Iniko would like to say that Ethan did not learn well in his week of training, but the truth of the matter was that Iniko missed teaching the younger man how to act in the chance his… Wife appeared at the restaurant. The man certainly underestimated the level of love and passion between the couple; and how… open they were with showing affection.
Since there were no important costumers in the upper levels, Iniko got into the ground level to take a look at how his mentee was doing, only to find him flirting with a woman...
Once he got a hold of the situation, Iniko sighed and told Ethan to continue serving the other tables and that he would take up in serving the unexpected customers.
The first thing Iniko noticed when he approached the table was Isabelle's worried countenance. Somehow, that relieved the older man. Ethan's feelings were in a good place; even when she was with another partner, she still cared about the one working. Iniko ignored how the matter of several men having just one Wife worked, yet he could see she truly cared about them all.
"We didn't count for your presence, ma'am. And I'm sorry for this whole situation, but waiters can't serve their own spouses. If other clients see the interaction and misunderstand, they might take advantage or complain about it." Iniko explained. It was not exactly a lie, but it was not a rule either. He just wanted to cover the bases.
Isabelle sighed relieved. She thought she had gotten her Ethan in trouble. Luckily, that was not the case. "Sorry for the inconvenience."
"Not at all. It was something that slipped my mind when I taught Edris. I will be serving you all today. Of course, because our lady Boss is here, too. Would you like for me to tell the Boss you are here?" Iniko amiably responded and then addressed the other woman at the table. He had not purposefully ignored Mrs. Dodds, he just prioritized the behavior of the new waiter. After all, that was his job.
Jean waved her hand. "It's fine. I'll just eat and then leave. I have other things to do at home." Iniko simply nodded and signaled them that he was ready to take their orders.
Seeing such a professional man, Isabelle was reassured that Ethan was taught by the best person in the restaurant, and that he would not be wronged out of pettiness or jealousy. So, with a relieved heart, she turned to her gentle bear of a man who she had left with the task of reading the menu and choose the dishes they would eat.
It was a perfect chance for him to practice his reading after all.
"What are we eating, Lucas?" Isabelle softly inquired.
Lucas stared hard at the menu for a bit longer, then looked up at Iniko. "Grilled ribs and drops soup." He said with confidence. Isabelle beamed at him with pride. Lucas saw her expression from the corner of his eye and blushed but kept his gaze on the other man.
"For how many people?" Iniko asked.
The bearded-man opened his mouth, then closed it. He turned to look at Isabelle, blinked at her, glanced at Jean, then silently asked his lover what to do. Fortunately, Isabelle was becoming an expert at catching his unvoiced questions and took over, "Just for two." She, then, meaningfully looked at Jean.
Jean startled and hurriedly took the menu. She was so used to have her husband order her food that she did not even expect to choose.
Seeing the lady Boss in that situation, Iniko asked, "The usual, my lady?"
"I… um… I think so..." Jean stuttered, her eyes rapidly scanning the menu in front of her.
Isabelle sighed and gave her friend a slight nudge. "Did you not say you wanted to try the Orange Duck?" She rose an eyebrow.
"Eh? There's no Orange Duck in the menu. It's Orange Chicken…" Jean trailed off, noticing the other's pointed look. She felt herself flush at being so obvious about being so dependent on her Husband, which she did not think was bad; but when it came to food… "One Orange Chicken! Then… there was..." Her eyes quickly read the list of dishes. "Here! Pimiento-cheese eggs!" She triumphantly pointed at the dish.
Iniko's lips twitched but wrote the order nonetheless. Both dishes were on the spicy side. Who would have thought the lady Boss had such tastes?
"Add a pot of mint tea, please." Isabelle added.
"Anything else?" Iniko asked.
"That would be all. Thank you." Isabelle replied. The older waiter nodded and left. "Good job, both of you." She smiled at Jean and Lucas. Lucas smiled back while Jean looked at her with an adoring expression.
