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7
Robert
It was only five in the morning and my cellphone was already ringing. I wished it was Danielle asking me to meet her for coffee, for anything, but I knew it wasn’t. I rolled over and grabbed my phone off the nightstand.
Shit!
It was the manager of the restaurant. He never called at this time of day, because we only opened our days for dinner.
“Hello Alex, what’s wrong?” I asked, knowing there was something.
“Have you seen the news?”
“No. I haven’t. What did I miss?”
“The restaurant. It’s on fire,” he stated.
He had my full attention now. “What the fuck do you mean, on fire? What happened?” And why the hell hasn’t anyone called me?
“I don’t know. I heard the fire trucks go by my house and couldn’t go back to sleep. I turned on the television and saw breaking news.”
I grabbed the remote, turned on the television and flipped to the local news channel. I had no idea what the newscaster was saying, because I was focused strictly on my restaurant. My mother’s dream was going up in flames, and there wasn’t anything I could do. From the looks of it, the place was going to be a total loss.
“Alex, we need to reach out to all the staff and let them know,” I said.
“I’ll take care of that. I’m sure you will have your hands full with the police and insurance company,” Alex stated.
“I appreciate it Alex,” I said.
“I’m here if you need anything else,” he said.
My mind raced, and all I could do was think about what an amazing staff I had. I didn’t want to lose them. I had no idea what I was going to do right now, but I needed to assure them that everything would be okay.
“Do you think you can tell everyone that I want to meet with them tonight? Maybe book a hall somewhere so we can all be in one place?”
“I can do that. What do you want to talk to them about?” he asked.
“Alex, I don’t want this to be the end of the restaurant,” I stated.
“From what it shows on the TV, it is,” he replied.
He was telling the truth. I’d just witnessed the sight; Bella’s toppling backwards and crashing through the roof live on TV and the flames shooting twenty feet in the air. But buildings could be rebuilt. Staff like I have, is hard to come by.
“Just get them together, and I’ll have a plan by then,” I stated.
“You got it,” he said and ended the call.
I got out of bed and dressed. Right now, I needed to get to the restaurant and see what the hell the police had for information.
As I grabbed my Jeep keys, my cellphone rang again. This time it was Katherine.
“Robert, are you watching the news?” she asked.
“Yes. Alex just called. I know. The restaurant is gone. I’m heading there now,” I said.
“Was anyone hurt?” she asked.
“There shouldn’t have been anyone there at this hour of the day.” I didn’t even want to think about what could’ve happened if the restaurant had been opened. Hell, Danielle was there last night.
