So yeah, we are getting a new story out and I am not even going to try to apologise for the delay of my updates. Life is hectic and once situation settles, I will try to get back on track. Hey, lets get back to the story.
Baked Goods
Peeta Mellark
Mellark Bakeries and Restaurants
Panem
I flip the card in my hand once, twice till I am standing in front of the restaurant staring at the entrance of the board hanging on top of it reading 'Mellarks Restaurant' written in cursive. I take a deep sigh and push the door open and the door chimes open indicating me arriving there.
"Oh goodie,a customer" A red-headed man smiles looking at me. "Oh please do come in. Business has been slow lately. I will be back with your order right now" he smiles at me adjourning me to an open seat to an apparently empty bakery/restaurant.
"Oh, no you have been mistaken, I came to meet Peeta Mellark"
"Oh so you are the new hire. Let me get him. Stay right here. I will be back" the man says leaving me alone in that, dark place?
Even though the time is just around 4 in the evening, the interiors are dimly lighted and the place doesnt exactly give a very impressive look either. It does not have a charm to attract the people towards it,which is something so important according to Effie Trinket, my professor.
I hear the door banging and a young man, a couple inches taller than me standing, his hands folded in front of him. His blonde hair is tousled and his blue eyes are blood shot otherwise a very dark hue of blue, so contrasting to the blue eyes Prim had.
"I told you to not let anyone today, Darius. I am not having a time right now."
"But Haymitch had summoned her..."
"I really need to have some words with him. Now will you escort her out"
I am already being sent out before I have even said my name. What a great beginning.
"Sweetheart he is not having a good time now. I sent you because, well, lets just face it, you are the person who does not take any crap from others and that is what I want to deal with Peeta"
"But our meeting just lasted 30 seconds, Haymitch and honestly, your godson is really a..."
"A what? I get it sweetheart. You know how hard it is to lose a parent. At least you have gotten your sister but that was not his case. I thought that you understood his pain than I do"
I actually considered that when I came home and told Prim about the briefest meeting I had with Prim and she advised me that all he wanted was comfort and he was going through a lot of pain right now and they tend to come out more cold hearted, pretty much like me but that was not my business. Mine was to help their cooking stuff and planning it. Maybe accepting Haymitch's offer was a bit over board.
Well let me lay out the facts.
Haymitch Abernathy, was my mother Lilian Everdeen's brother. A rich one for the matter. Only heir to the Abernathy Medical company which was later sold. However Haymitch has tons of money to last him decades in his posh, luxurious apartment. God knows why he could not hire an helper to clean the mess he makes.
Well,long story short, after my grandparents, whom I have no knowledge of, disowned their daughter for bringing disgrace for their family and my mom moving out and being with my father and accepting the live of an average middle class woman, and losing my father to an accident, my mom slipping into depression later handling the responsibility of raising myself and Prim life under her brother, took the extreme step.
Haymitch wanted a good life for his nieces and made me choose culinary, out of all the available options. I could not cook to save my life. Bread with butter and jam, mac and cheese was the closest thing I have cooked. However, it grew upon me and before I knew it, I was experimenting with a vast varieties of cuisines from around the world and became the apple of Effie's eye which was a very difficult task to accomplish.
When Haymitch decided to mess with my already screwed up life by introducing Peeta Mellark.
Peeta Mellark is the only living heir to Mellark chain of bakeries and restaurants. It seems that he lost his family to the car accident which he survived with just losing his leg. The day I saw Haymitch cry.
Soon the once famous Mellark bakery legacy started disappearing after the death of the Mellarks. Peeta was young and inexperienced and dealing with the personal loss had taken the toll on him that slowly, the other branches of the Hotel and the Bakery were shut down. Except for one. The bakeries lost their once famous charm.
Haymitch could not let his godson rot like this and waste his life as apparently he had treated him like his son nevertheless and it actually surprised me that he could love someone like that.
So after my graduation, when he approached me with the idea that I help him rebuild the restaurant by bringing him back from the depression he is in, I accepted it because, Haymitch is after all my uncle, had accepted to raise me and Prim, send us to college and he is so much like me. He could be anti-social but this was something he had asked me, as a favour.
But Peeta Mellark was so much worse than I expected him to be.
After the incident that he pushed me out of the hotel, I had an instant urge to get in and rip is head off for the words he had said to the waiter guy but I restrained myself because I had gone through the terrible phase just like he did and I did say some pretty nasty things.
"She is not big nor particularly pretty."
