Two birds, One stone

A bald eagle soars above the sky, looking down at the land below. It sees mountains, green in the summertime, now covered with snow, sloping down to meet a little town at its base. The sun begins to peak above the top of the mountains, chasing away the dark and replacing it with a soft orange glow. In the town, smoke rises up from the chimneys as the first day of December began.

This was Revelstoke, British Columbia. A signboard on the way into town reads that the population was 7000 and some residents. Of course, this doesn’t account for the large number of tourists who normally pour in during the winter to enjoy the ski season. However, this year had been slightly different from most.

For 9 months, people had been imprisoned in their own homes, afraid to go outside for the fear of an unknown enemy. This didn’t apply just to Revelstoke but was the case across the globe. There was a deadly virus looming in the air, infecting the lungs of its victims and taking many a life. But today, the first day of December, felt like the first day of spring. A vaccine had been introduced throughout the country a week back and life was slowly but surely returning to some sort of normalcy.

The snow blanketed the ground and bright lights emanated from charming antiquated houses. The carolers started going from door to door singing their merry tunes and were given warm welcomes by the families who opened their doors to them, letting their hallways be filled with the sweet sound of music. The kids were playing outside, building snow angels and snowmen. The eggnog flowed along with glasses of mulled wine, reserved mostly for adults with a sip or two for the kids of course.

Things were looking up for business owners too as customers bustled from one store to another, buying one thing they needed and then realizing they had forgotten another. Those in the food sector were doing especially well.

Most of the shops in town were located on Mackenzie Avenue which ended in a cul-de-sac. There were three buildings on this cul-de-sac. The first being a rustic two-story building, the top floor was an apartment and the bottom housed a bakery called “Paradise sweets and treats”. Right across from “Paradise” was another bakery which was newly constructed. It had a fresh coating of baby-blue paint and a bright neon sign which glared “Cookie-Mania”. The sign could be seen from afar. 

The proprietors of the bakeries had names exotic to the region. “Paradise” was owned by Nabi Hasan, a 23-year-old who had inherited the shop from his parents and “Cookie-mania” was the brainchild of 22-year-old Maha Noor.

On Christmas Eve there was always a little festival at the town hall. For 5 years, Maha and Nabi had set up stalls at the festival and competed to sell the most baked goods. They would meet briefly the following morning at the local café where they would tally the sales to see who had made the most money. After computing the winner, they would shake hands and be on their way. The winner would keep a sober face until out of sight, upon which their facial expression would erupt from the glee they’d been containing.

The roots of their competitive relationship went back to their childhood. They had gone to the same middle and high school. During class, they would always be vying for the teacher’s attention and trying to answer the question before the other. When they would play sports, the coach would never let the two of them be captains at the same time because an all out war would erupt on the field if she did.   

You would think as the years went by they would have started to act more maturely. Perhaps under normal circumstances they would have but…

 Nabi’s parents who had French and Algerian roots had migrated to Vancouver in the 80’s and eventually moved north to Revelstoke in the 90’s, after getting sick of the noise and bustle of the city. They were both adept bakers and being entrepreneurial, set up the first bakery in Revelstoke which only had a population of 200 people at the time. 

They had done fairly well. In the winter of 2016, they rewarded themselves for their hard work by going on a skiing trip. On the way back, they had been driving down Highway 1. The visibility was poor and the roads were icy. Nabi’s dad was driving slow, however, the wheels went over a frozen patch and the car skidded. Its trajectory put it in the path of a big rig trailer which screeched to a halt. But, not before the car went under its wheels. Nabi had not been in the car, he had been at home, eagerly waiting for them. After the cops gave him the news, 17 year old  Nabi now had to fend for himself. He finished high school and started running the bakery full time.

At the funeral amongst the numerous attendees was Maha, who for the first time showed some sort of warmth towards Nabi. A few days later she offered to work part time for him while was attending the local college to study business administration. He took her up on her offer. She was a quick learner, both at college and at the bakery where she had soon learned all of Nabi’s family recipes.

After the accident, Nabi channeled his grief into the business. He slowly came to terms with what had happened. Six months later, he opened up the shop at 9:00 as usual. Maha came in 5 minutes later to start her shift and placed a letter beside the cash till. “What’s this?” Nabi asked. “Read it please”, she replied. It was her two weeks notice and she also wrote that she would be opening up her own bakery. She purposely avoided eye contact. Nabi asked curtly, “So is that why you wanted to work here? To learn all my recipes and then run off and start your own place?” “No, it’s not like that…” , she answered.

