96. Chapter Ninety-Six

Chapter Ninety-Six

Beth

Three Months Later

T he phone is ringing off the hook, and the new girl is barely capable of taking a single reservation at a time. She has zero experience, and it shows. Fortunately, Gio is an excellent teacher when it comes to our staff. He kind of has to be since he doesn't care about hiring people who know what they're doing.

Not that I can complain, considering where I started.

"Take one call at a time. Write down the message which is just the name, date, time and customer's phone number, and I'll sort all the bookings from there, okay?" I ask, since right now Gio is helping Arrow through a heat, and Jack's busy helping Enzo in the kitchen.

The new girl nods. "Okay. Okay. I've got this."

"You've got it," I add, not sure she has.

It's not going to be a problem. I can take over if she doesn't get it.

The four wait staff on shift are good enough to keep up with the steady customer turnover, so tonight our only weak spot is this desk.

The door opens and I step away from the desk as my sister walks in with her boyfriend, Ben.

Daniel didn't last. It turned out he was married. That was why he was asking Catherine to meet at a hotel. Douchebag. I wish I'd found him on social media sooner, but considering I still found him, and messaged everyone he was friends with to tell them all what a lying, cheating scumbag he is, I'm happy things turned out for the best.

Especially for Catherine, his (soon to be ex-) wife, and the three other girls he was stringing along. Yeah, he was a real piece of shit. I'm glad he's out of her life.

Ben is such a sweetheart.

If he hurts her, he's dead, but he knows that.

"Hey," I greet them. "How was the trade show?"

"I can't believe what a badass Catherine was," Ben says, shaking his head. "The discounts she got for me were crazy. I can afford to stock some premium fabrics now."

"Which works out nicely for me," Catherine adds, beaming. "Considering I'm branching out into design."

"Oh my God! That's awesome. You have to show me."

"I will, when it's ready."

"Okay, okay. I can wait." I grab menus and lead them into the dining room. "The carbonara is amazing tonight, by the way. Enzo made some tiny changes, and wow, you won't even believe how good it is."

"It was already perfect," Ben says, sounding vaguely disappointed.

"Oh, it was," I admit, "but now it's even more perfect. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about."

"We believe you," Catherine assures me.

I get them seated and tell them I'll speak to them later.

Then, I assign a waiter to their table, and I head into the dining room.

"The new girl out front is not working out," I start, stopping when I see Gio and Arrow coming in through the door that leads to the corridor with the apartment entrance.

"Yeah, I don't think she understands landlines," Jack says, as if he hasn't seen Gio.

"Who are we talking about?" Gio asks.

"The new receptionist," I tell him. "She kind of sucks."

"We have to give people a chance."

"Well, she's been here a week and so far all I'm doing is sorting out her messes."

"I'll try to train her again." Gio sighs.

I kind of love how determined he is to give everyone a fair try, and honestly, people management is not my thing. It's more his thing, which was a cool realization he had once we had to take on actual staff, about two days after re-opening.

It was a major success.

All the local critics gave glowing reviews. We even got a few celebrity diners.

My parents showed up to grudgingly congratulate me, after Catherine called them.

They left here kind of shocked by how well this place was doing.

As for Rourke's parents, well, they found out and tried to book a table.

We'd already considered that might happen and blacklisted them, so they were denied.

It was pretty funny to listen to his mother going crazy on the line asking to speak to her son.

Jack handled that one well. Hopefully we never have to hear from her again.

"Order up," Jack calls out as he puts plates onto a tray.

One of the waiters' steps into the kitchen, grabs it and leaves again.

"How did you do that?" I ask.

"I pressed his button," he says, showing me the digital device. "I just called out for the effect."

"Hilarious." I shake my head at him.

"What time is it?" Arrow asks.

"Um, a little after eight," I answer, just as the door to the alley opens.

"You mean it's Rourke O'Clock," Arrow says, making me laugh.

Rourke steps inside, looking good in his cop's uniform.

"So, what have I missed?" he asks, as he closes the door and comes over to me.

I get a kiss first because I'm closest.

I can almost hear Arrow pouting about that.

"Okay," I murmur. "Go take care of our Omega."

He nods as he heads across the room to Arrow.

Gio moves to where I am. "You want to help me train the new girl?"

"I could think of better things we could be doing," I admit. "But I do like to watch you work."

For someone so hot tempered, he has a lot of patience for people who are just learning.

"You're not sticking around back here?" Enzo asks, coming around from his station next to the ovens.

"I mean, I could eat," I admit, making him laugh.

"Me too, actually," Gio chimes in.

Enzo sighs. "Here I am, looking for some company, and all you want to do is make me cook for you."

"Are you seriously complaining about cooking?" Jack asks. "Pull the other one."

Enzo snorts. "I'm not that obsessed."

"You stir pots in your sleep, Enzo."

We all laugh a little at that, and then Enzo starts to make us some food.

I never would have thought spending a night in a closet would lead me here, but I wouldn't have moved in with Catherine if that hadn't happened.

Good things don't always come easy, I guess.

I wouldn't change a damned thing.

I wink at Rourke as he leaves with Arrow.

Going upstairs to our apartment.

Yeah, it's "ours" now.

Rourke and I moved in.

This is our home, and it has everything I've ever wanted.