Three: An' Maybe I'll Get Famous
The media attention for Heaven was growing.
One day in May, a woman in her thirties walked into Heaven dragging a scruffy-looking guy behind her.
"Hey, can I help you find a seat?" Adam greeted dutifully. Dean grinned, glancing up from the sandwich he was putting together. It had taken a lot of training to get the waiters to actually greet the customers (all three of them had started since Dean bought the place).
"Yeah," the woman replied, "a place at the counter would be great, if possible?"
"No problem," said Adam. "I'm Adam, by the way, I'll be serving you."
"I'm Becky Rosen," the woman said. "I'm a food writer. And this is Chuck, he's a hungry novelist."
Chuck chuckled. "Something like that."
Adam led them to Dean's favourite spot at the counter and handed them menus. "I'll come back around in a few minutes to take your orders."
Dean finished what he was making and handed it off to Krissy. He walked over to where Becky and Chuck. "Hey," he greeted. "I'm Dean Winchester, the owner. Who d'you write for?"
"Actually I'm here as a scout for the Food Network," answered Becky. "People have been writing in about Heaven for one of our travelling restaurant shows. It's my job to come check it out."
"Oh," Dean replied, startled. "Well maybe you shoulda come on a Thursday."
"It is Thursday," Chuck pointed out.
"Oh," repeated Dean. "I meant – we do this thing on Thursday nights –" he gestured to the mic and speakers that Nat was setting up in the space they'd cleared near the far wall, "open mic night, y'know? People come for that as much as the food."
Becky smiled and wrote down a note on a notepad she'd pulled out of her purse. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. For now we'll stick to eating, though."
"Cool," Dean replied. "Shout if you need anything."
And with that, he went back to doing his actual job. It occurred to him that Chuck looked kind of familiar, but for the life of him Dean couldn't place where from. He figured it was probably some food thing or maybe the back cover of a novel he'd read and didn't give it another thought.
Garth Fitzgerald's show – the name of which Dean didn't catch - came on a Thursday. Dean made sure that Gabriel was on his best behaviour (read: wasn't planning on setting a practical joke on the camera crew) and that the kids looked presentable. The plan was for Garth and the crew to spend the day filming in the kitchen and interviewing customers and then to get some video of Heartbreak Night that evening.
It was weird to work with a bunch of cameras watching him and this stringy-looking guy asking him questions about the most popular dishes, and Dean had had to force Gabriel to help cook actual food today and not just make desserts and then lounge about and talk to customers all day like he usually did in order to keep the restaurant in proper operation. That said, it was kind of cool. And it was awesome that Heaven was getting all this attention.
Gabriel took over when it came time to show of Heaven's signature desserts (which he was very well suited for, as he had a naturally enthusiastic personality). Dean watched quietly from his place on the other side of the counter (their kitchen really wasn't big enough for as many people as it currently held).
Dean had kind of lost track of the time listening to various regulars sing Heaven's praises. He hardly even noticed when Garth slid into the seat next to him.
"Hey, Dean, would you mind explaining the story behind your takeover of Heaven for the cameras?" he asked. "I did an intro bit outside earlier, but I don't think I really did it justice. I'd love to include your take on the whole thing."
"Uh, sure," replied Dean.
"We could do it over by the door, next to the picture," Garth suggested.
Dean nodded, suddenly a little bit uncomfortable but not so much that he'd change his mind.
That night at Heartbreak Night, Gabriel and the kids convinced Dean that he should sing. He usually only did that every few weeks, because he had yet to do anything but the one song.
He noticed, before he started, that Becky and Chuck were back.
"I'm Dean Winchester," he started as usual, "and if you're here and don't know what I'm singing, you've never been to Heartbreak Night before."
The night that their episode of Garth's show was set to air, Heaven closed early.
Dean had organised a little party. Sam and Jess were over, and so were Bobby and Jo and Ellen. They were only waiting for Dean's employees. Sam had everything set up in the living room – snacks, extra seating, the works.
The doorbell rang. Dean ran to let in the kids and Gabriel, only to find that Gabriel wasn't actually with them. The girls went to walk past him and into the house, but Dean held up a hand.
"Hold up, kids, where's Gabriel?" he asked.
"Dean, you're no more than ten years older than me. That's hardly a big enough age gap to justify calling us 'kids,'" Nat pointed out.
"You're, like, twenty though, which does justify it," Dean retorted.
"We know as well as you do that you're thirty-five, old man," Krissy jumped in.
Before Dean could answer, they'd ducked around him and walked into the house, giggling.
"Did she just –" began Dean.
Adam put his hand on Dean's shoulder. "You brought that on yourself, Dean."
Just then, Gabriel's car pulled up and he jumped out. "Let's go watch ourselves on TV!"
It turned out that the show was called Local Colour and was known for choosing restaurants that were well known and loved in their communities. Apparently a lot of people had written in about Heaven.
They were the third segment on the show, which meant that they were closing out the episode.
"This next place has a pretty sweet story behind it," Garth introduced. "But I'll leave that to the guys inside to tell. All you need to hear from me is that since the current owner bought the place a year ago, the Heaven Cafe's been more popular than ever."
And then there was a shot of the outside of the restaurant that cut to Dean and Garth inside, near the framed photo of Cas. "This is Dean Winchester, owner of the Heaven Cafe. Dean, would'ja tell us the story behind how you came to own Heaven?"
"I've been livin' in town for years now," Dean said, "and comin' to Heaven just as long. And a few years back – goin' on seven now – Gabriel, the baker, introduced me to this guy named Cas." He gestured to the photo on the wall. "We met here, used to come here together all the time. He, ah, left almost two years ago. But I kept comin' to Heaven, and when it went on sale the manager made sure I was the first to know. I've always kind of thought that if Cas ever found his way back into town, he'd come here first. So I'm not moving any time soon."
Jess nudged the real Dean, smiling. "That's sweet, Dean."
Dean shrugged. "It's true. Look, now we're cooking."
He was right. After Dean's little story, the show cut to Dean and Garth in the kitchen, then Gabriel and Garth.
"Ooh, I should've gone into television," Gabriel said. "I look good on screen."
"You'd be a menace," Sam said.
"You bet," agreed Gabriel, grinning.
There were some interviews with regulars after that, and a clip of Krissy and Nat talking while on a break. Or rather, Krissy was talking and Nat's hands were flying.
"Oh, that was after they tried to interview me the first time," Nat said. "I choked. They did Krissy then instead, caught me later."
Sure enough, the next clips were short interviews with the kids: first Adam, then Krissy, then Nat.
The episode ended with Garth talking about their weekly Open Mic Nights and a clip of Dean singing.
Afterwards, everyone stood up and stretched and wandered about a little. Dean came across Adam staring at a family portrait of Cas's that Dean hadn't had the heart to put away.
"Isn't that that that Chuck guy who was at Heaven with Becky?" Adam asked, pointing to Cas's older brother.
"No way," Dean said. He looked closer. "No way."
"It totally is," Adam declared.
"What'd Becky say he was again?" Gabriel asked.
"A hungry novelist," answered Adam.
"Cas's oldest brother is a novelist," Gabriel told them. "He writes under a pseudonym, but his real name is –"
"Chuck Shurley," finished Dean, still staring at the photo. "Chuck Shurley was in Heaven and I didn't even – he probably knows where Cas is, Gabe."
"And if Cas doesn't want to come back on his own, that's his loss," Sam pointed out. "It's been two years, Dean. By now you should know that there's no forcing this."