MICHELIN STAR RESTAURANTLA ROUGETO CLOSE: WHAT WENT WRONG?
A few years ago, the news might have left Shang with a bitter sense of amusement. There’s nothing wrong with indulging in some well-deserved schadenfreude. Knowing that Sebastian has finally come face-to-face with his comeuppance should leave Shang feeling relieved. He should feel anger for all the turmoil that man put him through, should feel regret for the way things unfolded.
Instead, he simply shrugs and hands the phone back. He’s proud to say that he’s moved on. All that matters is what lies ahead. The future holds untold possibilities. There’s no sense in allowing the past to bog him down. He has his new restaurant, his friends, his darling family… La Rouge and Sebastian aren’t even an afterthought now that he’sfree.
“Alright, little buddy,” Shang says, blowing a raspberry against Liam’s cheek. “Let’s let everyone work and grab some ice cream, hm?”
Liam gasps, his face lighting up like the Fourth of July. “Yay!”
“Oh, chef?” Eden calls out to her husband.
“Yes, chef?”
“I’m going to need a kiss on the fly before you go.”
He chuckles, indulging his sweetheart—because why ever would he not? He dives in for a quick peck on the lips, the lunch rush be damned.
Freddie stares at them both, salad in hand. “I think I have cavities.”
The happy couple only laughs.
Eden mans the line expertly, calling out orders as chits print off. The rush is starting to pick up, but his wife is a chef in her own right. She works with precision, and she never sacrifices her flare. Every meal she plates is a work of art; generously portioned and an explosion of flavor.
Every time he looks at her, he falls that much more in love.
If someone had told Shang he’d be happily married with a son he adored, another bun in the oven, a restaurant he could call his own, and a team he’d do anything for, he would have rolled his eyes. He thinks about all the different choices that brought him here, all the different steps he took like those of a complicated recipe. He’s a different man than he was a few years ago, and he suspects it’s all thanks to her.
In the end, it didn’t matter how much he sharpened his knives or how well he seasoned his dishes. He realizes now that he was missing a secret ingredient all along: a little dash of love.
THE END
