(Last episode for the season so means last chapter until season 3 :D)
Maia got up from the park bench, she hadn't realized that hour had past. They had already opened, and she quickly ran over to the restaurant.
Maia had time to change into her fancy attire, since she would be reviewing this restaurant as per Carmys request. She smiled weakly as she thought of Carmy then stopped when she thought of Sydney's conversation.
She did feel like she was taking him away a little bit from the restaurant, but Carmy is an adult. And he knew the restaurant better than anyone else... or so she thought. So he wouldn't let time sleep away from him like that.
Even though they were dating she knew he was adult enough to time manage better.
By the time she got to the restaurant, Natalie greeted her at the door.
"Oh my god, wow. You look so beautiful in that dress, you know that matches Carmys eyes right?"
Maia nodded and laughed as Natalie examined her whole body. She playfully spun around, and followed Natalie to the special table she reserved for her and Carmy if he ever wanted to sit down.
It was the closest to the kitchen, Natalie knew Carmy would be peeking his head in and out of the kitchen whenever he got the chance. Sydney and Marcus too.
She sat down at the table and she was in awe at the place. She remembered seeing all these drawings in Carmy and Sydney's notebooks. It looked even more beautiful in person as it came to life.
"Enjoy your time Maia, I'll let the chefs know you're here."
Natalie walked back up to the host stand, and Maia felt bad that she had to take her place. Maia was supposed to be hosting tonight, but she did have to make another review especially since the hospital was making her pay more because of her mother's incident. Turns out she would have to make another post this month after all.
Maia waited, and looked around the restaurant. She saw all familiar faces around, and saw Carmys uncle looking over at her from across the room. She raised her glass of water and he raised his drink with a half smile.
They both took a sip of their drinks and Maia turns back to face the wall. Richie makes his way around to Maia and she gets up and he hugs her and laughs.
"Oh my gosh, you look so beautiful today princess Maia. WOW, Carmy isn't going to be able to take his eyes off you girl."
Maia blushes and they let go of the hug.
"Have you had a chance to look over the menu yet?"
"I have not, but I will take a water refill."
"Water refill coming up, hey. Don't go anywhere, I'm sure Carmy is on his way as we speak."
"Hey, Richie. You know that Carmy loves you right?"
He nods his head sweetly something Maia didn't know he could do.
"And I love him too, and I know he loves you the most though. Man, that boy is love struck, I've never seen him this happy in awhile."
Maia giggles as he blows a kiss at her and goes inside the kitchen.
Carmy is stressed inside the kitchen, but he wasn't going to lose his cool.
Richie walks over to Sydney and Marcus to tell them that Maia had arrived, but the both of them were too busy right now to greet her. In fact they were too busy to go greet their own families.
Richie then walks over to Carmy who was covering for Josh.
"Hey cousin, Maia is over on 31."
"Okay."
"Okay? Go say hi."
"Yeah, eventually."
"Eventually?"
Carmy turns over to yell for Josh, but nobody replies.
"Just go say hi, it takes two seconds. She's wearing this really beautiful dress-"
"I'll get there when I get there alright."
"Okay, I'm just say-"
"What?" Carmy asks as he looks over at Richie.
Maia tried to mind her own business but she could hear Marcus yelling at Sydney for some reason.
She looked over at Natalie who was focusing on something else and she contemplated on going inside the kitchen. She wanted to understand why they were yelling at each other. She could hear Carmys voice shouting now, and she knew he would handle it.
Richie then comes out to give Maia her water.
"Sorry about that little wait. Carmy is just busy right now, and so are the other chefs..."
"Is everything okay in there?" Maia asks Richie concerned and he nods his head.
"Maybe we should move this table when we actually open, because I can hear everything inside there. And at a sandwich shop it was fine, but a restaurant like this? That would be bad for publicity."
"I understand Maia." Richie says and then walks off to greet the other tables.
Maia knew she would have to lie a little in her blog. She was willing to put her integrity on the line for her friends. She knew they were better than this.
"Alright I need hands for table 31 please."
"That's Maia's table." Sydney says and Carmy puts his head in his hands.
"Fuck, yeah. Uh, I got it."
"Uh, is now, really the best time?" Sydney asks and Carmy just looks at her emotionless and yet his heart still tells him to go.
Carmy comes out of the kitchen and looks over at Maia. She smiles at him, and his eyes held a bit of betrayal still. Even though she came back, he still felt uneasy because when Sydney said she left he knew it was a sign from somewhere that he was making the wrong choice.