As said, she left after two weeks and soon after opened up her shop. She rented the empty store right across the road. Combining her business education with her baking skills, she was soon poaching a large volume of traffic from her mentor. Nabi didn’t want to go into her shop himself so he paid some kids to go in there, buy some of her goods and bring them back to him. Through the espionage he found out that in addition to new recipes, she wasselling his family recipes, albeit with slight twists. The items’ names were different and maybe there was an extra ingredient or two added but they were essentially the same things he had taught her.

“I should have seen this coming”, he thought, “She thinks she can steal my customers with my recipes. She has another thing coming.” He renovated his place, polishing the old wooden floors, putting in new lighting and giving the exterior a fresh slab of paint. The shop kept its rustic look and the upgrades made it look even classier. That wasn’t enough though, so Nabi also learned new recipes through baking books and online.

They divided the town’s population between them. The older residents were pure loyalists to Nabi, since they had been going to his shop since his parents’ time. However, the younger lot tended to prefer Maha’s bakery because of its cool and modern vibe to it. There were also some who had no problem going to either shop.

Interestingly, both the aforementioned individuals had a mutual friend from their schooling days. Her name was Sarah. A good looking girl, of medium height and skinny build, she was the 4thgeneration to be born in Revelstoke. She was a free-spirit, not wanting to be tied down to one job or one person for too long. She too had entrepreneurial blood coursing through her veins.

Cannabis had been legalized in the province the previous year. Being a recreational user and enthusiast herself, she decided to open her own dispensary. The location she chose for her dispensary was the third building on the cul-de-sac. Just as Sarah was sandwiched friendship-wise between Maha and Nabi, her shop lay front and center of her friends’ bakeries.

The location was no mistake; she had chosen it strategically. After buying weed from her shop her customers would immediately head to one of the bakeries to buy baked goods and satisfy their munchies. It was a sort of a win-win for all of them. She opened her shop in January that year and got a friendly response from the town’s over 18 population. 

Just 2 months in, the pandemic hit. People, had to look after their finances more frugally, some, including the stoners, had to get second jobs. Sarah still got business, even turning a profit but couldn’t help but notice that people were still rushing to the bakeries. Perhaps because sugar is the only addiction which doesn’t come with warning labels attached to it.  

In addition to her slight envy, Sarah was tired of the ongoing feud between her two best friends. It was exhausting juggling her schedule between the two of them. She thought she had a way to kill two birds with one stone. She called Nabi and Maha up asking each of them to meet her the next day at the local café, “Les Trois Mousquetaires”. Sarah didn’t tell either, that the other would be there. 

The next day, the 10thof December, at exactly 5 minutes to noon Nabi and Maha both stepped out of their respective shops’ front doors. They glanced at each other with a hint of surprise and then looked away. They proceeded walking down the opposite sidewalks. Each wondered why the other was going in the same direction. They both matched each others’ pace, looking at each other now, speeding up till they were jogging. They reached the front door of the café a split second apart. Nabi was slightly wound up from the exercise, Maha was fine.

“What are you doing here?”, they both asked at once. “Sarah…” uttered from their mouths. They walked through the door and Sarah was there. She rose to greet them. “Hey guys…ya both reached at the same time huh”, she said chuckling nervously. “What’s going on Sarah?” Maha asked. Sarah gestured for both of them to take a seat. Then she spoke, “I’ve had a bit of a slow year guys and cash is a bit tight. So, I’m setting up a stall at the festival. What I want is for the two of you to set up a joint stall this year instead of competing with each other.”

Nabi looked at Maha, analyzing how she had taken the news.

She looked indiffernt. Turning to Sarah he said,” I would do just about anything for you Sarah but there’s no way I’m working with her after what she did to me” and nodded in Maha’s direction. Sarah replied, “I know you two have bad blood between you but please, please put aside your differences. Just this one time, for my sake pleeeease.” "Fine, I guess" muttered Nabi and "Sure, for you Sarah" said Maha.

They had two weeks which was ample time to prepare everything for the festival. The three of them carried on with business as usual. The bakers bought the ingredients they would need and stored them to be used on the day of the event. Sarah stockpiled some merchandise and got a stand to sell it.

On the 23rd, Nabi’s day was going about as usual. There had been a lot of rush since the morning. It was noon and he had just sat down in the back room. He had made a generous portion of scrambled eggs to have with a rich, buttery croissant and a piece of baklava loaded with honey, cashews and pomegranate for dessert. Just as soon as he sat down, the bell on the front door chimed. He got up and his countenance took on an expression of surprise. 

