"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 woke up next to Logan the next morning with no regrets about the night we spent together.
After he woke up too and we had breakfast, we got dressed and walked down to Lila's. Larry and Jenny exchanged a glance and the former passed the latter a ten-dollar bill. I glared at them. Jenny shrugged.
George walked in from his office with a grim expression. Dennis was walking behind him, head held high, his face grumpy and ridden with stubbornness but not guilty at all.
"This was our final chance to save the restaurant. After last night's failure, our terrible financial condition became known to everyone and now buyers are practically forcing us out of the building, Bella's father being the highest bidder. We don't have a choice. This is our last day at Lila's." George's voice cracked. He kept glancing at my grandpa, whose expression was unreadable.
I immediately turned to Dennis again. "Are you happy now? Are you proud of yourself? Is this what you wanted?"
He didn't say anything. He only glared at me.
"Why did you do this? Why betray us all? Do you even understand what you've done?" I yelled at him. "My grandpa is too old to get another job. I'm leaving for college and my parents are away. Who do you think is going to earn my family money? Mary is a child! There's too much on the line here, and not just for me!"
He avoided looking at me in the eye.
"Lou, calm down, please." Logan whispered softly. I glanced around the room. Jenny was crying in Larry's shoulder. Marry was sobbing and clutching on our grandpa's leg. Gramps and George were on the verge of doing so too. Larry was holding onto Jenny while silent tears ran down his face. Same went for Logan.
I wiped my own eyes and clenched my fists.
"Why are you even here? Did you come to look at your achievement?" I hissed at Dennis.
"You wouldn't understand." he spoke for the first time.
"No! You're the one who doesn't understand! Look at all the people in here! Look at all of us! Do you realise what's going on? We're all out of jobs. This restaurant was our life- it used to be yours too, once! What happened to you? What could have possibly made you ruin everything?"
"There's something I need to say." Gramps interrupted the fight that was about to ensue. Had Logan not been holding my hand, I would have attacked Dennis long before.
I turned to look at my grandpa. George and I exchanged a knowing and worried glance.
"I am sick." Gramps started. "That's the main reason I invited you all here today. This is something I've been meaning to get off my chest for a long time. I'm dying. Lila's could have saved me, but now... I've not lost hope yet, but..." he didn't have to continue.
Everyone's jaws dropped. Dennis finally started seeming guilty. He kept glancing from me to my grandfather.
"Did you know about this?" Logan whispered at me again. I closed my eyes, letting another set of tears roll down my cheeks, and nodded.
