“How did everyone sleep?” asked Luke.
The group sat around a table in the dining room of the restaurant. Each of them had a bowl of dry oatmeal and a glass of orange juice in front of them.
“Not bad.” Tasha powered down some dry oats. “Rosy pinned the sheets over the room like a tent so that we could all sleep under the covers. I’m used to resting in my cramped carriage so it didn’t bother me.”
“I was a soldier. I can sleep anywhere.” Ave munched her cereal without complaint.
“Eins, eat your oatmeal.” Luke said.
“Buuut it’s so bland and tasteless.” The dog replied.
“That’s because it has so much fiber in it. It’s good for you.”
Eins buried its snout in the bowl of oatmeal and grumbly licked at the cereal.
“Are you still a soldier? Or, are you going back?” Ash asked Ave.
“I have to. I need to get this back before someone notices it's missing.” Ave held up the briefcase.
“Our plan fails before it even begins.” Ash *Slammed* his spoon down on the table.
“Everything alright out there?” Plinth called from the kitchen.
“Everything is great! Thank you for asking Plinth!” Ash replied.
“Okay. Let me know if you kids need any more helpful advice.”
Ave leaned over the table. “Listen to me. We have a plan. We just don’t have the means to complete it, yet.” She reached over with a napkin and wiped some oat flakes off of Eins’ snout.
“I’m going back to the Gambling Hall. I’ll try to find a way to use the case to get the password. The rest of you try and think of a way to get the other keys we need. Except you Tasha. There’s no need for you to be involved in our criminal activities.”
“Nope.” Tasha took a looong drink of orange juice.
“Now I have to get going. Keep an eye on Eins while I’m gone.” Ave stood up from the table, adjusted her breastplate, and walked towards the front door.
“Be back in time for the dinner rush okay?” Plinth called from the kitchen.
“Yes sir!” Ave called back.
#
“I’m telling ya we don’t need any promotion!”
Ash, Luke, Tasha, and Eins wandered out into the street in front of the restaurant. Ash pulled on his new set of shoes. Tasha applied some lip gloss then put the tube back in her cosmetics case.
Cophin was having an animated (loud) conversation with another man. “Tha only promotion that we need is from word ah mouth.”
“But think of it Cophin. We already have two restaurants on this street. If we could get more we could have one of those things. You know, a many-restaurant street.” The other man said.
“A district?”
“That is the thing. Just think of all the other cafes that would move into the area. All of them in their uniforms with lights running up and down the street. It would be a real night life.” The other man gazed longingly into his own imagination.
“Listen to me Lux. I don’t need uniforms. I don’t need promotion. And I don’t need ah district. My restaurant will succeed by tha quality of its food and nothing else!” Cophin crossed his arms.
Lux turned slightly to face the group. “Then why did you hire so many people?”
Cophin turned and noticed the group standing behind him. “That was… we needed… we’re in a growth phase. Forget that. Kids this is Lux. He runs tha Galaxy Lip.” Cophin pointed a thumb over his shoulder.
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Lux was tall with square shoulders and an even squarer posture. He had a round chin and a sharp nose. His golden hair cascaded off of the top of his head before curling gently above his shoulders. He had on white slacks, white loafers, and a bleached white chef’s jacket with dazzling golden buttons the same color as his hair. Instead of a belt he wore a wire framed hoop around his waist about eighty three centimeters in diameter. The edges of the hoop were decorated with foil stars and miniature arc lamps. Lux kept his hand clasped in front of him when he moved or talked.
“I’m Ash.”
“My name is Lux. It is nice to meet you.” Lux replied.
“My name is Luke. How do you do.”
“My name is Lux. It is nice to meet you.” Lux repeated.
“I’m Tasha. Nice to meet you too.”
“My name is Lux. It is nice to meet you.” Lux said again.
Lux always faced the person he was speaking to directly and his eyes looked just above their right ear. Lux turned to face Eins. He seemed to be waiting for something.
