22.

                                    

                                          
The following weeks in the wake of losing his job and waiting for Stefani's tour to conclude were only held together by Lea. It reminded him vaguely of those early days when he was alone, taking care of a newborn and she was who kept him from staying in bed, tugging the covers up over his head, and wallowing in self-pity. He'd had to pull it together then and he only managed because of a sheer determination not to fail his daughter, to atone for Irina's abandonment and because of his support system; his mother, Kari and Dave, a job to go to every day.
                          
What kept him from sinking back completely into despair was still Lea, though his support system looked a little different these days. Sitting by and feeling sorry for himself wasn't much of an option, not when he had a very active three year old who was thrilled that he was around more and kept him busy and on the go; the park, the zoo, swimming, reading, Lego building. It all kept him busy enough not to remind him how purposeless he felt.
                          
Against his better judgement, he'd told his mother the entire saga and her reaction had been similar to Stefani's in the aspect that she wanted him to get James on the phone and then take it one step further by getting Jonathan on the phone to express her outrage. She had wanted to rally her friends from her book club and others who had been to the restaurant and stage some sort of protest but Bradley had stopped that idea in its tracks. She had reluctantly agreed to calm down and then reverted her energy to seeking out different restaurants that were hiring chefs, most of them tourist traps downtown. 
                          
He suspected Stefani was worried, as evidenced by the fact she made her FaceTime calls a little more frequent and Natali offering to take Lea a few days a week so that he could have some time to himself. 
                          
If he had been in even a remotely decent frame of mind, he would have used the downtime to gather resumes together, see where he could apply for a new position. Stacia, beyond upset over James's decision, had graciously offered him a glowing recommendation anywhere he got an interview for. While incredibly kind, they both knew James's word when they checked references would probably be the nail in the coffin. Stacia insisted there was no benefit in ensuring he wouldn't work anywhere reputable again but he reminded her that his former boss also wouldn't want him working for the competition and he wouldn't put it past him to spread the word around town that he was "unreliable."
                          
But if he had been asked to speak frankly, he would've told anyone who was listening that he didn't know if he even wanted to return to the restaurant industry. His confidence had always been in the fact that though he was a mess of a human being, he made people happy with his food; he had the power to do so. Everyone he knew possessed multiple talents but the only thing that he had ever been any good at, really, was cooking. His ability hadn't been enough to keep him employed, aside from James's personal affront. If he had been of any value, if his food and five star reviews and word of mouth had truly spoken for themselves, Jonathan never would have consented to letting him go. 
                          
He couldn't bear to make any of the dishes he loved, couldn't make himself pick up a pastry brush to sweep butter across freshly made baguettes, couldn't whip up souffles or tarts. His chest was heavy even thinking of preparing anything remotely close to what he'd done before. So, he contented himself with cooking simple, nutritious meals for Lea, eating little of them himself. The kitchen no longer buzzed with the hum of the Kitchen Aid or the elaborate food processor; there were no mouth watering aromas to greet people when they visited. Just an uncanny quiet.
                          
Joyless.
                          
"Bradley," Kari glanced over at him, "you okay?"
                          
From her tone of voice, it was clear that she knew that he wasn't but she was set on broaching the subject carefully, given they'd just started getting the kids together to play again.