"To the worst summer we ever had and the best punch ever thrown!"
"Oh, stop it, Jenny... You're making me blush!"
~~~
George Marshall, owner of Lila's Seafood Restaurant since it first opened and for over forty years, tries his best to save it from...
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I was surprised that we had so much work that night. I half-expected it, because summer holiday season started and tourists swarmed in, but in the back of my mind I thought they'd- once again- choose the Seashell over Lila's.
I guess that tourists finally realised that going on a trip meant trying new things, and not eating from the same food chain you can find almost everywhere. Lila's had a certain warmth that generally attracted customers; it was the Seashell's lack of originality that took them away from us. People are willing to follow an advertisement as if it's a shepherd and they're a flock of sheep. I don't blame them, though... When you keep seeing the same restaurant on every single ad both on TV and online, it's going to pique your interest.
Why go to a small, family restaurant when you can go to one literally everyone goes?
It was weird and unexpected, but that night was one of the most profitable that summer and it actually gave us all some hope that we could beat the Seashell and kick Bella out of our beach. Logan, Dennis and I were running all over the place, frantically taking orders from customers and delivering food.
"I'm going to take a break. Can you handle this?" Dennis asked us. Logan and I stared at him dumbfounded.
I wiped some sweat from my forehead and scoffed. "You can take a break later! We're literally drowning in orders and sweat right now!" I yelled to be heard over the lively and loud conversations of our customers.
"Lou, I can barely breathe right now! I'll be back in five." he turned to leave.
"Let him go, we've got this." Logan reassured me.
We didn't. It was hard enough having three waiters stepping over each other to actually do our work- having two of them was impossible. There was no time. My muscles ached more and more with every move, I desperately needed some water and I was afraid that if I ever sat down, I would never get up again. My feet burned every time I took a step and I would give away all of my toes to go for a dive and take a break.
"Where the hell is Dennis? It's been fifteen minutes!" I tightened my ponytail, furiously approaching Logan.
"I don't know, he still hasn't returned." he sighed.
"I'm going to check outside the restaurant. I swear to everything that's holy, if he bailed on us again..." I grumbled, not needing to end that sentence. Logan and I both knew that Dennis wouldn't be making it out alive.
I was about to barge out on the sidewalk, when I heard voices. One belonged to Dennis, which wasn't all that strange because he was supposed to be taking a break.
The other one, though...
"What are you doing here?" I glared at Bella.
"Having a chat." she shrugged.
"We have a job to do! Dennis, you said you'd be gone for five minutes and we can barely breathe back there! Get your sorry butt back to work!" I yelled at my friend.
