Chapter Four

The man looked up at Elena with hope. Finally, there was someone who might just bring back his shop to its former glory, even beyond that!

"Tell me what you need, anything! And I will make sure to do it!" He said excitedly.

"Well sir, you would have to close down your shop for a month. We have to start renovations."

"Done. I'll see to that immediately." Without even waiting for Elena to continue, the man immediately left to close the restaurant, sending whoever was in it away. He shut the restaurant doors, hung the closed sign, and wrote "won't be open for a month" before he finally went back inside. The man then ushered Elena from the kitchen into the serving area and nudged her beside a table. He also dragged himself a seat towards her table.

"So what's the plan?"

"Firstly, we need to collect a loan. I doubt you have enough expenses for the renovating of this building." She started immediately.

"No. No loans. I won't take any loans."

"But you need money for renovations!" Elena said.

"That won't be a problem. I have saved enough over the years. It might just be enough for the renovations. Past experiences have taught me not to borrow from anyone." He had a distant look in his eyes. Elena suddenly remembered something.

"I just realized that we haven't even introduced ourselves. If we're to work together, we are to know our partners, aren't we?" She smiled.

"I'm Elena."

"I'm Mac." He said with a huge smile. "Please work with me. I do not know why, but you are my only hope now."

"No. We are our only hope." She replied to him.

They went ahead, making different plans for the restaurant and finally, when they were done, Mac left home with a smile on his face and left Elena alone in the restaurant. As she didn't have any place to stay, that would be her place of rest for the time being.

As she placed and arranged the sleeping mat that Mac had given her on the floor, she wondered if her absence had finally been noticed. She didn't care, though. She was here to make a new life for herself; she would come back when it was time to get her revenge.

She slept peacefully, dreaming of the things she would achieve in the Kingdom of Neba.

The next morning, she was awake before the crack of dawn. She made sure to pack up her sleeping mattress and arrange the restaurant serving area. The renovations would begin that day. Thirty minutes after she woke up, Mac entered the restaurant looking hyper.

"Good morning Elena! Today is a good day isn't it?" He said, all smiles. She couldn't help but drink in his happiness.

"Yes, yes it is. A day of change." She replied with a smile of her own.

That day, the tables were thrown out, and the ones which were still useful were given to those poor families who couldn't afford to have a table or even build one. They called in demolishers and carpenters just to get the fill of the environment and help them out.

The demolishers pointed out places that would be advisable to not destroy. At the same time, the carpenters gave them ideas on different designs they could carry out on different parts of the restaurant that didn't only have to do with the table and chairs. When they left, Elena asked him if he trusted them.

"Of course, I trust them. They were the only ones who stood by me and supported me when my business started to go down. One day, I would tell you what happened to this restaurant, but that day wouldn't be now." He said, that sad, distant look appearing in his eyes again. Immediately, he blinked, and that distant look disappeared like it was never there.

"What's the point of getting sad over this? Today is a new beginning is it not? Let me tell you, something girl. I couldn't trust you at first, but after talking with you, I got the feeling that you have been through much worse. And that you are also a good person. Let's help each other forget the past, okay?" He implored. Elena smiled. This was the first person to be so nice to her.

"Okay," she said with a smile.

Over the following weeks, floors were repaired, tables and chairs were built, the serving area was upgraded, and the kitchen was made even better. The ceiling was demolished to build the first floor where the VIP suit would be. Elena only said that as a wish; she didn't know that it would be possible for them to carry it out, and funny enough, it was turning out nicely.

She would be the one to design the interior decor of the restaurant. That was also one of the skills she learned and loved from hanging around different places in the palace. She already had different ideas she wanted to explore for the restaurant. The service and VIP areas will be designed differently, but both will be regal and fit for a prince. She couldn't wait.

The builders gave her even more surprises. They demolished the side and back entrance of the restaurant to enlarge its space, thereby allowing more space for the foundation of the VIP room. What amazed her was the quickness by which they could carry it out. In a few weeks, they had gotten everything in order, both the customer area downstairs and the VIP area upstairs, and the kitchen was expanded too! The rest that was left was the interior decorating.

With the help of the carpenter, Elena put motif carvings on different areas of the table setting to mark a section, planting them in specific areas not only for that but for decoration purposes too. She opted to use red wallpapers and low lighting to give that discreet and regal vibe that makes even a common man feel like a king. As an entertainment area was built for customers who would like to showcase their skills, the stage was brighter than the rest of the room but not too bright in the sense that it over shone the beauty of the rest of the room. The light used to introduce the artist would be bright, and when the artist starts to perform, the light will dim to a low gold colour; that was her plan. A red carpet was laid on the stage, and a seat was placed on it. The background would be a painting of motifs and drawings of people without faces to make it even more mysterious. The painting was, of course, done by Elena.

The VIP area would have its form of entertainment too, but theirs would have to be done more quietly than the one below, as it would be the elite that would stay there. The VIP area was also of red wallpaper, but unlike the common service area with red and wooden tones, the VIP room had red and gold tones. The candles were arranged on the ceiling and covered with gold-washed covers to make it seem even more regal against the red colour. Just one look at it screamed 'secrecy.' The tables were not like the ones on the restaurant's ground floor. They were bigger and even carved more distinctly; designs not embedded on the commoners sitting area were painstakingly put into details here. One would notice the difference if they looked hard. Finally, after all their hard work, one month was gone.

