Restaurants & Rehab

born to future President Bill Reynolds in 1982, former head chef at a restaurant in South Carolina, recently moved to Georgia after a 4th stint in rehab for cocaine addiction and his 3rd nearly fatal overdose and second suicide attempt.

[andrewxreynolds]

Naia nodded, “I knew you looked familiar. I couldn’t really place it though. You just placed it.” She smirked but nodded, “nice to actually meet you Andrew. Maybe here you won’t get mobbed or grilled. I can’t imagine living that life, but then again I barely even had a family.”

Her brows rose and she sighed, “No, he’s a long lost brother and owns the diner. I basically didn’t know I even had a brother… until my dad died. Who I didn’t meet… until he was dying.” She shook her head, “it’s why I go to the meetings. I got in a shit ton of trouble after. Wound up in prison with drug charges and some violent crimes. I promise I’m somewhat better and continuing to work. Even though it sucks.”

“That’s what everyone says,” Andrew said with a small smile.  “I do have a family, I guess, but my parents only had me to help my father get votes and now they just throw money at my problems so they don’t have to actually deal with me, but now they’ve decided this is my last chance.  If I relapse again, they’ll have me declared unfit to care for myself and I’ll end up in some kind facility, or they’ll lock me in the basement of their house or something like that, and I’d honestly rather die, so I’m doing the best I can to make it work this time.” 

Andrew paused, at least her explanation made sense, but he felt terrible for her.  His father may have been inattentive, but at least he knew that he needed to pretend to care now and then.  “We’re all works in progress, or whatever it i they tell us at the meeting.  I mean...we’re trying, aren’t we?  You’d think people would see that, but at least we can see it in each other, that makes it suck a little less, right?” 

[andrewxreynolds]

Gyda chuckled but nodded, “if you think you can handle it and your yard can handle it.” She couldn’t help but laugh and pull Rashid in close. “we’ll be sure to keep them in the yard then.” Gyda nodded and agreed, “alright we’ll be there. Let me just go rally the troops and call T.” She smiled turning away to herd children and animals back in the house to get them ready. “Hey anything we need to bring food wise?” She shouted from the porch.

“Great, I’m looking forward to it.”  Andrew really did love kids, he just didn’t have much experience with them and while his neighbors’ kids seemed kind of wild, he figured they would have a good time.  He liked sing kids have fun, as his childhood had been filled with political events and public appearances where he had to be on his best behavior at all times and never really had a chance to be a child.  Turning back to the fence, Andrew shook his head, “I’ve got everything covered, you just need to bring yourselves.” 

He waved and headed back inside to get started on dinner, there was a decent amount of preparation needed for what he was planning and he wanted to make sure everything was perfect.  Obviously he barely knew these people, but he didn’t have any friends and he wanted to try it with them, as they seemed nice.  When they arrived, Andrew had the entire backyard set up, “Hey! Thanks for coming over, I’ve got a kind of “steak bar” set up, so just let me know what you want on it and how well you want it done and I’ll make it for you.” 

[andrewxreynolds]

Naia nodded and gave a hint of a smile, “yeah, the whole anonymous thing definitely doesn’t help us out. Naia…” She said standing up and taking another relaxing breath. “We should do that then. I know there is a diner but… I probably should make sure the owner isn’t in there.” She said knowing she didn’t want to have another run in with her brother.

“So if you see a guy in a wheelchair there we can’t stay we’ll just have to find another place.” She shrugged but started walking, her brows raising when he wasn’t following, “come on let’s get going because the dinner crowd hits.”

“Yeah, I’ve never really been able to be anonymous, that’s the downside of having politicians as parents.  My father’s been out of office since 2001, but if people figure out where I am, then I get mobbed and grilled about what a mess I am now and then I have to move again.  Oh, I’m Andrew, by the way.” 

He paused, there had to be a reason for her comment, but he couldn’t help but ask her about. it, “Um...so I have to ask, do you have a problem with people in wheelchairs? r is there like a specific person you’re trying to avoid?  I can be cool with most things, but that’s kind of a line I’m not sure I can cross.”

[naia-kapule]

@andrewxreynolds​

Nai’a was discouraged in her search for a building. She was wanting to open up a crystal shop just to extend herself and ground herself. She was sitting on a bench looking through the places for rent though​. It didn’t help she was also still looking for an apartment too. 

