In a little less than 24 hours, I will become the happiest man on earth. I wasn't always a happy person and my family and friends can attest to that. As I neared my thirtieth birthday, I was convinced that life held very little joy for me.
I was successful, hard-working, well paid – and miserable. The corporate world held little joy for me, but what it did hold was the allure of money. If I put my mind to it, it was a success. I was in demand, but I wasn't happy. I wasn't fulfilled.
Neither was my sister, but more on Deanna later.
Miles Parker was the wunderkind, the man with the Midas touch. I was frustrated, because I had been a creative kid and longed to do something that brought me joy. I wasn't cut out to be like my father. He loved wheeling and dealing, buying businesses, properties, doing mergers and earning millions. In fact, he got so caught up in it that he didn't leave himself time for a family. It was only a fluke that his much-younger secretary got his attention and made him realize that making all of that cash would be valueless if he didn't have someone to share it with on his life's travels. Smart woman, that secretary. She and my father will have been married 35 years in July and the 17 years between them have never seemed to matter. Dad is incredible for a man in his mid-70's and mom, well, she's always been wise beyond her years.
My dad didn't want me to live the same kind of life he had been leading, but the allure of money was sending me down that same path. I liked money and the fact I could buy fancy cars, expensive trips and party with hot women. Okay, so I hated the day-to-day grind – don't most people?
It turns out that many do, but many don't.
My sister was working for the local school board and she hated it. Like me, Deanna had been raised with a good work ethic. No one there recognized it. She did all of the grunt work and no one noticed she was capable of so much more. Our parents did and they came to our rescue in the nick of time.
They came to us with an offer – they would fund a business, any business we chose. There was one condition – it had to be something we cared about and we had to run it together.
Deanna and I were like oil and water, we didn't mix. I would always have her back, she's my sister and I'm fairly sure the reverse was true. I haven't asked her about it and I don't really want to know. I just know that our parents did teach us good core values and I respected my sister, even if I didn't usually agree with her. In some ways, we were polar opposites. I liked making money but really wasn't enjoying the work. My sister loved all of the technical stuff, but she was practical. I have some of my mom's soul and I love the art of creation. I soon realized that the only time I was having any real fun was the times I was entertaining in my home and cooking for a large group. I loved preparing food, baking, making fancy drinks and being the social butterfly. I had even once given serious thought to going on one of those cooking show competitions, like Master Chef. I wanted to open a bakery and café and I was sure that Deanna would laugh in my ruggedly-handsome face.
She thought I had finally had an inspired thought. Sometimes I think Deanna does things like that just to mess with my head. Like that's what kid sisters are supposed to do.
"It's a really, really good idea," Deanna told me in front of our parents. "Miles is a true master in the kitchen. When he had Geoff and me over last month, Geoff commented that it was better than any of the meals we had when we were in Paris – even if Miles did act like a bit of an ass."
True statement, although in my defense, I hated her boyfriend. I usually hate all of Deanna's boyfriends. She has horrible taste in men and deserves better. My sister is a real looker and has great qualities. Hey, like I said – she is my sister, even if we don't get along.
Our parents were looking at us as if they had just been hit by lightning. "I can't believe it," my mother said as she shook her head. I think my dad was steadying her to keep her from fainting dead away. "I thought I'd be on my deathbed before I ever saw my children agree on anything."
"Now Silvia, you're exaggerating," my father said, although he was trying to suppress his own laughter at her comment.
"Hardly," my lovely blonde mother smiled. "Remember when they were little? I couldn't even make peanut butter sandwiches for them to share. Miles wanted the crusts cut off on his, Deanna didn't like crunchy-style peanut butter."
"True," I laughed with my parents, not at them. "Although we both hate honey with PB."
Deanna wrinkled her nose, the way that she always does when she's annoyed at something. "Yuck, too sweet!" I always think it makes her look cute, while Deanna thinks it makes her look like a Pekingese puppy.
