Life is unfair, there's no point in denying that, and the sooner you find out that the better. That's the writing amongst the lines that you don't immediately see but find out about when it's too late.

Lynn Sr. was getting ready to start another good day, he tied his shoes, put on his typical green sweater over his shirt and wore proud one of his favourite ties. Life according to him was good, he had a beautiful family, a successful restaurant, he made more than enough money to maintain the house, and had some good friends who were like a second family for him.

The time was 6:40, he had to be at the restaurant by the 0700 hours so he could do the cleaning, counting the money and open to the public. Rita came out of the room just as Lynn came from the kitchen. "You leaving now?"

"Yeah, honey," he replied. "This will be a busy day, the sooner we got the preparations done the better."

Usually the days were pretty calm at the restaurant, but today was Friday, which meant that families would go and eat lunch. Friday, Saturday and Sunday were days when he and his friends worked at full capacity with little to no rest. Basically a new day, old dishes and several mouths to feed. Just another day in the office.

Lynn kissed his wife goodbye and crossed the door. He hoped on Vanzilla, started the engine and let it heat a little bit before driving off.

About twenty minutes later, Lynn Sr. had arrived to the restaurant, he parked the truck on the backside of the building and got inside by the employees entrance. Once inside he made the preparations to the opening hour; the man had cleaned the kitchen and began to prepare a pot full of his stew for the people that go there for breakfast. To work alone was a little boring, but luckily for him the radio was tuned in the Old School Station. Some of his favourite hits played as he chopped some veggies and put the pot on the stove.

About half an hour had passed since he arrived, and his employees arrived just in time; Kotaro began to clean the tables and the floor, while Grant started to cook some other dishes besides the one that Lynn had made.

The opening time came eventually, a line of customers had already formed outside; people hungry were waiting near the door, expecting to see the owner of the restaurant to come and greet them as usual. Lynn loved this part of his job, he saw cooking as his way to leave something to the world; he had showed Grant most of his own creations, and hoped that, if the day where he's no longer in this world comes, his dishes would still remain, and would be a form of keeping his spirit alive.

Lynn opened the main door, stepping aside and allowing the customers to enter the place. He greeted every single one of them, which was a technique to make the customers feel more at home.

With no more people outside, he closed the door and returned to the kitchen.

Grant was already busy preparing several orders. The guy was pretty good in his job, he could take many orders and make them in no time. Lynn took an apron, tied it around his waist and took some other orders to help and relief the work load.

Cooking was a pretty relaxing experience for the father of eleven, specially with your friends and listening to good music; the radio had played some good old hits that he really enjoyed; Bon Jovi's Bad Medicine was the first song, followed by Aerosmith's Love In An Elevator, then Steve Miller Band's Rock'n Me. He sang with joy, much to Grant's bad luck.

This music brought him back to his juvenile years, when everything was easier, when life was not as difficult as it was today. He was a young adult when mankind gave the jump towards the new millennium, he was just experimenting the wonders that technology had to offer when he spent one semester at England, where he fell in love with the classics that the country that witnessed the birth of Rock and Roll. From The Beatles, to Pink Floyd, to other bands such as Queen and The Police.

Yup, good old times.

The day was full of work, but thanks to the music the time passed really fast. Cooking was his favourite hobby, whether it was for his family, his customers or just for himself, he loved it nonetheless. There's a saying that goes "Love your work and your love will love you back". Well, he loved his work, and thanks to this he didn't feel that he was working at all.

Night time arrived, and Lynn Sr. was the only left on the restaurant; the people at night was not as much as it was in the day, which meant that there was nothing much to do other than the cleaning. Lynn had just finished cleaning and lifting the tables and was mopping the floors. At one point, the customer paid for his food and complimented his skills, he left the place. Lynn closed the main door. The father of eleven washed the remaining dishes, and after that he left the restaurant.

The 40 years old man walked towards Vanzilla and hopped in. "I'm so tired..." he said to himself while stretching his back. As he thought, work load was heavy on Fridays, and this day was no exception. You know, other people wouldn't like to have such stressful job; having to worry for the restaurant bills, repairs, food and other stuff, as well as worrying for the house was something not anyone could endure. But when you remember why you do it, the twelve reasons why you get up in the morning, you understand that it all is worth the stress.

