AUTHOR'S NOTE long chapter because i haven't posted in a while! 🫶
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DISCO NIGHTS ! CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR LUNCH RUSH
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THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRETY of the morning, Maeve had been extra sensitive to Luke's feelings.
His uncle sadly passed away two nights ago, and Maeve could tell that Luke was maintaining his usually tough and uncaring exterior through all of the pain.
So, in order to make this current period of time easier for him, Maeve and Marjorie had devised a carefully constructed plan for them, plus Delaney and Flynn, to finish everything on Luke's 'to-do' list for the day.
The plan wasn't entirely foolproof, as Luke had expressed his many protests throughout the day, however whenever he would even attempt to do anything 'owner-like'—that was not strictly consisting of handing out people's food or refilling coffee—Marjorie would mercilessly scold him until he just gave up and let them take over again.
Luke, with unfounded reluctance, eventually accepted defeat, and allowed Maeve and Delaney to take over most of the diner's duties. He tried to organise a payment plan for Delaney, however the girl had stubbornly insisted that he was not allowed to pay her a single cent for her time—much to Luke's exasperation.
Flynn was where Luke drew the line, however, so the boy just watched Maeve and Delaney work as efficiently as they ever had before.
Maeve would force Jess to help out too, and the girl ensured he stayed on the floor by asking Marjorie to keep a watchful eye on him and call him back down whenever he would attempt to go back upstairs.
The day started with Maeve, Delaney, Marjorie and Flynn waking up as early as Luke usually did, and the girls had practically forced Luke to go back upstairs and sleep in while they, plus Flynn, took care of the usual, opening routine.
They cleaned every inch of the kitchen, behind the grills and under the fridges—when they were done with the kitchen, Marjorie even started helping out with the food preparation—, polished practically every surface, swept the floor and rid it of any trace of dust that the naked eye could catch, cleaned every single table and countertop three times, and after completing all of those arduous tasks, they even managed to organise and unpack some boxes in the back room—all within the span of four hours.
It was safe to say that the diner was utterly spotless when Luke resurfaced for the day.
While they knew that the diner would, most definitely, get just as dirty within less than an hour, which the group ensured they would stay on top of, they simultaneously knew that Luke was relieved at the relinquishment of responsibilities that they had gifted him with—probably for a month, due to the state of the place.
