Personal Chef

Chapter 102

I was somewhat nervous sitting in the lawyer's conference room, but I knew this needed to be done. Shawn was next to me holding my hand under the large table.

"Just to summarize, Ms. Mendes is giving Paige Acosta and Roslyn Levine a one-eighth share each in Chelsea's Bistro and they will be purchasing another eighth each over time. This will result in Ms. Mendes owning fifty percent of the business and Ms. Acosta and Ms. Levine each owning twenty-five percent," my lawyer said to the table.

Everyone nodded. I leaned over and looked at Paige and Ros and smiled.

After several meetings and lots of soul-searching, I'd decided to offer the two women who ran my restaurant with me the opportunity to be my partners. For now, I had a larger stake in the business, but if Melinda continued to be as outstanding a manager as she'd been so far, I'd offer her the option of a quarter share, too.

It wasn't easy relinquishing sole ownership of my bistro. It was, however, the clear answer to my problems. Paige and Ros were so invested in the business that they deserved to be co-owners. I'd realized some time ago that Paige didn't want another job and wasn't really looking for one. She loved the restaurant as much as I did. I'd approached them, and they'd both been shocked by the offer, especially when I insisted on giving them half of their stake as a bonus. It was the least I could do given what they'd done for me. We'd had a long meeting where I suggested re-branding the restaurant. It seemed wrong for it to have only my name attached, but they refused to even consider that. As Ros put it, the bistro was my baby to begin with and should hold my name. Paige pointed out that renaming a successful business made no sense. People knew and loved it as Chelsea's Bistro and that's what it needed to stay. As a compromise, I was having a picture of the three of us framed by the hostess station with our names and a statement that we were the owners.

After an hour of signing documents, the business transaction was complete.

"How about I take you ladies out to lunch?" Shawn asked as we exited the large brick building that housed my lawyer's office.

"I'd love to," Ros said, "but I've got a restaurant to run."

"And I told Hayden I'd take him out since I'm now the proud part-owner of one of Toronto's hippest restaurants," Paige said.

I hugged each of them before they walked to the municipal parking lot, leaving Shawn and me out front.

"Can I take you out?" he asked me as he threw and arm around my shoulder.

"Do you think your parents will mind watching Cady for another hour or so?"

"Are you kidding? They'll love it! I'm sure they are having the time of their lives following her around the condo."

Cady was crawling everywhere. She loved the freedom that mobility gave her and would go from room to room giggling from the joy of it.

We ended up at a Mexican place near the lawyer's office since it was within walking distance.

"I'll have the fish tacos, blackened instead of fried, with the sauce on the side, please," I said to the server.

"Still dieting?" Shawn asked after placing his order for a chicken burrito smothered in queso.

"I like to think of it more of a lifestyle change," I said. "I only have two pounds left to lose, but I want to eat healthier in general."

"Not gonna lie, I kind of miss the pounds you lost from your ass," he teased.

"And my boobs are smaller now that I'm only nursing twice a day. Poor you!"

He reached across the table for my hand. "You know I don't really care about that stuff. You've always been perfection in my eyes."