She tossed the newspaper in the trash and shook her head resting her forehead in her hands and raking through her curls before sitting back and seeing a familiar face. “Hey, you’re in my group, right?” Her brows furrowing and eyes squinting before she sighed, “you wanna get a coffee or burger or something? I’m not having the best day right now and I think a burger could fix it, I’ll pay for it.”

[andrewxreynolds]

Andrew had only been in town for a couple of months after leaving rehab and he was living in a house owned by his parents, but he was still struggling, despite the stability of his current situation.  He’d never been able to stay sober for very long and after an unsuccessful suicide attempt, he had overdosed and he’d been sent to a facility by his parents and while he was there, they decided he needed to get out of South Carolina and they set him up in Georgia.  The stakes were high, as their arrangement was that this was his last chance and if he relapsed again, they would have him declared unfit to care for himself and they would be put in charge of his affairs, which was the last thing he wanted. 

He’d gone out to take a walk, as he didn’t know many people in town and he really didn’t have non drug related hobbies, so he was lost in thought when he was stopped.  “Yeah, I think so, you look familiar and I really don’t know anyone else,” he said with a smile.  “That’s fine with me.  I’m not doing anything but wandering around.  Where do you want to go? I interviewed at a place earlier in the week, but I’ve never tried any of the restaurants.” 

[niko--moon]

Niko was still getting things for his new place and he was sitting in the store, trying to decide which chair he thought was more comfortable. He hadn’t really ever bought furniture or anything before because his other places usually came furnished or he spent most of his time at the firehouse but he was only working so many hours right now so he could get to know the new town and his new found family so he thought that he should probably invest in some furniture. He looked over to the person who had been in the same section. “If you had to choose between these two chairs, which one would you choose and why?” He asked as he pointed towards the chairs.

@andrewxreynolds​ 

[andrewxreynolds]

Andrew had never had to buy furniture himself before, but his mother had taken it upon herself to furnish his house before he moved in, and now that he was living there, he needed to make some exchanges so it looked less like a 70 year old woman lived there.  He’d landed on a large black leather couch and a couple of other pieces that were more to his taste and he was ready to head out, but he had time to stop and help out the other man.  “Personally, I’d pick that one, but I prefer a more minimalist style with my furniture, solid color, won’t fall out of fashion years before it needs to be replaced, that sort of thing.  That being said, the other one isn’t a bad choice, but it’s not really what I’d pick, for what it’s worth.” 

[andrewxreynolds]

Kip loved being the chef and owner of his restaurant and he loved cooking, however with his place becoming more and more popular, he was finding it hard to do both. He was thankful that his restaurant was successful and he had decided to hire a chef to take over for him 5 days a week which would allow him 2 days as a chef doing actual cooking for his place. He had a few people apply but he wasn’t thrilled with those that had, either they didn’t have enough experience, or the food he tried was just not good but he wasn’t going to give up hope in finding the right chef to take over for him. When one of his staff members brought someone into the kitchen, he was curious on what was going on. They generally didn’t bring in customers through the back as a general rule of thumb.

“Hi. Kip Weaver.” He said as he took his glove off as he reached out to shake Andrew’s hand. “I see, well the job is definitely still open but no need to apply online. I’m not great with electronics really.” Kip said as he moved a pan from the burner it was on. “Well you’ve got experience and I will need you to cook a few different things that I can try to make sure the quality of the food.” He said as he pulled out a test menu from a cabinet. “Bad things and press. Is there something I should know about?” He asked, head tilted to the side. “Not that much of anything could keep you from a job. I’m a believer in second chances.”

Cooking was really the only healthy constant in Andrew’s life.  Living in the White House with two very busy parents meant that he spent a lot of his time in the kitchen with their chef and then he’d gone to cooking school because it was all he knew and the only thing he’d ever been good at and he loved it.  He’d been struggling with drug addiction at that point already, but the constant media attention and being away from home made it all worse and now he was here, away from everyone he’d ever known, following a failed suicide attempt and a fourth stint in rehab.  His parents thought a change would be good for him and they were supporting him financially as long as he stayed in therapy and tried his hardest to stay clean.

