Darkness still seeping through the opened windows told Charlie he had not overslept, even though he could hear voices coming from downstairs. His mother, father, and Chef Luc were already in the kitchen by the time Charlie had got himself ready and strolled into the kitchen. His mother was busying herself preparing a hearty cooked breakfast. Charlies father and Chef Luc were sat at the table. She couldn’t possibly send her boys off to work on an empty stomach.
The atmosphere was positively jovial that morning. Even Charlie's father looked relaxed as he sat at the table drinking his morning cup of earl grey tea. “Good morning, Charlie,” came a very jolly greeting from his father, “ready for a busy day are we?” he asked.
“Err yes dad, are you feeling okay?” Charlie asked his father.
“Never better!” came the response.
Sitting down at the table to join the others for breakfast, Charlie was bemused by his father’s exceedingly good mood. His father was pretty much in a joyful mood for most of the time. Apart from when a knock at the front door would interrupt his rest…
But on that morning, it was more than just a joyful mood Charlie found his father in; there was an inner look of someone at peace as well. They all tucked into the delicious looking cooked breakfast that Charlie's mother had lovingly prepared for them all. Charlie quickly put on a pot of his favourite coffee to add to the beautiful aroma that filled the kitchen. Before long the table fell silent as they all sat together enjoying every mouthful of there breakfast, washed down with the finest coffee. The first rays of light started to illuminate the kitchen. Bird song started to fill the air outside. “It was going to be a beautiful spring day,” Charlie thought, “perfect weather for a Food Festival.”
Breakfast over, not a morsel left on anyone's plate, so it was time to pack the van ready to leave for the festival site. Charlie checked on the cheesecakes that had been left in the coldest part of the fridge, still in there molds, overnight. “They look perfect,” he thought to himself. “We'll turn them out now and finish them at the venue,” he'd decided. Thankfully, Chef Luc's van was the refrigerated kind, so they would keep perfect stored in the polystyrene boxes.
The plan was, once they had arrived at the venue, the three of them would finish decorating the four hundred cheesecakes and gently put them into the tins before they were sealed ready to be displayed. Chef Luc finished loading his van with the various containers that held the various finishing touches, the tins for packaging, and the three display cases for the finished cheesecakes. Charlie and his father were busy chatting all while carefully removing each of the cheesecakes from the molds, placing them on a cellophane sheet. They were then placed into one of the polystyrene boxes that would keep them chilled. Soon the boxes were all filled; they were sealed with there lids and were ready to be placed carefully into the van, and just in time, too.
Charlie noticed his dad wipe a bead of sweet from his face as the last boxes were placed into the van and the van door closed. A look of concentration changed into a look of relief at the sound of the van door closing. All exhibitors had to arrive at the event at a specific time, and that time was fast approaching. Charlie's mother looked at the wall clock in the kitchen, then with a slight tone of concern in her voice, said, “You boys had better get a move on. You don't want to be late, now do you!” Wanting the event to go as smoothly as possible for them all, for differing reasons, she had kept an eye on everything they did. Wishing them a wonderful day, she then winked at her husband, a loving gesture that was shared between them. The three boys all climbed into Chef Luc's van, as she watched them carefully drive away before she returned to tidying the kitchen, then headed back to the warmth of her bed for a little more sleep.
Charlie was very excited about the day ahead. Not only could he show off his cheesecake creations to festival visitors, but better than that, he would be working with his father. Now he knew the truth of his father's past, and actually getting him to be a part of the festival had been nothing short of a miracle. In his mind, he couldn’t wait for the moment he would be standing next to him selling the creation, that were inspired by his father and then made together on this special occasion. The drive to the festival site, which only took them about ten minutes even driving careful, as they had precious cargo on board. The entrance was already bumper to bumper with an assortment of different vehicles all trying to make their way on to the festival site.
They joined the end of the queue and slowly crept down the dirt drive still a little wet from a light shower during the night. Once near the front of the queue, Chef rolled down the driver’s side window in preparation, until they stopped before the official. “Good morning, gentlemen. Name please?” asked the steward that had been directing exhibitors to their appropriate pitches.