The sun was setting between them two, and even though a few hours ago he would have chose Maia, in the end he chose the restaurant.
Carmy gives Maia a glass and pours the drink for her and she kept her smile.
"Hi." She breathes out. She goes to get up from her seat but he gently pushes her back down.
"You look good, chef. In your new uniform."
He looks down at himself as if he didn't know what he had on. His mind was blank, but his heart still loved her. He briefly looks at her then her dress. It was the dress he pointed out for her to wear. He smiled on the inside.
"You look great." Is all he says before quickly turning back to leave.
She felt a hint of sadness as he left. She grabbed the drink and smelt it before drinking it.
She watched as he went back inside. He was so quick to move almost like a robot. Emotionless as ever, and she didn't get why.
She wondered if he listened to her voicemail yet. She thought she did well in it. She put her heart on the line for him, like she always did. He would always return it, because they were both attached together. Almost like one big heart.
Carmy started losing his temper as he walked back into the kitchen, he saw Maia looking as beautiful as ever then just beyond her he thought saw his old chef from New York.
He started yelling at Sydney wanting everything to be perfect again.
Carmy goes inside the walk in to try and cool off and think of what he needs.
Marcus goes over to the door and the handle breaks.
Carmy begins to freak out as Sydney tries to think of the plan.
Richie becomes in charge of expo and everyone starts having to do double time.
From the outside of the walk in everything is working smoothly as Carmy walks around the small space only left with his own thoughts.
All the thoughts surround him as he tries to escape his own mind. Images of his family, all that was wrong with the restaurant and he continues banging and screaming to come out of the walk in.
Carmy sat down feeling defeated in the walk in, he couldn't believe he still hadn't gotten it fixed. Everything reminded him of how fucked his life was. He realized that he really didn't deserve happiness. That none of this would have happened if he wasn't so caught up in being in love. He wasn't blaming Maia for this, he was just blaming himself for allowing him to get this way.
He gets up off the ground and starts pacing around again.
"Hey Jefferey? You okay?"
"T I think I did this to myself."
"Did what?"
"When did we get Heinz mustard?"
"Last week. What did you do honey?"
"Tina, I'm stuck in a fucking refrigerator, on the opening night of my restaurant. Because I didn't have any signal when Tony called. This all could have been avoided. There's shitty art on the fucking walls, everything is on the wrong side in the kitchen. I, I failed you guys."
Carmy pauses for a moment.
Maia waited all night for Carmy to come back out, for any of the chefs to come out and greet her. The meal was already over, she was welcomed to go home. But she stayed, she hoped to celebrate at Carmys home for the success. Everyone enjoyed it.
Carmy goes to speak again with Tina.
"It's not going to happen again."
"Carmen, no that is so silly baby."
"Tina, you still there?"
"Who's Tony?"
"Yeah, Tony is the fridge guy?"
"The fridge guys name is Terry."
"See, that's what I'm talking about. Maybe I'm just not built for this. Maybe that's okay? Maybe that just is."
Maia walks over to Fak to ask where Carmy is. He's reluctant to tell her but says that he's trapped inside the walk in. Maia looks at him in shock but she remembers how Sydney was texting her earlier if he had called to fix the fridge. He never did...
Maia bolts inside the kitchen and sees the kitchen was now mostly empty. She touches the door in hopes that he was touching it too.
Tina had walked away when Sydney asked her to cover for her while she went to get some air.
Carmy continues his talk thinking he was still talking to Tina, unaware of Maia's presence.
"I wasn't here, what the fuck was I thinking? Like I was going to be in a fucking relationship? I'm fucking psycho. That's why, that's why I'm good at what I do. It's how I operate. Letting Maia become apart of this shitty restaurant, opening up to her. Maybe, maybe it was a mistake. I shouldn't have allowed myself to get close to her. I should have kept our relationship as professional as possible. Because now all I have this bullshit, before her I could focus, I could concentrate, and I had my routine."
Carmy stayed silent for a few seconds before speaking again. Trying to gather his thoughts.
"I don't need to provide amusement or enjoyment. I shouldn't. I don't need to get any in return either, and I'm fine with that. Because no amount of good is worth how terrible this feels. To be trapped in this shit hole and feel my heart rip out of my chest. And maybe I should just tell her this. I should tell her I want to break up, that I need space. Because this is just a complete waste of time. She doesn't need me, and I sure as hell don't need her. I mean, she fucking left then shows up in that dress? It's like, it's like she's toying with me. I'm just glad I made the right choice."
Carmy puts his head against the door sighing looking down. His heart regretted every word he spoke. But his brain knew it was for the best.
