Page 50 of Happy Endings

He stretched out on the futon in his office, exhausted. After his late night with Trixie and lunch service, he needed a nap before they reopened for dinner service in a few hours. Lying in his dark office only made his problems feel larger.

He couldn’t fault Mr. Jackson for selling their building. The timing sucked. Like Mama Hazel’s, the hair salon and used bookstore had also lost business due to District Market. He doubted the three of them could come up with a good counteroffer. Unless one of them had a fairy godmother tucked away somewhere.

Right now Xavier’s joke about finding a sugar mama was very appealing.

“Andre? What are you doing in the dark?”

Keisha flipped the light switch.

“Ow!” Andre rubbed his eyes and blinked quickly to adjust to the light. “A warning could have been nice.”

“Sorry. Lights!” She giggled.

“Very funny.” He sat up on the futon. Sisters were so annoying, even as adults. “You’re here early.”

“My study group was tired, so we split.” She sat down next to him, pushing him aside with her body. “How did lunch go?”

“Lunch was busy for once. We had some new customers. I could barely keep up.”

“I knew it!” She clapped her hands. “The pop-ups are working.”

“Don’t get too excited. I think it’s too soon to tell.”

“Party pooper.” She stuck out her lip in an exaggerated pout. “You need to think positive.”

“How’s this for positive? I think I figured out how to manage lunch service so you can keep taking classes.”

“I told you I’m not sure I want to finish school, but I’m listening.”

“What if we made the buffet a permanent thing? But only during lunch while you’re in class. With a set menu, I don’t have to take orders. I can focus on serving drinks and clearing tables.”

“That’s brilliant!” She smacked his arm with the back of her hand.

“Hey, that hurts.”

“Since we have a buffet for Trixie’s pop-ups, we know how efficient it is,” she continued, ignoring his pain. “Do you think we can start next week? Luis and I can plan the menu over the weekend.”

“I was thinking about trying out some of my new recipes for the buffet. A different one for each day, like a daily special.” He stopped, unsure if it was too much risk.

“Finally, he sees the light.” Keisha raised her hands up as if they were at a church service. “I’ve been saying this for months.”

“You think Mama would have approved?”

“Not at first,” she said quietly. “But once she realized how good your food is and how much people like it, she’d approve.”

He thought about the arguments they’d had over his new ideas. How she never wanted to try anything new. If something wasn’t broken, then why fix it? Mama Hazel’s wasn’t currently broken, but it wasn’t thriving either.

“I think she’d understand that we’re changing things up.” Andre was relieved that Keisha was on board with his idea.

“Do you remember how to update our website?” Keisha had pulled out her notebook and scribbled furiously on it. “If you handle that, I’ll work on social media.”

“I almost forgot Mama Hazel’s was on social media.” While he was away in New Orleans, Keisha had convinced their mom to get the restaurant into the twenty-first century. “You said you knew some food bloggers, right?”

“Yes!” She smacked him on the arm again. “I already made a list on my phone. We should invite them over for lunch to try out the new buffet.”

“I wish you’d stop hitting me when you get excited.” He exaggerated rubbing his arm. “You’re supposed to give me positive reinforcement when I have good ideas.”

“Here’s the plan if we’re going to launch next Thursday,” she continued, ignoring his pain. “I’ll work on social media promotion, including the food bloggers. We should wait a week before we invite them.”

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