A House of Men Ch. 04

Ty and I have decided to open a restaurant. It was decided late last night after three days of vigorous housecleaning and lengthy discussions about all we knew of food. Both of us have our specialties and preferences, and Ty knows just the place for us to locate what we have deemed Ty and Holly's Kitchen. It turns out that about two years ago, his grandparents decided to open their own little eatery and had a building built just for the occasion. Right before the construction was complete, however, Granddad Joe died. Grandma Terry didn't have the heart to go on, so the building has been vacant ever since. Ty is certain she will let us have the building to carry out our endeavor if we can come up with the money for anything else that needs done. It's in a good location, so if we play our cards right, customers should come in droves.

"Ty, Holly, what are you two doing? We've been waiting for you for over an hour to get the game started, man."

"Oh, come on, Mark. I know Giselle can play poker. Get her to play."

"Ty, Giselle is my, uh, girlfriend not my card playing buddy. She's here for looks. We need you. Stakes are high tonight . . . Carter brought some Tequila."

"Naw, get Giselle to play. Holly and I are having a business discussion. Besides, I hate Tequila."

"What business could you have with Holly, unless it has to do with uses for her body?"

"Thanks, Mark."

"You're more than welcome."

"We're going to open a restaurant together, man. In the building my grandparents built on Fourth Street a couple years back. It's outfitted for it. Now all we need is a loan to get everything else together."

"You two, opening a restaurant? I'll believe it when I see it. Sure, you guys can cook, the spaghetti the other day was great, but who is going to do the rest of the business shit for you?"

"Well, Mark, my sweet, Ty and I are in the process of doing a rough business plan at the moment. I also have it on good authority that you had some extensive entrepreneurial training a year or so back. Want a job?"

"Me, work for you? Yeah. Right."

"And why not?"

"You treat me like a child."

I am stung. I didn't realize that I was that hard on him. When did this come about? Maybe I should ease up. Hell, if I can get Mark to take the job, this could be my chance to counteract those feelings of his. I already know he can be a clean person if he feels the need, and Ty agrees that the various business skills he posses could be valuable to us, so he would definitely be the perfect person for the job.

"I do? I didn't realize. I'm sorry, Mark. It's just that I get so strung out trying to keep this place in shape while juggling everything else in my life. Please, give us a try. I promise to let you run your own life with little interference from me. You're the perfect guy for the job, and as soon as we can afford it, you'll get a decent salary for it. I promise."

"So do I. Please, man, we could really use your help."

"Let me think about it. I could use a job, and it would be a challenge. That and the chance to see my beautiful Holly every day . . . I'll let you know."

As Mark walks out of the room, Ty and I look at each other with expressions of mingled hope and uncertainty. Then we turn back to our work, hoping to get the first draft of our business plan done by tomorrow.

The news about our restaurant is all over the house within twenty minutes of Mark's departure. That boy sure doesn't waste any time. Jay is our first visitor, and by the time everyone has satisfied his curiosity, Ty and I drag ourselves off to bed, him to the extra attic bedroom, me to my own. I find sleep quickly since I'm utterly and completely drained from the past three days of work, cleaning and planning.