Gerald was on a cart headed into the centre of the island. Gerald loved his job. He had enjoyed being a housekeeper for most of his adult life. His tribe was one of many that was subordinate to another in the mountains and his people had always taken subservient roles so there was no shame in it. He had excelled in his service and had struck out to use it elsewhere around the world. But no family he has worked for had brought him the joy he felt managing the new business.

The idea had been slowly developed after the Mitchells left town. As the keeper of the house it was incumbent on him to keep the estate in good order whilst the owners are away. The pleasant locale outside the city with the scenic views and pleasant gardens gave him the idea of hosting a series of meetings and conferences at the estate. The income supported the property and the regular turnover kept the atmosphere of the estate in an occupied state rather than sad and empty which Gerald had experienced before.

He had been surprised when some of the higher class clientele came back to the estate when they had no meeting scheduled, they were greeted and shown inside as was proper, when asked if they would like refreshment they all requested the coffee Gerald made and enjoyed it out in gardens under the overhanging boughs of the trees. With no measurable sign of output from their meeting they thanked Gerald and departed. This happened again and again, with guests often bringing their friends. Gerald had adapted and got extra furniture for outside.

He had the idea when speaking to a friend of his who was serving a family in town. They had been astonished that Gerald had such freedom to make decisions and he realised that he really did have freedom and knew the Mitchells would want him to. He decided there and then what he was going to do.

He took a loan from the Merchants Guild, he wasn’t allowed to take the loan out in his own name as he owned no property so it had to be taken out in the Mitchells name but he knew the rate at which they made money and he knew even if he failed that they would be safe.

He hired enough workmen to overnight enact his plan. The villa had been gifted to the Mitchells by the church of Hero. He had replaced the ironwork above the large gates that lead to the property with simple ironworks that read ‘Mitchells’. The courtyard inside was gently sloping upwards from the gate. Large enough for half a dozen large carriages he had added level platforms for round tables and six chairs around each, the tables were decorated with fresh flowers and fine cloth shades above. The courtyard had a series of stables and workshops off either side, he left most of these as they were as they were a functional part of the estate but knocked two of the workshops on one side through to form one large room and added a large conference suite with meeting facilities. The house was left mostly the same with the walkway from the large wooden front door to the back made straight through with signs that read ‘staff only’. Out in the garden was the vip area, more secluded and discrete, the tables were set up around the underneath of the trees boughs and were far enough apart to give the feel of privacy. Other than beef up the kitchen and his side room where he produced his coffee Gerald hadn’t made any other changes in the beginning.

Using his network of friends serving other families in the city he had made it known the day it was complete. The staff in each notable household had subtly influenced their employers. A large meeting of the churches was quietly rearranged to be held in the new conference room. Friendly catch ups were arranged between high ranking acquaintances and a persistent rumour about the estate just outside the city gates was spread to encourage curious people.

The result was the day after Gerald had made changes the estate was packed with people. He had four of the main churches in his meeting room. He had been up all night cooking his finest to cater the event and he himself was running on a lot of coffee. He was just keeping up, each of the dozen tables out front was full and he had multiple silver rankers out back in he garden enjoying the tranquility and peace. By the end of the day he was burnt out. He had kept his pride and no one had been left waiting for his service which remained an exemplary level of professionalism. He realised needed help.

The network of city staff was invaluable. By the next morning he had three teenagers smartly dressed in black and white in the kitchen.

“Listen here. This establishments reputation is unsullied and will remain that way do ye ken? I’ll nae have any of yous ruin what has been started here. We are at the start of something that can be great. I will be taking the clientele in the gardens and running the kitchen. Clarissa you will be my second, I want you to be seen out front as much as yeh can, you’ll be in charge o’ the conference room. Ben and Tom, take responsibility for half of the courtyard each, they will be your appointed tables yeh help each other out yeh hear?”

He had three nodding heads and they all separated. It was a good job he had got the new staff as the word had gotten around and the second day was even busier, going late into the night.

A few weeks went past and Gerald felt it was a blur. They were so busy running their little business he had no time to stop and think. One morning he was sat in the courtyard having breakfast with the staff, he made a habit of sitting down and having a friendly meal and coffee with them before the shift, the estate had a familial feel to it that he was keen to encourage and genuinely believed it would be nicer to run it that way.

As they were sat having breakfast they heard a polite knocking at the gate, it was far too early for customers hence why the gates were shut. Gerald got up to deal with it himself. At the gate was an elf servant he recognised.

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“David, you’ve come all the way down here from house Davone, pleasure to see ye!” He said, opening the gate and clasping forearms with the well dressed elf butler.

“A pleasure to see you again too dear friend.”

“Come in, come in, there’s plenty of breakfast left, join us for a coffee.”

The elf accepted the invitation, sitting at the nice table with the others and relaxing amongst peers. They swapped gossip about the comings and goings of nobility for a while and David gave the three teenagers some insight and wisdom of his years of service with top tips.