“Morning, Bill,” came the reply from Charlie's father.
“Morning, Terrance. Surprised to see you here,” came the slightly bemused response from the steward. Charlie’s father just grinned back, as the steward handed them a site map and pointed them in the direction of their pitch. Chef Luc thanked the official and slowly drove off in the rough direction that the official had indicated.
Having to watch the traffic closely, with all the cars going in different directions, Chef threw the festival map into Charlie’s lap, who promptly opened it so he could locate where they were supposed to be. The organisers had set the whole site out in a large wheel shape. “Left, left down there,” Charlie shouted excitedly to Chef Luc as he turned carefully down one of the makeshift roads, being mindful of the slippery surface. “We should be about halfway along here on the right, looking at this,” Charlie said as he attempted to keep count as they passed each pitch. The search was narrowed a little, thankfully, as there were only several blue gazebos in that particular spot where they had been assigned. “Stop now, here,” came another shout from an overly excited Charlie. "This should be us right here." Chef Luc pulled up along the rear of the row of gazebos as Charlie jumped out of the van to go and check if the one they had stopped next to was in fact the one they had managed to borrow. He hurried around to the front and carefully unzipped one of the side panels and peered inside.
What he saw momentarily took his breath away. He stood motionless as he took in the sight. Remembering his father and Chef Luc were waiting on him, he quickly zipped the panel back up and ran back to the van. “Yep, this is us,” he eagerly said as he flung open the passenger door, which made his father jump a little.
“I'm guessing you found our pitch then Charlie?” said his father now smiling back at his son.
“Yep, Dad, I certainly did. So come on, you two. Time to get to work,” he announced, as he walked around to the rear of the van and opened the door. He was quickly joined by the other two once Chef Luc had turned off the engine. The three of them starting this adventure together had brought an air of exhilaration to all three of them and had just strengthened there friendship even further. “Let’s just take in the display cases for now," Charlie instructed them both as they picked up one each. They all walked around to the front of there gazebo, and while Charlie carefully balanced the case that he had been carrying on one arm, he carefully unzipped the side panel to allow them to access the gazebo. Once inside, they were all left speechless by what was presented before them.
Charlie’s mother had not only set up the gazebo, but she had done something very special indeed. Charlie knew that his mother had organised the blue table cloths to cover the tables, but what he did not know was that she had asked for them to be printed with the words, "Cheesecake Charli,"e in big bold white letters and then underneath she'd had printed, "The Little Cheesecake Shop." To add to that, she had also written out the two large menu boards that were hanging at the rear of the tent. Each board had, "Cheesecake Charlie," written at the top and then underneath listed the ten flavours that Charlie had produced for that day. Sitting neatly at the side of the table were business cards that she had printed with the family’s phone number. She had also arranged for leaflets to be printed with the different flavours, followed by a short description of each. Not one of them could speak as they looked at the boards, the printed table cloths, the leaflets, and the cards.
Charlie then noticed, resting on top of one of the tables, a note, left by his mother which he read out loud, “My Dearest Terrance and Charlie, I knew you would do it and you both make me very proud indeed, not only as a wife but also as a mother. Thank you to dear Chef Luc for helping to make this day possible. Have a fabulous day. Sell out, drink lots of water, and most importantly, have fun. Love Mom/Jacque.” The three men looked at one another, the sentiment of the moment now began to sink in. Charlie, his father, and his old childhood friend all shared the same passion and had enjoyed working together as a team. After several minutes of reflection for each of them, Charlie cleared his throat from the knot within and said, “We really should get set up as there was lots to do before the gates opened in a couple of hours.” There was just one last thing that he was waiting on to be delivered, which he really hoped would turn up on time.
The three of them merrily set about getting ready. Charlie had assigned his father and Chef the task of unloading the van while he sorted out the tables and putting the display cases out. The tall round display case would sit in the middle and either side of that would be a long rectangular display case. The centre case would hold Charlie's award-winning cheesecake, a show piece to draw customers in. While the rectangular ones would hold five flavours on one side and five the other. As he briefly stood alone waiting for the return of Chef Luc and his father, Charlie turned around to look at the boards, thrilled by what he had managed to accomplish. In no time at all, the van had been unloaded and now they had the task of finishing off the individual cheesecakes before placing them in the special tins.