Maia takes her hand away as she realized he was finished. Tears threaten her eyes and eventually spill out.
He hears a light sniff, and backs away from the fridge.
"Tina? Is that you?" He asks in a panic, hoping it wasn't who he thought it was.
"You don't have to think of a way to say it anymore. Thank you for telling me how you really feel Carmen." Maia wipes the tears from her eyes as Carmen gets closers to the door.
"Maia?"
Maia just stands at the door for awhile as she hears him saying her name.
"Maia?" Maia, you there?"
Maia looks to the ground and goes to walk away.
Richie looks at her noticing how hurt she looked.
"Mai, are you okay?"
"I'll be alright... you guys might need to find another hostess for awhile."
"What? Why?"
"I just, need time... to myself for a bit. Love you Richard."
She hugs him and wipes her free hand from the tears.
She walks out the front door back to her car. Completely sobbing as she slams the door shut.
Richie slams his hand on the fridge door disappointed at Carmy.
"What the fuck did you do?"
"I don't know, I'm not sure what she heard."
"What did you fucking say to our cashier?"
"Richie..."
"Richie what? What did you say to Maia."
"Shut the fuck up. And get me the fuck out of there."
"Oh yeah I'll get you the fuck out Donna."
"What did you say?"
"I.."
"What did you fucking say."
"Nothing."
"What did you fucking say. YO."
Carmy slams his hand on the door, and Richie looks away then back at the door.
"Cousin, why can't you let yourself be happy for one fucking moment of your life?"
"Are you fucking kidding me."
"No I'm not fucking kidding you right now, someone has to say this shit to you."
"Fuck you. Richie."
"Yeah come at me alright."
"Fuck you, you wouldn't be shit without me."
"Alright keep it going."
"Fuck you. You fucking loser. You're obsessed with my family you're a leech. Fuck you."
"Yeah, yeah. I am obsessed with you, yeah. I fuckin love you. I love you. You need me."
Carmy throws a tantrum not wanting to process the fact that Maia had just walked out on him. He took it out on Richie, because he was there.
"I hope you fucking freeze to death. Asshole." Richie yells as he walks away.
Carmy kicks the door, and goes back to his own thoughts. Sitting on the floor finally realizing what he's done. He grabs his phone from his pocket thinking back on Maia's voice message he never listened to. He wanted so badly for her to have given up on him, so he could move on. He wished she did, but she didn't. The message would only hurt his heart even further.
He played the message and sank into the ground further and further as he heard her angelic voice echoing the fridge.
"Hey Carmy. I, I just wanted to let you know. I'm not walking out on you, I just... I need some fresh air you know, but I promise I wouldn't miss opening night. I'm by the park right now, it's really beautiful outside actually. I, I'm going to wear that dress you picked out a few weeks ago. I'm hoping that you'll like it on me. I, just. I'm sorry, for taking your time away from the restaurant. I know we can't stop who we fall for, but... I'm glad it was with you."
Maia pauses to gain her thoughts again.
"I also just didn't want to distract you while I was there... so, hopefully my absence isn't too painful for you. It will just be until opening. I can't wait to see you in your new uniform, you and Syd, Marcus, Tina, Natalie. Everyone has been working so hard for this day. I'm so proud of you and how far you've came. I remember when I first saw you, not a few months ago, but a few years ago. I was actually one of the first people to review you as a chef in New York. I remembered you were the one who handed me my food. I do believe in love at first sight, and I feel for you from there. And when I saw you again when I first got to the shop... I knew you would be someone special to me."
Maia pauses again as her smile could be heard through the phone. Carmy began to tear up realizing how big of a mistake he made. That he as always went on a limb and fucked up. He should have stuck to his gut and went for love and this was his prize for not.
"I don't want to take too much of your time, I know you have some preparing to do, but I just wanted to let you know that. I see you, and I love you. I love you so much, and I'm sorry it took me so long to say it, but I do. I know I said I love you before, but this time I'm saying it out of pure awe and happiness. I'm glad I met someone like you- you're-"
Carmy couldn't handle it anymore. He drops his phone and completely breaks down on the floor. He had made his choice, and this was his consequence. It was either her or the restaurant.
He just hoped he made the right one.
After a few minutes, he could hear someone on the other end sawing off the door finally allowing him to come out.
Maia got home and immediately got to her shitty bedroom apartment and cried herself to sleep.
Maia and Carmy both surrounded their thoughts on each other both reminiscing on what they had. But the world remains spinning and so will they.