While it did take more than a wave of a magic wand and signing some legal documents to make happen, the bakery & café didn't take a long time to happen. I left all of the practical things for my sister and father to handle. I decided on the menu and the décor, with input from my mother. We all had thoughts as to where we could open the place and found the perfect spot in relatively short order. A long-running Bistro had closed down just a little over six months prior, as the owner was in her 70's and wanted to retire. She was a friend of my parents' and when they called her to ask if she'd rent the place to us, she was more than delighted. She even promised to be our first customer (we made sure of that by inviting her to the opening day). Deanna and dad handled all of the wheeling & dealing, of which there was little needed and we were set to go. The lady even put us in touch with some of her previous suppliers, so we didn't have to start cold with all-new contacts. There were a few thriving businesses in the area, it was across from city hall and down the block from three different retail warehouses. Our community is a bit more upscale than it used to be as a lot of older factories and locations are being repurposed as condos and office space. All it would take for us to succeed was a good product and good word of mouth. Of course, I'd have to do my share of work and we would need to hire a competent staff. Deanna had a few ideas on the subject, as did I.
Oddly enough, our ideas seemed to mesh.
"I think we should hire attractive staff, pretty girls for the most part," Deanna said. "Eye candy will bring the customers in and keep the coming back, but your food will build the business. What do you think?"
"I went to a `Maid Café' last year in Japan, this one was very popular," I said, adding an extra layer to Deanna's already-good suggestion. "They had all sorts of maids, from naughty maids – not too extreme, of course – to French maids, Victorian maids, lots of variations of the themes. We could offer a bit higher rate of pay to attract a good-looking staff and reimburse the cost of their uniforms, what do you think?"
"I think it's a winner," Deanna smiled. "Hey, it's not our money we're investing and what person hasn't had a maid fantasy now and again?"
Once that was settled, we also agreed that even our cooks and busboys, everyone, would be hired – discreetly, of course – partly on their looks. As we knew we were going to really make our food, even something as simple as our coffee, the best that we could, my usually-sedate sibling came up with a name –
Maid in Heaven
.
Little did either of us know just how prophetic our new name would prove to be.
We had hired our kitchen staff; I had politely stolen a few staffers from another café I used to frequent. I had promised them a supportive and fun work environment. My sister went on a scouting mission to the local university and colleges and found some attractive coeds who loved the idea of getting paid for what they called "Cosplay". Deanna had been into Anime when she was younger and I was pleasantly surprised to find out just how many of these supposedly "geeky" girls were actually hotties with some very exceptional, hand-made costumes. Some of these girls, our new staffers, didn't even want reimbursement for their costumes, although we insisted. We wanted to foster feelings of fun, family and support.
We had almost a full staff when an angel descended from heaven to Heaven. I was going over the menu to see if any last-minute changes were necessary when I heard the sound of high heels clicking on our new hardwood floors. I spun around to see this exotic, dark beauty walking towards me and I felt my heart pounding. I am not a man prone to hyperbole, but this woman, who I had never seen before, made me dizzy. Something about her caught my attention and would not let me go. She hadn't even said a word, yet I knew her voice would be melodic and that something had just happened to me, even if I didn't know what it was – yet. She said something and all I could hear was a buzzing in my ears. She repeated it again and I invited her to sit down. She placed a piece of paper in front of me and it finally registered that she was here to apply for a job and she had brought a resume. We had already hired all of our staff, yet I would have moved mountains to find a position for her. She had cast some sort of spell on me, yet I wasn't eager to have her remove it.
She began to talk and spoke of her experience in restaurants and cafes, which was surprising, given her young age of 19. Her experience would not have mattered one whit to me, because I wanted her around and I knew it was wholly for selfish reasons. This girl could have sold ice to a Viking. I am sure I must have asked some questions, because Noelle – that was her name – was answering them. In order not to make a complete fool of myself, I summoned Deanna from our office and asked her to complete the interview. "Whatever you do," I instructed my sister, "HIRE her!"
"Are you kidding?" Deanna said, shaking her head. Her long red hair spilled about her face and her green eyes were dancing with merriment. Her smile spoke volumes as she grinned at me. "
Look
at the girl!
Of course