Charlie would keep back just one of each shape that would sit in the front of the display case to excite the customers to want to buy. The other 390 cheesecakes would be placed inside the special tins and then sealed. They all got stuck in to finishing the cheesecakes; it was like a production line, each doing a specific task as they worked through one flavour at a time. When finished, each one was carefully placed into a tin, sealed with a lid, labelled, and placed back into the polystyrene box to keep chilled. It took them longer than they anticipated to complete this task, partly due to fooling around and joke-telling which left them all reeling in laughter.
It was only when an official poked his head through the opened side panel and announced there was just thirty minutes until the festival gates were opened that they realised they needed to get finished quickly. They felt like naughty school boys not completing an assigned task, so they agreed they had better knuckle down, as by now, only fifteen minutes remained. Together they finished off the final few cheesecakes, and without any more delay they put the tins into the display case and the award-winning cheesecake took the pride of place in the centre display. This stood slightly higher than the other two so was more easily seen.
Just as Charlie had given up waiting for his special delivery, that very same official stuck his head through the side flap and asked whether Charlie was waiting on a delivery. “Yes, yes I am sir,” he replied, as his tone elevated with exhilaration as his special delivery had now arrived, not a moment to soon.
The official nodded and radioed back to the gate to let the courier through, and minutes later he arrived at the slightly opened tent entrance. “Delivery for a Charlie,” announced a gruff sounding courier driver.
"Yes that’s me," came the reply from Charlie.
“Sign here, sir,” as the courier placed a clipboard with a document in front of Charlie. The document was quickly signed as the courier then said, in a more serious tone, “Now I need to explain how to handle this stuff,” before he turned and walked back to his van.
Intrigued by this mysterious arrival, Charlie's father and Chef couldn’t contain there excitement and questioned Charlie about what this delivery might be. Charlie remained tight lipped as the courier retuned, carrying a medium sized insulated box. He put the package down on the small table at the rear of the gazebo then opened the package. He then proceeded to describe how the item inside should be handled, insisting that all three of them understood just what they were doing, as if they messed it up it would be his job on the line. Having now explained things several times, the courier felt he’d done enough to leave them now and continue with his deliveries. Once he left, Chef Luc turned to his apprentice. “Wow,” said Chef Luc, “you really do know how to put on a show don't you?” He then added, “It must have been my fabulous teaching,” as they all burst into fits of laughter.
All that now remained was to put out this final item before they opened up the front flap of the gazebo ready to begin trading. The courier had left three specialised trays with the order that Charlie placed on the bottom of each display case. Next, he carefully opened the insulated box, and using the special scoop, took out some of its contents and placed a scoop carefully into each of the trays before sliding them into the bottom of the display cases. All that now remained was to open the front of the gazebo. While Charlie and his dad were unzipping and then folding the front panel, they heard a booming announcement over the loud speakers. “Good morning, exhibitors, and welcome to the annual Poxwold Food Festival. We have perfect weather, so we expect it to be a busy show. If you require any assistance throughout the day, don’t hesitate but to speak with an official who will be wandering around wearing high-vis jackets. On that note, we have five minutes remaining and the gates will be opened. Happy sale’s everyone.” There tent now open, Charlie noticed frantic movement around him as last minute preparations were made by all the surrounding exhibitors.
Carefully, the three of them moved the large front table forward, slightly back from the edge of their gazebo before Charlie’s surprise was put into action.
As Chef and Charlie’s dad stood eagerly by looking on, a small drop of water was carefully poured into the three specialised trays which set off a reaction with the contents. This reaction caused plumes of wispy clouds that filled the bottom of the display case and spilled out over the table like a low cloud on an early morning. It caused gasps of delight as several of the traders who stood opposite and had noticed the display. Charlie walked around the front of their stand to carry out one final check, beaming back with complete delight as he could now clearly see the magical effect the three of them had created.
