His Fresh Start ✔ (Book Three)

Chapter 12

Good things had an annoying tendency to come to an end too fast. The anniversary party of my bistro was over. The stacks of dirty dishes in the kitchen and tired smiles on my workers' faces were the only things to remind me there had been a celebration barely fifteen minutes ago.

"Take a day off tomorrow, all of you," I said to my people.

"But the place is a mess, Thierry.
Who's gonna tidy everything up?" asked Marco.

"Jim and Nick offered to help. Aiden will, too. We'll manage. Now, go home, and thank you for making my party a great one."

Several voices said, "You're welcome."
I waited until everyone left and began to pick up empty bottles and alike to have less work to do the following day.

Someone knocked on the door of the bistro, ignoring the Closed sign on it. I put aside one of the tablecloths I yanked off a table and padded to the entrance of my restaurant.

"Alan! What a surprise!" I grinned, seeing my friend who couldn't make it to the celebration stand on the other side of the door. "Come on in."

Alan walked into the bistro."I'm glad you're still here. I'm sorry I couldn't attend the party, but I have something for you."

"You didn't have to," I scolded him.

"Nonsense, Fauber. Besides, it's nothing special, just something to drink on stressful days."

"You would know." I laughed, accepting the bottle. "Thank you. Was the surgery okay?"

Alan smiled, lowering himself onto a chair at one of the tables. "Fortunately.  I'm not always so lucky when they call me on my day off."

"Understandable. Have you eaten?"

"Can I forget my good manners and ask you to feed me?"

Laughing, I slapped Alan's shoulder. "Wait here."

Luckily, we had enough food left. I heated up some meat and grabbed a plate with cold appetizers.

Alan rubbed his palms together as soon as I'd placed everything on the table.

"Go ahead and chew," I said.

"On it, chef."

The guy was clearly famished, judging by how fast he finished everything on his plate. I didn't blame him. Saving lives left little time for food and sleep.

"Thank you. It was delicious. I will probably recommend your place to my friends."

I laughed. "Don't be an ass. I already feed half of the hospital, thanks to you and Leo. Better tell me what's new. How is Ava?"

"Ava is happy in your beloved oh là là land," said Alan. "But I'm not gonna lie— I miss her way more than I thought I would."

"Marseille is a good city. If she's happy, you should be, too. Besides, you will visit her soon."

"I will at Christmas. I promised her we'd see more of France when I'm there. Whatever for my only child, you know?"

"You remind me of my dad. And that's a good thing."

"Did your dad also encourage you to take a gap year to figure out what you wanted to do?"

"No." I shook my head. "But he did everything he could for me, and I'll always be grateful for that."

"I'm trying to be a decent father, Thierry." Alan sighed. "The easy thing would be to tell my daughter to stay in this town and study the same degree I did, but I'm not sure it's what Ava would've wanted. Hopefully, by the time she's back, she will have figured out what she likes."