"It’s good to see you came out safely from the Gate, young Francis! Now, we must be going. Please tell Madam Mira that the meal was exquisite as always, and do let me know if there’s anything my guild can do for Monarch!"
Falco rubbed his stomach as he began walking away with a laugh, and the two assistants who had been following behind him bowed to Juliet and Francis respectfully as they followed behind their boss to enter their limousine. Juliet just shook her head and headed for the door! Someone opened the door as she got closer, and Juliet nodded her thanks before she finally entered the family restaurant.
"Order for table seven. Two burgers and three fries. The downstairs is full, please tell the next customers to go upstairs. Table ten needs a drink refill."
Juliet watched as Janet Marc spoke from her place behind the counter. Seven waiters were moving around the restaurant and serving the twenty or so tables filled with guests, and the guests were laughing and smiling as they spoke to each other in the relaxed setting! Well, at least they were far more relaxed than Juliet had ever seen them before! It was actually hilarious to see so many rich people sitting in the small family-sized restaurant and eating burgers and pancakes, but for some reason, it just felt right! The Marc restaurant just had a way of doing that to you! Everyone here knew that Mira didn’t have to do this anymore! Mira’s son owned the single largest guild in the world, and they knew that the Marc family’s net worth was larger than all of theirs combined! So the fact that Mira was still opening this restaurant every day to serve these many people meant that she wasn’t doing this for the money anymore! Mira was doing it simply because this was what she loved to do! And that love for what she did was what made so many people flock towards Mira’s restaurant every single day!
"I’ll get someone right on it, ma’am."
One of the serving boys quickly went to do as he was told, and Janet nodded before she finally looked up to see the new customers. Janet’s eyes brightened once she saw Juliet smiling at her!
"Oh, Juliet, you’re here! And Francis too!? When did you get out of the Gate?"
Janet was surprised to see Francis since she knew he was meant to be in a Gate right now, but Juliet just smiled at Janet’s surprised look. Did Janet really think the Alpha Squad couldn’t finish an Orange Gate in less than a day? Janet and Francis smiled at each other, and Juliet almost laughed when she saw Janet’s cheeks redden slightly. Janet did her best to get her face back under control, but Juliet had still caught it! Janet quickly motioned for them to come closer while calling out to her mom.
"Mom, Juliet is here again. And she brought Francis along."
"Oh, that’s wonderful. Give me a moment."
Mira quickly washed her hands and dried them before she came out of the kitchen with a wide smile and hugged Juliet over the counter! Mira looked Juliet over like a mother hen that was making sure her chick was healthy before she patted Juliet’s cheek and said.
"You’ve been working late at night again, haven’t you? Look at these eye bags. I thought I told you not to do that anymore."
Juliet blushed slightly in embarrassment as she saw all the powerful people in the room snickering slightly, but she just smiled at Mira and told her that she would try to do better. Mira nodded in acceptance before she finally went on to greet Francis. Juliet took the opportunity to really look Mira over, and even though Juliet could see that Mira looked healthier than ever before, there was no way Mira could hide the sadness in her eyes that had been there for the past two months!
It was something that Juliet didn’t think she could ever understand, and no matter how much Juliet wanted to, she couldn’t even try to console Mira for what she was going through! How do you console someone who lost both their husband and their only son in the same way? Both Jason and Richard had simply vanished without being able to say goodbye to Mira, and the only thing Mira could do was to wait for them and pray that they come back alive! Juliet didn’t know if there was anything she could do for Mira, but by coming to visit every week, Juliet knew that she was giving Mira something to look forward to! And if that was the only thing Juliet could do for Jason’s mother, then Juliet would do it for the rest of her life!
"Hey Francis, I got those CDs that you were asking me about. They’re out back, come on."
Juliet turned as she heard Janet calling out to Francis, and Juliet smiled as Francis’ eyes lit up and he quickly began to head around the counter to meet Janet. Mira also smiled at the interactions, and Mira just told one of the workers in the restaurant to take over for Janet until she came back! Just like Juliet, Mira had also been watching the interactions between Janet and Francis, and Mira could tell that the two of them had feelings for each other! Janet had already been unlucky in love once, and even though that period really hurt Mira, Mira knew that Janet had grown from that experience, and Janet wasn’t the gullible child that she had been back then! Francis seemed like a much nicer person, and he was someone Mira knew she could trust, so Mira just hoped that Janet’s relationship would last till the end this time!
Janet’s ex-boyfriend had actually tried contacting Janet multiple times over the past few months, but not only did Janet change her number and all her social media, but she also blocked him everywhere to make sure neither of them could ever contact the other again! Mira had never been prouder of her daughter than she had been in that moment!
Mira turned to Juliet, and the two women smiled knowingly at each other as they watched Janet and Francis go to the back, and Mira just let out a small sigh as she ushered Juliet to a seat at the counter and told her to please relax!
"Are you hungry? I’m sure you are. You’re so thin, you don’t look like you’ve eaten anything in days."
Juliet blushed and quickly waved her hand!
"N-No, I’ve actually been eating! I was just on a diet—"
"Oh, nonsense. You don’t need a diet. You’re far too beautiful for that. Barnabas, go to the back and get a platter for dear Juliet here."
Mira turned towards one of her workers and said this, and the young man nodded respectfully before heading off to do as he was told! Juliet smiled slightly at the motherly care from Mira, and she decided to just allow Mira do whatever she wanted! Juliet only came here once a week, so even though Juliet was on a diet, she decided to make this one day her cheat day so she could eat all the food Mira usually forces on her! Juliet wasn’t a superhuman who had an unnatural metabolism to burn through all that food! But since it was just once a week, Juliet knew it would be fine!
BOOM!
A loud sound suddenly echoed from outside the restaurant, and everyone turned towards the large glass wall in shock to see what was going on outside!