She quickly took Isabelle's hands and squeezed them. "Thank you! My Husband is a dear, he truly is! But he always asks for the dullest food in existence. He's bad with spices and flavorful food, saying he cannot stomach them well, but I love them! The savorer the better! But how to tell a Husband like mine that he doesn't know about food?"
A Husband who owned a restaurant!
"Easy. You sit him down and tell him you like sweet, salty, spicy, bittersweet, sour and whatever-more food. I think he will understand." Isabelle shrugged. She trusted in Mr. Dodds' love for Jean to take the truth like a champion. "Then, what do you want to talk about?" Not wanting to make the other uncomfortable with her direct words, she quickly changed the topic.
"Oh, yeah!" Jean let Isabelle's hands go and leaned in. "Actually, one of the room upstairs is going to be rented by some elite people. I had the idea of using tablecloths for the event." She paused, her expression becoming a bit troubled. "I don't think he has much confidence in my idea, but I still wanted to go ahead with it. I thought of asking Mrs. Priddy to help me with it, but I saw what happened earlier with Cordelia."
Isabelle's eyebrows jumped. She finally had a name for the shameless woman who could not take a no for an answer. Cordelia. And taking into account how Mrs. Priddy readily defended her, then Isabelle surmised the woman was one of the shop's employees.
"Mrs. Priddy always spoils Cordelia because she thinks Cordelia's the best embroiderer she has. That means cleaning up all the messes Cordelia creates due to her flirty attitude. It also happened with my Husband." Jean pouted, reminded of that bitter moment when Cordelia actually kissed her Husband, claiming she was in love with him.
Even when her Husband slapped the woman away and spat disgusted, Jean still cried in grievance. They had just gotten married, so it was very shocking to see her Husband being kissed by another woman.
And what did Mrs. Priddy do? Nothing. Just an apology and a miserly 'She didn't mean it, she's just too intense! Forgive her!' Well, Jean was never going to forgive her! Seeing the scene of Cordelia hugging Lucas, Jean did not want for Isabelle to go through the same situation as her.
If only because she knew that if Cordelia did something to Lucas, then Isabelle would choose violence and completely antagonize the whole shop; consequences be damned. Jean liked Isabelle and did not want the latter to be taken to jail or something like that.
"So, you are not going to make the tablecloths?" Isabelle asked, taking Jean out of her thoughts.
"Of course, I am! But I was thinking of giving you the order." Jean beamed, proud of her last-minute decision.
Isabelle gaped at her. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to embroider a tablecloth?" She blurted out, the notion coming from somewhere in her mind.
Jean's smile vanished, becoming nervous. "I… Well, if it's too difficult, then we can make it together!" She backtracked and immediately proposed.
Isabelle bit her lip, pondering the difficulty of the task, then decided to give it a try. If only to help her friend. "When is the event taking place? How many do you need? Do you have any idea on the design? Are you going to supply the materials or do I have to buy them?" She fired a series of questions that she considered important when taking a new order, which left Jean stumped.
The other woman finally reacted and looked at Isabelle with hopeful eyes. "Are you really going to take the order?"
"Of course, I am. I need money to get married." Isabelle told her, making Jean explode in giggles. She truly liked Isabelle and her candidness.
The conversation was interrupted with the arrival of Iniko, who delivered the bowls of drop soup for Lucas and Isabelle, and the eggs for Jean. The bowls were not as big as the ones from Monthe's stall, but the flavor was as good if not a bit better. The eggs on Jean's dish looked and smelled really spicy, yet she contentedly ate them, finally able to try a real dish in her Husband's restaurant.
When the rest of the food was served, the two women resumed their conversation.
"I have an idea on the design, but I also wanted to ask your opinion." Jean spoke up, her voice losing the confidence from before.
"Let me hear it." Isabelle encouraged her.
