See ya, adios, au revoir, ciao, see you in a few days," said RJ, scurrying down the stairs into the kitchen. He pulled a baseball cap onto his head and turned to his employees.
"What? You're going fly-fishing?" Theo laughed.
RJ frowned. "No... why would you..." he broke off as he looked down. "Oh, this getup!" he grinned. "I'm just going to a fly-fishing contest."
"I thought you were an animal rights activist?" Kali asked, wandering down from upstairs. It had been a few days since Nick had gone back to Briarwood.
"I am," said RJ, proudly.
"Then why are you going to a fly-fishing contest?"
"I'm not going to catch the fist," said RJ, more alarmed at the thought than necessarily needed. "I'm going to disturb the fist, so the fishermen don't catch the fish."
Despite rolling her eyes, Kali smiled.
"Wait a minute," said Theo, interrupting. "What about the Restaurant? If you're away from the next few days, who's in charge?"
Lily shrugged. "Rylie?" she asked.
"Rylie's with her parents for a few days," said RJ. "She's meeting me at the lake, and we'll be coming back together."
"So, who's in charge?" Theo asked. "May I suggest? You should pick someone who is bright, resourceful, and very responsible."
"Like you?" Kali asked. Lily and Fran giggled.
"Well, if the shoe fits," said Theo, grinning.
Kali shook her head. Theo was a total narcissist at the best of times.
"Theo's right," RJ agreed, much to the surprise of everyone else. "We need someone in charge." He scratched his chin, pondering silently when the door opened and Casey wandered in, slapping three new orders down on the table.
"What's going on?" Casey asked, looking around. He gave RJ the once over and frowned, glancing at Kali for an explanation.
"He's going fly-fishing, but not to fish," Kali explained.
"Ah," Casey nodded.
RJ smiled. "I have made my decision," he announced. "Casey is in charge."
"What?" Casey asked, staring at him in disbelief.
"Good, it's settled," said RJ. "Ta-ta!" he waved and left.
Kali watched him, through the small glass window, weave between customers on the shop floor, push open the restaurant door and disappear from view.
"What just happened?" Casey asked, more confused than ever.
"The big bad tiger just got made king of the jungle," said Kali, socking Casey in the arm.
"But, I don't want to be the king of the jungle."
"I'll do it," said Theo, immediately.
"No!" Fran and Lily replied, quickly. A little too quickly.
Kali snorted as Theo looked offended.
"Tell you what," said Casey. "I don't want this responsibility. So, why don't we split it?" he asked.
Kali looked between the three. Already she could tell today was going to be a bad day.
"Lily can run the kitchen, and I'll deal with meet and greet," said Casey.
"What about me?" Theo asked.
"You can be our waiter," said Casey.
Theo rolled his eyes. "Oh, great, I'm the waiter," he grumbled. "What if I don't want to be the waiter?"
YOU ARE READING
The Hellhound's Demon
Fanfiction[Book Five] [Sequel to the Hellhound's Return, the Hellhound's Secret, Power Outage, and Coveted Operation] After sensing a shift in the balance between good and evil, Kali heads to Ocean Bluff to find the source, only to learn that an old menace ha...
