Chapter 39: Chapter 39

Isabella's pov;

"Do you really want to open a restaurant here?" Mr Martinez asked me while we're waiting in the place where I decided to open a restaurant. We came to pay the money in another account number."

"Yes."

"But it looks old. This place seems like it needs a renovation."

"Don't worry about it, I'll take care of it."

Mike asked us, "What were you talking about?"

I let out a nervous laugh and said, "We're discussing how to renovate this place. He said lights can be changed so I said it's a good idea. What about the papers? Is everything ready?"

He showed me the documents and pointed at a particular space and said, "You can sign here."

"Oh, okay." Without hesitation, I signed the contract with Mike.

After I signed, Mr Martinez transferred the money to Mike's account.

Mr Martinez asked, "With this money, I wonder how you accepted her offer to work as a pastry chef here again?"

"Because I love making desserts. When Bella ate the tiramisu and chocolate smoothie I made for her, the happiness that she expressed on her face was all I needed. I like to see people smile when they eat my dessert so I accepted the offer. I hope this restaurant runs well as she wishes."

I said, "Definitely, it's going to be a hit, Mike!"

"You two talk like friends."

"Because I fell for his desert."

Mike caressed my head and said, "My daughter likes chocolate smoothies like you. Seeing you drinking it reminded me of her."

"Where's your daughter now?"

"She moved to San Diego for her studies."

"Okay."

Mr Martinez asked me, "What about the licence and permits?"

"I waited for the signed documents to get the licence. I'll take it tomorrow."

Mr Martinez gave a nod and looked into the document again.

Mike said, "You talk like a kid but you think like an adult." And smiled at me.

I smiled back at him.

In Mr Martinez's house,

Big brother asked, "What about the name? Did you have any on your mind or already decided?"

"It's an AB restaurant."

"What does AB stand for?"

When I looked at Mr Martinez, who was working on his laptop looked at me like he was also interested in listening to my answer.

I said to Big brother, "Alex and Bella."

Big brother broke out in laughter and said, "Did you think about that?"

I placed the licence on the table saying, "I already got the business licence, food serving licence and liquor licence and EIN already under the name of the restaurant."

He looked at them and said, "Wow. You're really good at this. How did you get them all?"

"What do you mean 'how' ofcourse going through various processes? Do you know how hard it was for me to get a liquor licence?"

He gave a flick and asked, "Did you buy the liquor licence to drink in your restaurant?"

"Act like a grown-up man." Stood from the table and took every document along with me to the room.

After a while, I came downstairs and said to Big brother and Mr Martinez, "I'm going to meet Mike. I'll be late tonight." And put on my shoes.

"Take Mateo with you."

"I'll take the bus."

"Make a call to me before leaving. I'll pick you up."

It feels like he's not going to let go of this easily so I said, "Okay." And walked out of the house.

In JU shop,

We were in JU while the renovation was going on in the new restaurant.

"What about this concept? Do you like it?" I asked Mike after explaining the concept to him.

"It sounds good but you're saying that you're going to change the concept every six months. Is it possible for the customers and the employees? Changing the menu every six months will be troublesome for employees in my opinion."

"Oh, then what about every one year? Does it work?"

"Why do you want to change in the first place? Aren't you going to stick to one menu?"

"Nah, it'll be fun when there's always something new. Moreover, the menu is not going to be long like other restaurants. We're going to have a trial menu throughout the year. Like five different starters, five different salads, three main course meals, five deserts, five drinks and a different special meal for every week. What do you think?"

"I think it's better to discuss with other chefs. Because I'm okay with making five deserts. But I'm not sure of other things."

"I thought about hiring chef's after the renovation was over. Okay, I'll do it. Thank you for the suggestion, Mike."

"Wait, do you know how many people you have to hire?"

"Yeah, four teams. Management staff where I have to hire general manager, front of house manager, kitchen manager. Since I studied business, I'll take up the position of general manager and front of house manager and accountant. So I'll hire a kitchen manager. For the kitchen staff, I need a head chef, sous chef, prep cook, line cook and dishwasher. For front house, server, host. For the last one, bartender, cocktail servers."