Instead of speaking, Jean actually took out a paper sheet from the pocket of her skirt. Isabelle took a look at the drawn square in the sheet and the design in it, and as she did that, she also ran the design in her mind, analyzing the complexity of it.
"How many do you need?" Isabelle repeated one of the questions from before.
"Just two. But they have to be big." Jean replied.
"Have you decided on the colors?" Quite a few options came to Isabelle's mind, yet it all depended on Jean as she was the one who knew the details on the event.
"Not really." Jean frowned. "I was thinking on white, but maybe it's too dull. Don't you think so?"
Isabelle hummed. White could be a dull color if not used well. But it was also elegant, which gave her an idea on how formal the event was. Furthermore, the design was really novel, though it could be better with a few tweaks. Isabelle's mind ran with all the possibilities. As she considered the options, bits of food were delivered to her mouth.
She readily and silently took the food, too focused on how to improve the design and make Jean's idea a huge success. At some point, the food stopped arriving and a cup of tea was placed in her hand. When the cup touched her lips, she finally noticed what was happening.
Isabelle paused her pondering and looked up at Lucas, who took the chance to clean her mouth, exactly where bit of sauce from the ribs he had been feeding her was smeared. She flushed to such an attentive gesture from him. He was becoming more and more daring with showing his feelings. Isabelle could only rejoice from having such a lovely man with a heart made of gold.
Oh…
Her mind blanked for a moment, then became filled with the perfect combination. "Gold! Let's use golden thread!" Isabelle exclaimed.
"Golden thread? I don't think that exists..." Jean said, uncertain.
Isabelle's excitement dimmed but did not completely disappear. "We can ask someone." Although she promised herself not to frequent the shop that much, she really could not think of any other place where she could get what she wanted. Not only the golden thread, but the fabric for the wedding dress she had envisioned.
So, once they finished their meal and paid for it, the three of them headed to the fabric shop that belonged to one Mrs. Attile.
When Mrs. Attile saw the young woman who seemed quite knowledgeable about fabrics despite coming from a village enter her shop, she became excited. Since that day they talked, a niggling idea invaded her mind and refused to leave. So, she had been praying for the young woman to appear in her shop once again to propose her idea to her.
Lo and behold, she appeared! And with a rather exotic petition!
No matter what others try to tell her, Mrs. Attile was sure that the young woman in front of her came from a city. Golden thread! Only cities had and moved those. How could a simple village woman know about it?! That was impossible. She also spoke as a prim and proper city girl with a high status!
So, with more reason, she had to rope the young woman into her idea!
Subtly glancing at Ginna, who did not look that enthused at having the other young woman in the shop, Mrs. Attile stepped forward and gestured at Gina to continue arranging the bolts of fabric. "Yes, I've heard and seen golden thread but… it's only sold in cities. It is also quite pricey."
"I want one. What is the price for it?" Isabelle inquired.
Mrs. Attile hummed in thought, but then paused. "Wait, I didn't say I was going to look for it!" She rose her hands as a stopping sign. She was about to get schemed by a youngster! For shame! The young woman was definitely from a city! Only those cunning foxes could outwit her!
Isabelle minutely pursed her lips. She was about to make the older woman promise her to buy the thread, yet the other managed to catch herself. "Then, do you know of someone who can get it? We can pay for it. Even if it is delivered from a city." She tried.
Once bitten, twice shy. Mrs. Attile guessed what the other was trying to do, but she did not want to fall so quickly. So, the two looked at each other for quite a couple of seconds, weighing down who would bend first. Mrs. Attile truly wanted to make a deal with her, yet she had to present herself as a woman with a firm attitude.
Isabelle believed the older woman could help her with getting the golden thread, but if the latter did not want to, then she had other options. The golden thread was her first choice; however, after some consideration, blue was also a good color for Jean's design.
"Since the thread is not possible, then let us forget about it." Not seeing the older woman back down, Isabelle could only backtrack. "I want to acquire some fabric…"
"Wait!"