A loud clacson sounded and the festival was open. A mix of nerves and excitement as they waited for their first customer, as the three of them tried to make themselves look busy. They were either straightening the pile of small menus, lining up the carrier bags, or perhaps brushing away invisible dirt off the tablecloth. The gentleman next to them, who was selling pies, noticed the three of them rushing around, clearly doing jobs that didn’t need doing. The gentlemen wondered over to their stand, which stopped them all in their place, letting them know that it would be quite for the first hour while people made their way in. After a brief chat, they found out he was a regular trader there himself. The tall well-groomed man went on to inform them when the busiest times where. Charlie thanked him politely before he casually made his way back to his own stand.
Looking at one another, they all then laughed at how nervous they must have looked. After all, this wasn’t just a day for sales but a day for the three of them to heal old memories and create wondrous new ones. Over the next hour, they had the occasional visitor that would walk past, doing what they soon discovered was the first reconnoitre walk around. This was usual, as visitors would walk around the whole site at least once, checking out what was there. Only when having done that, would the buying commence. Then you had the fellow exhibitors who would walk by, checking out potential competition. Pass stalls with a friendly smile, a polite greeting but really seeing what was on offer, what the price was, and how much stock they had on show.
This being a new thing for Charlie, he was initially delighted to have people to the stall only later to discover they were competition. A conversation began over how lucky they were to have such a warm sunny day which then came to an abrupt halt as a familiar face appeared around the corner, that of Charlies mother. “Did you forget something this morning?” she asked Charlie, who’s relaxed state had now turned in to one of mild panic.
Quickly, he scanned the gazebo, trying to see if there was something he had forgotten. Everything was there in its place as far as he could tell, but still with a slight panicked tone in his voice, he replied by saying, “Er no, Mom, I think we have everything,” panning around the space one final time.
With a cheeky grin on her face, from behind her legs she revealed a large carrier bag and handed it to her son. Looking inside, he quickly removed the contents with delight. “Mom had done it again,” he thought as he saw what she had done, a grateful feeling welling within. His mother, at the same time as organising the beautifully printed tablecloth had also ordered three white and three blue polo shirts of differing sizes. On theses shirts she had had embroidered, "Cheesecake Charlie," on the front with, "The Little Cheesecake Shop," underneath, and then on the back was printed a little cheesecake shaped character, "Cheesecake Charlie."
His mother then said, “I wanted to keep this as a surprise to, but had to wait until first thing this morning to pick them up as there had been a problem.”
Charlie gave his mother the squishiest hug that he could muster, then standing back slightly, held her hand and said he was the luckiest boy in the world to have a Mum like his. “This was the icing on the cake,” Charlie said out load, then realising just what he had said, the tent came to life in fits of laughter. Once composure had been regained, they one by one snuck around the back of the gazebo to change into their new tops. Charlie opted for a blue one, while his father and chef chose the white.
Looking very smart in their new uniform, Charlie’s mom, who loved taking pictures, asked them to pose as she snapped as many pictures as she could. It started as three proud men standing together but before long ended in bunny ears, face pulling and joyous sniggers. Joining in on the laughter, she then put her camera down, trying to act serious through buried squeaks of laughter saying, “Alright enough then. Haven’t you boy’s got work to do?”
Terrance then facing his loving wife said, “Yes, mam, straight back to work with us,” he said with a wide cheeky grin. Smiling back, she said farewell and decided to take herself off and have a walk around the show ground. She secretly thought she had better leave before she ended in a pool of tears. She was so proud to see her husband and son standing side by side working together having overcome so much.
Slowly, the morning morphed into lunchtime. The event had gotten busier and busier; by now they was a sea of people having to turn sidewards at times to quash through to the next stand. Sales had started slowly, having only sold a small number by lunch, as inquisitive visitors looked at the stall, read the menu board flavours then looked at the display cases. It was confusing to some people that came from this small village to comprehend just what was being offered at this stall. The tablecloth said, "Cheesecake," the boards read, "Cheesecake," and even the polo-shirts had "Cheesecake" written across the breast. But cheesecakes were not what these beautiful works of art looked like. At the beginning, it was a hard sell or to convince potential customers what these were.
