| |
I managed to get a couple hours of actual work in while Jack worked with Max. Buttercup and Tilley had been banished to my office and I’d just taken my fourth pen away from Buttercup when Jack poked his head inside my office and asked, “Dinner?”
“Is it after five already?”
“Closer to six. I’ve been working with Alonzo, Max, and the waitstaff.”
“How’s Max doing?”
“Bloody great. He only went to the wrong table once. Probably first-night-on-the-job-jitters. We’ve got him showing guests to their table and then he sits oh-so-properly until their server shows up with menus. The waitstaff love him and the guests are delighted. Several of them—servers and guests both—have asked if they could take Max home with them.”
And I’d missed it! I felt like a parent who missed their child’s first steps. It’s not about you, Sophia, it’s about Max. Right. I’d have plenty of time to see Max at work for myself. “Let me run upstairs and change real fast. Back down in ten. Go ahead and get us a table.”
As promised, I was back in less than ten minutes. We sat in Naples and Jack studied his menu.
“You don’t have to order off the menu, you know.”
“I do, yes. I was just looking to see if the menu said anything about the Catch of the Day. Just how fresh is your fish?” Jack looked past me, over my shoulder.
I’d thought Jack wanted a steak, but if he preferred fish, that was fine. “It’s flown in every morning.”
“So, it’s fresh then, but not—”
“It is.” This was an odd line of questioning since Jack, other than being the sheriff of Live Oak, also ran an Irish pub with his family. He knew where we got all of our seafood.
“Sushi fresh?” He asked, his forehead creasing in a frown.
“I imagine Luca could make sushi for you, if that’s what you’d like, sure. Do you want surf and turf?”
“No surf, just turf, but I think—”
“You just have a sudden interest in seafood?” I turned and glanced behind me. What was Jack looking at?
“No. I just saw Max prance by on his way to Milan carrying a rather large fish in his mouth.”
“Why didn’t you say so!” I jumped up and headed for Milan.
“Jeez, Sophia, I tried. I literally just saw him less than a minute ago.” Jack said, and followed me.
I heard the commotion before I saw it.
“You are such a snob!”
“I’m a snob? You’re a peasant! I can’t believe I made reservations at this place!”
“I can’t believe I brought you to a place like this. It’s got ten times the class you’ll ever have! And so does that dog!”
“You’re not the one who just got a dead fish plopped onto her lap!”
“No, but if I had, I sure as heck wouldn’t take the mistake out on an innocent dog! You nearly hit him!”
“Maybe I should have!”
And that’s where I came in. “Hello, I’m Sophia Zinelli and I’m the manager. May I ask what happened?”
“Worst first date in history,” the man said.
“Only because of that ... that dog!”
“Yeah, well, I’d like to shake that dog’s hand. Paw,” said the man. “He showed me your true colors early. If you can’t be kind to an animal, that tells me all I need to know about you as a person.”
“You...schmuck!”
“Oh please,” said the man. “That dog, whose name is Max I believe, should’ve slapped you with the fish instead of gently setting it on your lap! Obviously Max was just doing what he thought he was supposed to do!”
“He comes near me, I’ll kick him!”
At the word ‘kick’ I had to keep my temper in check and hoped my eyes hadn’t gone all squinty. “Please excuse our newest employee. It's Max's first night on the job. I’ll be more than happy to seat you in another room, if you’d like.”
“Look at my dress!” the lady yelled. “I can’t stay in public, I smell like fish!”
“I’ll be happy to have your dress cleaned or replaced and if you prefer, I can send several dishes home with you along with dessert.”
“She can go. I’ll stay,” the man said, and by the look on the woman’s face, I wondered if he was going to get a kick to the shins.
Jack started to lead the man into another room when a male voice from another table said, “He’s welcome to sit with me. I haven’t ordered yet. Wouldn’t mind the company.”
The man stuffed cab fare into the woman’s hand and sat down at the other man’s table.
I guided to woman into the lobby. “Would you like me to call you a cab? Uber? I’ll be more than happy to comp your next meal if you’d like. Would you like some wine or a cup of coffee while you wait?”
Max trotted up to me and wagged his tail. I patted his head. The woman sneered at me and drew her arm back. Just as she was about to make contact with Max, Jack snagged her arm. “Striking an employee of this establishment would be considered assault. You may want to rethink that.”
She gave the three of us a haughty look and flounced out.
I rubbed my forehead. Then I told Alonzo to make sure the two men at the table had whatever they wanted on the house.
“I should go apologize to that man,” I told Jack.
“No need. I already did. He’s having a grand time now that his, er, lady’s gone. And the man whose table he sat at? He’s the newest food critic in Atlanta. I heard he’s fair but exacting. Can’t comp his meal though. That would be considered payola.”