The work was finished.

Elena and Mac stood side by side, looking at what they had been able to achieve. Elena was proud of herself for assisting with something like this, and Mac was already shedding tears.

"It's so much better than I dreamt of." He said. She smiled. She could understand what he was saying. It was time to get prepared for the next day. Their restaurant will open tomorrow.

"We are not opening it tomorrow."

"What?" Mac said, shocked. "Why not?"

"I dreamt of a restaurant that people would fight to get into and would not just enter as they please. That isn't why I designed the place like this. People would just take this as another restaurant, only prettier if I did that. We have to make ours unique. We have to make people fight for tables and orders. Let this be a place where people carry out major decisions and occasions. Not just some regular restaurant."

Mac nodded his head in agreement. "I like where this is going. You know what, it's not too late to change the name of our restaurant."

"Really? What name would you want to give it?"

Mac looked up at her with a smile. "I do not want it to be all that flowery words that people give their restaurant. Or those combinations of name that most restaurants also do."

"What do you have in mind?" Elena asked him, curious.

He smiled at her. "The Red Queen."

"I love it." Elena smiled in response.

The next day, Elena began making the greatest change to the Red queen. The restaurant's name had already been inscribed in huge calligraphy and painted in the colour red. People had already started being curious ever since the beginning of the renovation, so most times, you just see people hanging around the restaurant, hoping to have a look at the inside. That was what Elena was counting on for her plan to work.

So that day, she woke up early, prepared the major secret ingredient, and then kept it safe. She also prepared the basic ingredients that would take time so that when she started her plan, her time would not be wasted. When it was early enough for the restaurant's road to be busy, Elena took her plan to action.

With the help of Mac, Elena arranged a table with a small stove above it, different pots, utensils, and ingredients arranged neatly on the table also. Just the arrangements were already drawing a crowd.

"Good morning people of Neba. Today is the day I reintroduce my restaurant, the Red Queen!" There were murmurs in the crowd.

"Unfortunately, we won't be taking any customers today. We want you to be sure of our realness and honesty, proving to you that we are the ones who cooked this meal, so therefore, we are going to cook the meal in front of you, and you can judge how good it is. Then you can decide if you want to visit my restaurant." Some nodded their head in agreement.

"Please, watch my cook and be the judge. Thank you!" He bowed and left the stage for Elena. Taking a deep breath, she began quickly. She rinsed her pot and put it on fire, adding oil to it. As she rinsed out the other ingredients, she began chopping the vegetables. When she was done, she took out the chicken that she had cut and boiled earlier, showing the crowd the pot to prove that it's just boiled meat, before taking the pieces and putting them into the pot of boiling oil. She stirred the chicken for a while and continued with her next ingredient.

Bringing out what seemed like slimmed beef, she chopped it into little small cubes and added that into the pot. Then she waited for a while. Once she felt like the chicken had fries enough, she put the chicken stock into the pot of boiling oil. The mixture immediately released a tempting aroma into the crowd, and some were already salivating. Still, to Elena, she hadn't even started.

She stirred the pot and began to add curry and other condiments. Finally, she lifted a small little vial. Once Mac saw the vial, he understood the signal.

"Surely, you would understand that every restaurant has its secret recipe. Well, we can't tell you what's in this vial, other than it's our secret recipe for this sauce. Specially created by my cook. Not even I know it. But trust me, it's worth the discreetness." After driving away their curiosity, she added the secret ingredient inside. Truthfully, the secret ingredient was just a mixture of different plant herbs that could be found any were. She noticed in her former kingdom that the mixture of these plants increases the taste and helps fight sickness quickly. She tested it on herself and can confirm that it had no side effects.

After adding her ingredients, she waited for a while, then added some potatoes while still stirring the pot to thicken the mixture in it. Finally, she added the vegetables and closed the pot when she felt it was thick enough. She started bringing out small dishes and inwardly wondered how it would be enough for all of them. But then, she didn't bother, as that was part of her plan.

After a while, she opened the pot and dished the food. She first served one to Mac, who tasted it and sighed in bliss. Then he said...

"I give you, the chicken curry soup of the Red Queen restaurant!"

Elena started to dish out the food. The people who were already curious and salivating about the appetizing and aromatic food began to rush forward to take theirs. Someone tasted it and sighed in bliss, too greedy for more to even comment on it.

"This is heavenly..."

"This is wonderful..."

"The cook is amazing..."

"Are there any leftovers?"

Mac and Elena smiled at the result. Then taking his cue, Mac continued in his booming voice.

"Do not fret people. Tomorrow, we would come again and give you another exclusive peek into one of the Red Queen's menu. If you're early, you might just get a taste." He said invitingly. Those who could not taste the food became happy upon hearing that.

Mac and Elena took in their surroundings then they faced each other and smiled.

Their plans were working. Their dreams were slowly coming alive.