36. Private Party
“I’m gonna call her…”Carla reached into her hoodie pocket and pulled out her phone, but as quickly as it appeared, Matt snatched it from her hands. “Hey! I?—”
“Don’t you dare. For the love of God, leave them alone!” Matt said, slapping his palm against his forehead dramatically. “Can’t you let them have one measly date without inserting yourself into it somehow?”
“In my defense, Matty, they wouldn’t even be having a date if it weren’t for me helping or—as you refer to it—inserting myself into things.” Carla scoffed, grabbing her phone back from Matt. “But, fine. I won’t call. She should be back soon, anyway. The kids…” Carla trailed off, just remembering she was “on duty” as a backup to watch the kids if Gia was running late. “Either way, we’ll hear from her soon enough!”
“Good. Problem solved. The mystery will unravel soon. So, to be continued. Anyway, I’m hungry. What’re we eating?”
“That’s what she said,” Carla said, her tone suggestive. Matt rolled his eyes, but a grin crept up his mouth.
“You have a dirty mind. Lunch. I’m discussing lunch. Let’s try this again… What are we eating for lunch?” Matt walked up behind Carla, tickling her just beneath the ribs and kissing her neck softly.
“Hmm, there’s not much here. Do you want to go out? Believe it or not, Charmed to Table’s menu was pretty enticing. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about some of the entrees since we ditched Ben and Gia there.”
“Yeah, that actually sounds good. I could use a lunch outing—and we have just about enough time to make it there and back before the bus arrives, just in case we need to get the kids,” Matt said, offering a gentle reminder that they were still on-call to keep an eye on Gia’s kids.
“Oh, right. I forgot already. What would I do without you? See? This is probably why we don’t have kids. I’d lose my sense of maternal responsibility and leave them someplace as soon as I got a little bit hungry.”
“You’d be just fine, my love. You’d make a wonderful mother. Okay, let’s head out. Time’s a’wasting!”
Gia
“Hey, Ben?” Gia asked, tucking a stray hair behind her ear and glancing over at Ben in the driver’s seat.
“Mmhmm?” Ben responded, his eyes still on the road.
Gia didn’t continue immediately, lost in thought and fiddling with Ben’s fancy car radio as they headed toward Charmed to Table for lunch. “Do you think you’ll be sticking around here for a while? Any plans to make a rapid escape to another country or…?”
“Well, I have several reasons to stay. I think it’s safe to say I have no immediate exit strategy.” Ben paused and glanced at Gia as they reached a red light. “Gia, the reality of the situation is I’m ready to stay put somewhere. I spent a long time jumping from place to place, never staying enough time for it to feel like my home. This town is the only place that ever really felt that way. And now, that’s really all I want—a sense of stability, comfort, all the things I felt were missing during those adventures. As I said, several things are keeping me here at present.”
Gia nodded, trying to hide the smile that was forming against her better judgment.
“Like what?” Gia asked.
“You’ll see,” Ben said, reaching over to hold Gia’s hand as they pulled into the municipal parking lot on Main Street. Given the time of day—the end of the lunch rush—street parking would be a challenge, and it was only a short walk from the lot to the restaurant. He parked the car and squeezed Gia’s hand gently before climbing out. As Gia fumbled to gather her belongings, Ben opened the passenger-side door for her.
Together, they walked down Main Street toward the restaurant. It was a beautiful day, and the sun shone high in the sky. It put a bit of extra pep in Gia’s mood, making her feel a little giddy—or maybe that was the present company, she wasn’t sure.
Upon their arrival at Charmed to Table, Ben stepped up to the hostess booth. The hostess, a pretty girl of about twenty, smiled brightly at them. “Ben! Nice to see you. Work or pleasure?” the hostess inquired, causing a confused glance to cross Gia’s face.
“Let’s just call it lunch with an old friend.” Ben chuckled. “Is it okay if we dine in the back section—the one that is typically closed at lunchtime? We have some catching up and a few things to discuss privately.”
“Of course. You’re the boss,” the hostess said, smiling as she grabbed a couple of menus and a beverage list and directed them to follow toward the back of the restaurant. Ben glanced over at Gia, noticing her confusion.
“I’ll explain momentarily,” he whispered to Gia. “No time like the present and all that.” Ben pulled out a chair for Gia and walked to the opposite side of the small, two-person table.
“Do you know her… Boss?” Gia asked, emphasizing the word boss.
“Who?”
“The hostess.”
“I do. It all ties in with something I’m trying to tell you. A few things, in fact.”
“Okay, well, you’re making me nervous. Stop being cryptic. Can you just spit it out?”
“Let me ask you something first… What do you think of this new branding?” Ben pulled out a pile of papers, folded once, from within the interior of his jacket. It appeared to be a mock-up of a new sign for the front of the restaurant. The sign had a cozy yet elegant look, with sage green plants winding across it, their stems forming the letters of the words Charmed to Table.
“It’s gorgeous. It’s perfect! But why are you involved in the restaurant’s branding? Are you working in marketing now that you’re back? Is this one of your clients? Oh! That’s how you know the hostess. I get it now!”
