Janay's Full Court Life

Chapter 2

Where is that man?

My arms stretch out and pat randomly for the body that should be next to me. The spot is warm, which means that he shouldn't have gotten up too long ago. Nonetheless, he isn't here beside me waiting for me to kiss him good morning. Light from beneath the bathroom door catches my attention. The blaring alarm from my phone paired with the flashing light makes me wince. I blindly, and frustratingly, pat for the nuisance and silence it. That was only the first alarm, meaning, I have fifteen minutes until I have to actually bring my body from this soft haven.

I roll over to look at where light should be bursting through. Blackout curtains were a must. Behind them rests the view of the backyard, which I do enjoy sitting and looking out at. Our room overlooks the pool and all of the aesthetic scenery surrounding it. It sits beautifully beneath the skyline. Chris got his open land of lush greenery but up close to the house are flowers of every color. Just thinking about it makes me smile.

As my schedule would have it, I cannot lie in bed all day. As I'm walking out of the door my Mama should be walking in to watch Kennedy for the few hours that I am at the center. She is a great help when it comes to watching Kennedy when we need her to and Kennedy just loves her Granny. I appreciate my mom stepping in when she can and she has seldom said no.

I should only be gone for four hours today and then I plan to spend the rest of the day with Kennedy. I'll go into the bakery today for a few hours to let the creative juices flow, but after that, I'll spend the rest of the day with my baby girl.

Kennedy has a play area set up in my office when I need to bring her in. At times my baby serves as my pastry partner. Her taste buds are on point when it comes to trying new creations of mine. Her cute little milk chocolate face will scrunch up and her lips will pucker when she doesn't like what I placed on her tongue. When she likes what she's tasting, she will quickly ask for more.  Sometimes, that can become a problem which I resolve by handing her the mixing spoon and getting a new one.

Whether I'm in the kitchen in my home or in the shop, my kitchen is the equivalent of a scientist's lair. That is where I come up with new recipes and even figure out how to enhance the ones that I already have established. I always envisioned having my own business. Growing up, I didn't know what it would be but I always knew that it would be. I never wavered with my major. With my environment, I didn't have the luxury of doing such.

As I neared graduation, divine intervention helped me realize what I wanted to do. For all of my influential professors, I made them a sweet treat accompanied by a thank you note. All of them sent emails stating how much they enjoyed it and asked for the store that I bought them from. Imagine their shock when they found out that I baked it in the first floor kitchen in the dorm. One of my professors told me that I should meet with one of her friends; she was a pastry chef who had won Cupcake Wars.

When we met, I brought with me something that I threw together. It was a brown-sugar tart. After tasting it, she asked me if I ever considered going to culinary school. When she said it, it just clicked for me. I had been baking so much in my life and people told me that I was good at it, but it never registered to me for me to make a career out of it. I left that meeting knowing that I was going to culinary school and was going to be a pastry chef.

When I graduated, I worked as a receptionist to a culinary school. It was through working there that my gift for baking became even more real to me. I would get so excited when the smells would waft through or when the students would walk by with their white coats and bags of utensils, spewing kitchen lingo.

When I had enough money I was going to apply to that school. During the time that I was working, I was dating Chris. He kept telling me that he would pay for me to go to school but I sternly declined. I worked and put myself through school and at graduation, Chris proposed to me.