Chapter 15: Business Plans

This was it!

That stupid Jerk Boy would finally get his just desserts. Ein couldn't comprehend how his mind could claw its way out of the augmented abyss spawned by Mrs. Kyoto and Chucky. But somehow, the news that Vincent hadn't really cooked a darn thing, made him shine like the oily faced teenager that he was.

Ein's smile finally dwindled enough so that he could open his mouth. "What an id--!" But he noticed Vincent making a taking-picture signal with his hands, so Ein stopped himself and continued on with, "What a…shame…not to have Vincent as the cook. What are you going to do now, Princess?"

"I don't know!" She chewed at hunk of watermelon. "You're still the judge, Ein. You have to make the decision. Who should be the cook?"

Ein shook his head. "No way. I can't do that. None of you can cook, so I won't choose anyone."

Princess forced herself away from the open Fridgy. "You have to!"

"Well, I don't. This is your restaurant, not mine. You make the decision."

She bit off the head of a banana. "You're not a very good judge."

He sighed, and sat on the edge of the stove. "Fine, you want me to decide, I'll decide. You, Princess. You're the cook."

"But I'll eat everything!"

"Old Hobo Joe then."

"But he only cooks road kill!"

"Sunflower."

"She's the only one who can do the money stuff!"

"Vincent then."

"He doesn't know anything about food! He probably only ate rotten banana peels growing up!"

"What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know." Princess stopped eating for a second. "I just…I want you to make things right, like you always do."

Ein jumped off the counter. "What are you talking about! I'm a walking tornado! All I do is embarrass myself and ruin everything in my path."

"That's not true." She chomped on a carrot. "You…you always help me when I'm in trouble. You saved me from the Cowboy. You sold your baseball cards to help me get this place. And if you didn't tell me those things about following your dreams, I'd probably be at college right now working my butt off to become a doctor."

"And wouldn't that be horrible," he muttered.

"I'm being serious, Ein."

"So am I. Listen, I'll do anything I can to help you, you know that, but that doesn't mean I agree with what you're doing."

"I get it. So you'd rather I become a doctor and live my life doing something I hate, rather than following my dream."

"I don't want you to do something you hate. Just something…less risky than this. Something so you don't have to live your life in a treehouse."

"What's wrong with living in the treehouse?"

"Nothing, I just--"

"I believed you, Ein." She looked down. "When you told me about following your special dream, I really thought…I thought you meant it. Deep down. Did you mean it at all?"

Ein took a deep breath. This conversation was getting out of control, and his face was almost a perfect sphere in its puffyness. "It doesn't matter what I meant."

"It matters to me." She took a step closer to him. "Ein, this restaurant…should I be doing this or not?"

He looked into her eyes, and almost believed that if he said no, she'd pack up and go back home to her mother, and give up all her dreams. But then, his life would get a whole lot easier. There would be no more torture at school. No more rats in his pants. No more humiliation--than usual.

But he couldn't tell her to quit, could he? The grand opening had been a success. Though they didn't have a chef at the moment, perhaps they could survive this. Perhaps the restaurant would become prosperous enough to let Princess move to a real apartment, and start a normal life. That was what he really wanted, and wished for her.

But how could he survive another day of Mrs. Kyoto?!? And what if Princess was ruining her life at this very moment!?! What if, by telling her to continue with this crazy dream of hers, he was supplying the straw that broke the camel's spinal column and so it had to live the rest of its life controlling a camel wheelchair with, ironically, a straw?!?

No, he couldn't tell her to give up. Not now. Not yet.

"I don't know, Princess. I just don't know."

***

Princess tried the old "Only Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches on the Menu" trick on the few customers in the dining hall, but this time it didn't work. They just smiled and walked out.

Those smiles burned Vincent's skin, because he knew he was the one responsible for them leaving. They were the same type of smiles that his father used to make when Vincent did a trick, and his father didn't find it amusing at all (because money wasn't involved), though his father pretended to.

Vincent was supposed to be the hero this time. Not that stupid Mean Boy, or the Ninja, or Chucky, Dante, or whatever that weird kid's name was. This was supposed to be Vincent's day in the sun, but the darkness of his own ignorance created a solar eclipse that ruined everything for everyone.

The only thing that kept Vincent from hiding out in his cardboard castle after Sunflower announced that it would be best if Haunted House Dressing were closed for the rest of the day, was the power he had over Mean Boy.

"Ein, I'd like to speak to you privately for a moment, if you're willing."

Ein frowned, and nodded. He left Princess submerged in Fridgy, and followed Vincent into the dining area. "What is this about, Vincent?"

Vincent snickered. "You don't have to sound so persnickety about it. Try it more vibrant this time."

"What is this about, Vincent?"

"That wasn't much better, but I'll let it slide this time." He brought his fingers together, elbows on the table. "Now, I have a small request. I need you to speak to Sunflower about me. I think she's been avoiding me lately. Back when we first met, she used to sleep outside my castle, and we would talk all the time. The question is, why have things changed?" He paused.

"So what do you want me to do?"

"I was just about to explain that. I paused for dramatic effect, not so you could ask a question." He paused again, and stared at Ein, just to make him think that he wanted Ein to say something. But right when Ein opened his mouth, Vincent continued, "The fact of the matter is, I don't believe I could obtain the information I need from Sunflower myself. I would ask Old Hobo Joe to do it, but he can't speak. And I can't ask Princess, because it seems as if Sunflower is avoiding Princess the same as she's avoiding me. You're the outsider, therefore, she might just tell you something that she wouldn't tell us. Sometimes, it seems, people tell a person--whom they know a little--more about themselves than they would tell someone they've known for quite a while. Such as when I first met Sunflower, I told her many things that I had never told my father, or my old chums."

