012

After getting off the bus, Chase pulled his phone out of his pocket, "Oakdale." He muttered and then snapped his head upwards.

With a smile on the side of his lips, he allowed his eyes to roam around his current environment for a while.

Oakdale was a little town which bustled with different activities all through the year. Pubs, restaurants, clubs and several other businesses were found there.

Out of all the restaurants that were in Oakdale, the best belonged to the number one food company in the state.

Still looking around, Wembley walked up to him and then intertwined his hand in his. At once, Chase pulled away and with a scowl on his face said, "Are you crazy?"

"What?" Wembley chuckled. He knew Chase hated bodily contact but he still went ahead to hold his hand whenever he had the chance to do so.

"So why did you call me?" He asked, digging his hands into his pocket as he exhaled.

"I'm done."

"Done?"

"Come with me." In silence, Wembley led Chase to a building down the road and then pushed the door in, urging him to get in.

"I still don't understand why you called me here." Chase mumbled, looking around the spacious room.

When he was done, he pulled a chair out and then plopped on it. It was then he noticed the third and fourth presence in the room who had their gaze fixed on him.

Reaching out to Wembley, he grabbed his hand and with trembling lips asked, "What are you up to?"

"Calm down." Wembley chuckled. He knew exactly why he was reacting that way.

Ignoring him, Chase began to head towards the door but before he could reach out for the knob, Wembley appeared before him.

"Get out. I should have known this is one of your ploys to get me back home." He yelled in his face.

"If I really wanted to whisk you back without your consent, I would have done that long ago. Stop acting up and sit down…"

"Why? I need to leave…"

"The restaurant, let's talk about it. That was why I called you." He said.

Pressing his lips tightly into a thin line, Chase swirled around and with his hands tucked into his pockets, he returned to the seat he was occupying and then flopped on it.

"Here…" Wembley pushed a file towards him and at once he began to flip through it.

With a smile tugging the sides of his lips, he took notes of everything that the file contained and when he finally raised his head, he said, "You're done with it."

"Yeah. Immediately I got the licenses I had to call."

"Oh boy… I'm so excited right now. I was scared that something happened when you wouldn't reach out to me." He chuckled, still flipping through the file.

Now looking through the dishes, he said, "We have everything ready now but who's going to be the chef?"

"I have everything in place. For a start, we just need a chef and server."

"Then… man, I'm a bit confused right now. I can cook but…"

"You're the boss so you don't have to worry about cooking." Turning towards the people who were seated in the other corner of the room, he snapped his fingers and they immediately walked up to them.

"I'm Jasper Swan, the chef." The first man said, followed by the second one, "Maurice Greg, I will be the server.,"

For a moment, Chase didn't know what to say, he just sat there staring at the men before he finally shifted his gaze to Wembley.

"Thank you."

"Come on man, we're in this together." Now leaning towards him with his hands clasped, he said, "We are going to test him."

"The cook?"

"Yes." Turning towards Jasper, he nodded and at once he took his leave.

Tapping his feet against the floor, Chase dug his hand into his hair. Different thoughts were filtering through his head all at once.

Suddenly, he hit his fist against the table and Wembley, who had his gaze fixed on his phone, raised it at once, "What is the issue?"

"I don't want Zara to find out. How am I going to go about this without… man, it's frustrating." He groaned.

"I thought she's on your side."

"I still don't want her to find out. Well, something happened earlier, I hope we don't get kicked out." He shrugged and went ahead to tell him what happened between the sisters.

"Funny family." Wembley said with a little laugh.

When Jasper finished cooking the first meal on the menu which was mussel soup, he presented it before Chase who immediately took a spoon of the steaming liquid.

Jasper on the other hand had his hands folded in front of him with his head bent to the ground, awaiting his validation.

"It's perfect." Chase said after taking multiple spoons with his thumb raised up.

"Thank you, I will work hard."

"Of course you need to." Wembley said with a smirk. Holding Maurice's shoulder, he said, "He will help with the serving and then I will assist Jasper in the kitchen."

"What about me?" Chase asked. Even if the business was his, he wanted to get involved in it but it seems Wembley wasn't in support of it.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Then you will assist Maurice with serving but I want you to oversee the business. Please entrust us with this…"

"I will assist Maurice." He cut in. Slumping his shoulders, Wembley nodded in agreement.

The four men kept talking for a while, getting to know themselves since they were going to work together.

"So… when are we going to start? Everything has been put in place, we just need to stock up, fix the furniture, I will ask an interior decorating company for help and then… the major part is marketing." Wembley said.

"Yeah, marketing is important. I know it's going to be hard since we're just starting up and Oakdale already has several restaurants already." Maurice said.

"We need to come up with something that will make us stand out." Jasper added.

"Yeah, you guys are right. Let's do the marketing jointly." Chase suggested.

"I was thinking of involving the services of professional marketers." Wembley said.

"I think we should go with what our boss said. Self marketing will be the best option."

"Then let's go for it." Wembley said.