Bon Appetit

Dimanche

 "Charles? You, uh....doing alright?" Sam asked once I barged into Dimanche. Yeah, I've decided to just head over to Dimanche right away before it opens rather than go to a coffee shop.

I can tell from his face that he is completely confused with my state. His eyes were wide yet his lips were about to ask another question. The looks in his face were more like confused than worried.
Yes, he doesn't look worried. Just confused.
I can feel my eyes are watery and my body starts to shake again. It feels as if the whole world has fallen apart and I am ready to melt to the ground.
This is the end.
A start of a nightmare.
I dropped my body right on the counter, couldn't careless of how it hurts. My body can no longer feel pain since the pain in the heart is way stronger.
"I'm ready to log out of life," I whispered while covering my face with my arms.
Sam's eyes got even wider before he gave me a pat on the back. "What happened? You saw the video, right?"
I can't answer, I'm too weak. My mouth does not coordinate with my brains right now. Just want to lie my head on the counter, motionless.
"Hey, Sam, we need to buy new-" Heath shouted from the kitchen. Heath is our sous chef. Yeah, Sam is my executive chef. They're the ones who kept Dimanche going. Their cooking skills are the best.
"Later, Heath," shouted Sam as he started to stroke my hair. It is not an affection, just trying to calm me down.
Heath gasped as he saw me on the counter and ran across to approach me. He has always been so caring to everybody in the team, including me. Believe me, I feel like my staff are my family. They are always there for me and know how to cheer me up.
"Boss? What happened? Are you alright?" Heath asked as he kneeled in front of me.
I sighed and looked closely at Heath's aqua colored eyes. Looked so calming and soothing. I can just stare at his eyes for hours.
"Heath, our restaurant..." I began.
"Yes?" he asked softly.
I got up from the counter and took a deep breath. Actually, didn't really want to go over again about that little brat but I have no choice. The team need to know, at least these two.
"This Angel girl really did give Dimanche a super bad review on Youtube. Then thousands of her fans who saw the video went out to all restaurant review sites and gave us bad comments and ratings. It even went viral on Instagram last I checked." I took another deep breath. This is such a pain in the ass.
Heath and Sam looked concerned as well.
I stepped closer to them and said, "With all the bad ratings and reviews, it will take forever to be like before again."
"Isn't there someone you can talk to, who can help us out?" asked Heath.
I shrugged. "Don't know anyone."
Sam sighed. "This is so not fair."
"Tell me about it." I really want to melt to the floor now. I mean, what else is there left to do?
We just stood near the counter in silence, thinking very hard on how to fix this mess. Honestly, my mind is really blank right now. There is nothing I can think of to fix this problem. At least for now. I just want to sleep and hope that this is all just a nightmare.
Perhaps be best just keep on going with the business as if nothing has happened? Or should I make a clarification on our social media? Or hire a blogger or youtuber that is more famous than Angel to give a good review?
I am so confused.
"HEY HEATH! Sherry and Olive here need some caffeine badly," shouted a familiar voice.
My friends; Sherry and Olive.
They're my college friends and they kept supporting my business since the very beginning.
Such sweet girls.
Sherry is the tall red haired girl and she has her own fashion label. She is such a fashionista and very famous on Instagram.
While Olive is a marketing communications manager and she is going to open up her own school. I adored her passion very much.
Usually when they barged in even when we are not open yet, I would greet them with joy.
But right now, I'm just too weak to do that.
I just smiled weakly at them, and they noticed immediately that something's up.
Guess I'm bad at hiding my feelings.
"Oh no! You are having a bad day! Who made you like this?!" screamed Olive.
"I will beat them, just tell me who made you like this, bro?" asked Sherry.
Yeah, sometimes they treat me like a big baby boy. Now, that's embarrassing.
I cringed and shooked my head. They don't need to know, right?
Then, suddenly Olive rushed towards me and took me into her arms. She hugged me so tightly that I barely breathe.
"Oh Charles. Everything is going to be just fine. It is about that Angel thing right?"
"H-how did you know?" I asked. My body starts to quiver.
Olive sighed. She regretted for saying that. "It is all over the internet, bro."
Heath and Sam widen their eyes and looked uneasy. While I nearly fainted.
Everything seemed so dark for a while and then suddenly I feel a little bit queasy. This is can't be true, right? I really can't bear another conversation about this.
What is going to happen to Dimanche now?
It is all because of her fans, not her personally.
Why do people really like to do this on the internet, dissing and stuff?
I know that Angel has millions of fans, and they all think my restaurant is terrible.
Will this really ruin my business?
And what if she is right? That Dimanche is a bad restaurant?
I took another deep breath. This is getting intense.
"Nah, that girl is wrong. Dimanche is the best restaurant in town!" Sherry said confidently.
"She is damn right. Look at all the customers always barging in, and most of them are celebrities and rich guys!" Olive added and smiled.
I smiled and laughed. Their words were really comforting. "Thank you, guys."
Sam hugged me and Heath patted me on the back. "Come on, bro. We'll figure it out. I'm sure this won't last forever." Heath grinned.
I hope so.
"Alrighty then, who wants coffee?" Heath asked to Sherry and Olive.
The girls giggled and went up to the counter.
Dimanche is open for business.
And all seemed to go well at first, there were still a lot of customers coming in for a Sunday breakfast.
Honestly, I felt relieved for a moment that I have not lost my customers.
I decided to stand outside the restaurant and watched as my staff handled their customers.
All seemed fine, for now.
But...
"Did you see Angel's latest video?" I overheard a fat guy talking to his skinny friend not so far away from me.
"Yeah, that meal looked like complete shit," his friend replied. He then added a mocking laugh.
"I know, right? I mean I can't cook but I guess I can cook better than that!"
"Hope Angel will go to a REAL restaurant soon," the skinny one laughed loudly.
That really hit me hard.
Can I really save Dimanche from this mess?