After a dozen or so missed calls, telephone tag, the Nephew and I finally connect.
There's news, but it waits until after he's told me about the big night out with Troy, Troy, one of the restaurant's more pleasant demon's, partier extraordinaire, after we split up on our last night out he and his buddies made their way there...and, no explanations beyond "Worse Night Ever...", which could mean all sorts of things but in this I suspect it's just a sigh of "Too Much Partying". And - other news, he's found himself a girlfriend, a 35 year old hooker, he sounds excited, think of all the money he's saving...
Peculiar.
And then there's the news, finally, yes, the restaurant sold. Last week. Chinese owner for the Property, a Lebanese owner for the business. It will change hands the end of February. And that will be the end of the institution - the customers, they're all part of the cult of the owner, without him, most will no longer come. It will not be the same, for better or worse, but the nephew, he's met the new owners, he's relieved, looks forward to reclaiming his life, 7 years there is a long time...
He's confident he'll get another job, regular hours, less hours, I don't know, he's had it pretty good - I wonder if remembers how to work, I don't know any restaurants that would hire him, but we'll see...
The restaurant, it will need to reinvent itself, what this means for the staff, the imported foreign workers, well, I'm curious. The final Valentines trip, work a few days, see what's in store...doubtless the final parade of regulars, the ones we like, the demons of hospitality, the End of an Era.