Leigh:Do you think we’ll be able to see the new baby panda?
Hilary:Omg, I hope so! The pictures are so cute!
Sharon:ZOO! ZOO! ZOO!
Maria:I think there’s usually a line, so we should get there early and head straight for the panda enclosure.
Angel:I think we should all meet at the same metro stop so we can ride in together.
Kate:Oh, good idea!
Sharon:WE’RE GOING TO THE ZOO!
Olivia:OH. MY. GOD. I’M GOING TO KILL WHICHEVER ONE OF YOU ASSHOLES ADDED ME TO THIS THING! STOP TEXTING SO MUCH, MY PHONE IS GOING CRAZY!
Angel:Sorry Olivia
Leigh:Sorry Olivia
Kate:Sorry Olivia
Jessica:Sorry Olivia
Hilary:Sorry Olivia
Maria:Sorry Olivia
Lexie:Sorry Olivia
Olivia:I hate you all.
Sharon:Zoo!
Ellie laughed so hard she had put her head down on her desk and press her hand to her aching stomach muscles.
******
The most convoluted part about opening Marquis wasn’t actually the kink part, it was the façade; the front part, where the restaurant and bar would be. It didn’t matter that it was going to be small, it still needed to have amazing food and impeccable service; so they’d started looking for staff early and it wasn’t going quite as easily as Michael and Patrick might have hoped.
Today they’d come in to Marquis to work in the downstairs restaurant; all the construction was currently happening upstairs. They’d gone over the layout withLuke Davis, the owner of the company doing the renovations. Apparently he had some of the same control issues as Patrick; he’d been there to check in on his crew at least every other day, and something which was to be expected from the way the foreman acted. Even though the place definitely wasn’t going to be open for months, it was really coming along, and there was something satisfying about working on location.
It was also a good way to see how the soundproofing was going. So far they’d only heard a few thuds, which was good, because when they’d gone upstairs the second floor had been filled with all the usual construction noise. If they couldn’t hear the construction happening, people sitting in a restaurant with music and conversation definitely wouldn’t be able to hear the tiniest bit of what was going on above their heads.
“We still have four months till we open,” Michael reminded Patrick when the big man scowled and slammed down the stack of resumes he’d just flipped through. He’d been looking for one very specific thing.
“Yeah, and not even a single candidate for an Executive Chef,” Patrick growled. “At this rate, I’m going to end up begging Justin to come work for us.”
The biggest obstacle was that whoever was going to work for Marquis, even in the front, was going to have to sign a non-disclosure, and Patrick would prefer everyone be at least kink-friendly so there weren’t any issues. Michael wanted people to be kink friendly too, but it meant they weren’t broadly advertising the positions which needed to be filled. The lack of advertising for positionsmeant they weren’t receiving resumes in the numbers they needed. Although, they at least already had their general manager.
Olivia had actually come to them to personally put in her resume; she was having issues at work with her new boss. While she was incredibly overqualified for the position, they could at least offer her the same salary she was receiving now, plus the perk of full access to Marquis’ services when she wasn’t working. Patrick had also requested she continue teaching the newbie classes, which she’d happily agreed to.
Michael suspected she just enjoyed torturing the new Doms, as well as getting a feel for each new Dom entering the club. Any Dom who balked at being taught by a woman didn’t last through Olivia’s class, and that was really for the best.
“Did I just hear you say you need an Executive Chef?”
Both Patrick and Michael looked up to see Luke coming out of the hall to the back, tucking a pair of work gloves into his jeans. Even though he owned LD Construction and Remodeling, Michael had never seen him in anything but jeans and his company’s t-shirt. Which made sense since Luke apparently couldn’t help but pitch in a hand with the actual construction, which would be a fast way to ruin a suit. Michael was glad, since he and Patrick were both dressed casually too.
“Are you looking for a second job?” Patrick asked, his lips quirking. Although the rest of Luke’s crew didn’t know exactly what was going on with the upstairs of the building, Luke had been curious enough (or maybe just controlling enough) to want to know and had agreed to sign a non-disclosure just so he could. They hadn’t had much interaction with him, but based on the little bit of conversation both Patrick and Michael generally liked the guy, especially since he hadn’t freaked out when he’d been clued into their plans for upstairs.
