A Christian Romance II

Chapter 4 - Overseer

Although Ferdinand circulated in influential and wealthy circles, he came from a very modest background. From his first contact with luxury, he desired a life sterile of the troubles of being poor. Even though he didn't have much of his own yet, his achievements required him to ignore his moral compass many times. Sometimes his conscience accused him, but when he was rewarded with the privilege of being the overseer and user of all of Michael's possessions in his absence, those thoughts were numbed. Ferdinand didn't even need to do anything, because Michael always controlled everything remotely and that was a big bonus. To be rich without the extra effort, who doesn't want that? But little did Ferdinand know that his rest was about to come to an end.

He arrived at Michael's restaurant, expecting to meet Corinne for lunch, and there she was beautiful, elegant - while he watched her from afar - and annoying as ever - when she noticed him. Ferdinand rolled his eyes discreetly, then walked toward her.

"Did you wait too long?" He asked, while politely taking his seat next to her.

"Not so much, but I took the courtesy of ordering today's special."

"Which is?"

"A salad. You know, that salad that we love?" She was beaming with pride, sure that she knew her man's favorite tastes.

Ferdinand would kill for a rare steak with pommes, but because Corinne seemed to always know best, he had to stick to a light meal that he would quickly digest.

"Oh..." He took a deep breath and instead of complaining or politely declining her choice, he just replied: "OK. That's perfect!"

And they waited. In fact, Corinne entertained herself with a non-stop talk about a very uninteresting topic, and Ferdinand pretended to be listening. He didn't mean to be rude, but he realized that he was wasting his time. So he tried to take a peak at his wristwatch, as discreetly as he could, and he found out that they had been waiting for their meal for at least 30 minutes. He began to feel restless.

"Corinne, will you excuse me?" He decided to take measures. "There must be something very wrong happening in the kitchen."

His girlfriend inclined her face a little and looked at him with an intriguing smirk. "Why do you say that?"

"We've been waiting for a salad for more than 30 minutes." He stood up discreetly. "I'll just check if all is well. I'll be right back." He left the table.

"Okay," Corinne observed him diligently, realizing for the umpteenth time how manly and handsome Ferdinand was; he was flawless from head to toe.

More heads turned around to check Ferdinand out, but he was so used to that that he mostly ignored his observers, especially when he had his focus on a problem. He entered the kitchen to find out that the sous chef was sitting down, hunching while taking a drink; the sous chef's hands were shaking uncontrollably, and two of the helpers assisted him. Ferdinand was so shocked before that scene that it sounded rude when he asked:
"What's happening here?"

The kitchen staff knew Ferdinand as one of the bosses, but they were used to dealing with Michael who was docile and respectful to them, for he respected anyone who chose work over cheating or stealing.

The employees looked at Ferdinand, and one of them ventured to reply, but as he was mumbling, Ferdinand interrupted any shade of explanation and replied, in a threatening tone:
"I'm sorry to interrupt," He had meant what he had said, but was misinterpreted. "But is it normal to wait 30 minutes for a salad?" He asked. "If I'm waiting this long for a salad, imagine the customers who ordered a well-done steak?" He concluded.

The sous chef and the team that was with him were so appalled that it didn't even seem plausible to explain why the sous chef was in such a nervous breakdown. They quickly resumed to their stations in the kitchen and tried their best to work, but without anyone to coordinate them, it was going to be hard.

The Chef had capitulated, leaving all the hard tasks to the unaware and unexperienced sous chef, who tried his best to keep up with the high quality standards of the restaurant. The kitchen team called it a day, but the nightmare they had just lived followed for the next days straight.

Instead of trying to understand the problem and fix it, Ferdinand kept pushing the team for success by pointing out their failures. The so-called quality of the restaurant deteriorated in a matter of weeks, and most of the team quit.

One day, finally, a stressed-out Ferdinand kept insisting with Michael, by calling him non-stop until he answered the phone.

"It's Michael." Michael finally responded to Ferdinand's insistent calling. "Is there an emergency?"

"No, I am just warning you before it's too late," Ferdinand lied about the seriousness of the situation. "But I think we should be considering a new Chef for the restaurant." he succeeded in sharing the matter without an alarming tone.

"Uh..." Michael sighed. He was fully aware of how the Chef struggled with his addiction to alcohol for the past years, but he had decided to help him, naively believing that a routine could help him overcome the disease.

"Michael, you've been away for a month, don't you think it's a bit long?" Things weren't looking bright for the most expensive restaurant in Sydney, and Ferdinand blamed it on Michael's absence, and not on his own irresponsibility.

"But you've got everything under control, don't you?"

"All is under control." Ferdinand declared without any hesitation. "Your house is clean and tidy, there is no scratch on your car..." He cleared up the doubt.

"Good!" Michael cared, but not that much because he could afford almost anything that money could buy, but he still hated to buy new stuff when he already felt comfortable and accustomed to his old stuff.

"Still you must come!" He insisted. "I got us an interview with the head of an Event Coordination Center in Sydney."

"In Sydney?!" Michael was hostile to the idea of organizing his event in Sydney.

"Why not?" that was Ferdinand's excuse. "Melbourne was a fiasco!" he recalled.

"I was," Michael began, "trying," he gave extra emphasis, "to give it a month to try again."

"And in the meantime, I decided to try Sydney." he boldly declared. "And I got us a meeting with one of the best in the country, possibly even better than that McNamara."

Michael passed his hand through his hair in exasperation.

"I have postponed the meeting two times already!" Ferdinand pleaded.

"When is the meeting?" He coldly asked.

"Next Monday, 9 am."

"Like in two days, next Monday?" Just double-checking.

"Exactly," Ferdinand replied.

"I still need to go through the presentation." Michael tried his best excuse, although the truth about his leg would be plausible and fully accepted, but a secret is better kept unknown.

"Please!" Ferdinand was aware of Michael's exceptional skills. "You don't have to do much."

"I'll think about it."

"Michael, I don't wanna pressure you, but I think we should try this company." he protested. "None other has replied so favorably."

"You speak as though they had already taken us on board."

"No...!" He warned. "That didn't happen! And yet it seems like we have a way in."

Michael took a deep breath. "No guarantees. But if I make it, where do you want us to meet?"

"At the Opera House."

"Is the company nearby?"

"Yes!"

"Uh, Ferdinand. You put me in these situations...!" Michael was exasperated.