It was the end of an era; the Lotus restaurant has been running for 35 years and Sam Laing, the owner at 66 years old decided to retire after years struggling with back pain. Maggie didn't want her father to sell on the business, she and her brother have grown up with the restaurant over the years and she felt it was part of their life and home. She decided to quit her job in interior design and agreed with her brother to take over the business. It was the perfect time; Her brother Tony, 5 years her junior, had just finished culinary school and has aspirations to become a great chef to take on his father's mantle, in his own way. The restaurant however was starting to look its age and desperately needed some refurbishment. Having discussed with her husband about giving the restaurant a make-over Maggie secured a sizeable loan to reinvest into the business, Tony too also dipped into the little savings he had to help. Their father trained Tony on cooking some of his popular dishes and soon the restaurant was ready for a new beginning. Maggie was the front of house manager and Tony was the head chef.
There was much excitement from the community about the new restaurant opening and the bookings for the first night were full. Maggie was dressed professionally in long grey pencil skirt, white shirt and high heels; she was nervous but did not show it; she had that aura about her that settled the staff who were also all nervous about opening night. As the first set of customers stepped in, they all loved the new makeover. The restaurant was now looking very modern and chic without losing that welcoming feeling. There was also a small section that paid homage to her father with various family pictures hung on the wall. The first few covers started to arrive shortly and the customers were very complimentary about the food.
"Mmmmm, exactly like the dishes your father used to cook, I have been waiting so long for this," they commented.
As the evening wore on, the restaurant was packed with customers but the atmosphere was now somewhat mixed. The food was taking very long to come out. Some customers had been waiting for an hour before their starters were even served.
"We are very sorry about the delay we are experiencing some teething problems the first day," Maggie bowed and apologised.
She had expected that her brother will somewhat struggle in the first night; Tony has never been in a head chef position and had little experience in a busy kitchen, but she had hoped that he learns on the job and get better as he went along. However, she had not expected the situation to have collapsed the way it did. Mistakes started to happen in the kitchen more frequently as the night got busier, food was brought back from either being overcooked or undercooked, no seasoning or because it just tasted awful. Maggie tried to get the kitchen under control but it was too much for her to deal with both the front of house and manage the flow from the kitchen. By the end of the night many tables of disappointed customers left the restaurant with no food.
Staff morale was low at the end of the night, the kitchen staff had tried their best but there was no direction and everything was chaotic.
"Come on everyone, this was a very good team effort, but it was only our first night and things can only get better. Let's reenergise and make some happy customers tomorrow," Maggie rallied around the staff.
Tony on the other hand was completely deflated, he was not prepared for how busy it was and he was completely overwhelmed by the responsibility of the head chef and the weight of letting his father down.
Maggie gave her brother a hug.
"It will be ok; things don't happen overnight. I know you will make a great chef; it is all part of the learning experience. Chin up and let's take it up a notch tomorrow," she said comfortingly.
Tony desperately wanted to make this right, he wanted to repay the trust his family has in him. But ultimately, he was unable to fulfil his calling. Night after night the same complaints and issues arose, the kitchen was constantly under pressure, food was not getting out fast enough, what food did go out was sub-standard. Each passing week there were less and less bookings, some staff had to be laid off as the business was declining. The situation came to a head one Saturday evening when there were only 4 tables booked but still there was a complaint about the food being overcooked.
"What's going on Tony?" Maggie asked, at the end of the night when all the staff had left.
"We were not even busy, why were there so many mistakes happening?" she continued.
Tony had his head in his hands and started crying. He admitted his confidence in his ability has been decimated.
"I don't have the enthusiasm anymore; I dread going into that kitchen everyday...I'm scared and ashamed of letting everyone down," he admitted.
Maggie discussed the situation with her husband Adam,
"I am really worried about the restaurant Adam, the way we are going we will soon have to close, it is not sustainable, what can I do?" she asked.
"But honey we took out a big loan against the house to revive the restaurant, can we even sell it for a profit with the way business is going right now?" he said.
"No way am I giving up on the restaurant!" Maggie frowned.
"OK let's look at the obvious problem...what's not working?" he rolled his eyes as he said this.
"Your brother needs to go" he stated, without waiting an answer from her.
"No, he loves that place as much as I do! Think of something else?" she frowned again.
That evening the one thing they both agreed on was that Tony needed help. Maggie was not sure how receptive Tony was to her plan but they needed someone to take charge of the kitchen.
She called Tony to try and get him onboard with the idea of getting a new head chef so he can be the understudy until he felt he was able to take on the role himself. Unsurprisingly It didn't take much convincing for Tony to agree to the idea.
Maggie was so relieved they have a plan to move on and beamed a big smile to her husband. She was so glad she had someone to confide in, she loved her husband very much. As Adam stared at his beautiful wife, he still couldn't believe he is married to her. Adam knew he was punching way above his weight when Maggie agreed to go on a date with him all those years ago. Even now Maggie looked amazing, she was slim with long shapely legs, 34C perky breasts and a perfectly shaped ass that she loved to show off in those tight leggings she wears. They have been married now for 6 years but still have no plans for any children. At 32 years of age Maggie feels there was still much she has to do and experience before becoming a mother. That's not to say their sex life was non-existent, but lately it had become more infrequent due to the stress of running a business.
The next day job adverts were placed online for an experienced head chef and very quickly applications and CVs started to come through. There were 10 applicants in all and it was filtered down to two potential candidates that they wanted to interview. One of those candidates was Walter. He was a big man with a large build and was in his early fifties. He appeared very confident during the interview; border lined on arrogant; though he does have a resume to back that up. He has worked in a lot of big restaurants and has been the head chef of a number of restaurants in the last 5 years. Francis on the other hand was very quiet but assured, he has a slight frame but you can see a steely determination in his eyes. Francis has over 10 years' experience as a sous-chef in a local restaurant.
"I prefer Francis," Maggie said, as they discussed together after the interviews.
Tony was a bit surprised by Maggie's directness; in Tony's mind it has always been a one-horse race and he argued,
"One look at Walter and you can see he can take charge of a kitchen, he's bold, experienced and...".
