Picture Perfect

Chapter 57: Great News...Not

          Getting off the plane, a very long flight that it was as he heads straight to the restaurant running on no sleep. When Chase arrives, he sees the damage and a few people there, including his head worker. He breathes a sigh of relief.

          "Hey Eli what happened?"

          "I'm not exactly sure what transpired, but all I know is one of the stove units caught on fire and caused damage to about half of the kitchen. The insurance guy will be here in a few minutes," looking down at his watch.

          "You did good, go home and rest. I'll deal with this," patting his back.

          "Are you sure boss?"

          "Yes, but go get me some coffee down the street first please."

          "Okay," Eli nods walking out.

          "Are you the owner?" An older man walks in.

          "Yes I am."

          "I'm Ned Simons. I'm assigned to this case. Let's check out the damage," as they begin to walk. "I don't mean to be cruel son, but you look like crap," he smiles.

         "Thanks, I had an overnight flight from Paris," he smiles.

          "Paris huh? What's the occasion?" Ned writes on his clipboard.

          "My girlfriend is a model, she's there working, and I went to surprise her."

          "Oh lucky man," he smiles checking out the damages. "Alright, I have some bad news and good news."

           "Bad news first."

          "Even though the damage doesn't look that bad it is. The bad news is it's going to cost a lot of money to fix it."

          "Like how much?"

          "Like over twenty grand."

           Chase says, "damn okay. What can I do?"

          "Well I mean, you can't keep this place open with a destroyed kitchen. And I don't know if any insurance won't cover any of it."

          "Well, that's the good news."

          "Call me if you need anything else Mr. McCormick," Ned hands him a card.

          After patting his back, Ned walks out of the building, Eli passing him on the way in, two coffees in hand.

          "Here you go boss," handing him his coffee. "What did he say?"

          "That it's going to cost me twenty grand even with insurance."

           "Damn, what can I do to help? Can we afford to fix it with the restaurant profits?"

          "It's gonna be damn close. I'll have to do a lot of the work myself."

          "Well, just let me know man, I would be glad to help...since it happened while I was here," Eli says.

           "It's not your fault, but we'll figure it out."

           "Okay," Eli says as the two men start to rummage through the stuff to see if any of it can be saved.