A Taste of You

24: Piecing It Together

The whole waking me up every two hours thing leaves both of us cranky and sleep-deprived. Ethan insists on being the one to call Ronnie in the morning. She is shocked to hear of my condition and says she'll be over shortly.

I ask Ethan to call Mateo, too. He says he will, but later. Mateo must have been super drunk last night.

"Did someone make sure he got home safely at least?" I inquire.

"He fucking got himself into that state, he should be adult enough to get himself home." Ethan growls.

"But Ethan if anything happened to him, I would never forgive myself." I respond softly.

Ethan looks at me with a look I can't exactly read. He shakes his head, clearing whatever thought he had from his mind. "I think one of your valet attendants took him home. Once you got hurt, my focus was solely on you. Do you remember anything else from last night?"

I close my eyes and try to come up with something new. After a minute, I feel Ethan's hand on mine. "Don't worry about it. It'll come back."

I'm asleep when Ronnie arrives about an hour later. I hear her and Ethan talking quietly in the living room. I swing my legs out of bed to go join them, but get super dizzy, catching myself on my dresser, bumping my cast, and causing a commotion in the process.

Ethan comes hurrying in. "Alise, babe. You need to take it slow for a few days. You risk hurting yourself more."

He keeps me steady as we walk out to the living room. Ronnie's eyes widen when she sees me. Ethan parks me on the couch next to her and she wraps her arms around me. "Oh Alise! I'm so sorry you got hurt. I should have stayed. I can't believe he..., um, how are you feeling?"

"Fuzzy and tired. Did Ethan tell you the extent of my injuries?" I ask.

"Yes, and we have a plan for keeping the ship running until you can get back at the helm." She assures me.

"Is Mateo on board? I think he can step up. He always said he would if either of us needed time off. I know he's been kind of in a bad way lately, but I think if I asked him to stay until I'm healed he'd do it. Is he why you left last night? If I could convince him to apologize would you be able to put aside your differences for the good of the restaurant?" I feel like I'm rambling when I look up into Ronnie's face.

Her mouth is hanging open and she's staring past me at Ethan. I glance back and he has that undecipherable look on his face again. I get the sense that there's something they aren't telling me.

Ethan shrugs at Ronnie and I hear her mouth snap shut. "I will do whatever you think is best for the restaurant."

"I called Aron. I figured he'd be the one to rally the other guys in terms of recruiting visiting chefs. It's not like Aron needs his anymore with the trade." Ethan notes.

I wrinkle my forehead. "Trade? What trade?"

"Oh shit. Um, one of the things we talked about last night before you got hurt was why I was late. I learned three guys are being traded. Aron is one of them." Ethan explains.

"Oh. I should call him later." I say, overcome with sadness for my buddy.

"He's stopping by the penthouse later tonight." Ethan informs me. We keep talking for awhile about the plans for the restaurant. I'm so tired, my eyes heavy with sleep, but I try to stay alert to give Ronnie all the instructions I can come up with for the restaurant.

She holds me by my shoulders at arms-length apart from her. "I won't let you down, boss lady."

I grip her hand with my good one and smile weakly. "I'm so sorry this is right on top of the holidays. Obviously anybody you need to comp for the long holiday hours do. Hopefully I'll at least be able to come back for light duty in a couple of days."