Suited

Three

The meal ended, Gabriel and Haydn left promptly, and the rest of the Whitacres stayed to supervise the clean up. Well, the Chairman and his wife supervised. Lawrence had become tired. I sat with him while his parents made their rounds. He needed a pick me up.

I stood. "Come with me, Sir."

He hummed. "Where?"

"The kitchen." He didn't move. "I'm going to make you a coffee."

"I'm fine. I just need to rest for a minute." He paused, staring at nothing, then added, Thank you though."

He'd been resting for the past two hours. "I insist. It would be good to stretch your legs."

He began to scratch the back of his hand, then stuffed both under his thighs when he noticed me noticing. "You don't need to go through the trouble."

Caffeine wouldn't have been good for him but I knew there was decaf in the back. He needed the dopamine at least. "It's no trouble. I'd rather you came with me, but you can stay here if you'd like. I'll only be a few moments."

He didn't respond for a few minutes. I didn't want to overstep!but I really believed he'd do well with something to drink and it would help him feel a bit better, even if it didn't bring his energy back up.

"They're looking at me," he mumbled.

I glanced. Some of the students were. Lawrence rarely made appearances so they were probably curious. That wouldn't do. His condition wasn't their business. "Excuse me, Tamara," I called. The instructor looked at me. I beckoned her closer. "Make all of them turn around."

"Sorry?"

"Your wait staff are making Mr. Lawrence uncomfortable. Make them turn around."

"I—" She looked at Lawrence, who had given up on hiding his hands to rub his arm, before turning around and giving the order and I watched as the handful of students that hadn't been minding the business that paid them about-faced to the wall.

I helped Lawrence out of his chair and the two of us made the sluggish trek to the kitchen. I didn't rush him. I was more than happy to go at his pace. It was the only option anyway. I wasn't sure he could walk that quickly. I left him leaning against the doorway for a moment to bring in a chair since I decided he'd moved enough as we navigated throughout the restaurant. He'd gotten there in one piece, so I was happy. He'd made the effort. He sat, watching quietly as the culinary students rushed about in their organized chaos as they worked to shut down the kitchen. They stole a few looks at him.

Absolutely not. "Everyone, get out." Lawrence visibly relaxed as they filed out of the room. I rolled up my sleeves and washed my hands. "How do you like your coffee, Sir?"

He thought for a while. Miranda always made his coffee. He probably hadn't had to think about how he liked it in a while. "Can you do a light roast espresso con panna?"

"Of course." The sugars in the cream would help boost his spirits.

I pulled out a small bowl, whisk, and the heavy whipping cream and got to work, mixing until it stiffly peaked to then set the coffee beans in the grinder and prepared the lever machine. I had peers that enjoyed other types of espresso machines but I preferred to control every variable. This manual model specifically was a favorite of mine for its internal thermostat. It was wonderfully precise. After I ensured everything was clean, I tamped the grounds, set them in place, and a few moments later I had two perfect shots. They each went into cups and I gave both a healthy dollop of whipped cream.

I found myself waiting with bated breath for him to take a sip. There wasn't much to drink, so he could have finished it quickly, but he took his time. I realized I wouldn't get an answer after I asked how it was, so I took a moment to sip with him as I leaned against the stainless steel island in front of him. I held out my hand to take his empty cup. He didn't give it to me.