"Chums?"

"Yes. Now go into Sunflower's office, and get me the information I need. If you don't, I'll show Waitress Girl the pictures."

"Hey, that's not fair. What if I try my best, and Sunflower still won't tell me anything?"

"Then it will be quite a shame for you, I suppose." Vincent stood. "Now away with you, spy. Get to work."

Ein grumbled, and stepped out of the dining area, into Sunflower's office.

***

Sunflower was going over various possible solutions to their chef problem in her mind, when Ein entered, looking rather irritated about something. But she waved for him to approach and he smiled.

"Hello, Sunflower." He shuffled his feet. "It's a shame about the cooking thing."

Sunflower nodded. "Please. Take a seat."

Ein nodded and sat, facing her desk.

"So, what can I do for you, Ein?"

"Well…uh…I was wondering how you've been feeling lately. You've been spending a lot of time in your office, I hear. Have you been stressed out or anything? Because I know if I work on the same thing for too long, I can go crazy."

"Luckily, that never happens to me. I like my work."

Ein was looking at her kind of funny. She couldn't figure it out.

"So," he continued. "That Vincent, huh? Pretty…nice guy. Am I right?"

"Yes, he is."

Wait a second…

She knew what was going on. First he was talking to her about her feelings. Now how she felt about Vincent. She never would have guessed Ein felt this way about her. "Listen, Ein…I'm flattered that you're interested in me, but I just don't feel the same way about you. I'd like to stay friends though."

Ein backed away slightly. "What?" He coughed. "I mean…is it because you like somebody else?"

"I…that's not important. Even if I did like you that way, which I don't, I still wouldn't go out with you because I don't have room in my life for a boyfriend right now. This," she motioned to her desk, "is my life right now. People are depending on me. If I don't figure out how to get a chef soon, I'll fail all of us."

"You know, Sunflower, you really shouldn't put so much pressure on yourself. I think there's room in your life for your work and for love."

"Like you're one to talk." She leaned forward. "Princess's told me a lot about you. I know you spend most of your time either working, or worrying about working. Princess was your only friend in high school, and she told me you've never had a girlfriend."

"That's different. Anyway, I like someone, and I'd like her as my girlfriend if she agreed to it."

"You're talking about Waitress Girl, aren't you?"

"Yes. She's the girl of my dreams."

"Let me ask you something, Ein. When you think of Waitress Girl, do you think of her as a wife, as a mother of your children?"

"Maybe I do."

"Then you're exactly the same as me, Ein. We both have business plans for our lives. You want your life to be perfect. You want a good job. You want to be successful. You only think of Waitress Girl as a piece of that perfect life."

"That's not true. I like her."

"Do you even know who she is? Do you know anything about her?"

"I…like her."

"Then I'm right. You just want her as part of your perfect life. The only difference between you and me is my business plan for the perfect life doesn't include a mate to be perfect. I'm happy being alone."

"You can't mean that."

"I can and I do."

Ein shook his head. "I think you're right about us. We are similar in lots of ways. If that's true, then I know you get lonely sometimes. Maybe even more than sometimes. And you don't show it. You're not just trying to trick other people. You're trying to trick yourself into believing it."

"That's not true." Her stomach ached. She wasn't lonely. She wasn't. Right? "Please go, Ein. I have a lot of work to do."

"That's what you always do, isn't it? When you get too uncomfortable about something, you hide in your desk."

"I do not!"

"Yes you do! Why don't you just admit that you have feelings just like the rest of us!"

"I'm not lonely! I'm don't need anyone anymore! I'm not going to go through the same thing I did with Val ever again! I…" She looked away from Ein's face, and stared at a pencil on her desk. "Please go, Ein. I have a lot of work to do."

This time, he left.

***

Sunflower wasn't right about Waitress Girl. Ein knew she wasn't right, because he really did like Daisy. It wasn't some economical or social decision to like her. He just did. Deep down.

But anyway, he couldn't think about that now.

Vincent walked over to him. "So? What information did you obtain?"

"I know that Sunflower hides her feelings. If she likes you or doesn't like you, I really don't know. But I do know that she's acting the way she is because of someone named Val. I think Val's the key to all this."

Vincent scratched his chin for a second, then gave a quick nod. "Very good, informant. You may go now."

Ein sighed with relief and headed for the door.

"And Ein."

He turned back around. "Yes?"

"I'll contact you with further orders shortly."

Ein sighed again, this time not with relief, and walked outside.

A convertible screeched and stopped only inches from Ein. Mr. and Mrs. Flabbing hopped out of the car, and rushed at Ein.

"We're so glad we caught you here," said Mrs. Flabbing.

"We would have contacted you before this," Mr. Flabbing said, "but we don't know your phone number or address."

Ein rubbed the back of his neck. "Can I…help you with something?"

Both of the Flabbings nodded.

Mrs. Flabbing said, "Something's wrong with Chucky. Very wrong."

"And we think," Mr. Flabbing added, "we know, that you're the only one who can save him."

"From what?" Ein asked.

Mr. and Mrs. Flabbing looked at each other, then replied together, "Himself."