Chef in the Apocalypse

Tony continued to bring out dish after dish throughout the night with impeccable timing. Not only did he cook every dish to perfection, the portions were perfect and the dishes on the menu complimented one another greatly.

From start to finish Jayce was blown away. Tony took command from start to finish, ensuring that he was attentive to the guests while also providing top quality food and service.

This allowed Jayce to realize how little he knew about running a restaurant. Apart from his cooking, his earlier meals had the same experience as handing out food at a homeless shelter in comparison.

While this may have worked while they were out in the wilderness and surrounded by monsters, he now realized that it was too vulgar. A Michelin star was not given purely based on the quality of the food, everything else also had to be up to par.

Service, quality, aesthetic, portion sizes and even the price were judged in that regard. While it was primarily based on the food, the other pieces could not be lacking.

Jayce had never really gone to restaurants, even more so after his parents had passed away. He was still attending school and had given up on his dream of running a Michelin star restaurant.

He never thought that he would be given such a chance, even if there was no longer a governing body to give out such accolades. But that was fine, at least for him. He would be fine as long as deep down he knew that it had reached that standard.

With the addition of Tony who had already worked in such a restaurant, he was well on the way to achieving this.

Yet he faltered for a moment, directing his gaze to Leah who was chatting and laughing away with Lianna. They had not talked to her about what would happen after he set up the teleportation array.

Jayce had already told Tony that he would only open up a restaurant in Bastion, his home base. If in the future they received enough staff, he could possibly create some branch locations elsewhere, but that was far off into the future.

This meant that he would have to leave Leah here, not that travel would be too difficult when they were just a teleport away. But still, he was one of her closest aides over here, so he was dreading the discussion.

The dinner had finally ended and Tony came back to the dining room. He still had his look of professionalism, however Jayce could tell that he was nervous with how he fidgeted in place.

"Wow! Uncle Tony that food was amazing, you’ve really stepped up your game" Leah exclaimed, also receiving an affirmative response from Lianna.

However, Tony merely nodded and smiled softly in response. His attention was on Jayce, as if he was waiting for a verdict that could either make or break his life.

"How did you find the food Chef?" He asked, feeling a hint of trepidation.

Leah looked on at the scene with confusion, wondering why they both looked so serious.

Jayce paused for a moment before opening his mouth, "I have no complaints. Everything was superb."

Although the words were simple, Tony suddenly felt his body go weak as elation filled him. "T-Thank you Chef!" he began to fist pump in celebration.

Leah who was even more confused spoke up, "What’s with this kind of scenario? You’re acting like he’s your boss or something."

Tony suddenly froze, as if he’d been caught doing something bad. He looked over at Leah with a guilty expression before letting out a sigh.

He then began to explain the situation about opening a restaurant in Bastion, what the reason for tonights dinner was and what he wanted to achieve.

Seeing the blank expression on her face throughout his explanation made him feel even more guilty, like he was letting her down. Yet she was now an adult and he couldn’t always be around.

As he was just about to open his mouth to speak again, Leah stood up and walked over to him slowly. Without a word she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

Tony was a little shocked, not knowing what to do. He half expected her to beg him to stay, however this was not within his expectations.

After a few moments, Leah took a step back and held him at arms length.

"That’s amazing Uncle Tony. Just make sure you keep a spot open for me, even on your busiest nights." She then flashed a brilliant smile before turning to Jayce.

Her face turned serious as she gazed at him. Then unexpectedly she bowed deeply, "Thank you Jayce. This is the happiest I’ve seen my Uncle in a long time, please take care of him from now on."

Jayce froze for a moment but then let out a laugh, "Hey hey, why are you being so serious? You guys will just be a short teleport away from each other."

"Yeah, and we can visit each other all the time Sis!" Lianna piped up, trying to ease the atmosphere.

Leah got up from her bow and laughed, scratching the back of her head, "Haha, yeah I guess you’re right."

Tony seemed to let out a sigh of relief, thinking that everything had gone much better than he anticipated.

"Good good, now let’s all chat about tomorrow." Jayce said, gesturing for everyone to take a seat.

Once everyone was seated, Jayce asked casually. "How much time is remaining on your weakness?"

"About 10 minutes." Leah responded

"Okay good. There should be no more Dryad’s within the tree so we don’t have to worry about being possessed by them. However, that does not mean there are no other threats." Jayce remarked.

"What’s our plan?" Tony asked Jayce. He had already considered Jayce as the leader ever since he saved Leah from her possession.

"Well I’d like to know everyone’s strength and abilities so I can make the right decisions if we get into battle."