Douche bag
"Hello, Sweetheart, are you there"
"Yeah Haymitch"
"Do it for me again. I have already talked to him so that he would do anything if you asked him right now. Don't try to push up too much out of his purse. I need you to build it up just as it was before. I trust you sweetheart"
"Okay I will meet him tomorrow"
"By the way, he apologised for something he said. Good night, Sweetheart" he says and hung up the phone.
But Peeta said those words after I had left. How could he probably apologise for that?
But no matter what, I decide that Peeta was not a bad guy after all.
When I enter there the next morning, the red-headed waiter is there from before. He is drinking coffee from a cup while scrolling down in his phone. The chime of the door interrupts him and he turns and looks at me.
"Welcome back Katherine Everdeen"
"Well it is Katniss actually"
"Oh Kateniss"
"No Katniss" I correct him again
"You know what,I will just stick with Kat. Peeta's waiting for you. Peeta" he calls out and he once again comes out. This time, I take a full look at him and I actually notice how I have failed to notice how attractive he looks. Medium height, blonde hair, dark blue eyes which is no longer bloodshot and a well built body with muscles flexing from his black shirt he is wearing. His jaw is well built which has a light stubble covering it and his hair is curling on his forehead which looks desperate for an haircut.
"Peeta Mellark" he says extending his arm towards me and when I accept it, it is rough and calloused but somehow warm and soft and I want to hold it a bit longer but I give it a firm shake and release it. I introduce myself to him
We sit down and an awkward air settle between us. Soon the red-haired guy joins us
"Seems like an awful lot of tension going on here. Let me break it. I am Darius. Cook of the Mellark Bakeries and restaurant"
"You're a cook." I ask him more like a question than of a statement.
"Yeah. You know you are not the only cook in this place. All of us are pretty awesome if you ask me. Anyways so let us start from scratch. What plans do you have in improving this place" he asks pointing the whole place which looks eerily empty and gives off an almost cold look.
"Honestly I have no idea. I don't know where to start from"
"How about I tell something which involves my restaurant"
"We did not mean to offend you"
"Sure you did not"
"Why are you like this man. Relax. Remember what Haymitch told" Darius tells trying to diffuse the tension.
"Okay. What do you suggest " Peeta says looking at me.
"Uh, I said I have no idea"
"Well, you can work here for sometime until you figure out to do something. You can help Darius and I will pay you" he says getting up and leaves without giving us a second glance. Maybe he was not as good as I thought. While Haymitch, Haymitch of all persons care about improving his place, he seems least bothered.
"Kat I know that I know you for only some minutes now but do you mind if could catch up for a glass of wine in the evening"
I spot Darius in the bar talking to some people in the bar smiling and his grin is boyish that it seems like a chick magnet from the looks he is getting from girls near him. When he spots me, he calls me over. We are sitting near the bartenders table and he orders me a cocktail while I take a seat next to him.
"Sooo" I drag
"How much has Haymitch told you about Peeta"
"Well there was an accident and his family was killed and that Peeta was struggling to keep up the place"
"True. Listen to me carefully. Did you look at that place. No one works there anymore. Peeta is hesitant to take up the position. He did go to college and master culinary and business but the death has taken a toll on him, especially Delly's, so he seems a bit closed off but he was so good with others"
"Or so have I heared"
"Listen. I have been his friend for a long time and I can't let him destroy himself like this. I have thought a lot about improving the infrastructure or hiring more people to make it more, you know kind of like before and Peeta deserves it... "
Suddenly it strikes me. That is what he needs. We must start from the beginning.
"I got it. I know what to do"
"But I had like a whole speech prepared on what I must tell you"
"But I know what to do"
"Alright" he says giving a hard look, almost suspiciously
"We must start from the scratch" I mirror his words from before for which he furrows his eyebrows even more
"I must call Effie" I say and go ahead in my thoughts leaving poor Darius looking at me helplessly
Few days after I had contacted every person from the list Effie gave me, I take them to the restaurant. When I asked Darius where Peeta was, he said that he said he would be coming in late today which makes it more perfect because I did not want them to feel helpless staying here not knowing anything and having a hard time explaining to Peeta what was exactly going on.
Darius gives me a broad satisfied grin. I smile back at him and then I hear the door chime and Peeta comes in and his eyes go wide looking at the crowd gathered inside. His eyes flit from one face to another until they lock onto mine.
"Are they customers?" he asks
"No we are the new cooks of your restauant" replies Finnick
I know that the end is rather abrupt but I promise to extend it sometime, whenever I get time. Actually I myself personally hate it but if time permits, I will rewrite it. And I know there is no Everlark in this but we will eventually get to that point.
Too much, too less. Let me know. As always PM/fav/follow and have a nice day :)