Journal entries - Dimitri Volkov Symprite

I had never done anything like this before. Should I address it as "Dear Diary"? It's... strange, but I think it might be a good way to spend my free time, as recommended by Flame. According to him, it's even therapeutic. Well, anyway, today while I was working at the bakery, someone new arrived. He seems to be the owner of the restaurant on the adjacent street—the one I thought was abandoned and still believe is, given the level of dust and deteriorated walls that can't accumulate in just one day without being open. According to him, he came to meet the neighbors. From his appearance, I can guess he inherited the place from his father, uncle, or something like that. It seems he plans to reopen it, and that... makes me happy! Finally, I'll have another chef friend with whom to share recipes, perhaps talk from time to time about how our work is going, or even share ideas for new dishes.

I mean, I don't mind Flame's company in the kitchen, but he's not inherently good at listening. I know he makes an effort to keep up with the conversation, but I don't like boring him when I talk about pastries. It excites me to know that I'll finally have someone to talk to about what I'm so passionate about. After all, that other "symp" seemed very kind and polite, despite his curious appearance. He got along better with my son Peter than I expected.

And I think Flame could kill me if he could read this diary, but even that "symprite" was something, cute? I never thought I would write something like that... In any case, I don't think he plans to visit the bakery again anytime soon. Although it would be nice to chat with him again, I have work to do. The dough won't knead itself, and I have no help here other than Flame... He just lights the ovens and eats the leftovers I cut from the cakes while shaping them.

I was thinking of stopping by his restaurant later; I could see he was cleaning when I went to the market to buy some fruits for tomorrow's desserts. Maybe I could offer to help, although I have no idea if he will accept my assistance. In any case, I definitely plan to bring him a welcoming gift. I hope he likes vanilla muffins. I'll try to write about how it went with that in another entry... I still haven't gotten used to this, but I think it's nice after all to be able to write about what's happening in my life.

Thank you, Diary.