There was Maha standing with an awkward smile across her face. Despite their rivalry, Nabi couldn’t deny that she was a very attractive individual. Her thick, jet-black hair was pulled back neatly highlighting her symmetrical features. She must have come from working out, because her smooth olive skin was radiant from the exercise. She had a chiseled physique forged from hard work and her athletic hobbies. Her hands were outstretched holding a box. Nabi walked up to her, taking it from her and opening it. Inside was an assortment of colorful pastries. 

He ushered her to the back and asked her to sit while he brought out an extra plate, together they sat and shared each others’ culinary delicacies. It was a sensual experience for the palate and their appetites were satiated by the last bite. After clearing the dishes, Nabi sat down and pulled out a pack of hand-rolled cigarettes. He offered one to Maha, she accepted and he lit it for her gently. He then sat down and lit his own.

The hazy light-grey smoke dissipated from their mouths, slowly trickling out an open window. They smoked in silence for a minute. Looking around Maha said, “I like the changes you’ve made, its still old-fashioned but with the new register and computer it looks closer to this century.” “Thanks I guess”, he replied with a smirk.  She continued, “I owe you a long overdue apology Nabi. What I did to you, wasn’t right. There are no excuses for what I did. I just hope you can forgive me.” He took a drag and exhaled before replying “Ok, I don’t want any grudges going into the new year. Let bygones by bygones, you know? “Thank you“, she said with a sense of relief emanating from her . She got up to leave and they walked to the front door.

Nabi: “I’ll come check out your place tomorrow evening and we can pile up the things to take to the party in Sarah’s car. Maybe even take her along with us.”

Maha: “Absolutely!”.  

She had taken a step towards the door when she turned around abruptly and hugged Nabi. Before he could say anything she had left. He stood there for a moment, feet glued to the ground while the endorphins from the cigarette and the touch of a beautiful woman rushed through his body.

The next day when Sarah walked through the front door of Maha’s shop, she was shocked to see Nabi there. He was smiling; complimenting the layout, the cool artwork and the funky furniture. “What’s this going on?” Sarah said jovially. “Just a Christmas miracle which you made happen babe”, Maha giggled. They took out the goods to the car in batches. When they stepped out, it had been dark for a while. The sky was clear and the natural light from the stars and moon mixed with the artificial light made by electricity, illuminated the street for them. The air held promise of being a great night.

They made their way to the town hall and set everything up. Slowly but surely people started pouring. By 8:00, the party was in full swing. Kids were running around, the air full of mirth and music. Sarah was selling her “intoxicating edibles” to the adults, while hordes flocked to Maha and Nabi’s stall. They had christened their joint venture with the name “Heavenly Bliss” which fit the moment perfectly. They made good money. Enough to bolster Sarah’s financial spirits, a good year-end bonus for the bakers and the three set aside some to give to charity. They closed down their stalls a bit early to unwind, eat, drink and relax.

They were sitting and enjoying each others company when the music suddenly stopped. Then the words echoed from the large cabinet speakers, “Last Christmas I gave you ma heart, but the very next day…”. Nabi looked up at Maha, who was acting aloof but he knew she wanted to dance. So he took her hand and gestured to the floor. Her hazel eyes twinkled at him as she got up. Giving Sarah a grin, they made their way to the floor. They danced slowly, holding each other tight. Their faces close to each other, like swans touching heads. 

They decided to crash at Sarah’s place. In the corner, near the fireplace, there was a small but well decorated fir tree under which there were three gifts. “What’s this?”, Nabi asked. Sarah replied, “Just a little something something for my friends and something nice for me too haha.” They had some hot chocolate and crashed, exhausted after the long but unforgettable day. 

The next morning Nabi and Maha awoke to a buttery aroma. They exited their rooms and made their way downstairs to see Sarah making fresh-hot pancakes. They heaped on pure Canadian maple syrup and devoured them all. Sarah headed to the door, saying she had to run some errands and would be back soon. “Don’t mind, I already opened my gift, it was just perfume”, Sarah said while exiting the door, winking at Nabi. Nabi and Maha sat down on the couch to open their gifts. 

“You go first”, Maha said. “Ok”, said Nabi, secretly happy that she had said so. He opened the wrapping to find a festive green and red sweater which he slipped on. “Nice, now your turn”, he said. She unwrapped her gift to find a box, inside which was a ring. “Why would Sarah give me a ring? Maha pondered out loud. She then looked at Nabi who was kneeling on the rug for some reason. “What are you doing?” She asked, smiling. “Maha”, he replied, “Will you marry me?”.

C. 2020 Nabi Hasan Akhtar