Luke spoke up. “Oh right. This is Eins. He’s our… dog?”
“Bark.”
“My name is Lux. It is nice to meet you.” Lux looked satisfied.
“Don’t get too attached. They’re all on probation!” Cophin narrowed his eyes at the group. “I’ve yet ta see any of them satisfactorily serve a customer.”
“Perhaps that is because your restaurant is so empty.” said Lux.
Cophin whirled around. Lux stifled a laugh and pretended to be looking at a bird.
Ash interrupted. “By the way Cophin, what is your restaurant?”
“What!?” Cophin snarled.
“I mean, what is the name?” Ash pointed at the sign above the door.
The wooden sign was mounted on a metal bracket so that it could be viewed from the street. There were no words on it. The only imagery was a purple rectangle with three smaller rectangles stuck to one side at right angles. Below that was a small window with a blue sheet of glass in a teardrop shape.
Luke looked at the sign. “Yes. Is there more to it? Did some letters fall off?”
“Was Vance right? Did this used to be a furniture store?” asked Ash.
Lux stifled a giggle.
“What are you gabbing about!?” Sputtered Cophin. He gestured at the sign. “It’s simple. It’s elegant. It’s obvious.”
*Nobody said anything*
“Look! What is that?” Cophin pointed to the top of the sign.
“A table?” said Tasha.
“No! It’s not a shape, it's a letter. What letter?” asked Cophin.
“An M?” asked Luke.
“No! Other direction.” said Cophin.
“An E!”
“That’s right.” Cophin nodded. “Now what is that?” He pointed at the bottom of the sign.
“An O?” asked Luke.
“No, no! Not the letter. The shape!” Cophin yelled.
“A triangle?” asked Ash.
“It has a curved bottom.” said Cophin.
“A curved triangle.” Ash tried again.
“A teardrop.” said Tasha.
“Yes. That’s it.” Cophin clapped his hands. “So that means our restaurant is…?”
“Confusing?” Ash leered.
“No!” Cophin *Snapped* his fingers.
*Snap*Snap*Snap*
“It’s a letter drop?” asked Luke.
“It’s a water table?” asked Tasha.
Lux licked his lip. “It’s an Eatery. You know, like E-tear-ry.”
“OH… oooh.” Luke tried his best to look supportive. “That’s, clever.”
Tasha hid her mouth.
Ash looked disgusted.
Eins *Groooaned*.
Cophin pinched his nose and shook his head. “Some things are too simple for people ta understand.”
Plinth strolled outside. “Are you all making fun of the name of our restaurant out here?”
“Nooo.” Ash, Luke, Tasha, and Eins replied.
“Well good, because I don’t care. Cophin is the one who picked the name and he’s the one who has to eat his own moldy bread on this choice.” Plinth pulled a piece of paper out of his apron. “As for the rest of you, I have some errands that need to be taken care of. Take this list and head down to the market. Even if we don’t have more customers we do have more mouths to feed.”
*Yawn* “What’s this about errands? I can help.” said Rosy.
Rosy blinked several times as she walked out of the front door of the restaurant. Like before Rosy was wearing a leather harness around her chest with a longsword strapped to the front. However the only other thing she was wearing was her nightgown. Also Rosy’s hair was, a, complete, mess! She *Yawned* once more and scratched her left butt cheek.
Ash, Luke, Tasha, and Eins politely looked away. Several early morning tourists did not.
“Miss Rosy! What are you!? Let’s get you inside.” Plinth hid her with his wide frame. He powerwalked the drowsy woman back inside. “The rest of you get to those errands!”
“Yes sir.”
Plinth steered Rosy into the restaurant. “We need to get you some clothes on. Cophin! Make us some coffee. No sugar. No cream.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m on it.”
Cophin continued to have a loud conversation with Lux in the street.
As he walked away Ash looked back over his shoulder at the Galaxy Lip restaurant. He couldn’t be sure but he guessed that all of the doors for the building were exactly eighty three centimeters wide.