Disclaimer: We don't own Rent!
Miranda: Hello again! We're on a roll tonight!
Katy: -rushes in late again- Indeed!
Benny: Yeah, a roll of NOT HAVING ME ALIVE!
Miranda: Oh hush, we did name the restaurant after you, so stop whining!
Benny: Oh yeah? Well, what if I LIKE to whine?
Miranda: What are you, 9?
Benny: ... -.-
Katy: -hugs Benny so he won't be sad anymore- It's okay Ben-Ben!
Miranda: Anyway, this is Angel's POV :3 Oh, and this chapter has been done for a while, we just didn't remember ; So, we're sorry about not updating like ever. We're both going through periods of extreme writer's block...
We all go down to the new space and Joanne figures out the paperwork. It's a good thing we have her around- as a friend and as a lawyer. Without her know-how, we probably wouldn't even be able to open a lemonade stand by ourselves, and her mellow logic keeps us down-to-earth when we've gone partially insane. She's a lot more "real-world-oriented" than the rest of us, a bunch of grown-ups who don't want to grow up. But now we're doing something, something we've dreamed about, and it's gonna be amazing!
Mark pulls out a notebook from his messenger bag, and Collins hands him a pen. We're going to do some planning for decorating now, I guess.
"It could use some paint." Maureen says. Mark nods and writes down 'paint' on the page. "And new curtains." He writes that down too.
"We need a color scheme, and a theme." I add. We certainly can't decide on the paint and curtains until we know the theme of the restaurant. "What do you think, honey?"
"How about an earth theme?" Collins suggests. Always the environmentalist... it's so cute. But an earth theme could be cool...
"We can have lots of plants and flowers and turn it into a secret garden!" I say.
"That's a great idea!" Mark says, and scrawls down "Secret garden," followed by "plants" and "flowers." I can barely read his handwriting. I guess smart people are like that, 'cause doctors' handwriting is always illegible.
"I know, I know!" Maureen yells. "We can have a WATERFALL!"
"Well, pookie," Joanne suggests, pulling her down from the table, "We could have a bunch of fountains, or maybe a mini waterfall..."
"It should be... beautifully elegant and mysterious," Roger says. He's good at descriptions... most of the time.
"Great," Mark says. "I think we've got our theme. Now, someone should go shopping."
"How about Roger, Maureen, and Angel?" Joanne replies. "It seems like they're the ones with the ideas." We all agree, and a minute later, we're walking down to the bigger shopping complex with the Home Depot and a florist and other shops we need to visit.
First we get the paint. After going through all the colors we can think of we settle on a very subtle sage green color, one that won't clash too much with anything. It'll only be a background, since we have decided to get ivy to cover the walls. We certainly have enough money to make it work. We find a bunch of flowers and plants, and even a mini waterfall- Maureen picked it because it "looked so realistic." We also order some darling little wrought-iron-and-glass tables and chairs to be delivered to the restaurant, enough to seat a lot of people without making it too crowded... we want an intimate, secret-garden feel.
Three and a half hours later we call a cab to transport everything we got. We kind of forgot that we would have to move all the stuff back to the restaurant when we were done shopping... But we get it all there and unload it with the help of Roger and Collins. They all love it; we knew they would. Joanne likes the calm feel, Collins likes the earthyness, and Mark likes the beauty of the plants. We had to confiscate his camera so he would actually help, rather than filming flowers.
We get right to work, pouring the paint into big rectangular pans and rolling the paint on with those cool spinny brushes that I've always wanted to use. I'm painting my section of the wall, right next to Collins, when I feel something wet and cold on my cheek. I jump and turn to see Collins with a fingerful of paint, giggling like a school girl. I smear some paint on his nose for payback, he runs his painty hand down my cheek, and soon we're in a full-on paint fight until Joanne yells at us to stop.
"Collins- paint is for walls, not Angels!" She scolds us and we go back to painting the wall, occasionally flicking drops of paint at each other. When we finish the walls and they're dry Roger starts working on the trellis and ivy. I'm working on the drapes with Maureen and Joanne, but I keep getting distracted by Roger's cursing.
