A New Friend

It's been three and a half weeks since our grand opening, and almost three since Mom and Dad flew home. Now that I have my office space at Lovebird Café set up, I've been able to get lots of work done. Using my handy dandy accounting degree, I keep up with all of the finances and paperwork we need to keep the restaurant running.

Now, on a Wednesday, our slowest night, I find myself tapping a pen against my small, second-hand desk. The restaurant is doing well. Everyone has settled into a routine. My employees all seem happy. The customers are all leaving happy.

Why do I feel kind of empty? With the excitement of the grand opening gone, I have nothing to look forward to, I guess, except years of work.

A knock interrupts my maudlin reflections. I look up and see Kelsy. Behind her is a familiar face. Delilah!

"Come on in," I say, motioning for them to enter.

"I need to head back out," Kelsy says with a smile.

"Thanks for your help, hun," Delilah says before moving past Kelsy, closing the door, and sinking into the cushy armchair across from me. "How are you doin', darlin'?" she asks with a searching look. I look over her gray pant suit that matches her beautiful gray eyes. Her blond locks are down today.

I'm thankful that I've started dressing nicer for work. In my black skirt and green blouse with my hair in a tight bun, I know I'm looking professional and put-together. Even if my feet are bare under my desk while I work.

"I'm good. Our restaurant is really taking off! And I'm sure I owe a lot of that to your endorsement. Thank you!" Delilah posted a glowing review and even mentioned our restaurant a few times in her cooking vlog.

"Of course! I'm always happy to help out someone who deserves it. And this is a great place you've got goin'. Now, I brought you a little somethin'."

"Oh, you didn't have to-" I start to protest, but she holds up a hand to stop me.

"I'm proud of you, Lacy Lou. You took a tough situation and fought through it to success. You deserve to be rewarded. When I heard you'd set up an office here, I thought you might like some company."

I give her a confused look as she sets a colorful gift bag on the desk.

"Go ahead, open it." Her smile is so happy I can't bear to refuse. I pull out a couple sheets of blue tissue paper and find. . . a fishbowl? And next to it is a small container of water with a beautiful purple betta fish in it.

"Meet your new friend!" Delilah says, clapping. I look at the fish for another moment, dumbstruck, then get up and move around the desk, not even remembering to slip my ballet flats back on. I grab Delilah in a tight hug.

"Oh thank you! I've always wanted a fish!" I know it sounds silly, but my best friend growing up had a large tank full of exotic fish. I thought they were the prettiest things I'd ever seen and begged Mom and Dad to get me a fish.

Unfortunately, with Mom's indoor cat, Herald, fish were not likely to survive, so Mom and Dad nixed the idea. So instead, I promised myself that I'd get my own fish when I moved out and became an adult.

I forgot that promise when I got to college in the busy-ness of classes and exams and socializing and clubs. Then I graduated and was so focused on my restaurant and planning a wedding that I didn't have a spare moment to think about pets. Now my silly childhood dream was going to come true. Though I wasn't sure that I would call myself an adult yet.

"Does he have a name?" I ask, pulling away and examining my new friend..

"I haven't given him one. I figured I'd leave that to you," she says.

I think for a moment. "Gulliver. He looks like a Gulliver."

She smiles again. "I love it. So tell me all about things, darlin'. How's that handsome chef of yours workin' out?"

I return to my slightly rickety old office chair that I found by the dumpsters behind my apartment. "Everett is great! All of my employees are great! They work really well together and they've all been wonderful about coming in on time and pitching in to make the restaurant successful."

"That's wonderful, hun. Now I know this is probably not your favorite subject, but have you heard from that erstwhile fiancé of yours?"

I sigh and shake my head. "I haven't heard from him since the day he called and broke up with me. He stopped by to grab a few things, then lit out. I tried calling, texting, even emailing. But he never answered."

That had been a dark time for me. Left with no head chef and a broken heart, I had spent hours crying my eyes out in the messy dining room, taking breaks to experiment in the kitchen (with absolutely horrible results) and doing research and paperwork. With no family nearby and Kim busy at work (they were approaching layoff season and she needed to make sure she wasn't on the cutting list), I had had very little support.

"So you don't know where he's got to?"

"Nope. Hopefully far from here. His family is in New York, so maybe he headed there to make a name for himself."

Delilah shakes her head with a disgusted frown. "He'll never really make a name for himself. He doesn't have the skills for it. His food was fine, darlin', but he never could cook well enough to distinguish himself from all the other aspiring chefs. That's probably why he was so burnt up when I liked your soup over all his dishes."

"What he does now isn't my concern," I say blandly.

"Of course not. But you will still feel concern. That's how it is with exes. We may try to banish them from our hearts, and we may even succeed, but there'll always be that little curiosity about them."

"Perhaps."

"I'm glad you're doing better, Lacy Lou. I think that keeping the restaurant and pushing forward was a good choice. I think you have what it takes to be successful."

I smile. "Coming from you, that means the world, Delilah. Thank you for your support. And thank you for Gulliver."

"You're welcome, hun. Now I'm going to go get me some food. Would you like to join me?" She stands and heads for the door.

"I think I'd rather get Gulliver set up, if you don't mind," I say, looking at my new friend with a smile.

"I don't. You take care, Lacy Lou! I'll drop in for a visit again soon."

"I look forward to it," I say, standing to give her a hug.

She leaves the door open behind her. I resume my seat at the desk and look at the fish bowl. It already has little blue rocks in the bottom. Now I just need to fill it with water and transfer Gulliver to his new home.

I'll look into getting a few new decorations to add. Thankfully, Delilah has included a container of food and a water purifying solution. I read the instructions and head out to the kitchen. As always, I pause, just taking in the movement and bustle of the kitchen. MY kitchen.

Everett interrupts my observations. "Hey, Boss Lady. What's up?"

"Oh. I need. . ." I check the bottle in my hand, "About a gallon of water."

"Warm?"

"No. Oh no. Room temperature, I think."

"I'll bring it right in."

"Thanks!" I grin and return to my office, realizing only as I return to the carpeted room that I just jaunted into the kitchen without shoes. Oops! Thank goodness no one noticed! I should probably start keeping my shoes on while I work. . . but I probably won't.

Everett comes in right behind me with water in a large glass measuring cup. "Where do you want it?" he asks.

"Here." I gesture to the fish bowl sitting on the corner of my desk. I hadn't realized how barren my desk looked until now. The only décor is the fish bowl and the container holding my new friend. I don't have any pictures or knick knacks or doo dads or anything! Just a couple piles of papers and a few stray pens.

Everett pours in the water, then bends down and looks into Gulliver's travelling container.

"Hey little buddy," he says. "New here? Welcome to Lovebird Café!" He shifts his eyes to me. "What's his name?"

"This is Gulliver," I say proudly.

"Did Delilah Lee Jones really just give you a fish?" he asks, lifting one of his dark eyebrows skeptically.

"Yeah. It's a kind of office-warming slash congrats on your success gift, I think."

"How do you know her again?"

I sigh. I've been expecting him to ask. I know I don't have to tell him, but I feel like he deserves to know the history of the restaurant that is so much a part of his life now. "Do you have a minute?"

He glances back at the kitchen then returns his gaze to me. "Yep. It's a slow night. They shouldn't need me for a while."

I motion for him to have a seat as I sink into my own chair. "It's kind of a long story."

"I'm ready."