“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.”― Douglas Adams, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul
Arlington. The sun was warming my face as I navigated the crowded sidewalks and, maybe for the first time, I actually appreciated the vitality. I had somehow ended up in Arlington after college, but it wasn’t due to some grand plan I had for my life. Everyone was applying for jobs in Northern Virginia during senior year, so without giving it much thought, I did too. Vito asked me to come in for an interview and, when I accepted his job offer, he kindly helped me find an apartment as I didn’t know the area. The next thing I knew, I was living and working in Arlington.
I was drifting without giving my life much guidance or thought. Before I knew it, two years had passed. Cass firing me was like hitting a brick wall. Leigh’s death gave me direction for the immediate future but not the long term. For that, I really had to finally take stock and decide what I wanted from my life. After being at home for a couple of weeks, I felt what it was like to really connect with people again and have something more than just a working relationship. Even Vito, who I was probably the closest with in Arlington, I kept at a distance. It was no way to live. And it wasn’t what my parents would’ve wanted for me. It was time for me to direct my own life, so when the bad things did happen – as there will always be bad things – I could handle it without making drastic life changes like dropping everything and everyone and running away.
With all of these thoughts jumbling around in my head, I made my way through the rush of people trying to enjoy some early spring during their lunch break. Finally reaching the end of the block, I turned the corner and saw The Olive Tree. My nervousness disappeared and was replaced with actual happiness. I looked forward to seeing my coworkers. I had missed them. Pulling open the heavy door, I needed to give my eyes a minute to adjust to the dim interior lighting. Before I could really see who it was, I felt arms wrapped around me in a hug.
“Tess! You’re back!” Kayla, one of the hostesses, screeched in my ear.
“Hey Kayla,” I said with a laugh. “How are you doing?”
“I’m good now. It took forever to get better from the flu but I’m finally feeling like myself again.”
“That’s good to hear, I’m glad you are feeling better. I’m in town for a bit this morning and wanted to stop in and say hi. I left pretty quickly and didn’t tell anyone goodbye.”
Kayla scowled. “Who can blame you after what that jackass Cass did?!”
“So, does everyone know what happened?” I asked.
“Yes, when everyone got over the flu and finally got back to work, Vito had an all hands meeting and told us.”
I nodded but didn’t say anything. What had he told them? Clearly, he had said that Cass was involved.
As if she could read my mind, Kayla broke into my thoughts.
“I’m sure there must be more to it than what Vito told us but he really didn’t hold back. He told us Cass had it in for you. Despite all of your hard work keeping everything going while half of us were out sick, Cass latched onto the month’s profits being slightly down and used it as an opportunity to let you go. He even told us that it was a matter of a couple of hundred dollars difference from how we performed the previous month. Without you here, we would’ve had to close the doors entirely and there would have been no profit.”
Kayla slammed the menus down that she had been wiping down and straightening while she talked. “It’s not right,” she said.
I sighed and smiled. I didn’t need affirmation from everyone else to know that I didn’t deserve what Cass did to me. But it was nice to know my co-workers were on my side.
“Thanks for having my back Kayla. As long as my friends here believe in me and know I did everything I possibly could, then I can live with that.”
“There was never any doubt,” Kayla said sincerely.
“Thank you,” I said as I gave her another hug. “Everyone in the kitchen?”
“Yes, getting ready to open. Go on back.”
I smiled at her and then headed to the kitchen.
The aroma hit me first as I slowly peeked through the swinging kitchen door. The smell of Italian food cooking had to be the best smell in the world. I’m sure there are people that would disagree but garlic and onions sauteing in olive oil and tomatoes being crushed and added to the mix with a little red wine. There was nothing better. Except if you add fresh baking bread.
My stomach growled but luckily a restaurant kitchen isn’t the quietest place in the world, so no one heard it.
“Hey Vito, we’re going to need to order more tomatoes man, it’s getting low,” I heard Luis yell from the back of the kitchen.
“I hear ya, I’m going to take care of it,” Vito replied. Maybe it was my imagination be he sounded a bit off. Not like his normal good natured self.
I was standing in the doorway taking everything in when Luis came back to the front of the kitchen and spotted me.
“Tess!” he said in his loudest Luis voice and ran over and gave me a hug. “I have missed you!”
“Hey Luis,” I replied and returned his hug. “I missed you too.”
“I’m sorry about what happened,” he said a bit more quietly. “Cass is a dick. There is no other word for him. Honestly, it’s made me question if I want to keep working here if something like that can happen.”
I didn’t get to reply because Vito came up to us then and the servers working today said hi and gave me hugs or squeezed my hand as they went out front to the dining room.
“Hey Vito, I know you guys are getting ready to open, I won’t stay long. I just wanted to say hi to everyone since I was in town.”
“I’m going to get back to it. It’s great to see you,” Luis said as he gave me another quick hug so he could get back to chopping, sauteing, and essentially making magic in the kitchen.
“Tomatoes,” he said to Vito as he walked away.
Vito rolled his eyes at me. “I know, I know.”
I grinned. Luis loved to get under Vito’s skin, in a good-natured way. He said it was good for him and kept “the boss man” on his toes.
“It is good to see you,” Vito said. “I can’t tell you how much we’ve missed you here.”
I had to say, not that I wanted the restaurant to suffer or things to be hard on Vito and the staff, but it did feel good to hear that my work made a difference and was missed.
“I’ve missed being here,” I said. “This place was a huge part of my life.” I shrugged. “Maybe too big a part of my life.”
Vito nodded. “Maybe it was.”
He knew how much I worked better than anyone. I came in on my days off just to check on things. I was always volunteering to cover shifts if someone wanted off.
“As much as it hurt, still hurts, Cass firing me may have done me a favor,” I said. “I’m really thinking about my life now, what I want to do, where I want to do it. I’m going to be okay.”
“I never had any doubt you would be okay Tess,” Vito said. “You are great at what you do but it shouldn’t be all you do. If this happening helped you take stock and get some direction for your life, then that is the best thing I could’ve hoped for.”
“Thanks for recommending me to Katrina. I just met with her this morning, and we talked for over an hour about the opportunity and moving to New York.”
“So, are you going to take the job?”
“I have until the end of the week to let her know,” I replied.
“Whatever you decide, remember what you learned about yourself these past few weeks. Don’t go back to focusing only on work and keep people at arm’s length.”
“I forgot you minored in psychology,” I said wryly.
“Ha, I manage a restaurant, a psychology degree would come in handy.”
I grinned. “True words my friend.”
We could hear the murmuring of voices as the lunch crowd began to come in.
“That’s my cue,” I said.
“Hey, remember, you have friends here too. Keep in touch,” Vito said. He held his pinky out.
“I swear,” I said linking my pinky with his. “Tell Amelia and the girls I said hi.”
“I will and next time you come to town, we all will have dinner,” he said. “If it makes you feel better, my wife has been giving Cass no end of hell for what he did to you. She never liked him that much and this did not improve things.”
“Oh no Vito, I don’t want things to be bad for your family,” I said. This was sincere. Vito had enough stress to deal with at work. I didn't want family issues to be added to it.
He shrugged. “Cass brought this on himself. He can deal with the consequences. Dinner, next time, with Amelia, the girls and me.”
“Sounds amazing,” I said as I started walking through the swinging kitchen door. “Ciao.”
“Ciao amico mio,” Vito said as the door swung shut behind me.