A Simple Beginning

A Really Good Time

Barney
I am glad my parents forced me to take dance lesson. They told me that working for GEH might require my attending events and there might be dancing involved, well dancing with Mia Grey had never even crossed my mind. It was awkward at first but we finally agreed to relax and dance to the beat of the music. Mia and I are enjoying our time together. Kate and Melissa have joined us a few times. Mia has started culinary schools here in Seattle and I am having a real estate agent look for a place that would be a great location for a restaurant catering business. Hopefully I can get Elliott to do the work at a discount that is if Mia is okay for me to invest in her business. She's been working really hard and I have tasted her food and I just don't like the type of food she likes. At least I hope it's the reason. Cakes she's amazing at. I was honest with her about the food and suggested she find someone who has a more educated palate than mine. She did just that and they loved the food so it was just me. I talked to her regarding investing in her business. We started looking for something that would be affordable and where it would be convenient for customers. Then she had Elliott check out everything else.

Mia
I worked hard to get through the courses and Elliott worked with Barney and I to get things settled with the owners of the building. Barney invested a lot of money in my business and he will get a good return on his money. We have been getting closer and closer. He introduced me to his father and mother James and Annette Miller. They loved my food. They are good people and smart as well both have positions that they can't discuss. He is an only child and a prodigy. I didn't know but Anastasia is considered a prodigy as well. Her parents have passed away and she doesn't talk about how.

Elliott
Mia is leading Barney around by his bank account and I am worried for him, but I am hoping she likes him for who he is. We finalized the designs on the building with my help and help of an interior design company that knows how to gut the place and create what Mia needs to have done. Barney made it into a smart building with a lot of help from his friends. It costs him quite a lot. I gave him a discount on my part of the job and his friends got him great deals. He bartered for the equipment they would need and a year later we are standing at the grand opening of Mia's Delicacies. I ate her signature dishes and she is going to make a killing. She also does catering and creates cakes of any kind and flavors. Three hundred thousand dollars and her signature on the contracts with Barney were signed before he handed her the reins to the place. She has five years to pay him back and he will own a ten per cent share and gets paid a dividend. I hope it will succeed for both of them. She chose not to use the Grey last name because she wants to succeed on her own. She still needs to attend business courses, but she has me and Christian to help her with that.

Christian
After hearing about Barney funding Mia's restaurant I was not happy and had a talk with Mia and found out that Barney was the one who suggested that they start her restaurant and he is her investor and he inspired her to go for it. So a year later she has graduated from culinary school and has had a successful grand opening and she didn't use the Grey name. The food was amazing and they are booked for the next two months. Kate put the word out for her and helped her find a few great assistants in the kitchen staff. The wait staff at some of the other high end restaurants applied for the wait staff and other jobs well before the jobs were listed. Sadly Mia was lacking in her business acumen so Elliott and I jumped in and we hired staff to help her in that department. Anastasia suggested Leila Williams as accounts manager and she just graduated from a two year business management school. Lily Johnson was hired as an hostess so she can get her law degree. Background checks were sketchy but they had never been any legal skirmishes with the cops. Not one criminal act. Jason dig deeper and told me to leave it alone because it would just make me uncomfortable around them and they don't need or want pity.

Elliott
Kate has been really helping Mia with putting the word out about her restaurant. She is very good about making sure that she doesn't mention Mia's last name. Kate is looking pretty good for a 20 year old, too bad I am 8 years older than her and she is Mia's best friend. Melissa attended college on the east coast and is engaged now. Mia is going to make her wedding cake for her.

Grace
Mia did great opening her business and we are very proud of her. She didn't even need her trust fund to start it. Barney invested in it and bartered his skills and services to get everything she asked for. It was amazing how they worked together and got the place completed. All of us were at the grand opening.

Carrick
Barney had me handle all the legal documents and I made sure that he got his fair share of the restaurant profits. He really just wanted to help Mia out, but I insisted that she wouldn't like that and she would feel strange about and she wanted to pay him back for everything he contributed and see that he got a profit from all of it. It made me swell with pride knowing she wouldn't take advantage of his feelings for her because it tells me we taught her better.