stuttered.
"Sink or swim, I will always support you. Just follow your mind," Micheal replied.
Jane spent the whole night thinking about what next and finally made up her mind.
"I will just quit once I exhaust the materials at the bakery," Jane concluded and shared her thoughts with her husband. Michael had no objections and he promised to speak to a few friends about getting Jane a job back in the city.
Jane sat at the bakery the next day looking sad when Kelvin came with his friends. She felt happy seeing them and immediately attended to him.
"Good afternoon, Mrs Jane; I want some barley bread. My grandpa extended his regards," Kelvin said.
"Welcome, Kelvin. Is that all?" She asked.
"Yes ma," He replied.
"I thought your friends wanted to patronize me too," She asked.
"No, we don't eat these things. They are traditional food and I wonder how grandpa enjoys it," Kelvin replied.
"Aren't they delicious?" Jane asked.
"Yes, they are but not like strawberry and chocolate cakes. I prefer butter bread to barley bread too," He replied.
Jane packaged the barley and gave it to Kelvin who left with the other kids.
She started contemplating what Kelvin said and was lost in thought.
"Grandma's recipe doesn't meet the kid's demand, they prefer really sweet snacks. No wonder my kids don't eat the bakery's snack," Jane muttered, pacing around the bakery.
"What if I did something different? What if I make snacks that meet the demands of these kids?" Jane thought about it thoroughly.
"But I don't want Grandma's bakery legacy to end," She sighed heavily and put a call across to Micheal immediately for some advice.
Weeks passed and Jane went to learn how to make modern snacks. She rebranded the bakery and things kicked off immediately.
Jane didn't believe the massive turnaround the bakery experienced and wished she had thought about this before now.