I corrected my earlier statement to Alonzo. My temples throbbed just enough to keep me from smacking my head into the closest wall. “What should I do?” If we got a bad write up, Max was doomed.
“Let’s go enjoy our dinner. You don’t need to do anything. Max is a hit, trust me.”
Max was leading an elderly couple into Naples. The lady stopped to wait for the elderly gentleman shuffling up behind her. Max was in between them and when the woman made a sudden stop, Max accidentally goosed her.
She giggled and said, “Oh, Fred, you handsome devil. Can’t you at least wait until we get home?”
“Huh?” Fred asked.
“Turn up your hearing aid, you studmuffin.”
“Yes, yes, I’m sure they serve those, Gwinnie, let’s get seated first.”
The old lady bent down to pet Max. “Okay, Max, he’s all caught up to us. What a handsome fella you are.”
“Jeez, Gwin, can’t you at least wait until we get home? You’re embarrassing me.”
Max wagged his tail and guided them further into Naples.
Jack and I grinned at each other and went back to our table. “Well. Never a dull moment,” I said, thinking of the older couple and how sweet they were.
“No, Sophia, there surely isn’t. It’s glad I am that you’ve taught your employees to wash their hands, but when you taught Max to wash his paws, you might’ve shown him how to dry them as well.”
“Huh, what?”
“Well, I’m not sure where he’s just come from, but I’m guessing he might’ve taken a walk in a wee bit of water. His paws are all wet.”
I texted Alonzo: Why are Max’s feet wet? Do you need me?”
A minute later I got: All is fine. Max took a stroll in the lagoon.
Mama came by and said, “Max can’t be walking around in the lagoon, Sophia. It’s not a kiddie or doggie pool. Mamma Mia, people are already taking off their shoes wanting to go in with him. Between this and the fish incident, Max’s first night is not going well.”
“I’m sorry, Mama. I just found out. I’ll go dry him off and put him in my office.”
“No need. I’ve gotten him as dry as he’ll get for now. You stay here, it looks like Alonzo just got a large party. I don’t think we were expecting a large party, were we?”
I frowned. “Not when I looked this morning, no. Here, Mama, get off your feet for a few minutes and keep Jack company. I’ll go see what’s going on. I should be back before our dinner arrives.” I sat Mama with Jack, gave him a ‘what next’ look and headed for the podium.
Alonzo looked flustered. “What’s going on?” I whispered.
“I don’t know. This is the Lenga/Brusant wedding party. Rehearsal dinner. I had them down for a party of two. Now they’re a party of twenty. We don’t have room, or expect to. We’re booked solid.”
I looked at the booking. “Uh oh. There’s a tiny zero after the two. It is twenty. We all missed it.”
“And that’s my handwriting! Oh, no, I am so sorry! How could I have done that? What are we going to do?”
Max whined next to me.
“We’ll figure it out. Like you told me growing up, we all make mistakes.” Maybe not this big or this important. But since I’d sure screwed up a lot, I wasn’t about to make Alonzo feel worse than he already did.
Max whined again. I looked down. “Out, Max? Do you need to go out?”
He started for the stairs not the door, so I went back to Alonzo. “Maybe we can sit them on the patio.”
“In July? They’ll steam to death.”
Max stood at the bottom of the stairs and barked. He went up two steps, then down, then up three, then down again, woofing the whole time. I started to shush him then realized what he was trying to tell me. The grotto!
“Good boy, Max!”
“What?” Alonzo asked. “What’s good?”
“We can use the grotto upstairs! You get the wedding party some champagne and hors d'oeuvres, seat them in the lobby, and I’ll get some help to freshen up the room.”
I hurried back to my table. “I’m sorry, Jack. Minor emergency. Go ahead and eat and I’ll join you in a few.” I quickly explained to Mama what had happened and we grabbed a few waitstaff and kitchen help and hurried upstairs.
“What a great idea,” Mama said.
“You can thank Max. It was his idea,” I said, and told her about earlier that afternoon.
We gave out orders to get more tables, fresh flowers, fresh linens, set-ups, and overall tidying. Nothing was really dusty, and the room was air-conditioned, so there wasn’t much else to do.
While the staff rushed around, I went back downstairs to meet the guests and explain that their private room would be ready shortly. When I got there, Papa was teaching the mother of the bride, or maybe it was the mother of the groom, how to fold napkins into origami. Nonno was discussing cars with the men. And Max was shaking hands, rolling over, even bowing down as he met each guest. I didn’t even know he could bow. What a show-off.
Less than twenty minutes later, Mama signaled that the room was ready. Max and I walked them up while Alonzo stayed back to attend to our other guests and new arrivals.