“Uh, well… not exactly. I kind of… Well, Gia… I kind of own it,” Ben said, fidgeting uncomfortably with the revelation. “What do you think about this one?”
Ben pulled another mock-up from his pile. At first glance, it was identical, but upon closer examination, Gia noticed a single word had been added in a different font just above Charmed to Table. There, clear as day, was her name: Gia’s Charmed to Table.
“It’s beautiful, but I don’t understand,” Gia began. “Why would you put?—”
“I need a partner, Gia. In the restaurant, I mean.” Ben stammered, his words tangling before they could even make it out of his mouth. “In other areas as well, but that’s a whole different can of worms.”
“Oh, Ben… I don’t have any?—”
“I don’t need money, Gia,” Ben cut her off. “I’m not looking for an investor or financial partner in any sense of the word. Money, I have; it’s time and ability I’m short on. I want your expertise, skills, and passion for all Charmed to Table stands for. There is so much possibility here, so much opportunity for growth and to make a difference. I just don’t have it in me to make this place all it could be with Cold Brew taking up so much of my time.”
“… Cold Brew?” Gia asked hesitantly. “Why is Cold Brew taking up your time?”
Ben froze. He hadn’t planned to reveal that bit of information just yet. “Well, I guess the cat’s out of the bag, as they say. I… I sort of own that, too.”
“Jesus Christ, Ben! Do you own the whole damn town?!”
“No,” Ben shrugged, “just those two.” He appeared to be some combination of embarrassed and proud.
“So, you own the only decent coffee shop and restaurant in town? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“I don’t know. I wanted to see how things went. I didn’t want you to think of me differently than you used to.”
“Ben,” Gia started, “I hated you. I don’t think it could have gotten any worse for us if you’d told me that.”
“I know—and rightfully so—but until I left, you didn’t. I guess I just wanted to see how you felt about me as a person rather than, well…” Ben winked at Gia, nodded his head in mock confidence, and added, “as a wildly attractive, extremely successful entrepreneur and businessman.”
“Ben, I really don’t know what to say,” Gia said. “I’m proud of you, though. This is incredible.”
“Then say yes. This partnership would be an amazing opportunity for you—and it would be a huge weight off my shoulders to know the restaurant is in your hands when I can’t oversee things. It would be, for the most part, yours. Name right on the sign and all!”
“It would be a dream come true, but it’s just too much!”
“Come on, Gia. Let me do this for you. I would be lying if I said I didn’t have past transgressions to atone for, and maybe this is partly about that—but is it so wrong of me to want to try to fix my mistakes? To make up for them in some small way? I can’t go back and change the past—but I can ensure you have a stable future for yourself and the kids. Please. You can make this place even greater than it is now—I know you can!”
Gia sighed deeply, considering Ben’s offer. “A trial,” she finally said.
“Huh?”
“Let’s do it as a trial—one month. I’ll manage Charmed to Table. We’ll make decisions together, brainstorm, plan, and see how things go. If you still want me to be your partner at the end of the month, I’m in. It’ll be like when we were planning for Brazil.”
Ben winced noticeably at the mention of their joint plans for Brazil, clearly wanting to move away from that subject as quickly as possible, given how it had left the two of them.
“Deal,” Ben said, reaching across the table for Gia’s hand and giving it a firm shake. “Now, let’s eat! What’re we having?”
“Well, we already ordered all the desserts… How do you feel about taste testing all the apps? If I’m going to help run this place, I need to sample the options!” Gia grinned.
“I’m in. Let’s do it. Hang here. I’ll go put the order in,” Ben said, rising. “I’m kinda a big deal around here, you know.” He puffed his chest out as he strutted toward the kitchen but stopped short when he reached the access point to the main dining room.
“Uh… Gia? How do you feel about some company?” Ben asked, one eyebrow raised.
Gia looked at him quizzically. “Huh?”
“Come here.” Ben gestured to the main dining room. “Look,” he said, grinning. Gia walked over to Ben and glanced out the doorway, her eyes moving in the direction he was pointing.
“Oh! It’s Carla and Matt. Are they following us? Do they know—you know—about you—about the restaurant and café?” Gia wondered if they’d come looking for her, knowing Ben owned Charmed to Table.
“Nope. I guess they felt they missed out on a good meal the other day when they bailed on us. I mean, we do have a pretty awesome menu. Should we treat them to a full buffet of appetizers in what’s currently acting as our ‘private party room’ to make up for it?”
“Yes!” Gia couldn’t hide her excitement at sharing the news of the potential partnership—in the restaurant business—with Carla. “Can we have their waitress get them back here and surprise them?”
“Of course,” Ben said, waving one of the waitresses on the floor over and asking her to “reseat” their friends in the back room. They watched as Matt and Carla collected their personal effects with confused expressions as the waitress gathered their menus and led them toward the back room. Gia and Ben returned to their seats, waiting to see the looks on their faces when her friends saw the two of them dining at the private table.
“Surprise!” Gia and Ben yelled in unison, taking Carla and Matt by surprise as they walked into the back dining room.