After spending three days in California it was great to be back, but Alec couldn't catch a break. All of his dishwashers seemed to have disappeared on Raphael and Lydia while he was gone, and Alec dreaded starting the hiring process all over again.
"Hey chef," Alec turned towards the voice. "I can post the job ad on the Community Board at school. There's always college kids looking for work." Logan suggested.
He and Spencer were proving to be great additions to the bistro. All of Alec's staff so far love those kids, and took any opportunity they could to praise them and their work etiquette.
"I'll get a flyer typed and printed out so the applicants can know where to apply," Lydia said, making her way to her office without letting Alec the chance to respond. Alec felt like he was a burden to his friend, mainly due to the opening being pushed back by five weeks because of one issue or another.
"Thanks Logan," Alec gave his Kitchen Porter a grateful smile.
"Neither of us have a problem picking up the slack of washing dishes either," Spencer piped in. "We want to help out wherever we can."
"Thanks guys, I really do appreciate you both," Alec then turned towards the rest of his staff cooking away, trying to learn all of his recipes.
Alec watched as Raphael and the front staff were busy packing up all of the food that they were taking with them. They were working in the classroom part of Lydia's business and with it being the holiday season, Lydia didn't have cooking classes scheduled until after the new year. Ragnor's parents requested Alec cater their law firms Holiday party, which they were throwing for their staff and a few of their associates. At first Alec didn't want to accept the offer; he knew that Lydia was normally employed for the law firms catered parties, but Lydia practically begged Alec to take the job seeing as she was already overbooked with other orders as well.
"Are you sure you only want to open the bistro?" Lydia questioned as she stood beside him and handed him a stack of fliers. "I could really use some decent competition around here."
She nudged Alec with her elbow, pursing her lips. Alec couldn't help the airy chuckle from escaping as he took in the sight of his friend.
"Catering is your thing, I'm just doing this so all of our food doesn't go to waste, and I have a reason to pay my employees," Alec looked down at Lydia again.
He couldn't help the swell of pride when he thought about everything that she's achieved in the last few years. Alec may have helped Lydia out financially when she started her business a few years back, but she was in a league all of her own.
"Are you still set for the first of February to be your opening date?" Lydia asked, still gazing around with Alec. "As much as I love you being in my kitchen, I'd rather have it to myself."
"Yeah," Alec sighed, feeling bad that he and his staff seemed to have overstayed their welcome. "Some of the city coding issues really set us back. I wanted to open New Year's weekend, but obviously we can't do that anymore."
"Stupid City Ordinances," Lydia grumbled. Alec couldn't agree more. "They seem to live for making others stressed and miserable."
"Believe me, I got so tired of hearing, 'you can't put that there, this is a potential fire hazard, you need to update the plumbing', blah blah blah," Alec tried mocking the nasally tone of the permit officer. "I'm just so over it all!"
"It's gonna be worth it, though," Lydia laid her head on Alec's shoulder, threading her arm through his own. "Once you're up and running, you're going to love every minute of it."
"God, I hope you're right," Alec thought for sure that this endeavor was going to send him to an early grave. "I'm already feeling the gray hairs forming," he tried to joke.
"This stress won't last long, I promise," Lydia turned to face Alec. "Now, tell me the scoop on Magnus. Clary clued me in a little bit, but I want to hear it from you. I can't believe he flew your whole family over there!"
"Yeah, I'm sure Raph told you about Magnus meeting me at the bistro?" Lydia nodded so he continued. "He said a few things, mostly pretty words, and he also tried to explain but I wouldn't let him. Then I got moms call about Jace, and I just booked it out of there. While I was trying to help mom and dad get the plane tickets, Jem called and told me that he got the flight taken care of and to meet at my parents house at one.
"Imagine my surprise when I found Magnus in the private bedroom of the plane just sitting there reading a book! He's the one who set up the flight and our hotel reservations. I was about ready to forgive him right then and there, but I held my ground.
"After we all saw that Jace was relatively okay and were back at the hotel for the night, Magnus came to my room. We talked it out, and I basically told him that I was willing to start again, but on a probationary period this time. He accepted and we have a date tomorrow night," Alec finished explaining.
"What was his explanation for treating you like crap?" Lydia's tone took on a defensive sound as she spoke.
"He gave me one," Alec said carefully. "I won't go into detail what he said - I won't air out Magnus' personal business to anyone - but he is legitimately trying to better himself, and repair our broken relationship. He's also been sending me these cheesy ass apology gifts. It's kinda cute."
Alec could feel his cheeks heat up at the thought of the corny gifts he's received so far.
"Oh, someone's blushing," Lydia's tone went from dangerous protective to now playful. "I must know about these gifts! It's my duty as one of your self proclaimed best friends."
