Skin Hunger (WLW Rodent ⚢)

Love's Banquet

A/N: Hey hey everyone! Here is the first chapter, as promised!

A little historical fact to make you understand how times were; only after July 13th 1965 could women have their own bank account in France without authorisation from their husband. That's not even 100 years ago!

Also f//ck Vincent bc I struggled sm with finding a femme name for him it was torture ;-; But I figured it out, so it's all good!

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What? Boss left the restaurant in the girl's hands?"

"Well, he has no other children. She's the only heir to everything he's built. She has a culinary degree from what I've heard."

"Oh, come on, really? Managing a place like this is a man's job. Just because they can have their own bank accounts now doesn't mean we should forget everything we've been taught. A woman's place is in the house, taking care of the children."

"Apparently she's thirty-two and still unmarried. Who'll take her in this state?"

"I don't know about you all, but I can't stand around and watch this place go up in flames. She'll have us looking for new jobs in a month-- what the hell does a chick know about running a place like this?"

As the lone daughter of a recently deceased businessman, Vivien was left with the responsibility of handling the small restaurant he left behind.

Although popular to the people in the area, said restaurant was on the brink of going under due to her father's poor decision-making skills. He would purchase things that weren't needed, ignore issues that needed a swift resolution, and be content with making no progress when it came to cuisine, décor and advertisments.

Vivien was made to carry a colossal weight upon her shoulders-- the weight of expectation. Trying to make sure to keep things running despite being on the verge of extinction, all the while having to pretend she didn't hear the sneers behind her back, ridiculing her because she was a woman who could never hope to live up to her father's name.

They all expected her to fail. Some would even say it to her face, asking her why she was even bothering to fight a hopeless battle. Deemed too emotional and stupid to be in charge simply because 'she trying to take a man's rightful place'.

All her efforts and tribulations swept under the rug simply because she is a woman. And women have no place running a business or being headstrong or simply having a differing opinion.

Why bother? You should just sell it. You should settle down and have children now that you can. You soon won't be able to. And then who's going to want to marry you?

No one even bothered to ask Vivien if she herself wanted to become a wife and a mother; a modern-day servant without the pay or benefits to a man she was never going to love. A pretty ornament for her husband to demean and grope and bed whenever he pleased.

She would rather die. She has seen what marriage can look like in her own family and doesn't wish to replicate the misfortune. She doesn't want to become a wife. She wants to put her degree to good use and keep her own business afloat, going against the wave even as all odds were stacked against her.

No one believed in her. Nobody reassured her, not even her own mother.

But Vivien did it.

With her sharp mind and ability to adapt under pressure, she managed to pull her late father's pathetic excuse of a restaurant back up onto its feet and turn it into a modern bistro fit for the finest palates. Her innovative cooking brought about a copious clientele that found itself fascinated by her personal touch on recipes, new and old alike.