Charthur: Part II

”All right. I’m holding you to those words. No being nosy in the kitchen,” Arthur teased, bringing just a hint of relaxation back into the conversation. It would be weird if she actually respected them enough to sit in the living room and not intrude on cooking. He doubted it would happen. But, he’d still hold her to her word now.

Arthur blinked at the mention of her family rarely convening for the holiday. ”Oh.” He said. He was jealous of her large family, but maybe it wasn’t as much as it was cracked up to be. He glanced back at her when she said she preferred a small family. ”It would be nice to go out to an extended family.” he shrugged his shoulders, ”but I guess it is less... close-knit that way. My family’s always managed to make the holiday fun regardless of numbers. Sometimes, we’d invite Jason over, but he’d actually out in Boston this week for a movie festival. Thanksgiving is a huge time for winter-themed movies to primere.”

”Yeah. We are. We’re all we got.” he shrugged. ”Susan still hasn’t heard from Kasper at all. So as a teenager, Adelaide was really torn up about not having her father be around for Thanksgiving. But, now that she’s a little older, she’s... accepted it. Just don’t bring it up; it’s a sensitive subject.” He said, and when she mentioned Jason working Arthur scoffed.

”He’s not working – technically, it’s a vacation. He’s retired. He goes up there to watch the movie primers and see what’s coming out. It’s more of a hobby for him. He invited me to go, but since it’s Thanksgiving weekend I said no.” He said. ”I’ve worked on Thanksgiving. Not at the theater – it’s always been closed that day -- but my first job was as a bagger at a grocery store. I got scheduled on Thanksgiving, but at the time Susan also worked, so it wasn’t too big a deal.” He shrugged. ”Still, I prefer it with us not working. That way we can spend the holidays together.”

”Yeah. That’s him.” Arthur said. As much as he wanted to laugh at the reminder of what his daughter had done to Chardonnay, he couldn’t. Not when he was thinking about the fact Adelaide had a half-sister somewhere who she knew virtually nothing about. If he saw that asshole again, he’d beat the shit out of him.

Arthur shrugged. ”He is. It’s a nice festival to go to. There’s always something to do.” He said. Chardonnay’s shock at him having worked those days just made Arthur shake his head. ”If the cooperation thinks they can make business, they’ll be open. And, shit. Were we busy.” he groaned, shrugging his shoulders. ”Sure, the hours were reduced, but the business never cared about employees. We were never anything more than just cogs in a machine to the boss’ bosses. Which is why I’m glad I have my own small business. I don’t want to be like those assholes. I always close for the big family holidays. No one wants to go watch a movie on Christmas morning, right?” He snorted.

He nodded at her comments. ”Yeah. Big businesses don’t care about the little men. They try to act like they do for marketing but, as someone who’s been in the bottom rung, they don’t.” He said. ”Even the places Susan worked. She used to be a waitress; she always had to work on holidays when we were younger. If too many people tried to take the holidays off, they’d find their job in jeopardy.” He said.

He watched as she checked on the dough, and took a seat at his kitchen table. He stretched one leg out and tapped his fingers on the knee. ”Exactly. I prefer smaller businesses, or businesses where the owner is at least present. I would hate to not know my employee’s names. It would just feel wrong.” He said. He supposed she had a point: despite her fancy restaurant, she cared about her employees. Well, Arthur didn’t know how she communicated that to said employees, but it sounded like they all got benefits to working there.

He rolled his eyes when she insulted the spot on the pier. ”That place was actually really nice. And don’t try to insult it – you liked the food. And the service was good,” he said, though the fact the rest of the date had descended into some kind of chaos went without saying. ”I am great at picking date spots, obviously.”

Arthur was surprised at her conviction with not supporting big businesses, though he could see it, now that he thought about it. it just seemed like something she wouldn’t... care about. Her employees, the employees of those she got services from. It impressed him, honestly. Arthur shifted slightly in the chair, watching ad Chardonnay mulled about the kitchen. He glanced at her stomach for a moment, finding the fact that she was pregnant – showing – surreal.

He glanced at her at her questions. ”Yeah. I mean, I know some employees better than others, but I know them all by name. I do all of the orientations myself, too, so I know the staff. Most of them are teenagers, but I’m closer to the adult staff.” He said. ”I don’t usually just sit in the office, too. Usually if I’m on shift I’m helping out at one of the stations, so I’ve worked with almost all of them, too.”

Arthur snorted. ”Okay. The decorations were a little cheesy, but everything else was good. You just have a hobby of judging people. You should make it a second career.” He could actually see her as a judge on some kind of food critic show. It would be... hilarious. ”I can just see you as Gordon Ramsay, judging a cooking competition or some shit.”

Arthur snorted. ”They do their jobs correctly, that’s for sure. I’m not always there, but when I am I notice how their attitudes change. It’s a good way to make sure no one’s slacking off, too.” He said. He shrugged. ”Nicer, yeah. I’m nice to them, but I’m strict. I can’t afford to be lenient – they’ll think they can get away with everything.”

He glared softly at Chardonnay’s assessment. ”Right. Well, the pier isn’t something the restaurant can control. The food was good, and it’s a small business. I don’t get what the problem is.” He shrugged his shoulders. At Chardonnay’s comments Arthur snorted. ”Hey. That’s why you’d be good at that kind of job. You’re an unapologetic bitch. I’d love to see you tear some egotistical chef a new one.” He snorted. ”Let’s get you on a reality show.”

”Well – no. I’m strict but I don’t fire people after one mistake. If it’s a constant thing? Yeah. But if it’s just something simple I let it go.” Arthur said. He shrugged. ”Most of the time I only yell at the employees who are idiots. Otherwise, I have a discussion. Not yelling: a discussion.” He emphasized.

Arthur shook his head. ”That place was clean. It was just a little tacky.” He insisted. He could still see her on TV, criticizing people, but she dismissed the subject readily. Oh well – she’d find something else to judge, for sure.

When she took the dough out, Arthur got up and followed her, glancing at it. He didn’t really know what to do, so he just stared at her. ”Fun? How so?” He asked. ”Do you just... roll it out?”