+No matter how much he could manage to get done in a day there always seemed to be an endlessly growing list of things that needed his attention for the next 24 hours ahead. Luckily he’d spent enough time in open AA meetings with Steven that taking things one day at a time was an old concept. That morning he woke up with the sun and headed up to the roof for a little morning yoga in the small half-built lounge area he’d been building. Nothing like watching the sun come up in strong warrior pose. After that his stomach was screaming for a home cooked breakfast and coffee, so he answered the call and took his food, smokes, and cell phone up onto the roof. He made a few calls to furniture stores while he ate, reciting credit card information from the banks of that photographic memory of his. Lines of credit were set up with two stores and a Home Depot and he was glad that at least that would make getting the new place fixed up just a little easier on everyone involved.+
+The next thing he had to do was call Shazz and make the final arrangements from the real estate end of the bargain. Finishing up his meal by scooping a forkful of omelette into his maw he auto-dialed the cell number he had for Shazz. Chewing and swallowing the last of his food he pushed the plate aside on the small black metal table and leaned back in his chair waiting for her to answer. Sometimes he really wondered about Shazzar and what it was like to live the kind of life she did, the womans adventures were a constant source of amusement for him. When someone picked up on the other line he thought he heard some kind of sports commentary in the background, the loud voice talking in Spanish.+ “Hola! Or Ole! or Holla! How’s it going sugar britches?”
“Shazz? I can barely hear you! Where the hell are you?”
“Barcelona baby. Boz left me, that massochistic pig! He packed his bags and went back to Bali. But I met the yummiest little bull fighter here in Spain and you would not believe the size of his...”
“Ok, ok, ok I believe it! No details skank.” +Geller was laughing at her way of offhandedly discussing the end of one love affair and the beginning of another.+ “I called about the properties we were checking out in New Orleans.”
“Ahhh yes, did the lawyers send back the paperwork? I have no idea, they point to the line and I sign it. For all I know you’re starting a meth lab somewhere in one of my families holdings.” +There was a little Shazz giggle as she waved to a handsome bull fighter in tight black pants down in the ring.+ “You’re not right? Starting a meth lab? I know we could get kind of wild back in the day but I thought we’d all grown out of that by now.”
“No meth labs, I swear. And yes, the lawyers sent over the paperwork and I put through a first payment. We’re actually moving in already so everything worked out fine. I was actually calling about the second property we spoke about. The one in the Quarter...next to Club Urban Decay.” +He was sitting on his nice quiet roof shouting into the phone so she could hear him over the commotion around her. The whole thing was so ridiculous.+ “I want to buy it from you, or rather I’m going to talk Laz into buying it from you if I could work my charm on her. It’s for a new business venture.....only the bare minimum amount of meth and debauchery involved I promise.”
“Ohhhh tell Barbra I said hello. My Daddy always used to speak so fondly of her, I think he had a bit of a crush actually. I’d be more than happy to sell, you know I hate having to take on any responsibilities from those holdings if I can help it.” +Shazz tapped a perfectly manicured nail against the side of her phone as she considered.+ “But if it’s Barbra’s money and not yours you realize I’m going to gorge her on the price right? And I expect a tasting any time I waltz my happy ass into town.”
“Yeah, I’m sure Laz pretty much expects that. It’s not her first time at the rodeo.” +A cigarette was pulled from the pack on the table and he hooked a finger around the edge of the ashtray to pull it towards him.+ “I’ll talk to the lawyers and put everything in motion, you’ll just need to sign off once the deal’s done.” +His zippo was lifted, the wheel spun as a large flame leapt up to catch the end of his cigarette. Breathing in the taste of smoke he sighed.+ “I appreciate all this Shazzar.”
“My signature hand is always ready, especially when it comes to making money.” +Making kissy noises into the phone she said her goodbyes+ “Don’t give it a second thought honey buns. What are friends for right? Now I’ve got to let you go. I think Mr. Big is about to get gored by a bull. Love you. Kiss, kiss.”
+The line went abruptly dead and Geller was left just staring at the phone and shaking his head. Gored by a bull indeed, that would be about par for the course. As he smoked his cigarette he put in a call to the law firm that handled Shazzar’s estate and made the arrangements for paperwork to be sent round to both Shazz in Spain and Barbara Lazarus in Brentwood, California. Now he just needed to get the great Barbra Lazarus to sign off on this whole crazy scheme. A less assured man might have sought her approval first, but Geller had never had a problem with an overwhelming sense of self confidence. The next call he made after talking to the slippery lawyers was to Laz.+
+ With the haste employed in getting out of New York Geller had left his business partner in a state of confusion. For anyone but Barb Lazarus that would have been a problem. Luckily, the old woman who was a key name in the restraunteur circles knew how to handle an emergency. Anyone who looked at the seventy year old gray haired woman and thought she was soft and sweet like Granny would be sorely disappointed when they found out the truth. Underneath the veneer of heiress and socialite Barb Lazarus was as tough as any of the tattooed scar covered hooligans who worked in her kitchens. When Geller was ready to get things in order again one of the first people he called was Laz, trying the number of her Brentwood estate first in the hopes that whoever might be looking for he and Jenna wouldn’t think to stalk an old lady at her home. The line rang several times before it was picked up by a young man whose voice sounded groggy as hell. Geller lifted his arm to stare at the time on his watch, California was a few hours behind, but still....being asleep this time of day was unusual. +
“I’m calling for Barbara Lazarus, is she available?”
+Having to call her by her full name was unusual, to him she had just been Laz for years. Geller listened to the shuffling noises of the phone and the sound of two voices talking in the background. Well, well, well...looked like Barb was still getting some after all. Choking on his own need to laugh he was grinning into the phone when he finally heard Laz’s voice come on the line and ask who was calling.+
“You dirty old woman. Should I have the cops come out there and check his ID?”
