The Restaurant

Chapter 6 - Jimmy

"Hey! How are you?" she asked. Tina was wearing a black shirt and jeans, and even though there were slight bits of food on her, I could still get a whiff of her perfume.

"I'm good. I take it you work here?"

"Sure do! Since I was thirteen. Started out as a waitress but now I can basically run the place if need be." She stated this proudly as she gave me a once-over. "Wow! You look very nice!"

"Thank you," I stated shyly. "I didn't know what to expect at eleven at night. I figured either fight club or international spy mission, I'd be prepared." I said jokingly. "You look great, too! Not to say you don't look good all the time. I just meant now as well."

She laughed. What an amazing laugh she has. "Even with food all over me? Thanks! Please come in." She opened the door wider for me to enter. As I walked in, it was empty and all the chairs were on the tables, the carpet was vacuumed, and it looked like I caught her as she was counting the drawer out.

"This is a nice place. What do you guys serve?"

"Mostly Italian, but we are pretty idealistic. If you have a recipe you want us to try out, bring it in and we'll take it in the back. The next day, we'll have it as a special. If people like it, we put it on the menu," she said.

"Wow! That's actually really different!" I was very impressed. I'd never heard of that before. "And if people don't like it, do you scrap it?"

"Well yes and no. It depends on the reaction of everyone. If it's really good, it hits the menu. If it's just decent, it goes on the specials sporadically. If it's bad, we make the newcomers eat it as a welcome to the family," she said with a smile. "I'm sorry. Do you mind if I finish up here? You can go look around."

"Oh no, by all means, take your time," I said, wandering toward the kitchen. Near where Tina was working was the register. Walking farther into the back, there was an area for getting ice and drinks. Then, through the door was the kitchen. The grill, which was cleaned off, sat at the far end of the kitchen next to a fire grill. There were pots on a shelf next to that. In the middle of the kitchen was a serving table with plates on the top shelf and closer to the grill was a cutting board with empty trays for sauces and other ingredients. On the wall to my left were three sinks for washing dishes and next to that was an area to wash off fruits, veggies, and meats. The right wall was set up with a salad bar while above it was salad plates. On the wall next to me was the walk-in fridge packed with fresh ingredients.

"What do you think?"

"I think it's really nice. A little nervous because I haven't cooked in a kitchen of this size before, but I think I'll be ok." I turned to her, holding my breath as she stood right next to me looking at me with those entrancing eyes. I stared, a little too long into her eyes, wanting to kiss her so badly, before I forced myself to close my eyes and finally stammered out, "S-s-s-so... w-what do I have to do to get the job?"

She frowned as she looked down, then looked back at me, "Well you have to impress me, then I'll go to the higher-ups and they'll give the ok."

"Alright sounds good! What do I have to do?" I said as I walked into the kitchen. "I'm a terrible singer and I've been told I have two left feet, but I'll sing and dance if you like."

She laughed at my joke. "Well as entertaining as that sounds, I think cooking something might be a little more on par with the job you're going for."

"Ah! Good idea. Hmmm...what would you like me to make for you? What does your heart desire?" I asked as I put on an apron.

"As I said before, impress me. How about something new for you?"

"You're in luck! I've been working on a new recipe and I've gotten mixed results with it. Perhaps you can shed some light where it needs to be." I grabbed a pan and poured some oil in.