"When I got home on Friday I found a bouquet of balloons with 'I'm sorry I'm such a mess, please forgive me' written on cardstock and attached to the bouquet. There was also a gift basket of gourmet nuts on my kitchen island with a note that said 'I'm sorry my stupid behavior drove you nuts. Please forgive me?' written on it.
"Saturday evening there was a knock on my door, and a delivery man gave me a package. When I opened it there was a collage of photos of Magnus and me together, and it had a simple 'I'm sorry' written with dry erase marker on the glass. I ended up hanging that in my bedroom.
"Sunday night Magnus had this poster board sent to me with the words 'I love you' written in what I'm pretty sure is every language known to man," Alec saw tears and a huge smile on Lydia's face while gossiping over his cheesy apology gifts.
Normally he'd hate the idea of someone buying his affection, but Magnus was doing it in such a way that it didn't feel like he was trying to buy Alec off. He genuinely felt that Magnus was truly trying to repent for his mistakes.
"Okay, even I'm warming back up to him now," Lydia sighed dreamily. "If things don't work out for you two, can I have him?"
"Hey!" Alec exclaimed, playfully shoving Lydia off his arm. "Get your own damn boyfriend and leave mine alone!"
"Not as easy as it sounds, my friend," Lydia replied. "Unless you know anyone?"
"Umm," Alec began, but he was saved by her interruption.
"I'm teasing," Lydia smiled. "Don't go adding 'set-up Lydia' to that long list of to do's you're always stressing over." She laughed and added, "I don't want to be responsible for your blood pressure." Before moving on from the conversation, leaving Alec with a few things to think about.
Since Alec hadn't really gone out and made himself new friends, he considered asking the gang if they knew of someone who would be well suited for Lydia. She really did deserve all the love in the world, and he hated that all of her previous relationships crashed and burned. Maybe Magnus would know? Though, he may need to go to Cat for this particular task. She was a strong independent woman just like Lydia, and would probably know someone best suited for his friend than even Magnus would know. With that thought in mind, Alec made a mental note to text Catarina within the next few days - he needed to catch up with her anyhow - meanwhile he got to work critiquing his staff.
After all the food was packaged away in Lydia's spare delivery van, Alec, Raph, Lindsay, and Eronte, and a few servers piled in and made their way from Brooklyn to Manhattan where the Fell's law practice was located to start setting up for the party.
Their uniforms arrived just a few days before Jace's accident, so Alec and Eronte were dressed in their gray and yellow checked pants, yellow chefs jacket with 'The Corner Bistro' and their names directly beneath the logo all embroidered in gray on the right side of their chests, and their yellow chefs hats, while Raphael was dressed in gray dress pants, a yellow button down shirt and a yellow and gray tie, with a gray vest embroidered in yellow with the logo and his name and title on the right side of his chest. Lindsay was dressed the same with the only difference being that she chose to wear a gray and yellow paisley scarf in place of a tie, and a skirt instead of pants as her uniform. The rest of the servers - once they actually get into the freaking restaurant - will be dressed similar to Raphael, just without the vests and their shirts have the logo embroidered in gray. Raph and Lindsay only stand out because they're management.
Once the setup was complete, Mrs. Fell gushed over how wonderful everything looked. She even pulled out her phone to take pictures of all of the food, claiming that she wanted to brag on social media that she was one of the few people that were able to book a catered meal prepared by 'Chef Lightwood' and his staff. Alec just discreetly rolled his eyes at his friends mother.
"Don't roll your eyes at me young man," Mrs. Fell swatted at Alec's arm. "Let me brag, and show you off. You're too much like my son when it comes to taking credit for your success. I swear if I didn't know any better I'd think that Ragnor was your twin," Mrs. Fell said jokingly.
"Yes, ma'am," Alec laughed, jumping away from the feisty woman.
"By the way," Mrs. Fell leaned closer to Alec. "The articles of Limited Liability Corporation came through just fine. They're sitting on my husbands desk as we speak."
Those words caused Alec's shoulders to immediately loosen. He felt as though a weight was lifted knowing that he had one less thing to worry about. The Fell's were lovely enough to handle all of Alec's legal needs to start the bistro, including the LLC.
"Thank you Mrs. Fell. When would you like me to sign them?" Alec asked.
"We can head up to Steve's office now and sign them," Mrs. Fell waved Alec along for him to follow. "And stop with this Mrs. Fell nonsense! How many times have Steve and I told you to call us by our first names? You're friends with Ragnor and Cat, you don't have to be so formal all the time."
Mrs. Fell sighed, and Alec chuckled. "I'll try to remember that, Angela."
Alec then proceeded to follow Mrs. Fell to the top floor of the elaborate business building.
