La Nouvelle Reine✔(Complete)

Chapter Forty

Rayne's POV

I had now had multiple meetings and video conferences with Olga's son. He had agreed to me and Illeya continuing he store and I insisted on paying for the business. I also ensured that all profit went directly to him because as I have stated before, we don't need it. I had bought the business for just shy of two hundred thousand dollars and that was much more than I should of paid, but I felt a duty to help him. His mother just died for christ's sake and I am hustling him with business agreements. But it was worth it. Illeya and I were shutting the shop for a month, to redecorate and work out the feasibility of expanding the business. In that month, we had purchased the building next door and paid off the rent entirely of this building and bought it and were getting professionals to knock down the walls between the building and secure infrastructure of the buildings and make them into one. This had taken about two months and we had to close off a large portion of the shop during this time. It also meant that it was an unsafe environment for the customers so we had to shut shop for longer than expected.I had big plans for the bookstore. Me and Illeya had also purchased beautiful vintage furniture to put in the store, along with hundreds if  not thousands of new books and had hand painted the walls of the existing building. It was tiring but so worth it. We'd had new light fixtures fitted and had plans for a large wood burner to be at the end of the new larger building when we fully finished the expansion.

Not to also mentions that we passed, we were checked and vetted and got the all clear from the adoption system and we could now choose  a time that would be suitable for us to adopt and meet the child that we were placed with. We had decided to do that next month, the seventh to be exact. Just to make sure that we could hire some staff and train them to work so one of us could be with the child when we had them in our home.

Nevertheless, it was difficult. We were on a huge time crunch and I was delivering books to the older clients who would be lonely and giving them a little visit with Indigo. Just to help them slightly whilst Leya was overseeing the tradesmen in work. Even though they were the contractors that built the entire compound for the mafia he insisted that he had to be there. Today was like any day, I had visited four older clients with books and Indigo and had informed them of everything that was going on. A couple of them were hesitant about the changes but when I told them about the cherry on top of the sundae, they agreed and thought that it was a fantastic idea and couldn't wait to visit.

What that metaphorical 'cherry' is you may ask? Well, me and Leya had a large oil painting of Olga and her husband, based off of a photo that her son had given us that would be placed behind the counter and in the eyes of customers as they came in. But that's not all, me and Leya had decided to adopt two more dogs, straight from a shelter. One was an alsatian crossed with a labrador called Bertie who was five years old and was missing an eye due to abuse that had led to an infection that cost him his eye. The other an Afghan hound crossed with a dalmatian. A weird cross breed I know but nevertheless adorable. He was called Bailey and was six years old. He unlike Bertie had not been a victim of abuse, but in fact had been too big for his owner who begrudgingly gave him to the shelter.

The dogs all got along so well. Indigo, Bertie and Bailey. They were best friends and were all very friendly dogs who would suit the almost therapy dog role very well. We didn't intend on adopting more dogs, but I had seen the ad online and clicked on it and immediately knew that they had to be ours. Upon meeting them, they had an instant connection and Bertie and Illeya became best friends. They are inseparable. It's the cutest thing ever.

Soon the two months of construction had passed and ot was time for the grand reopening of the store. For the first time, there was queue outside of the shop. Illeya placed on his apron and  I tied his and he tied mine, lightly spanking my ass in a playful manner before pressing a soft kiss to my cheek.

"Ready?" He asked and I nodded, he headed behind the counter and I unlocked and opened the door. I greeted all the customers that I knew as they entered. There were loads of new faces aswell, which was pretty unheard of. The anxiety that was previously knotted in my stomach had disappeared as people delved into the store and I went to go take orders for customers sat at the tables.

I had a full two pages of orders and had to ask Illeya for help with making a round of drinks whilst I delivered them. I then quickly took the confectionary sweets out to those who asked and I can say for the first time since I started working there, I was worked off of my feet. The customers loved Indigo, Bailey and Bertie and I loved seeing the dogs reactions. On each table there were two dog treats and the customers could give the dogs two treats maximum. It was fantastic. I had a jar on the counter, it was a tip jar of sorts, but all profits went to the shelter that we got the dogs from. It was like a completely new atmosphere. People could get up and find books in a easier way, rather than having to creep inbetween tightly packed rows of books stacked sky high. They were in the same style, ordered into the general genres and then alphabetically by author from there, but they were split up and had hanging signs indicating which was which and it  made it much easier for the customers.

I still had to get books for some of the older customers but that was due to their lack of mobility not organisation now. By lunch, we had nearly run out of snacks and food. I headed into the small kitchen and quickly made up a quick lemon cake batter and placed that in the oven and set a reminder on my smart watch to check it in twenty minutes. We needed to prepare more food at home and bring more in. But teething problems aside, after making the cake and a couple of batches of cookies and sandwiches the day breezed by.

The next day, we had posted a placement for people the work as cashier/waiters. Three people had applied for the position that night, we arranged for them to come in tomorrow. They were all college students and I felt like with the right amount of training they would be perfectly fit for the job. There was a young man called David who applied and two girls, one called Chloe and another called Davina. As I thought they were all perfectly fitted to the job. Me and Illeya had introduced them to the regular clients and told them that they have to get the books for elderly clients if they require it. It bemused them but I them explained that it is only on the request of the person, or if it they had been specified on the sheet that Illeya had drawn up which was pretty much an exact word for word copy of what Olga had told me when she was training me.

The following days had run  very smoothly and the profits had nearly double from what we had been making before. The staff were amazing with the clients and had been under my careful guidance and had followed the same rules that I gave my neice and nephews when they 'worked' here. That being, no phones, a twenty minute break every five hours and no free snacks just because you're working. If you eat it, you pay for it. It worked thought, I was confident leaving the store in their hands when we were settling our adopted child.

Illeya however did have his doubts and called in one of his friends who coincidentally was a guard at the compound and had been sworn in to the mafia for ten years to watch over them and make sure that nothing was going on. With a week to go to them coming here, we were really busy prepping the house. Making sure that a room was prepared for the child that we had been assigned. We had been placed with a fifteen year old boy called  Micheal. He had had three previous foster homes, and he had attachment and anger issues. Me and Illeya had met him once, he seemed like a lovely boy. He was kind and had good manners, but he was quiet almost like he was afraid to say something wrong. We had asked him about his interests in  order to buy stuff for him and get the basic room decor done and we had been working tirelessly to prepare. We were both very nervous about it.

But soon the day had come and we nervously drove over to the orphanage to pick him up. As we entered the familiar door, Leya grasped my hand and we both took a short breath. We were ready!

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