Gage's POV
The door to my office opens and Claire walks into the room with a bunch of documents. "Good morning, Sir. I have a bunch of documents for you to sign. Also, a few people are wanting to take time off over Christmas and New Years."
A smile spreads across my face. "I'm feeling a little festive this year. Can you let everyone know that they have two weeks off and that I'll see them on January 2nd?"
"Yes, Sir." She places the paperwork on the desk and then walks out the door.
The last couple of years I've had a few of my employee's work the day after boxing and the day after that to keep the office running.
Last year we made enough money that the office can close for two weeks and my employees can enjoy time with there families.
Opening the first document I read through everything before signing it and putting it on the other side of the table. I continue to do the same until all the documents have been signed.
Looking at the clock on the wall I see that it's 1pm.
Where has the time gone?
Pulling my phone out of the top draw I see a missed call from Coden.
I better call him.
The last time I missed a call from him I got my ass chewed out because he managed to find a girl for me to go on a double date with his wife and him, but when I didn't show he looked a fool and he hasn't lived it down since.
At least the girl got a date with another one of his friends and things turned out well for her. She ended up marrying the other guy.
I call Coden and wait for him to pick up. The phone rings a couple of times before he answers.
Coden: Hey, Gage. Thanks for returning my phone call. Mom wants to know if you're coming to the party on Christmas Eve. She's going shopping with my sister.
Me: I'll be there. Since, when have I missed out on the party?
Coden: Never, but I know how busy you've been with the company this year. How's it going now?
Me: I'll be able to close the Los Angeles office for Christmas and New Years, since we're doing well. Paris, Milan and London's office's need to stay opened as they've lost a bit of money and I'm not sure how to deal with that yet. I'm hoping that the problems will go away before Christmas.
Coden: I'm sure it will with you at the helm of everything.
Me: Thanks, for the confidence boost man. When you said your sister will be going shopping you aren't talking about Milan, Emma or Jenna are you?
Coden: No, Kadence is back. She's helped Mom plan a lot of parties before she moved away for work.
It'll be good to see his sister again.
The last time I saw her she was covered in coke and other things because her half-sister (Jenna) thought it would be funny to embarrass her while she was talking to me. I felt bad for Kadence, but when I left to look for her Jenna had her claws dug into me.
She told me all this stuff about her sister and how she stalking me. I didn't believe it until she brought me to a room where there were heaps of pictures of me on the wall. A few had bullseyes marks around the girls that I was with.
A lot of things didn't add up and when I went looking for her an hour later she gone. Everything in her room was cleaned out and when I asked Coden he told me that his sister got an offer to work at Cashmere Holdings and she took it.
I never got the answers to the questions I wanted to know when she was last here and now that she's back I'm not going to let the opportunity run by me.
Me: I remember the last party she threw. It was one of my favorite ones that I attended. She knows how to make parties better than the year before. The last three years haven't been the best parties, but still everyone in the socialite still comes because they are all faithful to your family.
Coden: I'm glad they are, because if they weren't they wouldn't be experiencing the party that my sister is going to throw for the family this year. Maybe, next year the party will be moved to her house.
Me: We'll see. I have to go I'm about to walk into the street and the traffic is going to be awful to talk over.
Coden: I'm outside with my wife. She wanted to see if you'd have lunch with us.
Me: Sure, it beats looking like a loser having a lunch on my own. Bye.
I hang up the phone and walk out the front door of Archer Studios. Looking around I see a limo parked on the side of the road and the roof opens.
Coden looks at me and says. "Are you coming?"
I climb into the back of the limo and the driver takes us to the restaurant. When we pull up in front of the restaurant I see it's the one that Coden brought a couple years ago. "It's been awhile since we've had lunch here."
"I know. I'm here to check how the staff are doing and whether or not the manager is doing a good job. I had a few phone calls over the last week saying stuff about the service not being up to scratch and the food coming out cold. I'm just hoping they're not telling me the truth. If it's true I'll have to shut the place down and train my staff properly."
"You could always invite some of the influential people of Los Angeles to done here while they train. I can tell you they will whip them into shape for you."
A smile spreads across his face. "True, I'll have to call Mom and get some of her friends to do that next week." He opens the door to the restaurant.
The first thing I notice is that there's no one standing at the podium to greet the customers. A few waiters are gathered in the corner of the restaurant talking and a girl is filing her nails. None of them look over to us.
