The Restaurant

Chapter 16

Part 2 Present Day

Joey hurried through the dishes and cleaned every pot he was given. The silverware was already cleaned and put away. The past three weeks, Jimmy and Tina were watching how he worked. They praised his work ethic and treated him with respect. He enjoyed working with the staff, but in the time he'd been there, he didn't meet Jesse or Steven. When he asked about them, after his first month, Jimmy sighed and told Tina he had to stay late to talk with Joey. When she asked why, Jimmy said three words, "Jesse and Steven." Tina smiled and nodded. Joey was excited to finally find out what happened after the 'spaghetti incident' as he had come to call it. When he asked the other staff, no one would say anything, and would merely laugh that he referred to it as that. When he was done, he took off his rubber apron and dusted himself off before going to the front of the restaurant. There was a bowl of noodles and a cupcake sitting on a table. Jimmy sat on one side nursing a cup of coffee. Tina saw Joey and smiled as he went by.

Joey said, "Have a good night, Tina."

She smiled and continued counting the money. After the first incident with Tina, he never wanted to see her mad again. He usually went out of his way to make sure she was happy whenever he worked because of the first time he met her. As he sat down, the aroma was overbearing, he could barely hold himself back from jumping at the food. Jimmy smiled from across the table and nodded for Joey to enjoy. Joey attacked the soup, burning his tongue in the process but the flavor was everything he dreamed of. Not too salty, not too cheesy, just right with the herbs, and the noodles danced on his tongue. He had not had the opportunity to try them yet because he wanted them made by Jimmy. After he was done, he took a bite of the cupcake. So simple, yet so creative. The inside had a peanut butter crème while the cupcake was chocolate with sea salt. The frosting was a chocolate peanut butter mousse. The two flavors performed a ballet on his tongue as the sea salt stomped a rhythm to keep. He had not tasted anything so delicious as this.

Jimmy waited till Joey finished the cupcake before he spoke. "You want to know what happened to Jesse and Steven?"

Joey nodded, "And what happened after the 'spaghetti incident.'"

Jimmy looked past him to Tina, and said loudly, "The 'spaghetti incident'?" She snorted before going back to counting the money. Jimmy turned his attention back to Joey. "Joey, I don't think I have enough coffee for all of that." As if he had magically conjured up a carafe, a waitress placed it on the table and kept walking. Jimmy glared at her, "Thank you, Jen!" he shouted after her. Joey turned and winked at Jen. She blushed and went to the back.

Tina had finished counting the money and sat next to Jimmy. "He's waited long enough, honey. Tell him the next part." She leaned her head on his shoulder, he kissed her forehead and gave her a quick squeeze before he started...