"Let me just make sure Steve's decent," Angela said as they made their way down the ominously dark hallway, motioned for Alec to stay put outside of Mr. Fell's office. "We had a meeting run much longer than we wanted it to, so we had to get ready here instead of going home." Mrs. Fell slightly cracked the door, murmured something to Mr. Fell, then allowed Alec to go into the office.
"Alec!" Steve exclaimed, rushing to pull Alec into a mixture between and handshake and a hug. "It's so great to see you. How are things going kid?"
"They're going," Alec eluded. "Some things are going better than others, but what can you do? I never expected things to go perfectly smooth during this process."
"Well, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger," Mr. Fell said as he watched Alec read the fine print before scrawling his signature on multiple pages.
"If that's the case, I better be friggin' bulletproof by the time this is all said and done," Alec joked.
Taking the pen from Alec, Steve said, "This too shall pass." he then proceeded to sign his own name in the appropriate areas.
Once all of the signing was finished Mr. Fell made copies for himself and Alec, then let Alec go back down to where the party was taking place. He quickly placed the paperwork in his messenger bag and helped with the finishing touches of the buffet table. Even though the Fell's ran a prestigious law firm, they decided to keep things more casual then having a formal sitdown dinner.
The partygoers were steadily filing in line for their food when Alec heard the voice of his friends.
"Everything looks so wonderful, Alec," Cat said. Instead of getting in line, Cat bounded over and gave Alec a quick hug and kiss on the cheek, Ragnor right on her heels.
"Thanks guys," Alec happily allowed Lindsay to take over for him while he greeted his friends. "Let me know how everything tastes okay. Don't hold anything back. This is the time I need to make adjustments wherever needed."
"Oh please, me and dad have been looking forward to tonight for weeks!" Cat exclaimed, rubbing her baby bump.
"Where is Mr. Loss anyway?" Alec was looking around. It was always fun hanging out with Cat's dad.
"I'm sure he and mom will be here any minute," Cat positioned Alec to where he was facing her. "I gotta say Lightwood, I'm loving the new uniforms!"
"It's true, darling," Magnus's voice caused Alec to jerk his head. "Those uniforms do look devine!"
Cat moved to the side, allowing Magnus to quickly kiss Alec on the cheek.
"You look beautiful, Magnus," Alec felt his face filled with heat for the second time that day, but it was true, Magnus really knew how to wear a suit.
Alec watched as Magnus' face soften at his compliment. "Thank you, cintaku," Magnus said softly. "Are you planning on staying after you finish working?"
"No, I'll need to get all of this stuff back and cleaned tonight before I go home," Alec looked at all of the chafing dishes and utensils that would need to be washed. "I'm going to Lydia's place to wash and put everything away, then I'll most likely be too exhausted to do anything else."
"Alright darling," Magnus gave Alec a barely there kiss on the cheek. "Please text me to let me know that you made it home okay."
"Will do," Alec smiled up at Magnus. "Enjoy your party."
And he did.
Time flew by for Alec, and soon enough they were all packing their things up to leave. He and his staff had spoken to so many people tonight who loved the food, and couldn't wait for the bistro to open. Alec, Raph, Eronte, and Lindsay handed out so many business cards that they ran completely out. Alec was taking the fact he'd need to buy more business cards before the bistro opened as a very good sign indeed. Luckily, Alec's parents, who also happened to be at the party, told Alec they'd place an order and have more cards shipped out to him the next day. The group made quick work of cleaning and putting away the dishes that it took Alec by surprise when he walked into his apartment building at only eleven that night.
"Sir," A voice said as Alec and Raphael were walking passed the reception desk. He turned to look at the night concierge. "This package came for you this evening."
"Another gift from Magnus?" Raphael asked as Alec grabbed the parcel.
"I'm assuming so," Alec responded tiredly. The two parted ways as they reached their doors. "Goodnight Raph."
"Night Alec," Raph yawned as he opened his door, causing Alec to slightly chuckle before his own yawn got in the way.
After changing into a comfy pair of joggers, Alec opened the package only to let out a snort of laughter. Magnus sent him a framed cork board with wire pinned to it. There was a pair of flip flops pinned to the wire by clothes pins, and the caption said 'I will make things flip instead of flop if you forgive me'.
Taking a quick picture, Alec sent it to Lydia, then sent a message to Magnus; I just got in for the night. Thank you for the cheesy gift, it's adorable.
Magnus took no time at all to respond; You're welcome darling. Sleep tight. xx
~oOo~
Surprise! The only excuse I got for not updating sooner is that Christmastime is a very busy time of the year for me. I was also, as usual, working my ass off and closing out the year, meaning, I had a years worth of reports and paperwork that needed finalizing and filing. Yeah… BORING!
Anywho, I hoped you guys liked the chapter. I know there was very little Malec in it, but the next chapter they will be together for the majority of the chapter. Don't forget to comment! I love y'alls thoughts and opinions.