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Chapter 18: What are the odds

23rd April, 2020

"Vision perceives Him not, but He perceives [all] vision; and He is the Subtle, the Acquainted."

[Surah Al-An'am]

Chapter 18:

What are the odds

"A cauliflower base pizza, really? What next, broccoli cupcakes?"

"Good idea, let's see how we can work that out."

"Oh for the love of God, stop coming up with these things," Jamie all but cried out.

Rufaida laughed at her co-worker's remark, wondering why healthy food repulsed her.

She was the assistant pastry chef at the restaurant, Zaika and during Rufaida's four days of working here, Jamie had instantly grown fond of her, and since their counters were just beside each other, her chatter never stopped. With her long, brown curly hair which was usually twisted in a neat bun under the chef's hat, her slightly plump features and her light eyes, Rufaida realized not only did Jamie resemble her friend Amrit, the two were quite similar in their characteristic too, what with their bubbly personalities and unfiltered opinions.

"While my mum and I debate over thin crust or thick crust pizza and which one's better, we don't need a third kind, this time the crust made of cauliflower. Way to ruin my favourite dish," she gagged, cringing involuntarily.

"Don't worry, this version of pizza is for the folks who stray towards the healthy side of eating once in a while or follow a diet, so safe to say, you don't come in that category," Rufaida informed good-naturedly.

"Gladly, sis, gladly. And let's not discuss the futility of diets, I once tried a weight loss diet and hated it, my dietician was ruthless."

"Oh come on," Rufaida urged, "If you have a great guide, following a diet is not that bad."

"Sure," Jamie snorted, "And I am size zero."

Shaking her head, Rufaida went about formulating the standard recipe, when Jamie, in the middle of folding fondant, thought out loud, "I wonder what led Boss to come up with a healthy menu in the restaurant because the few times I've seen him eat, it's nothing but from the junk counters."

"Really?" Rufaida questioned, mildly surprised. "I don't know why I thought the head of this place must have been a nutritionist or fitness expert, I was so impressed by this whole idea of coming with such unique options."

"Nutritionist?" Jamie laughed. "You haven't met Boss, have you?"

"No, haven't met him yet."

"He's nothing like you imagine him to be, Rufs. He's pretty young and very dashing," she whispered the last part, almost swooning. "Zaika was a project that he and his friend came up with in University. They presented it to at least ten investors and were rejected for a year straight. Then they pitched the suggestion during the Entrepreneurial Week in the second year, it was backed with an impeccable business plan and they immediately bagged the second place and had a host of sponsors on board. They even did a test run of their idea back in Ireland, it worked very well, and from then on there was no looking back. This branch here is directly owned by Boss, but they are granting a franchise to investors in different parts of the country, while his friend took over the one they launched in Ireland as a part of their project. It's been close to a year since they first started. This branch is pretty new though, just a couple of months old, but it's quickly picking pace."

Rufaida paused at the little piece of information and took it all in.

She knew that with the growing restaurant culture, it wasn't a cakewalk to establish your name in the field. There had to be something extremely unique that made you stand out amongst the rest.