The Restaurant is Open!

Posted on Thu Apr 4th, 2024 @ 12:36am by Craig Nicholson
Edited on on Sat May 4th, 2024 @ 8:05am

“Would you like to say a few words Craig?” Anneta softly inquired. Craig looked around the room. His wife and two children were standing close to him, inside the spacious 10x15 meter lot that had been leased to him for the next year. He admired the sparse tables and chairs, that had only been delivered a few days before, now longing for a customer to use them. The last year had been a whirlwind, with change that he could barely keep up with. In the dockyard that he used to work at (up until a few weeks ago), a looming sense of guilt formed over him as the arduous shifts meant less time with his kids and his dedicated wife. Arriving back at home usually later than 1800 hours, he had no energy to engage with his family, resorting to having a light meal and going to bed.

However, that guilt was soon replaced by excitement, as someone from a Starbase transport tipped him off about an application for a newly vacant lot on the promenade. Originally apprehensive, the more and more he considered it, the more his mind was set on a specific goal. Leave his life behind and open a humble café. For the next year, he worked his monotonous job and then spent hours afterwards starting to build his café from the ground up. At first, it was finding a name, eventually landing on Cosmic Cuisine and Roastery. A name like that would attract a plentiful number of tourists. He was organising logistics, to furniture to staff (just him to start with). He wanted everything to be perfect. Despite some setbacks, he was happy with the progress.

Craig appreciated the enormous sacrifice that his family had made to move here, so he could pursue his dream. His wife had to find a new job on the civilian science wing of the station, and his kids had to move schools. While he knew his daughter Leona would manage, he was concerned about his son. It took him years to even find companions back on Archa.

Realising he had taken a long time to consider his answer to his wife’s request for a rousing opening speech, Craig spoke up. “Thank you all for being here.” He awkwardly cleared his throat. “I declare Cosmic Cuisine and Roastery open.” He announced, affording a small grin. He wasn’t one for public speaking anyway.

From then, he sat back and waited for customers. The first step in the rest of his life.