Coden taps his foot impatiently. "I can't believe this is how the customer service is run in this place."
The manager walk out of the kitchen and his eyes land on Coden. He barks orders at the group of waiters and they start to clean tables. One of them walks over to us.
"Welcome to Hilton Restaurant. I'm Dean. I'll be your waiter this afternoon. He says in a monotone and he leads us to a table.
He doesn't want to be here.
At the table Dean gives us the menu. Without looking at us he says. "Can I get you something to drink?"
We place our drink orders and watch him walk away.
Coden's hands form into fists. "This isn't the way I want this place to be run."
Storm reaches across the table and holds her husband's hand. "Honey, I'm ready to go back to work. I'll manage this place during the day and you'll have to find someone to do it at night."
Looking into his wife's eyes he says. "Are you sure you want to go back to work? I know how you wanted to watch the children grow."
A smile spreads across her face. "Our children are old enough now and I've watched them reach all there milestones. Besides, I really need a break from looking after them all the time."
"Okay, you can manage the place during the day. I need you to also find someone to run it during the night. Do you think you can do that?"
"Yes, I can do that. I have the perfect person in mind to do the job."
"Are you going to tell me who?" Coden asks.
She shakes her head. "No, I need to talk to them before I can give you the person's name."
Dean returns with our drinks and places them in front of us. "Can I take your order now?"
We give him our orders and he writes it down on the notepad before running to the kitchen and placing the order.
I'm glad that people told Coden how his restaurant is being run. He now knows to proceed to make it better for the customers. I just hope people aren't going to turn their backs on the experience of eating here because of the way its being run.
Coden's phone rings and he looks at us before excusing himself. He walks out the back door and talks to whoever is on the phone.
Storm turns her attention to me. "I'm glad you came out with us today. It's been awhile since we've all had a meal together."
"I know. Work has been taking up all my time. Sometimes, I wonder if I'll have time to meet a girl."
She laughs. "Over the years I've invited a bunch of woman to join us, but you always came up with excuses not to join. So, it's gotten me wondering if you have sights on someone and you're not willing to share her with us."
I run my hands through my hair. "There's this girl I've liked for years. She however hasn't come home in years and I was recently told that she's back, but I'm not sure it's going to work because of the things I was told about her."
"What were you told?"
"That she's been stalking me for years. She apparently had a room full of my photos and when I went on dates she drew targets over the faces of the girls. I know I shouldn't trust the person that shared the information with me as she's been in love with me for years and I've been avoiding her for a long time."
"Who's the person that shard information with you about the girl you like?"
"Jenna."
Storm shakes her head. "Are you telling me that you like Kadence? If you are then I'll tell you right now that Jenna would do anything in her power to take everything from Kadence. That girl has been jealous of her since they were kids. Growing up with Coden and Kadence I noticed a lot and bad things happened to Kadence when Jenna was involved. If you're going to do anything with Kadence please treat her right. She deserves to have someone that loves her."
"I won't hurt her."
I see Coden walk back into the room and he walks over to the table. "Is everything okay?"
He nods. "After lunch we have to go to the mall. Kadence brought too much stuff and everything's not going to fit into Mom's car. She asked if we could take some home with us."
Storm laughs. "I can't wait to see what this Christmas Party is going to look like. Do you think Kadence is going to get the paparazzi to line up outside your house so they can take pictures of the guests?"
"I wouldn't put anything pass her. I'm sure she'd come up with a themed party for us and we'll have to dress up."
Dean approaches the table with our meals in his hands and he places it in front of us. "If you need anything else. Please, let me know." He walks away from the table and joins a couple of waiters next to the kitchen door.
"Coden, this place isn't run up to standards for a restaurant. Even I wouldn't eat here." Picking up my fork I put it into the fish I ordered. Lifting the fork to my mouth I put it in and then spit out the fish. "It's not cooked properly."
Storm nods in agreement. "We need to shut this place down now."
Coden stands up and he walks to the front of the restaurant. He gains everyone's attention by whistling. "Thanks for coming to Hilton Restaurant this afternoon. I want to say that you're meals are on me. Also, could you please leave the establishment as we're closing for a while? When we re-open I'll give you another free meal. Please leave your name and number on the podium and I'll call you when the restaurant is open again."
I watch as the customers pull out a piece of paper and do as Coden says. They place it on the podium as they walk out.
A/N: Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays. I hope you all had a great day celebrating with your family.