“I can’t help myself, it’s a stress reliever. This is what happens when my partner runs out on me and leaves our business in the lurch.”
“Ouch.” +Geller didn’t have to pretend to be stung by her astute comment, because he knew that she was right.+ “You know, you domesticated me as much as you could Laz, at least you got me to sit still for a few years. You knew it would never last.”
+Barbara sighed as she shoved away the hand of her lover and punched at her pillows to pile them up behind her so she could sit up in bed and lean against them while she talked.+ “That’s true. I should have known better than to try to mold a no account line cook into a top ranking chef. My apologies. How are you getting along? Been having to use the words ‘would you like fries with that’ often?”
“Touche Laz.” + Geller lifted one of his feet from the floor and wedged his heel onto the seat so he could lean forward into his thigh, one arm wrapped around his leg and reached to ash his cigarette on the tray he’d set at the edge of the small round table.+ “Actually, I haven’t been working...yet. That’s why I called. I have a bit of a proposition for you.” +There was silence for awhile on the other end and Geller could practically hear the gears in the woman’s head turning.+
“How much is this idea going to cost me?”
+Geller chuckled as the woman went straight to the bottom line. He was the creative genius in the kitchen, but she was the one with the business savvy. They made a great team, though he often suspected that he needed her more than the other way around.+ “It’ll be a steal I swear, and you’ll be rolling in dough before the end of the year if I predict correctly. I just need two things from you...well...three things.” +His cigarette was brought to his lips and he took a long drag and let the smoke coil out of his mouth slowly.+ “I need some start up capital, I just bought a house here for the fam and I could use the extra funds for getting things started. I also need your connections. I can’t use my name in any kind of mass media so this will literally be like you creating me all over again. Sounds fun don’t it?” +She was listening carefully and when he spoke of creating him all over again she made a very undignified snorting sound on the other end of the telephone.+ “Because it was so much fun the first time? I suppose this time at least you’ll have the decency not to wind up in a Bangkok prison that I have to bail you out of.” +Though there had been many rocky experiences in the years they had worked together, and though she enjoyed nothing more than ribbing him about those experiences, she still loved every memory that they had shared. Also, it had been awhile since they’d really had to try to get a restaurant going. With Geller’s five star ratings and her lethal skills they had become an unbeatable team. It would be nice to shake the dust off and see if they could recreate a sensation starting from scratch.+ “And the third thing you need?”
+Laughter filled the phone line as she reminded him of that not so pleasent event in prison.+ “It was Burma, not Bangkok, and the whole thing was Adam’s fault.” +Most likely true though he didn’t actually remember, but most things were Adams fault.+ “I need some of my staff from Les Halles.” +He flicked ash off the end of his cigarette and continued before she could freak out.+ “Not the whole crew, just some of my oldest and dearest, I need people I can trust, people I know. They’ll come whether you want them to or not, you know this. The reason I’m asking you is because I’m still technically staying off the grid as much as I can so I need you to send them to me.”
“Absolutely NOT!” +He was explaining more but she was sitting ramrod straight in bed, arms crossed over her chest, head shaking no as if he could see her.+ “You can’t go poaching from Les Halles now just because you have a wild hair up your ass to start something new. Les Halles is the staple, it’s the world renowned gold star ship that butters my bread and yours I might add. We are not.....no......Geller!” +He just kept on talking no matter what she said and finally with a loud exhale she leaned over to the bedside table and searched for a pen and paper.+ “Give me the names.”
+He heard her fight and argue and when she gave in he silently cheered for his own victory. Some of his staff were all but uncontrollable when he wasn’t around so he was sure she’d be quite happy to get rid of a few of them. However, he knew that for each crew member that he poached she would expect him to find her someone new. That made for an extra job to take care of in the days to come.+ “I need Isodore and Angel from the Les Halles in London, Ito from the spot you sent him to in Los Angeles, Manny, Rosie, Steven, and Adam from New York. The rest of the staff I’ll hire locally. Send me those guys and I’ll find you new hires. I heard Steve Fields has some grill men that’ll be out of work soon, and I can always get some up and comers from the guys contacts. Just leave it to me and we’ll have it settled before you know it.”
“Well you’d better have it settled. They won’t so much as look at an airplane until you have new people walking in the door do you understand me? Not a moment before!” +There, at least now she felt like she’d put her foot down about something for gods sake.+ “Use the account from Belize to get started, I’ll wire the cash direct. And Geller,” +She licked her lips as she continued making notes on the small pad in her wizened hands.+ “You’d better be planning on following through with this. And don’t think that you hiding will be a good enough excuse to keep me away. When I put money somewhere I want veto rights, so you’d better expect a visit before opening night.”
“I can’t wait for a visit Laz. You’ll love it here. I promise.” +The excitement of new beginnings always got his blood pumping and the thought of being back in the kitchen was like a literal fire under his ass.+ “Take care, and try not to wear that poor man out. He sounded tired. I’ll check in with ya soon Laz.”
+They said their goodbyes and hung up the phone, Geller took another drag off his cigarette and ran through his mornings mental check list. He’d made some calls for home furnishings, spoken to Shazz, spoken to Laz, he trusted that she would have his first crew on the way, now he just needed to get some feelers out in the local community to find a groove and start the real first wave of hiring for front and back of house. There was a lot to do, especially since he was hoping to have the place open before May so they could cash in quick on the Jazz Fest tourists. Crushing out his cigarette in the ashtray he stood up from the table and gave a long slow stretch to work out the kinks in his lower back. Time to get ready and hit the town.+
