Page 2 of The Baby Dragon Cafe
“Hmm,” Saphira pretended to think. “I’ll check the kitchen and get back to you!” She winked, earning her a smile from the older ladies.
Just then, she heard a rumbling growl.
She looked down to see Viper had snatched a piece of beef jerky from Thorn, scarfing it down in two bites.Oh no. Saphira’s heart rate spiked with trepidation. Little Thorn wouldn’t like that …
As expected, Thorn shot a flame at Viper in response, and Viper hissed, gearing up to retaliate when Mrs. Cartwright gave her baby dragon a warning sound.
“Tch, Viper, hush,” Mrs. Cartwright said. “Quit fussing.”
“Thorn,” Mrs. Li said, tone stern. “Behave.”
The baby dragons relaxed from their fighting positions, and Saphira exhaled a breath of relief. Azura dragons and opala dragons were known to quarrel; however, because their riders were best friends, Thorn and Viper were forced to get along, which Saphira was glad for.
She couldn’t handle another disaster, not so soon after the last.
Only two weeks ago, she’d had to redo the bathroom’s plumbing after a baby dragon got over-excited in the bath, messing up all the pipes by using them as chew-toys. She hadn’t managed to stop it before it had mangled the lot. It had cost her a good bit of money, and she wasn’t keen on spending more to cover up the damages if two little dragons fought.
With a smile to Mrs. Cartwright and Mrs. Li, Saphira walked back to the counter, keeping her eyes peeled for more signs of trouble. Thankfully, the baby dragons all looked to be behaving.
She loved the little draggos, even if they were magnets for trouble. Baby dragons couldn’t fly beyond a flutter until they got a little older, which meant they were always jumping andbumping into things. Baby dragons also couldn’t control their fire, which meant they were constantly burning furniture.
Luckily, dragons matured after age two and continued developing until age five, at which point they were used for riding. Until then, however, they were a hazard. Saphira supposed she could have simply made the cafe dragon-proof—used only steel furniture and tables, which would be safe from bite and singe marks—but where was the fun in that? She had adored setting up and decorating the cafe to be the epitome of comfort. She had a vision, damn it!
The interior of the building had high ceilings and gorgeous exposed stone walls, with big, open windows, which let in a beautiful amount of natural light. There were comfortable lounge chairs by the tables in the front, then wooden farm chairs on the tables in the middle, and in the back, there were a few plush sofas with an abundance of soft pillows and warm throw blankets.
One of the stone walls was fitted with a large, wood-burning fireplace (the one place, she supposed, that was safe from baby dragon disasters). There were bookshelves in the back stacked with all her grandmother’s favorite novels, as well as some of her own. Hanging bulb lights provided a warm glow over the entire cafe, supplemented by the flickering flames of citrusy candles.
There were Mughal touches as well, in the fresco paintings and hand-carved wooden art she had hanging on the walls, along with framed photographs of stunning architecture and beautiful lines of Urdu poetry (which no, she couldn’t read, but yes, she had looked up the translations before purchasing), all nods to her heritage.
Saphira hated those establishments with bland, minimaldesigns; while her cafe could be considered a bit busy, it looked lived in, like a home. She loved it—even if she spent an undue amount of time rearranging and refurbishing details that the baby dragons had disturbed.
There was a garden out back that Saphira had plans to renovate for more space, once she had the time (and the money), but until then, the inner room was sufficiently cozy to house all her customers and their baby dragons.
It wasn’t the kind of cafe you went to for interviews or meetings; not even the kind of cafe you went to for studying or for work. It was the kind of cafe you went to for lattes on a first date, or to meet up with old friends over a pot of chai, or to read a book by the fire while sipping on a mug of hot chocolate with extra mini marshmallows.
A place where peopleconnected—where you felt at home. Where you felt the very opposite of lonely.
Looking around at her cafe now, that was exactly how Saphira felt. She glanced at the baby dragons jumping between nooks on the stone walls, to the group of friends laughing over empty coffee mugs. The cafe was warm and full.
It was a dream come true. Saphira had worked in cafes since she was in high school, but she always aspired to having one of her own. She would sketch out the decor and make menus in the backs of her notebooks in class when she was supposed to be paying attention, and now those sketches had become a reality.
She wished Nani-Ma was here to see it.
Her grandmother had died a little over a year ago; she had been the only family Saphira had left. Saphira never knew her father, and her mother passed away when Saphira was little.It was Nani-Ma who had raised Saphira. Nani-Ma, who had made Saphira reach for her dream.
“When I’m gone, you must promise me,” Nani-Ma implored. “Promise me you’ll make the cafe come true.”
“I promise,” Saphira swore, holding tight to her grandmother’s hand.
A week later, Nani-Ma was dead, and Saphira was alone. She didn’t know how to make good on her promise to make her dream come true until she realized exactly how much of an inheritance her grandmother had left her.
And so, in her grief, Saphira clung to her dream, to the vision she had. She sold their cottage up in the hills and bought this space on Main Street, living in the one-bedroom apartment upstairs. It took six months of tireless effort to bring her cafe to life, and then, in October, it opened.
Six months later, at the end of March, and sales were doing well. The baby dragons caused a bit of trouble, but Saphira received a small payment from town for allowing dragons into her cafe, which helped.
Owning dragons was expensive—more costly than housing the finest horse—and it wasn’t merely the upkeep. Because dragons caused so much uncontrollable and unforeseen damage to the town, riders had to pay a special tax, the proceeds of which went toward refurbishments.
Such as that time when a garneta dragon who was just learning to fly accidentally crashed into the electricity lines and cut the power for the evening. Or that time an opala and an azura dragon fought on Main Street and demolished the gazebo. Situations like that.
