My brother’s van pulling into the bay across from Lily’s was a welcome distraction from Pat and her games, but then anxiety shot through me, followed by a jolt of excitement.I’d always struggled to differentiate between the two.My brother climbed out of the van, wearing a ‘Fuck off, I’m cooking’ cap that Kat had bought him last Christmas, and strode to the restaurant, his eyes widening in surprise at seeing me standing outside like a lemon.
Fuck!I knew I’d been too early.He was suspicious already.
When I asked for this meeting, I said it was about our latest recruitment drive.A year in, Liam could begin stepping back from early mornings and late nights in the kitchen.We could afford to hire some more staff.We could expand the team and be more ambitious with our menu.I launched a new spring seasonal cocktail menu last month.
Everything was going swimmingly.
And I was painfully bored.
I needed something new, a bigger challenge – something beyond the restaurant we’d opened together last year, after Liam finally came to his senses and took a risk.Kat, his fiancée, had been part of the reason for that epiphany.Her energy and enthusiasm were the perfect balance to Liam’s grumpy exterior.I loved opening Lily’s, named after our mum, but I always felt like it was more my brother’s baby than mine.He would argue differently.He’d say a restaurant is nothing without a brilliant front-of-house and bar staff.But the food – that’s what people raved about.The food got the attention of local press and national critics, while the service and drinks were given a throwaway mention at the end of the article.I’d always been that, next to my brother – the throwaway sibling.Liam was everyone’s favourite, solid and reliable, while I was still seen as the naughty kid at the back of the class, spitballing people on the back of the head.
Which I’d only done a couple of times…
‘What was all that about?’ Liam asked, nodding towards Pat’s retreating figure, before pulling keys out of the black utility trousers he still hadn’t got rid of since turning from builder to chef.Liam had always been a creature of habit.I didn’t know how Kat dealt with it.I’d never seen her in the same outfit twice.
But then, they say opposites attract.
I wouldn’t know.
‘Pat wants me to adopt a dog.’
Liam scoffed, ‘A dog?That’s a big responsibility.You’d have to walk it.’
My hands turned into fists, ‘Yeah, I know.’ I deflated, because Liam was right.That’s exactly why I didn’t want a damn dog.But I also hated that he thought I couldn’t handle it.Even after a year of solidly working beside him, never being late or forgetting an order (okay, maybe once), he still saw me as his irresponsible little brother.
‘What are you doing here so early?’ Liam pushed open the door, ‘We aren’t meeting for another half-hour.’
‘I thought I’d come in and do the orders,’ I lied.‘But I forgot my key.’
Liam huffed and I could practically hear his unspoken words.Typical. I took a deep breath in and out.
Don’t let it get to you.
Liam flipped on the house lights, and we made our way through the restaurant, with bistro chairs stacked on top of walnut tables, towards the office – or more like a cupboard – we shared.
‘Can we talk now?’ I asked.
‘Yep,’ Liam said, opening the office door and flicking the lights on.
Our office was small and dark, but Kat insisted on infusing it with life by painting it a soft stone colour and hanging framed photos from Lily’s opening night.My grinning face, champagne in hand, looked down on me almost mockingly.Liam collapsed in his office chair, which gave a horrible creak, while I sat in the spare chair opposite.
‘You need a new chair.’
‘You sound like Kat,’ he huffed.‘She complains about this chair every time she sees it.“Unsightly”, she calls it.’ Liam opened his laptop.‘Right, so we’ve had about fifteen CVs so far for the sous-chef role and twenty for waiting staff.That’s not bad, considering it’s been up for a few days.Do you want to take a look?It’s on the Google Drive.’
‘You can pick whoever you want.’
Liam’s eyes lifted from the screen.‘You want me to pick your staff?’
I shrugged, ‘Sure.’
Liam’s eyes narrowed.‘You insisted on picking everyone yourself when we opened.You said I had no idea what it was like to work in a restaurant and that you had the experience of working with – and I quote – “absolute shit munchers”, and that there was no chance in hell you’d let me hire them.’
Before we opened Lily’s, Liam worked with my dad at the family business, Hunter Building and Construction.Meanwhile, I’d been working in award-winning cocktail bars since I was 18.I had more experience in the trade, even if Liam was an incredible chef.We’d had some teething issues when Liam learnt the ropes of being a professional chef, but I hadn’t needed a soft launch.I knew exactly what the menu looked like, what wines I’d stock, what equipment to order.It was like breathing, really.Easy.And now Lily’s was a success, it was a little boring.
‘I don’t think I said that exactly.’
I said that exactly.
