Fourth Wall Bakery: The Beginning

Fourth Wall Bakery: The Beginning

“Welcome to Fourth Wall Bakery, where we bust down the walls of reality to make every culinary dream come true, how can I help you today?”

I am proud of that slogan, and will still bask in a small glow of pride if someone remembers my name because of it. It was the beginning of what would come to be a very interesting start to my writing career. Surprisingly enough, the job I created that slogan for, and the business that I was a part of for a few years thereafter, had nothing to do with my long time ambition of becoming a published author. It was made for a bakery, the realized dream of one of my best friends, and I had no idea I would ever come to be part of the staff when I created. Come to think of it, I don’t think I had any sort of decent clue as to what those few words would come to mean for my future. Or that, in a way, they would actually come to create it.

Emily, a girl who I had known since early childhood, had come upon a bit of luck. Recently graduating from culinary school, she had been fortunate enough to come into contact with a retiring business owner who had a building in Harvard Square. The old woman used to own a restaurant. It was what they called ‘A mom and pop joint’ where every regular was known by name and every order was practically memorized. It was a beloved place, but the woman who started it all was nearing her 90’Th birthday, and had decided that that year was going to mark the start of her lifelong dream of traveling the world. Emily’s mother had been one of those usual customers. She hated the thought of letting a building with such personal history go to waste. So she worked out a deal with the owner, convinced her to sell, and gave the place to her daughter. Emily had just graduated and was wondering how to start out in the culinary world with a bang. She got her opportunity.

Meanwhile, I was a struggling English Major who needed a job that paid better than minimum wage with hours I could handle without collapsing. At the time, I had two part-time jobs and had been forced to cut my classes from five to two in order to pay the bills. It meant my college education would take a lot longer than I thought it would, and the bills would be around longer than I wanted. I was living with my older sister Lily, and together we made just enough to get by, with a little help from some very supportive parents. But getting by wasn’t enough anymore. I needed to get ahead, and come the end of that school year I was desperate for anything that might do the trick.

Emily had mentioned her good fortune once before, and I was there when the old owner of the building signed over the deed. Emily and I went out to lunch afterwards to celebrate. It was then that she told me of a small dilemma she had been stressing over since she knew the building was going to come into her possession. 

She had her menu, and she had the image of what she wanted in her mind. She just had no idea how to go about getting news out to the general public. Oh she had fliers and posters and pamphlets ready to be sent out. There was just one thing that she felt was missing. A name that would stand out on the street, and a catchy slogan that would stay with people long after they had walked out the door. That day she had been completely frustrated with her lack of creativity on the subject and jokingly offered me a hundred dollars if I could make up one for her. I had jokingly responded with the line at the top of the page.

I hadn’t expected her to like it. In fact, I expected her to scoff, laugh a little, and throw a rolled napkin at my head. It was not a serious suggestion. The name and catchphrase had been created years ago when I had been writing a story with a main character that was actually loosely based on Emily herself. This main character of mine owned a bakery, and that was what his employees answered the phones with. That was actually all I had managed to write down, and the idea was scrapped very quickly due to loss of interest and ideas. It was ironic that I had found use for it outside of that fictional world that never made it to full growth, and I figured Emily might get a kick out of the humor of the situation. Then she could calm down long enough to come up with something that would suit her business. I never thought she would take me seriously.

But, then, she stopped every single movement. She looked at me intensely, eyes more focused than I had ever seen them, before beaming as brightly as any star. I had to fight the urge to look away. Partly because it would have been rude, but also because I was curious. What had I said to cause such a sudden reaction? A second later I got my answer. She proclaimed an absolute love for the idea and promised to immediately put it on her advertisement merchandise. I walked away confused and a hundred dollars richer. How silly of me to think that that was the end of it.

She didn’t talk to me about her new place until a couple of months later. During that time, she had scoured the entire city looking for people to hire, remodel, and get the building into working order. I wouldn’t know until years later, but many of the applicants sent in never even got close to being a part of Emily’s vision. There was always something about them she didn’t like. Most of the time, she said they weren’t a very big believer. They were too practical in everything they did. While that was good for one or two employees, the majority of them had to be able to dream outside the box. It made sense. Baking had become a major art form, and practical wasn’t exactly in demand these days. It figured Emily would want some of the more creative individuals at her beck and call. Though, I had a hard time believing that she couldn’t find a decent portion of the creative population in Boston. I thought she may have been a bit too picky for her own good. She responded by telling me that the type of believers she needed were in short supply. I smiled and agreed for her benefit.

Fourth Wall Bakery opened up another two months later. In the end, Emily had chosen only the people she had known all her life, and a couple of people she was taking a chance on, to be a part of her living dream. Two more bakers named Nicole and Ellie, a financial adviser named Charlie, manager Chris, assistant manager William, and secretary Jewel. All that was needed before business really began, Emily said the night before the opening day, was a delivery boy. I, who had been one of the people invited to the good luck party, simply laughed and asked if she had anyone in mind. She smiled, handed me a drink, and sometime between the congratulations and good nights, I had somehow agreed to be this 'delivery boy’ she had in mind. I may have minded at the time, but later on I realized it wasn’t so bad. The pay was good, I knew the people, and the city was one I adored. What could possibly go wrong?

A word to the wise. Never ask that question when you’re not prepared for the answers you’ll receive. Sometimes the results are a lot stranger than any story you could ever concoct yourself.