{ #1 } I Was Shooting For The Moon, I Hit Two Stars (MxMxM || 18+)

Chapter 50 - No Pain No Gain

(Mark's POV - Sat. 21 March 2015)

Mark – 10:00am: Morning, Babe... I'm in the cab now and will be home in 30. See you then!

Jeez! What a week again!

At least I'm rid of my restaurant called Le Louvres in New York, and richer by three million dollars. This is what happens when you buy an old and sinking establishment in a developing neighborhood for peanuts, renovate it, turn it into a successful and trendy place, then sell it a few years later. I truly made huge profits on this one, but I was also very lucky.

When I bought the place, it was entirely fucked up and situated in an area that clearly needed renovations and improvements, which thankfully started barely a year later. It had closed down months earlier and the owner desperately needed money, so I offered $250 000 cash – thanks to my good friend Joshua who lent me the money – and the guy immediately accepted. Then, it was only a matter of making the right decisions and run them seriously.

To turn a restaurant into a successful place, it's not that difficult. You need to provide quality and to do so, you need to get the best products and cook yourself instead of supplying those ready-made meals that a lot of caterers serve now. However, if you want to cook fresh dishes every day, you can't offer an endless menu, because the more ingredients you have to manage, the more difficult it gets. This is something I learned during my studies in France and I must admit, this was great learning.

Across the Atlantic, the best restaurants propose three to four starters, four to six main courses, a small variety of cheese, and four or five desserts. And this is it! At least it allows you to cook and bake within the kitchen without having to resort to industrial meals, and you can still change the menu on a regular basis. So, that's the secret I have applied to all my restaurants. Have a nice and cozy venue, find the best products, cook yourself, add a little bit of luck and you're sure to make it a success because customers will obviously come back and talk to other people.

I had considered keeping Le Louvres since it runs so well... The manager and chief I appointed there years ago are doing great and I do get nice benefits each year, but I really need these three million to expand my Wine & Cheese Bar business. Joshua offered to lend me the money because he trusts me to make it something successful and to pay him back, but I've decided to manage on my own this time.

I must admit that things would have been more complicated back in the days without his financial help and if I had had to deal with banks when I started my first restaurant; I certainly wouldn't have been able to expand my activities so fast. I never had to beg him or anything. On the contrary, Joshua proposed to help and commanded me to accept – yeah, Josh always had a strong Dominant aura – and after weeks of arguments, he eventually convinced me. I just made sure to reimburse every single cent I borrowed from him. After all, there's a saying that says short reckonings make long friends, and that's a true one in our case.

So, here I am back from a two-day trip to New York, and although it's Saturday, the traffic is completely jammed – just when I am impatient to go home. Twisting the signet ring around my finger – a beautiful jewel that the boys offered me for Christmas – I suddenly remember that I will only get to see Shannon when I get there. Le Marais has one cook on vacation and another one called in sick, so Richard asked Alex if he'd be willing to do an additional shift on Saturday noon and my boy accepted since I had initially planned to fly back in the evening.

Richard...

I have caught him ogling my Alex's butt quite a few times over the past few months, but my stubborn brat keeps refusing to reveal our relationship at work, which pisses me off greatly I must say. As much as I could understand his early reluctance in the beginning – something about gossips for being the boss's lover and being promoted quite fast – I'm getting tired of his usual arguments. Alex's position within the restaurant was only due to his talents, and now that we've been in a relationship for four months, I think we are way past gossips.