“As nice as it is you’ve come to break fast with us this morn but what can we do for yeh?” Gerald asked.

David primly dabbed one of the fine napkins at the corners of his mouth and took his final sip of coffee before he sat up straight to answer.

“My employer has asked me to come down as a preliminary opener to see if you would be amenable to negotiation.” He said, much more businesslike now.

“Aye? And what would they think I’m in a position to negotiate on? They know the Mitchells are engaged elsewhere for the now.”

“They are aware, they have sent me to initiate dialogue with yourself as a household staff to household staff interaction.”

“So its nae a takeover then.” Gerald said, voicing his biggest concern that someone would want to take all this away from him.

“Gods no Gerald, if anything this should help secure your position.” David picked up his mug and held it up to show it. “This ‘coffee’ that you have is delightful, it is making quite the buzz around the city, literally and figuratively. My house would like to offer contract to this wonderful…”

“Cafe, the Mitchells used the term before they left I’m sure it fits.”

“Cafe, while the coffee is delightful we wanted to offer variety. You are well aware I’m sure that the Davone family are some of the finest growers of tea in the Mistrun Valley. We export our tea wholesale around the world but would like to take the opportunity to offer contract to your cafe.”

And that was the start of the contractors coming on board to the Mitchell cafe. There was a bakery in the Cavendish district that Gerald frequented, he had a similar visit from them early one morning and had a contract with them to provide food to the cafe freshly baked every morning. One evening one of the patrons asked for something a little stiffer than tea and coffee and Gerald luckily had enough in the house liqueur cabinet but the next day set out to secure a contract for booze, he was delighted to find the Norwich brewery had a fine selection and were happy to set up a bar in the courtyard that would stay closed during the day then they would staff in the evenings, paying overheads to the cafe of course. Norwich himself came down the first night to serve and showed Gerald hat he had brought from straight spirits to beers and a partnership he had with a local vineyard for wines.

It was all going incredibly well, the business model was very successful and they were producing quality food and beverages, for reasonable rates, paying the staff well and also turning a large profit. Gerald had got to the point he could trust the three staff he had and took the first day of the week off to himself. He managed to get the organisation done mostly during the working week but he was a little behind one week. He had a leisurely start, getting up after a wonderful lie in until six in the morning and went to the breakfast bar inside to read through a build up of mail. When he read the letter from the merchants guild he almost spit his coffee all over it.

He rushed into town carrying all his documents. He was made to wait for over an hour before he could see an associate to go over his case. The letter had outlined the outstanding loan. Gerald was under the understanding that the loan was being paid off as per the terms and conditions. He was mortified to discover that was not the case. The word somehow hadn’t been passed to him that payment was not able to be taken as there was a long dismissed clause that had been overlooked as far as anyone could remember that the owner of the loan had to be the one to pay it off and as such Gerald was unable to make payments. The interest of the missed payments was accruing and the guild was soon to make a seizure to pay it off. He was in the Merchants Guild for the better part of the day trying to sort it out but ended trudging home frustrated.

Gerald kept visiting the Adventure Society to attempt to find out where the Mitchells were and eventually found himself in front of the deputy director himself. The man looked like he was going to rip his fantastic moustache off at the news which slightly scared the generally stoic Gerald. He sent him away still frustrated but assured him that he will send a carriage for him as soon as the team made contact.

He had an unpleasant meeting that evening. To get ahead of the problem he had all the businesses contracted to the cafe in the meeting room for dinner and explained the situation. He presented the facts and figures, easily proving they were making enough to pay the loan if they were allowed to make repayments. They were all incredibly supportive, they had all been operating in high society to know there was something shady going on driven from the nobility. They discussed long into the night but found no solution, they promised to stay with the cafe until the Merchants Guild literally came to seal the gates.

They were days away from seizure when relief came. It was a strange situation as the week before representatives had come to deliver the notice in person, seen the cafe and decided to come back every day as customers. The Deputy Director himself turned up at the gates during service and ran in to get Gerald; pulling him into the carriage. It sped through the streets to the waterlink chamber in the adventure society directors office.

After the call to the Mitchells in Stonewall he was a little shaken, he was back in the kitchen at the villa having a stiff drink at the breakfast bar when Clarissa came in.

“Everything all right boss?” She asked, worried at his unusual behaviour.

“Aye, just… there’s a lot tae think aboot.”

“Oh yeh? Hit me.” She said, pouring herself a measure and sitting opposite him.

Gerald gave her a serious consideration. She had been invaluable since the inception of the cafe proper. She ran it as well as he did when he wasn’t around and had a fantastic work ethic.

He finished his own drink as a shot. “How would yeh feel aboot having yeh own shop?”

A month later and Gerald was on a cart headed to the centre of the Island. He had the days coffee on board, he was the only one with the recipe as no one else was trusted. He had supplies for the inner city cafe that was just as busy as the villa but with slightly less prestigious clientele and the two coffee carts that did the rounds selling as much coffee each as the two cafes combined. He thought about how grateful he was for the trust the Mitchells had placed in him.