"Good. But for now, hire chefs and servers to discuss the menu. You can hire remaining staff later when the restaurant is renovated completely."

"Okay. Mike?"

"What?"

"Can you do the hiring process for me? I feel nervous even thinking about that."

He tapped on my shoulder and said, "It's your restaurant. You have to do it. Moreover, you're going to face them everyday after they get hired. Are you going to be nervous every time you meet them?"

I shook my head.

"All the best."

"Wait! Can you find me some good food suppliers?"

"I know some. I'll take care of it. You. Concentrate on hiring staff."

"Okay."

I came to the restaurant where the renovation process was going on. Wow. They turned this place upside down. It looks more classy than before.

"Do you like the lights, Ms Garcia?"

It's been days since I heard my name like this.

"Yeah, it looks beautiful."

He gave a smile and went back to doing his work.

After some days, I hired cooks and servers after a couple of questions during interviews. One was about their hobbies and the other was… the reason for them joining in my restaurant.

Head chef - Victor Hernandez(29) who is married with two kids likes long drives and swimming.

Sous chef - Olivia Brown(28), single, likes travelling.

Pastry chef - Michael Halls(32), married with a daughter, likes creating new desserts.

Server - Dylan Washington(24) was in a relationship, likes reading and sci-fi, and listening to songs.

Server - Emily Jones (22) was in a relationship, likes movies, photography.

Server - Zoey Anderson(20) was single, part-timer.

By the time, the restaurant was renovated completely with the furniture, decors with a nice and comfortable ambience with seating capacity and kitchen filled with needed equipment with space for food preparation, service area and warewashing. The meat, sea foods, flour, drinks, and every ingredient needed for the menu was arranged in the storage room after the storage room was fully renovated.

Together, we came out with a trial menu and I asked the chef's to prepare the dishes since I wanted to know the time taken for the preparation of the dishes to come out of the kitchen to the table.

I waited along with the servers while chef's were preparing every dish on the menu.

The foods were served on the service table. We gathered around the table and looked at the food.

"It looks appetising."

"Thank you."

"What are we waiting for? Let's dig in."

Everyone took a bite from each food created by the cooks. There were smiles on everybody's faces.

After everyone left, I sat at the counter and looked around the kitchen and let out a sigh. Finally, it's done.

Mike placed a chocolate smoothie in front of me and took a seat beside me.

"Thank you."

While I was drinking the chocolate smoothie, he said, "It's been a long day."

"Yeah."

"How does it feel?"

"What?"

"You were looking at the restaurant with all the glittering eyes."

I smiled and said, "I never thought I'd have a restaurant on my own. I worked part-time in many restaurants and cafes. I've been a garbage girl, dishwasher, waitress but it feels different to be an owner with different positions. It feels like I've come a long way."

He patted my shoulder and said, "Then look after it carefully." And left.

I saw Mr Martinez walking through the front door. He was still in his suit and looked just as tired, if not more so. I walked towards him, “Mr Martinez?”

He nodded and looked up, smiling at me before speaking again, “Hi there. You’re one of my students right?”

"What are you doing here?"

"To pick you up… and to look how the restaurant turned up with your ideas."

"How does it look?"

"Incredible!"

I stood in front of him and asked, "I've included your favourite arugula salad in our menu. Will you come taste it when it's open?"

"Yeah, it seems like you're going to be here all day. If I wanted to see you, I think I would have to hang around here a lot." And smiled at me and continued, "When will the nameboard arrive?"

"They said there's been a mistake so they're doing it again. That's why it's taking time. They said it'll be here by this weekend."

"Okay. Shall we go?"

I gave a nod and followed him outside the restaurant.

After some days, I hired a Kitchen manager, dishwashers, bartender and cocktail servers. On the same day, the name board arrived.

We hung out a name board, "Alex and Bella restaurant" in front of the restaurant.

I stood in front of the restaurant and took a selfie of me and the restaurant. I put the picture online with a caption, "Open for business."