I crossed my fingers as the wedding party went inside.
Everything sparkled. The tables were set, the fountains were running with fresh water, flowers sat on every surface, candles flickered, and the projector was on.
The bride looked like she was about to burst into tears and my heart sank. She surprised me when she threw her arms around me and said, “It’s perfect! Thank you!”
Max wagged his tail and gave a small woof. She bent down and hugged Max, too. “What a wonderful place! My fiancé suggested it. This is just lovely, thank you so much.”
“The room is all yours for the rest of the evening. I hope you’ll enjoy. And have a very wonderful life together with your new groom.”
She thanked me again, and Max and I left them with some of our best servers, knowing they’d get an experience to make memories with.
My heart rate had finally slowed down by the time I got back to dinner with Jack.
“All good?” he asked.
“All good,” I said. And hoped that it really was.
Jack had finally taken Buttercup and Tilley home and after closing, Alonzo asked if he could speak with us (the whole family) in the lobby.
I hoped that he wasn’t going to complain about Max. Everyone had a rough first day, didn’t they?
When we were all seated, including Max, Alonzo said, “I must confess.”
Nonna said, “What? Why? We need a priest?”
Mama said, “A priest? Oh dear, are you ill?”
Paolo said, “You gonna get whacked? You need your last rites?”
Papa said, “Of course he does. All employees have rights. Sophia, you tell Alonzo he has rights, especially here with us.”
Nonno said, “What you wanna write? You gonna do a book?”
Gio said, “A book? No kidding, that’s awesome. Sophia can help.”
Luca said, “I don’t know, writing a confession isn’t usually book length.”
I looked at Max and wondered how anything ever got communicated correctly.
“Go ahead, Alonzo. Please,” I said, with a sinking feeling.
Alonzo cleared his throat and began, “Earlier tonight, well, I didn’t mean to meddle.”
Nonna said, “What metal? Is there rust? You might need a tetanus shot!”
Mama said, “Tetanus? Oh dear, are you ill?”
Paolo said, “You gonna get whacked? You need a medal for that?”
Papa said, “Of course he does. All employees deserve medals. Sophia, order Alonzo a medal.”
Nonno said, “Why you wanna medal? You gonna go to the Olympics?”
Gio said, “Olympics? No offense, but at your age? Maybe Sophia can help.”
Luca said, “I don’t know, meddling with the metal wouldn’t get you a medal in my book.” He crossed his arms over his chest and rolled his eyes.
I looked at Max. Max may have rolled his eyes, too, I wasn’t sure. Again I wondered how anything ever got communicated correctly.
“Go ahead, Alonzo. Maybe if you started again?” I said, with a feeling of deja vu.
“I see now that what I did was all in vain,” Alonzo all but muttered.
Nonna said, “What? Why? Did you cut yourself?”
Mama said, “Cut? Oh dear, should I call a doctor?”
Paolo said, “You gonna get whacked? If they go for a vein, you not gonna make it.”
Papa said, “Of course he won’t make it. If Alonzo wants a weather vane, we’ll get him one. Where do you want it?”
Nonno said, “I don’t think he vain. What’s wrong with being vain? You want real vain you go to Hollywood or Vegas.”
Gio said, “Vegas? Lots of girls in Vegas. I’ll bet Sophia could help. Or hey, I could go with you.”
Luca said, “Oh, for crying out loud.”
My sentiments exactly. Max yawned, apparently wondering how long this would go on for.
“Alonzo?” I said, with a feeling of double deja vu. I gave my family the dead eye. “Maybe if you’re not interrupted?”
“Yes, yes of course. I, well, I sabotaged Max. Earlier tonight. I gave him the fish. I tossed a sachet into the lagoon. And what do I get? I get saved by a dog smarter than me. I understand if you want my resignation.”
My entire family, including myself and even Max, gasped.
“But why?” I asked.
“I was afraid he would replace me. That you didn’t want me, that I was doing a bad job. Maybe I’m too old.”
My family went off all at once.
“Of course you’re not too old!”
“You’re family!
“Replaced by a dog?”
“You belong here!”
“You’ve always done an amazing job!
“We’re so lucky to have you!”
“You can’t leave, what would we do?”
“Alonzo,” I said, my heart in my throat. “Do ... do you want Max to leave?”
We all looked from Alonzo to Max.
Max looked like an abused orphan.
“No, Sophia. He’s family, too.” Alonzo bent down and said, “Max, forgive me. We start over now, yes? How about a high five?”
Max woofed, and high-fived Alonzo.
“Where did he learn that?” I asked.
“I had to teach him something useful,” Alonzo said.
#TheFinalCourseIsn’tCoarse
#ComplimentsOnTheComplements
#FidoIsFur-everFamily