A Month in France

Chapter 3: OH NO!

3 days later (28 days left of the month)

"WHAT!? WHAT DO YOU MEAN WERE CLOSING!?" "I'm sorry Leti, our deciding if customers has increased and we've barely made any money this past week." Says mama. A tear ran down my face. "But I love this place! I won't let it close!" Then, it hit me. And it hit me hard. I dropped to my knees, and cried. Mama kneeled down to comfort me. "Leti, why don't you take the day off." Said mama. "No, I can't, I need to help our family's business!" I said as my lip trembled. "Leti, dear." "No mama! I'm fine!" I yelled as I stood up quickly. "Well, if you say so. Everybody, get to work." "Mama, I'm going out." I said. "Where, Leti?" "I'm going to go to other cafes and try to find a way to improve ours." "And I'm going to with her." Who said that? I turned around to see Alejandro. "I promised that I would help you with your family's cafe." He said. I smiled. "Leti, who is this?" Asked mama. "Mama, this is Alejandro. He agreed to help find a way to improve our cafe." Mama smiled. "Thank you, sir." "Alejandro, we should get going." I said. 

As we walked across Paris, Alejandro and I visited many restaurants. Nothing. We could find what other restaurants had. We searched until we came down to one specific restaurant. It was different from all the other restaurants. It was the restaurant that took all of the customers from my family's Cafe. As we walked inside, Alejandro started to scan the place. "This restaurant is different." He said. "What do you mean?" I asked confused as ever. "Haven't you noticed? All the other restaurants, including your family's are similar in many ways. Maybe you just need something that makes your family's cafe different from all the others!" "Good idea, Alejandro! I can't believe I never thought of that!" I yelled in excitement. "But, what could my family do to improve our cafe?" "You know your family better than I do, Leti. I'll let you figure that out." I smiled. I could finally save my family's cafe. "It's late, I'll walk you back." Said Alejandro. 

As soon as I got back to cafe, I have my family the good news. "Mama, We found a way to improve the cafe!" "That great Leti! How?!" "We just need something that makes our cafe stand out. Something that makes it special." I said. Mama looked confused. "Like what?" She asked. "We'll have to figure that out." I said. Mama smiled. 

Before mama and I could celebrate, the proprietor of the restaurant showed up. "I'm closing down this restaurant!" He said sternly. Mama looked worried. "No your not!" I said angrily. "We've found a way to improve our cafe!" "Really! How!?" Said the proprietor. "We haven't quite figured that out yet." I said nervously. The proprietor sighed. "I'm giving you 25 days to improve your cafe or I'm shutting not it down." "Thank you proprietor!" Said mama. "We will find a way." I started to become nervous. Alejandro lifted my chin with his finger. "Don't worry Leti, we will find a way." "Thank you." I said as I pulled him in for a hug. As we pulled away, I looked into his ocean blue eyes. Alejandro and I both blushed. I met this guy a week ago and I feel like I'm already falling for him. 

"I'm tired." I said as I yawned. Alejandro lifted me in his arms. "I'll carry you to bed." And that's what he did. When we reached my room, he slowly lowered me onto the bed. The last thing I remembered was him kissing my forehead goodnight and turning out the lights before leaving. As I was drifting off a part of me felt a bit anxious knowing I only have 28 days to help my family's cafe before I have to go back to College in America. But the other part of me felt reassured that I would soon find a way. After all, I wasn't alone.