However, before long, people started to purchase, several deciding they wanted to saviour this delight once they were home, but many more chose to eat there’s straight away, having already scoffed down a pulled-pork roll, or a chimichanga, maybe even an oven fired pizza, well, in fact, any of the vast assortment of foods on offer. Once a number of people had purchased there little tin filled with cheesecake and dug the spoon in for that first bite, the word soon spread. They watched from their gazebo as customers, with expressions of heavenly delight, pointed their friends over to the Cheesecake Charlie stand.
Suddenly, there was purchase after purchase, poly-box after poly-box being emptied, and stock getting less and less. It was non-stop sales by mid-afternoon, and all that was left were those in the display case and one poly-box of assorted flavours. The three of them had worked in perfect unison through the rush to keep up with the demands, although not forgetting to have fun with it all. Then by mid-afternoon, most of the visitors that had been there since morning were now occupying themselves milling around the various array of exhibitors who were selling kitchen or food related gadgets. Or perhaps buying the array of jams, pickles, or flavoured olive oils in order to stock up there pantries at home.
Charlie looked around at their diminished stock, grateful and contented with how well the day had gone so far. He then looked at his shirt that he proudly wore, the small cheesecake character that now stood as there emblem. He looked at the smiles of his father and Chef, truly grateful this had all come together. He then suggested that his father and Chef have a wonder around the show for a little while. They gladly took Charlie up on his suggestion and were off. Charlie had not seen his father this happy in a long time, and to have Chef here with them was a welcomed delight. He also got to see a different side to Chef that he had not seen so far, a playful elation of two old friends once again working together. When those two get together, Charlie thought, there could be trouble. He witnessed them behaving like young teenagers as they attempted to out sell each other.
While there was a lull in the crowd, Charlie took the opportunity to straighten the stand and brush away any rubbish that had been discarded in front, ready for the next rush of expected people. There were not very many cheesecakes left, as just the occasional visitor walked past and purchased or an exhibitor who quickly popped by having seen visitors filling their faces and groaning with delight. Charlie was having the time of his life.
While his back was turned, Charlie heard a faint cough behind him in order to catch his attention, and upon turning he realised that it was none other than the acclaimed food critic, Quentin Watson, standing there. Seeing Charlie's centre display and remembering the change it had brought about within him, he wanted to stop and pay his respects. "Good afternoon, Mr Watson,” said Charlie, continuing to say that he had not expected to see him this far out at the food festival. Then, he quickly remembered to thank him for the gracious words he had written about his cheesecake Quentin had sampled at Fleurette’s.
After looking over the remaining cheesecakes on display, Quentin looked up at Charlie and responded by saying, “It’s excellent to see you again, Mr Warner. Your cheesecake certainly left a lasting impression on me. So when I saw that you had a stall here, I wanted to come over and see how you were doing.” He then went back to examining in closer detail the cheesecakes that were in the display cases then trying to match those with the flavours listed on the boards. Though several of the more popular flavours had been crossed out, there was still a good selection left.
Quentin then began to remark at how creative Charlie had been, that with all his travels he had never seen cheesecakes finished in this manner before. After much deliberation, he chose four flavours to take home with him. As a last comment, he said, “If these are as good as the one I tasted while at Fleurette's, you will be hearing from me,” and with that he thanked Charlie, picked up one of his cards, paid for his purchase, and disappeared once more.
Just moments later, while Charlie was thinking about what had just transpired, his father and Chef returned, happy and content, having filled themselves up with chargrilled bourbon flavoured steak burgers. Charlie said he would like to take a short break now, not mentioning anything to his father about seeing the person that ruined his life all those years earlier. It was a long shot, but he wanted to try and locate Quentin while still possible. They both nodded in agreement, feeling too full to utter the words. Already on his way, he shouted back to his dad that he would be back shortly, taking off in the direction that he thought he saw Quentin head in. There was now a band playing slightly beyond the festive stands where many people were now gathering. Thinking Quentin maybe in that area, he raced towards the crowd, trying to soak in the atmosphere as he hurried towards the music. There were sounds of people enjoying themselves, the smells from the hot food traders drifting on the gentle breeze. But many of the crowd had headed or were heading into the direction of the musician, transfixed by her energy and her love of music.
