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RICHIE AND SUGAR HAD JUST finished up an interview. Sugar smiling warmly and looking genuinely impressed, Richie, on the other hand, was shaking his head and muttering under his breath.
"Well, she ain't it," He commented, sitting back down after having stood up to shake the woman's hand. Being as polite as he could've been throughout the interview, but now ready to unleash his real opinions.
Sugar's brows furrowed. She looked between Richie and the woman's CV in disbelief, "She's got seven years. Elske, Oriole, Smyth," She listed them off.
"Yeah, that's a lot of movin' around for seven years, but that's not why we can't hire her."
"Okay, why can't we hire her?"
Richie straightened his spine, "We can't hire her 'cause every single napkin on this table is folded in alignment with the salad fork..." As he spoke, he was gesturing to the napkins whilst Sugar followed his hand movements, "...Except for hers. She just...sat there."
"What do you mean?" Sugar asked, shaking her head. She couldn't wrap her head around what on earth Richie was implying.
"We're here for twenty minutes. She's there, looking at that..." He pointed at the napkin under her salad fork. The only napkin not in the correct alignment, "...Knowing that napkin's facing the wrong direction."
Sugar looked at the napkin. Then her eyes glanced around the rest of the table.
She snickered as she looked back at Richie, "Did you turn the napkin beforehand?" She asked in disbelief.
"Sugar, you guys want stars. That ain't a star catcher," Richie stated, his words full of genuine passion, "If I'm her, that napkin would've driven me fuckin' crazy, and I would've fixed it," He said, making a point to move the napkin to the correct position before scratching his forehead and taking a sigh of relief.
Sugar looked speechless.
She watched as Richie fixed the napkin then sat back, wiping at his forehead and refusing to look her way. She couldn't believe the change she was genuinely seeing in him. Seeing how much he now seemed to care. Genuinely care for the restaurant. Trying to bring it to a standard that Carmy himself was trying to bring it to. A standard that once had caused countless arguments between the two men. Both having been too stubborn to hear each other out. Both having been way too stubborn and set in their own ways – especially Richie.
But now this...
This was a brand new start to him.
Sure, he showed it her by apologising to her in her office earlier, but that was a one time thing. Something that could've been easily brushed off. Something that could've been blamed on Kitty, that maybe Richie only apologised for his girl. But no, now Sugar knew that it was all genuine. That he was actually trying to change. Trying to turn a new page.
