Perfection was the first word that came to the French woman's mind as she stood there behind the bar of her newest conquest. While nothing in this world was every truly and entirely perfect, the days that came and went were almost perfect. Almost. It was incredible how they hadn't been open for more than a couple weeks now and yet business remained plentiful, if not just as it had been the day that those doors to the Beachside Bar and Bistro had opened for the very first time to the world that Adelaide couldn't help but feel like a living, breathing part of now. She couldn't remember the last time she had been able to take so much pride in something as she watched her customers talking amongst their companions, Elain moving easily and warmly from table to table as she tended to their needs and desires. Of course, as was expected with every establishment, there'd been a few mishaps. There was not a business out there in the entirety of the world that ran flawlessly, but those very few incidents that had occurred had hardly been anything critical, and the dark-haired woman's near instantaneous realization and movement to remedy the error or sort out whatever confusion might have happened only further ensured an outcome that both the customer and Adelaide were content with. Such was simply part of running a business, after all. Adelaide had anticipated for bumps to come along at one point or another, and of the many books she continued to venture through in regard to businesses and related subjects, they all made mention of being abrupt in searching for a solution when problems would arise because they were inevitable. Even beyond the doors of business, to face a problem and strive for an answer was the best way to cope with those challenges that everyday life would throw in one's direction. She had been perfectly aware of the risks that accompanied her choice to hire men and women with little experience in this field of customer service, but it had been a gamble she'd been content to take as she sought the rewards that could surely come of such a calculated risk. Each and every new day that they all faced as a team, her patience and willingness to work just as hard as Abigail, Elain, Killian, and the three new young people she'd taken on the help ensure adequate coverage had been richly rewarded as Adelaide was given the opportunity and the privilege to watch all of them growing.

Hours tick steadily by and everything runs smoothly. There were happy faces and laughter filling the bistro as the French woman moved between tables and spoke briefly with each table simply to ensure that they were enjoying their meals and those skillfully crafted beverages that Killian and the other talented bartender made to the order of each individual. She casts her sage eyes over to the bar, watching the Irishman as he talks easily with the men and women that filled every one of those seats at that beautifully sculpted bar that had been made to her entire design. She smiles softly to herself before she moved over to the sliding glass door, gently pulling on the handle and walks through the threshold, black heels clicking against that white painted deck, the tables here also filled despite the chill that hung in the afternoon air. Offering a casual smile to a nearby couple as she watched them talk quietly to one another, she stops to stand at the railing, slender hands placed there on the smooth wood as sage eyes gaze out over the crashing waters that lapped at the soaked sand of the shoreline, the smell of salt and the screeching of gulls as they surfed the torrents overhead something that Adelaide had come to find a sense of peace and happiness in. It was nice to be without those ever-watchful eyes of the Englishman for a little while, her dear William keeping an eye on things at the house in Dupont Circle where Taylor was likely tending to whatever tasks he had been assigned. And that was where those torn feelings begin, part of her almost wishing that she were there on the covered seating area in her backyard that was only beginning to look closer and closer to pristine as things were repaired and daily upkeep was performed. It was odd, having that melancholy find her heart in the small distance that divided her from her home where she could surely be talking about anything and everything â€" well, almost everything â€" with Taylor as he worked. All their little "good morning" text messages, those little glances that they would share... it practically had her wanting to call it a night here at the bistro. But in the same moment, she knew that she was needed here, and so, she would just have to brush aside those feelings and fond thoughts for now. A soft sigh ushers softly past those dusty rose-colored lips, long and silken locks of rich dark cocoa swirling gently around her in the passing gusts that raced over the ocean and inland, tugging lightly at the white straight-cut flare dress pants and matching two-button women's blazer hugging her curves perfectly, fastened perfectly over that silken black blouse beneath, the French woman a picture of professionalism. She lingers there, staring out into the horizon for a moment longer, before at last she moves back into the bistro to finish the last few hours of the work day.

It's dark now as the last table is cleared and all the dishes have been cleaned, the cooks closing up the kitchen as they readied themselves to call it a day until tomorrow morning. Adelaide moves to each table, gently blowing out the candles and wiping down the polished mahogany surface. Everyone had since gone home for the night now, the last of the cooks appear from the kitchen with jackets in hand as they bid the French woman a good night, Adelaide looking up to smile warmly at each of them as she returned their farewells. It is when she had wiped the last of the tables that she concluded her own night with a gleam of satisfaction as she sweeps her safe eyes over the empty bistro before they settle over the bar then, a realization flickering through her gaze as she pulls that phone from her pocket to flip through several of the text messages she and Taylor had exchanged. She only stops when she finds that message containing the address to his apartment he'd moved into the night that Adelaide had given him that very first check. Hardly able to hide the soft smile that dances upon her lips, she walks behind the bar and pulls from the hidden cabinets an unopened bottle of Casa Noble Anejo tequila before she gathers her black leather purse and exists the bistro, enduring that the doors were securely closed and locked before she waves down a cab. As the yellow sedan pulls up next to the sidewalk, she opens the door and climbs in."Where to, ma'am?", inquires the gentleman in the driver seat as he looks into his rearview mirror to Adelaide."This address, please", she answers as she hands the phone to the man. He glances down at the screen only briefly before turning the slender device to the French woman."You got it", he says then, glancing back to her before they set off through the city streets. After a few left turns here and a couple right turns there, he comes to a slow stop in front of the apartment complex and instantly those sage eyes find that Harley she knew was Taylor's. She turns back to the cab driver and, reaching into her purse, retrieves the cash she would need to pay for the ride, ensuring that she tipped him adequately for his services."Have a good night", he calls to her as she climbs out of the vehicle, returning the man's kind words before shutting the door and walking towards the complex.

The lights were on in the window to the apartment that the Harley was parked in front of, leaking through the drawn curtains and only for a fleeting moment, there is a slight nervousness that washes over her as she wonders if perhaps she might be interrupting something... She hadn't texted him to tell Taylor that she would be coming by nor had she told him this morning shortly before she'd had Townsend drive her to the bistro. Truthfully, she'd hardly anticipated that she would have made the decision to come here to his apartment after closing the bistro, but it had been that feeling, the fact that she had found herself missing him more than usual, that drove her to that spontaneous decision. Before she'd opened that business of her very own, they'd spent every afternoon together in her backyard as he worked and she half-heartedly read those books, so the change in that daily routine was likely to blame for that want to see him more than she was used t. And besides, she had yet to see his place that he'd managed to find for himself, Adelaide thrilled to know that he wasn't living in a cheap hotel where gods only knew what types of people came and went there. This had likely been his first step in that fresh start he'd told her he wanted that night when he'd brought her home from the burlesque, and Adelaide had wanted to bring him a housewarming gift at some point. Why not tonight? No, she hadn't told Townsend, and that probably wasn't the best idea... So, she retrieves that smartphone once again and sends him a quick text message to let him know that she was "running a few errands" before she returned home. Oh, she knew that she would be in for quite the earful later, but after all these years, Adelaide was more than confident in her abilities to handle the Englishman. Tucking her phone away into her black leather purse slung over her right shoulder, she strides across the parking lot and up to the front door, a warm smile dancing upon her lips once more as she lifts her hand and knocks three times against the hard, wooden surface. She moves her hands behind her now, hiding the bottle from view as she waits there in silence, hoping that just maybe he might be both surprised and perhaps even happy to find her standing there on his doorstep.