Eli's restaurant was empty despite it being the nighttime rush. And this was not the first time this had happened. Ever since he had opened his restaurant it had consistently been empty, and the customers he did get often asked for a refund since his food was so terrible.
"Maybe I should not have decided to become a small business owner," he thought. "After all, I do not know how to cook at all and my restaurant is on the verge of bankruptcy."
But this was Eli's dream he had ever since he retired from weightlifting.
It was now closing time, and as he was about to close up a hooded man walked in.
"I have heard you need some help with your restaurant," the stranger said. "I am a master chef who can help you, but it will cost you."
"What will it cost?" asked Eli.
"For every day I work here you must give me 1% ownership of your restaurant until I own 50% of the restaurant," the man proposed. "I believe that if you let me handle the cooking side and you just focus on the business side we can make the greatest restaurant in the world."
Eli was hesitant to accept the offer as this was such a strange request, but, seeing as his back was against the wall, he accepted.
"What should I call you anyways?" asked Eli.
"You can call me Snake," replied the man.
Like Snake said, he was able to help save Eli's restaurant. But he didn't just save it; in the first week of working there Snake had turned Eli's restaurant into the most popular restaurant in the state of California. And in two weeks it was the most popular restaurant in the world!
However, something bugged Eli. He never actually knew who the man was. The man always wore his hood down and Eli could never get a good look at his face, but despite this there was something familiar about him. However, Eli never pressed Snake on his identity. After all, the restaurant was the most popular restaurant in the world.
Then 50 days had passed and Snake asked to speak with Eli.
"As you know I now own 50% of the restaurant according to the deal, and I would like to reveal the plan I had all along," said Snake.
With that Snake took off his hood and it was David, Eli's old weightlifting rival, underneath. David spoke before Eli could.
"While we were weightlifting rivals I often thought about what a good team we could be," David said. "And, like you, I had the idea of opening a restaurant, but I failed due to me not knowing how to run a business. After my restaurant had closed down I soon heard you were potentially would suffer the same fate as me. In that moment I knew that I could use my naturally good cooking skills and your naturally good business skills to create the best restaurant in the world. I am sorry for deceiving you, but I knew you would say no if I approached you in any other way. Will you continue to work with me?"
Eli sat there in silence for a minute and finally said, "Yes I will, friend."
Author's notes: This story is a sequel to my week 2 deadlifting world champion story. While this story shares a lot in common with The Price of Victory story I have written it is a different timeline where Eli retired after losing the David the first time. This story is based on The Frog King's Folly from the book Indian Fables and Folklore. In the story a snake tricks the frog king into letting him eat all of the frogs he ruled over, and then the snake ended up eating the frog king himself. In this story I decided to make the snake Eli's old weightlifting rival David, but in the end I decided to have the rivals reconcile the past and become friends to make the greatest restaurant in the world.
I was also inspired by the feud between the Pandava and Kaurava princes in the Mahabharata. What I wanted to explore is what could have happened if the two groups of princes never feuded or if they had made peace before the war. In my opinion, it is much more likely that they could have achieved a lot more together than as separately, so I explored that idea in this story.
Image Information: David and Eli shaking hands.
Bibliography: Indian Fables and Folklore by Shovona Devi, 1919. The Mahabharata Link