"Dammit! This is fucked up!" He shouts as part of the wooden beam falls on top of him. More loud cursing ensues, but Mark rushes over to help him.
"It's okay, Rog. I'll help." I watch as Mark holds it up and Roger secures it to the wall. Mark applauds him and rewards him with a hug, and I notice the way they both fall into it, remaining in each other's grasp longer than they normally would. I giggle and go back to work on my curtains, which are coming along nicely.
Magical Timelapse
What feels like an eternity later, we're done! Except for the tables and chairs, which will arrive tomorrow. We covered the windows with beautiful green curtains (I picked out the fabric) that let in enough light to brighten the place, but the curtains make it feel like you're sitting under a canopy of trees. The place is literally covered in plants: Mark and Roger did a great job on the trellises, and we all pitched in to string ivy across them. We also strung ivy from hooks on the ceiling, and went out and bought an arbor to put at the door. The bakery display case has leaves and silk flower petals strewn around the shelves, and it's the same color as the walls. We left space for tables and chairs, and we put dangling ivy between the spaces to make it feel less crowded. In the middle of the room is the mini waterfall, which Maureen is very happy about. We ordered equipment for the kitchen, which should be delivered tomorrow along with the tables and chairs. Now we just need to figure out the menu. I've got a lot of my abuela's recipes, and some I got from Mimi too. Roger makes great soup (who would've thought the bad-ass rock-star was a great soup-chef?) and Mark is good at salads. Maureen has a few drink "recipes" still memorized from her bar-tending days, and Joanne checked out some cookbooks from the library. Collins... I don't know what he's good at. He's not the baking type. He does sometimes say he has an affinity for whipped cream and caramel, though, but I... won't go into that subject. We're going on a food-buying spree now, after which we'll meet at the loft to test recipes. I'm so excited! A dream come true...
Another Magical Timelapse
Back at the loft, we get everything ready to test out some recipes. This could be difficult, considering all they have is that hotplate Mark's mom sent him for Christmas one year... But I suppose we'll manage it somehow! We just need to make sure we have some edible stuff to put on the menu.
"Okay, I turned on the hotplate. How about we test... Roger's soup first?" Maureen suggests. Roger nods and starts getting things ready, asking for a volunteer to help him cut some vegetables. Mark quickly takes the task, before anyone else has a chance to. Collins suggests that we let them handle it and go sit down for a while.
"Well, today's been a busy day." Joanne says quietly as she flops down on the couch. "I can't believe we're actually opening a restaurant."
"I know! It's so exciting!" I add, sitting in Collins' lap at the other end of the couch. "And it's all thanks to Benny."
"Yeah..." Maureen sits on the floor in front of us, playing with the hem of her jacket. We talk quietly for a few minutes, ignoring the two wanna-be chefs in the nearby kitchen. There's a lull in the conversation, and I suddenly smell smoke.
"Roger? Something burning in there?" I call out. We all look towards the kitchen and see smoke billowing out. Collins runs, grabs the fire extinguisher from its handy spot by the counter, and puts out the small fire on the hotplate. I laugh. "How do you burn SOUP?" I manage to giggle out. Roger glares at me.
"Sorry! Geez, I just got distracted. I swear, I've never burned the soup before." He motions towards the hotplate. "Besides, that thing is a menace to all things food-like. I swear, it does this just to make me angry."
"Rog, it's okay. I shouldn't have been distracting you. My fault, totally." Mark blushes, picking up a half-cut carrot. "Um... do we want to try this again? Someone else can cut the vegetables."
"How about we go to my place?" Joanne suggests. "I actually have an oven and not a cheap hotplate."
"Why didn't we think of that earlier, pookie?" Maureen screeches loudly. "That's a GREAT idea! You're such a genius, pookieee!" I think Collins gave her some of his "special" beer again.
Mark and Roger nod in agreement, and we all head out onto the street and towards Maureen and Joanne's apartment.