Almost giving up hope, he finally caught a glimpse of Quentin who had by now pasted the music and crowd looking as though he was heading to the exit. Racing after him, he managed to stop him only metres short of the exit gate. Out of breathe, he grabbed Quentin’s shoulder and sort of jumped in front of him. Trying to catch his breath, the word “wait” sort of spluttered out.
A bemused Quentin stood for a moment and then said, “Did I forget something?” to which Charlie responded by saying, “No but I did.” Breathe regained, Charlie felt this was his moment to defend his father and no amount of stature within the food industry that Quentin held was going to stop him. Holding back as much anger as he could, he wanted him to understand the damage that he had done to his father all those years previous. He went on to explain, that it WAS his own father whom Quentin had written about all those many years previous. How his father seeing those words, walked away from the industry he loved, moved and great friendships were lost. Charlie explained about the old journal, how it was his father’s notes and work that had inspired him all along, and that he was immensely proud of his father. Quentin, left speechless, stood listening intently, a blank expression on his face. Charlie went on to say, that his father was actually here today, he and his mentor had finally, after all these years, encouraged him to be a part of all the preparations, the making of the cheesecakes, and the sales today. He explained that it took his father a tremendous amount of courage to do this. So if he was, in fact, going to make any comment, it had to be directed at his father and not to Charlie. Taking a deep breathe, he waited for a response from Quentin, his face and posture giving nothing away.
Had Charlie said too much? Had he overstepped the mark, blurting all that out? Then the fear rose within him that events of the past might be repeated again. Now trying to back track, Charlie quickly tried to retract what he had said, but it was too late. Quentin turned on his heels and quickly left. Standing there for a moment, Charlie wondered about what he had just done. How could he face his father if something went wrong? In trying to help his dad, had he now made things worse? "What to do, what to do?" Charlie thought anxiously.
Charlie made his way back to their pitch deciding to not say anything, and let his father just enjoy the day. He hoped that just maybe Quentin would remember being a teen himself and would let it go as over enthusiastic adolescent behaviour. Charlie took the long route back to their pitch, taking a little time to again check out the other stands and delight in the sounds, smells, and atmosphere. Then with his mood once again cheerful, he made his way back to "Cheesecake Charlie" where only half a dozen cheesecakes remained and he could see Chef and his dad were still acting like children. It brought a wide smile to Charlie’s face, as he walked back into the gazebo, and with a chuckle in his voice, told the two of them to behave. That just caused even more laughter, which seemed to attract a customer who decided to buy all the remaining cheesecakes. They were quickly bagged, payment was received, and once she was out of sight, they did a secret little high-five under the table with a gleeful grin. “What a day it had been, all sold out with only an hour to go,” Charlie said. He gave them both a great big manly hug as they were out in public. Then rapidly they started to pack things away quickly, wanting to get away before the rush of other traders if possible. Banners were folded, display cases and tables dismantled, leaving only one thing. Charlie noticed the bright vest of an official and eagerly walked over to ask permission to leave early. With the help of his Lego shaped cheesecake as a little bribe, permission was happily granted.
The three men worked together in harmony, packing the last of their things, dismantling the gazebo quickly, and placing it neatly in the van. One last check that nothing had been left, a quick farewell to the exhibitors who had been there neighbours for the day, and they were off. Chef had to slowly edge his way around the outskirts of the gazebos, looking for the official crossing place, until finally they arrived at the trade exit. The van slid slightly as Chef Luc edged forward through the churned up wet sand then onto the main road.
The first stop was to drop the gazebo and tables that had been kindly lent back to their rightful owner. Then home to unload, count the taking for the day, freshen up, and then decide what they would do to celebrate that evening. Charlie, overcome with joy and appreciation, didn’t want this day to end, so decided to treat everyone to a meal out at one of the local bistros. They caught a taxi back into the village, his Mum elated to join them as well. The bistros served good wholesome food, much like Madame Luc's, good wine, but more importantly, he was spending time with those he loved. That, amongst all else, was priceless. That night they all ate well, drank way to much red wine, shared some beautiful