Page 46 of Finding Yesterday
“You look exhausted.” I walk in.
“Yeah, I am.” He rubs his eyes. “Today was a long day, I didn’t sleep last night, and two nights ago, I was up all night doing prep work for the restaurant.”
“Oh no, I would’ve helped.” I walk toward the minibar. Yesterday, we were so busy I didn’t get to poke around like I wanted to, so today, I’m getting a good look at this thing.
“Believe me, be grateful for the sleep. I’ve been running on fumes all day. Anyway, you deserve a rockstar meal.”
“Thanks.” I continue to wander around his room, taking it all in. “You didn’t do so bad yourself. A red ribbon is nothing to frown at, and the first-place winner in your category was giving away free chili bowls.”
“I know, I’m putting that on the list for next year.” He sighs. “And remind me to flirt with the judges more. That can’t hurt.”
“Good call.” I glance into the bathroom to see his toiletry bag spilled open. It’s oddly personal to see his razor and toothpaste, which is Sensodyne. I guess he has sensitive teeth like I do. Continuing on my self-tour, I head to the balcony with a sky view of downtown Buckhead, something we didn’t have time to enjoy last night. I point to the sliding doors. “After dinner, we have to go out there. Actually, it seems like a perfect place to eat.”
Jack shrugs. “I was going to take you out, but it’s your reward. If you want to get takeout and eat on the patio, that sounds good to me.”
“I think I do.” I head for the desk that has a menu on it. After picking it up, I thumb through the laminated pages. “The restaurant downstairs has avocado rolls for me.” I point at the picture on the page, holding it up. “And a decent looking rack of ribs for you.”
Jack approaches, studying the menu in my hands. “I must be starving because that looks like the best thing I’ve ever seen.”
“Then it’s done.” I flip to the back of the menu. “Do you want to see the desserts?”
“I don’t have to look if they have mud pie.”
I scan the page. “They do.”
“Then I’ll have that.”
“It’s your favorite, I’m guessing?” I study the picture. It does look good.
“It is, but I’ve kinda always wondered if I could pull off making a spicy mud pie.”
“A spicy mud pie?” My brows furrow.
“Yeah, you know, like the spicy dark chocolate, the chili chocolate.” He closes his eyes. “Oh, man, that’s the best chocolate ever.”
I chuckle. “You know, that’s not a bad idea. I’ll think about it.” All smiles, I head over to the room’s phone to place the order. I’m starving, and the avocado rolls sound perfect.
Jack’s phone buzzes, and he takes it out of his pocket and looks at the screen. “Shoot, I have to take this first. It’s the San Fran restaurant manager.”
“Sure.”
As he talks, I start packing all the chili supplies and marketing materials back into the boxes we brought. The amount of stuff we have is unreal.
Jack covers the phone and says, “I’m sorry, but this is going to take a minute. I’ll go down and get the food while I talk.”
“No way.” I finish packing in a sign before zipping up the suitcase. “Let me go. You finish your conversation, and I’ll see you in a bit.”
“You’re so great.” His eyes go wide, then he continues with, “Great to work with. Thank you.”
“Sure.” I turn toward the door, my stomach tumbling from his words.
He holds out a keycard to his room. “Wait, take this so you can let yourself back in.”
I’m downstairs approaching the restaurant when I see that the place is packed. After inching my way to the cash register to check on our order, the hostess tells me it was never placed. She feels badly and puts a rush on it, but even with that, it’s going to be a half-hour wait. I decide to use the time doing what I should be doing—networking. Making my way around the bar, I introduce myself and take in several congratulations from those who recognize me from when I accepted my plaque.
I leave with a proud smile, glad the wait forced me to do something I was uncomfortable with doing. Now I have several business cards and more people to reach out to when I start my restaurant.
After I make my way up to Jack’s room, I knock on the door. I know I could let myself in with his keycard, but that feels weird. When he doesn’t answer, I put the takeout on the floor and pull the keycard out of my pocket. After scanning it, I crack open the door and poke my head in, saying, “Jack?”