In the shadows, a pair of eyes watched carefully at Lynn Sr. as he rested a little bit inside the truck. The individual was hidden behind a trash can, observing his every move with detail and taking notes on a notepad. Those eyes glued at the fourty years old cook as he wrote details about him. As Lynn started the engine and drove off, the person in the dark grinned.

After a half an hour ride, singing a few classics from the radio, he finally arrived home. The patriarch of the Loud Family parked the truck on the drive and got off, walking towards the porch and stretching his back once more. He knew what was coming once he entered, and was preparing mentally.

Lynn entered the household, observing some of his daughters watching TV.

"Hello dad." the girls said all at the same time.

"Hello girls." Lynn responded. "I'm gonna go and prepare dinner, get ready and go call your other sisters and your brother."

To be honest, after a whole day of cooking dish after dish under the pressure of hungry customers, cooking for his family was like a well received rest; there was no pressure, no waiter telling you to hurry because the customer were hungry. Just his family expecting to receive a hot, delicious meal.

After a while he came back with the food. The rest of the family gathered around the table and everyone had a portion.

For almost an hour, Lynn Sr. had gathered enough patience to listen his son and daughter's stories of what they did throughout the day; he listened carefully to each one, made a joke here and there and shared a laugh with them. They all were having a good time. One might think that, listening to so many stories would be tiresome and boring, but not for him; through his life, he had listened to all their stories, and in the latter years he had noticed how much they have changed. His children were growing, and while he could not do anything to stop that, he could feel proud to witness the good job he and Rita did while raising them.

The last few months, whoever, he noticed that something had changed. They all talked freely and without any restriction (other than an interruption from other sister). Their voices were normal, but he could notice a hint of something, something like sadness. Before he had given up trying to find out what was happening, he arduously tried to find out the reason, failing in the process.

Though most of his daughters were adults, he still felt with the responsibility of watching after them; he and Rita insisted for them to stay in the house after all, they knew all about them like a good parent would, but, was there something they weren't aware of?

He didn't like to think about that, but again, it was something that bothered him slightly. They all were adults, and he understood that they might want to have their privacy. He could do nothing but expect them to ask for his help if they needed.

As every night he did his nightly routine, which consisted in taking a bath, brushing his teeth, changing into his sleeping gear and reading a book to burn that little mental energy remaining. After a good half and hour he left the book on the night stand and set himself to sleep; his mind drifted to all the dishes he had created, as well as those he's been preparing this last couple of months, maybe there was a new combination he could make to enhance the dish, or maybe there was something new he could do from it. Lynn thought about it for some minutes until he eventually fell asleep.

The night ended with the light of a lemon yellow sun falling from the window. As always, he woke up earlier than his wife, changed into his normal clothes and made his way to the door. Rita stopped him right before he could exit the house.

"You're leaving for work?" she asked.

"Yeah, honey." he replied. "Don't worry, today's Saturday, I'm gonna close earlier."

This was like a routine for them, they did this every morning; they didn't seem to mind that it was like a cheesy act that only boyfriends would do because it was their thing. Lynn walked up to her and planted a kiss on her forehead. "I'll see you at dinner."

This was what Rita needed to have the energy and start her day. Lynn Sr. walked out of the house and closed the door behind him, Rita watched him depart from the drive until she lost sight of him and walked towards the kitchen to prepare the breakfast.

The day eventually passed and it was closing time. After the last customer left, he made the counts while the other staff cleaned the floors and the plates. After half an hour they al left, with Lynn being the only one remaining at the barking on the back of the building. Something was off, he had this strange feeling, like a weight on his chest. He glanced at his watch, realizing that it was getting late.

The father of eleven crossed the backdoor and locked it. He thought about what to make for lunch, maybe some mashe...

The sound of his cellphone made him snap out of his thoughts. Lynn glanced at the screen and realized it was an unidentified number. His common sense told him to ignore it, most likely it was a scam or somebody wanted to sell him something. But that same feeling of uncertainness struck him again. Taking a deep breath he picked the call.

"Hello?"

From the other end a female voice came, a voice he knew very well and loved so much. Lynn was about to ask why she was calling him from a private number, when his wife interrupted him. What she said made Lynn's heart sink to his stomach and weakened his grip, making him drop the keys.

"I'm on my way." It was all he said before the call ended. Picking the keys from the ground and rushing to get inside the family van, Lynn started the engine and drove off as fast as he could towards his wife's work.

T/N:

Sorry for the delay. This is a short one, but I honestly find really boring to write about Lynn Sr.