Mocha Me Crazy

by Kristen Flowers

  He was already smiling down at me. “It’s yours,” he said softly.

  My eyes widened, “What?”

  “It’s yours. The building and the restaurant are both yours, as they should have been from the start.”

  He took a slow step closer to me. I could see his eyes watering. My eyes searched his for a million different answers. My entire body trembled as I tried to make sense of everything. Remi was an impossible person to figure out.

  His smile dropped and panic crossed his face. “Is it not…?”

  “No, it’s- it’s wonderful, Remi. It’s more than wonderful, actually.” I said as a tear rolled down my cheek. I quickly wiped it away with the back of my hand.

  “Oh,” Remi sighed with relief, “Your face kind of scared me.” He paused and the two of us looked into each other’s eyes for a moment. “I’m sorry. For everything. You have no idea how awful I’ve been feeling.”

  “I have an idea,” I admitted.

  “When the realtor called me to say I had gotten the place, I wasn’t happy. I wasn’t excited and I didn’t celebrate.”

  How on Earth could I possibly take what he said to be true? Still, something tugged at my heart. There was something deep inside of me that still wanted to hold onto a tiny glimmer of hope I didn’t even know I had.

  “Now I know where my true happiness lies. It’s not with my father’s approval, social status, or piles of money. My dad called me and told me he was proud of me for getting the property. He even said I was a good businessman. I’ve been waiting my whole life to hear him say that. But when he did, I still wasn’t happy. The thing I did to finally make him proud was something I hated myself for. The desire to please him made me lose sight of the true happiness I had already found.”

  My heart was thumping in my chest. I could see the emotion in his eyes and hear the vulnerability in every word he spoke.

  "Evelyn, you're the most amazing person I've ever met. You’re smart, kind and beautiful. You’re gorgeous and interesting, inside and out. I was right to call you out on that spunky attitude of yours, but it’s one of the things that makes you so awesome. That passion of yours that pushes you to fulfill your dreams is something I admire. You make me feel alive, crazy, passionate, happy, and so many other things I can hardly believe it.

  “That day Stacy was at the apartment? She just showed up out of the blue and practically threw herself onto me. We had sex months ago, just once, and she's been relentless ever since. I wanted nothing to do with her. The only person on my mind was you. As soon as you stepped into my life, everything changed. Nobody makes me feel the way you do. You make me want to be a man I’ve never been before—a better man. You’ve taught me what matters in life. And what really matters in my life is you.”

  Remi stared deep into my watering eyes. I felt the distance between us close. I sucked in another nervous breath as a tear rolled down my cheeks.

  “Will you,” his smile grew into his usual big and playful grin, “be my chef… again?”

  I beamed with laughter as I wiped away my tears. It was the last thing I imagined him ending his heartwarming speech with, but it was Remi after all. I reached forward and grabbed his arm for balance until my laughter faded.

  “Just your chef?” I smiled with tears still in my eyes.

  "You have never been just my chef, Evelyn. I love you."

  His voice was quiet and sincere. Just as a tear rolled down my cheek he reached up to wipe it away, gazing into my eyes. I leaned into him as he stooped down and pulled me closer.

  And right there on the busy city street in front of the restaurant of my dreams…

  …I kissed the man of my dreams.

  And nothing could have felt more right.

  “Order Up!” I yell as I set the dish up on the counter for one of my waiters to come by and pick it up. The smell of the lobster macaroni and cheese drifts up to my nose as I draw in a deep breath. That was the dish that started it all. It felt like yesterday when Remi came walking into the Red Brick Cuisine’s kitchen and plucked me out of that terrible job.

  And even though we had a bit of a tenuous relationship at the start, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. ‘Evelyn’s’ has been open for three years now and it couldn’t be doing any better! Some nights it gets so busy I wonder if I’ll have to hire more staff. I must say though; I’m impressed with myself for how well I manage to get around the kitchen, even with my pregnant belly starting to show.

  “Evelyn, table twelve wants an extra plate of stuffed mushrooms. Can you get it out in time?” One of my waitresses says as she pokes her head into the kitchen.

  “Of course!” I smile back as I go to work, motivating my kitchen staff like I loved doing when I started my career as a chef.

  It’s times like this that make me think back to how different my life is now. Remi and I got married a couple years after I opened the restaurant. It was a beautiful, but small wedding. I always pictured a guy like Remi wanting a big extravagant party when we tied the knot, but he said he was done with that lifestyle. He wanted to settle down and start a family. And that’s exactly what we did. Although, I wouldn’t call bustling about a busy kitchen while pregnant exactly ‘settling down.’

  He still stays busy with his gyms and other business ventures while I remain tied up with the restaurant. He talks to his father from time to time, but he keeps his dad at a distance. I’m not sure what Remi would say, but I think their relationship has gotten better.

  It feels like yesterday when I was cursing myself for jumping into Remi’s bed with him. I thought it was the worst mistake I had ever made in my life. Now I know it was the best ‘mistake’ I had ever made.

  I couldn’t imagine my life with anybody else.

  The End

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