A Taste of You

28: Hits with Intended Impact

Sunday passes uneventfully. Ethan continues to take impeccable care of me. Aron checks in and we establish a meeting time for Monday with his chef. I text Ronnie so shealso has the details.

We arrive for my follow-up assessments at the hospital on Monday. The doctor is pleased that the dizzy spells seem to have subsided, but she's still concerned about the memory loss. "I want you to stay on restricted duty for another week and then you can start easing back into regular cognitive activities. No driving until next Monday either."

"So no work?" I ask desperately.

"Not until next Monday. Start slowly. You'll likely tire easily, but should be good for full days after the New Year. Well as much as you can be effective in the kitchen with one hand." She comments.

Ethan clears his throat. "How about other physical activity?"

She knowingly smiles at Ethan. "I'm more worried about the cognitive strain, but take the physical stuff slowly too. If you get dizzy or tire, stop."

"Sounds good. Thank you, Doctor." I say quickly.

Ethan and I leave hand-in-hand and are on our way to meet Aron, Aliya, and Ronnie. We enter the Cherry Street Café and see Aron with an attractive woman seated next to him. She has springy curls like mine, but a gorgeous golden color which is striking against her mocha skin. Her smile is large and inviting.

They both rise as we approach. Aron hugs me and shakes Ethan's hand. The woman shakes Ethan's hand and gives my free hand a little squeeze as Aron introduces us. "Alise, allow me to introduce you to Aliya, my former personal chef. Aliya, Alise is the owner and head chef at C'est Fini. This is Ethan, her boyfriend. He works in the front office for my former employers."

"Alise, Ethan. It's a pleasure. I am sorry to be meeting you under such circumstances, but I hope we can figure out something to help all of us. Alise, how are you feeling? Aron filled me in a little on why you are out." Aliya politely inquires.

"Well the doctor seems to think I'm coming along, but I'm still out completely until Monday and then reduced time until New Year's. But this will likely keep me out of the kitchen until February at the earliest." I hold up my cast.

Aliya grimaces sympathetically. "That has to be frustrating. Is the pain at least manageable?"

"Oh yeah, but I've always had a pretty high tolerance for pain. I've burned myself before and just kept right on cooking." I share. We start trading stories about painful experiences.

I like Aliya. She's easy-going and genuine. I can definitely see her fitting in well with my staff.

"Hi all, sorry we're late. We're never on this side of town and got lost." I look up to see Ronnie. I am surprised to also see Mateo. He looks somewhat uncomfortable as he stands there with his hands shoved in his pockets.

"Aliya, please meet my head sous chef and the wonder woman who is currently running the restaurant in my absence, Ronnie Wagner. Mateo is my pastry chef. He too is part of the glue keeping things together." I throw Mateo a bone, knowing he's sacrificing to help.

"Hi y'all. Great to meet you. I'm Aliya. I have been a personal chef for nearly 10 years now, the past four of which have been under this wonderful man." Aliya pats Aron's shoulder.

Aron has been staring at Ronnie since she arrived and startles with Aliya's touch. "Oh, um hi Ronnie. Take my seat and I'll grab us a few more chairs. I wasn't expecting such a large crowd."

I'm not sure if Aron has connected the dots of who Mateo is beyond my pastry chef. At this point, it doesn't seem so, but then again, he seems to only have eyes for Ronnie at this moment.