Andrew smiled and shook the man’s and, “That’s fine, I’ve been doing a lot of cooking at home but I’m on my own, so I’ve just been giving things to my neighbors, it’ll be nice to be able to do it as a job again.”  Andrew sighed and looked down at his hands, “I thought it would be best to be up front about things.  My dad was kind of...the President from ‘93 to early ‘01, so sometimes there’s press that follows me around to try and start some kind of scandal, but I don’t think they know I’m here yet, thankfully.  The bigger issue i that I’m here because I just got out of rehab about a month ago and it wasn’t exactly my first time there, I’m trying to get better, I really am, but sitting alone in my house isn’t helping anything, so I thought getting a job might help me and give me some structure, you know?” 

[andrewxreynolds]

Gyda had Itani in her arms and a blanket over her shoulder as she came out the back door to let the kids enjoy the nice spring day. Torben and Rashid with their swords and Hana occasionally joining them but finding her own interest on the swing set or running around with Fenrir, While Gyda lounged in the grass under a tree with Itani on the blanket. Her brows raised at the guy that in the other yard and she looked around before smiling at his question, “You sure you want a swashbuckling pirate and a fierce viking warrior in your yard?” She joked before getting up and swinging Itani up as well to walk over to the back fence, “I wouldn’t mind a nice dinner with my backyard neighbor, no.” She shrugged, “plus I’ve been telling T we need to get out a bit more. Make friends and stuff. So we’re not cooped up with these four all the time.” She heard the wailing begin from behind her though and cringed at the sound, “again are you sure you want all these kids over there though?” She chuckled as Torben ran up with tears in his eyes from where Rashid had accidentally hit him with his sword.

Andrew glancd over at the kids.  He liked children, but he didn’t have much experience with them and he wasn’t sure if he was ready for such an energetic group, but he’d extended the invitation and he was going to stick with it.  “I think my yard can handle it, the house isn’t childproof in any way, but the yard should be all set.  I’m glad to help with that, I don’t know anyone here and I figured it was time for me to start getting to know people and the lady across the street suggested I reach out to you, she said she was your sister or something, and she’s been very nice, so I thought I’d take her advice.”  He paused when the little boy came up, but them smiled, “I’m sure it’ll be great.  I should have everything ready around 6, feel free to come over at anytime.” 

[andrewxreynolds]

Andrew’s parents had made it clear that he didn’t have to work and that they would support him financially as long as he committed to staying clean and staying away from the friend group he had run with back in South Carolina.  That sounded good at first, but the longer Andrew stayed there, the more isolated he felt and the more he wanted to find something to do with his time so he wasn’t stuck alone with his thoughts.  He happened to be looking through job openings in the area and he found an opening for a chef at a restaurant in town and since he didn’t have anything else going on, he decided to go and check it out. 

He didn’t have much of an appetite these days, so he didn’t order anything, but he looked over the menu and it looked like things he could handle and he liked the look of the restaurant, so he spoke to someone and they introduced him to the owner.  “Hi, I’m Andrew Reynolds, I just moved to the area and I saw your ad.  I was the head chef at a steakhouse in South Carolina, and I’m looking for something here and I can apply online, of course, but I thought it would be best if I came in and pitched myself in person, since I feel like if I don’t, you’re only going to find the bad and the things the press has said if you look me up.”

@kip--weaver​​

[andrewxreynolds]

Andrew’s life was in a weird place right now.  He’d grown up in the White House and spent all those years under scrutiny only to be completely forgotten and only brought up at the lowest points in his life.  The whole country was seemingly aware of his drug related meltdowns, suicide attempts and various stints in rehab and he hoped moving to a new place would help him get a fresh start.  Unfortunately, he was alone, with no friends, no family, and no idea what he was going to do to get by.  For now though, he was going to do what his therapist suggested and find a way to get to know at least one of his neighbors and he wasn’t sure exactly how he was going to do it, but he had nothing but time to figure it out. 

Thankfully there was a very nice day that day and Andrew decided he was going to break out his grill and if he saw any of his neighbors outside, he would invite them over and could also get some use out of the outdoor furniture.  He didn’t really know the people who shared the backyard fence with him, but he knew it was a family and he’d seen a few dogs here and there, but he didn’t know them.  After about 10 minutes of playing around with the grill, a gift from his father and it was unnecessarily fancy and expensive, the woman living next door came outside and Andrew waved at her.”

“Hi,” he said, doing his best to give her a genuine smile, “I’m Andrew, I just moved in earlier this week, and I used to work at a steakhouse and I was thinking I’d invite you and your family over for dinner if you’d like.  I love to cook, but it’s more fun for other people than just myself, so I thought a cookout might be fun, if you were interested.” 

@gydalance​​

[maulthots]