“Ah, new comers,” the man weaved his way through the small but full dining area with a smile firmly in place. “Welcome to my family’s place. We have a table right over here, follow me.” Giuseppe led them over to a table that could seat four and held the chair for Stacia. “It is always nice to see new faces,” his voice carried the hint of an Italian accent. “Today the food is a rigatoni alfredo with diced chicken.”
“You serve a single dish during the day?” Alburet asked.
“We serve one dish during lunch and a different one for dinner,” Giuseppe replied. “Would you care for wine with the meal or tea?”
“A bottle of wine please, Giuseppe,” Rolland answered for the group. “We will also need two servings to go, Kim will bring the plates back to you tonight.”
“Of course. I’ll be right back with the wine,” Giuseppe left the table.
“Interesting way of doing food,” Alburet half chuckled, thinking that people would never stand for such a limited menu in the real world.
“Wait until you try it.” A young lady about Stacia’s age with a golden tan brought over a bottle and three glasses. She opened the bottle, pouring a small bit into the glass before Rolland. He sipped the wine, seeming to swish it slightly before he nodded. With a smile the lady poured them each a glass and set the bottle next to Rolland, then departed.
Alburet and Stacia each took a sip as the server departed. The wine was dry but with pronounced hints of fruit that lingered on the tongue. Alburet couldn’t place the fruit even as he tried to. Stacia let out a simple sigh, “This be a very good white.”
Rolland nodded, “I agree. And here comes the food.”
Giuseppe bustled to them with three plates on a tray. He set the plates before them along with forks. “Bon appetite,” he told them before he went off to greet the next customers.
“Dig in,” Rolland matched action to word, taking a hearty bite.
Stacia followed Rolland’s example, still a little uncertain of the food, clearly not used to pasta. As she tasted the first bite she made a pleased sound as she chewed. “This be fantastic,” she said a moment later. “It be so rich and creamy.”
Alburet’s lips quirked up as he recalled her using those same words just last night. He had to agree though, the alfredo sauce was spot on, easily in the top three he had ever had. He nodded his agreement as he took another bite. As he finished that bite he took a sip of wine, blinking as the dry white helped clear the cream sauce easily while allowing the hints of fruit to enhance the flavor of the meal. “Oh, that is very well paired.”
“The family has had this knack for the last two generations,” Rolland put in. “As you can see, they do good business here.”
Alburet had to agree. As they ate, the tables stayed busy with only two or three going empty at a time in the twenty-table restaurant. As they finished up the meal Giuseppe brought them a basket. “The two meals be inside, along with a small container of tea. Kim is working, I take it which is why you are here to get food for her?”
“Indeed,” Rolland nodded his head at Alburet. “He just hired her away from the portal guild.”
Giuseppe eyed Alburet briefly before he gave a small bow of his head, “You must be the head of Alpha Company. I make that guess as many people are talking about you and you wear their emblem.”
“Indeed, sir,” Alburet replied extending his hand. “It was a pleasure to eat here, thank you for the wonderful meal. I shall have to make it a habit of coming by.”
Giuseppe grinned as he shook hands, “As it should be. If you could hire Kim away from the portal guild then you must be a good man.”
“He be one of the best,” Stacia cut in, resting her hand on Alburet’s arm.
“Obviously loved, as well,” Giuseppe laughed. “We look forward to seeing you again… Alburet, correct?”
“That is my name, yes. This is my lovely wife, Stacia,” Alburet introduced her.
“A beautiful name,” Giuseppe told her as he bowed over her hand. “Please come back any time. From an hour before noon to a few hours past sundown are the hours we are open. We change the meal two hours before sundown.”
Rolland stood up, followed by the other two. “We should be getting these back to the women who need it. Stay well, Giuseppe. Give our love to the wife.” Rolland placed a few silver on the table before he led the other two out. “So, what did you think?” Rolland asked as they started back towards the guild hall.
“Easily the top three pasta dishes I’ve eaten,” Alburet replied truthfully.
“It was a very good meal. Never had noodles like tha’ before,” Stacia put in.
“Glad to hear it. Before we left you mentioned needing to do other things. If you want to head off, I’ll drop the food off to the ladies.”
“That works for me,” Alburet said. “Thanks again for the meal Rolland, and for letting me steal Kim away from the portal guild.”
Shaking his head, Rolland chuckled, “A man never lets his wife do anything, she does and he accepts only.”
“Almost sounds like my father,” Alburet agreed. “He used to say, ‘What’s hers is hers and what’s mine is hers.”
Laughing, Rolland bid them a good day as he kept going. Alburet and Stacia paused. “Now we need to get a bedroom set for your sister. I figure letting her stay in one of the spare rooms at the guild hall would be nice.”
“It do be lackin’ a way to cook, but me thinks she will be fine and we can always give her some breakfast iffin we need to. It be a very kind thin’ to offer asthore, nay many jobs be letting’ a new employee stay free of charge.”
“It will help her stand on her feet a bit more, instead of having to keep going back to the Inn,” Alburet explained. “It might also help her court Wilbur more effectively.”
Stacia giggled, “Tryin’ to get me sister hitched?”
“They seemed to hit it off at the wedding, so why not help out? Now, you tell me. Where do we go to buy a bed and such?” Alburet asked to get them moving.
A couple of hours later they made it back to the guild hall with presents. As they entered the front room the duo paused in the doorway. The front room was now furnished in black and reds, from the rugs on the floor to the chairs and tables set out as a waiting area. Where the simple desk had been before now a two-person desk of cherry wood sat, behind which were Kim and Erin.
Erin looked up with a huge smile, “Welcome to Alpha Company, can I be helpin’ ya?”
Stacia chuckled, “Very nice, sis. Very proper.”
“I would hope so, with my help,” Kim stated from beside Erin. “The rest of the decorations will be dropped off over the next few days. I also ordered some things for the meeting room. I have to ask though, how many are going to be in the guild? If you have a lot this place will be a little cramped.”
Alburet had to shrug, “We won’t know for a few days, once we do we can reevaluate. How has it been?”
“It’s slowed a bit over the last hour, before that we had a number of seats full,” Kim replied. “Was there anything besides taking messages you needed us to do?”
He considered for a moment, “Would you be willing to handle the guild finances?”
Nodding, Kim replied, “That is easy to do, if you have the account book from the bank. Also, who do you want to be able to view the account?”
“Any of the officers can look the account over, all charges to the guild should go through me. If I am not here on Alpha World at the time, then Stacia can approve anything for me.” Alburet handed over the account book from the bank. “There is a ten percent guild tax on coin looted, and a charge for using the portal guild equal to the amount deducted.”
Taking the book, Kim opened it for a quick review. She placed it in a drawer and locked it, extending the key to Alburet. “This key is only one of two for this lock. I have the other on me.”