Cup of Coffee and a Tall Glass of You

"I wonder if we have potatoes..." Sanji mumbled to himself in the empty kitchen as he whisked the eggs He had just cracked into the bowl. It was about 5:45 am now, but Sanji always came to work early to prepare breakfast. Most of the other chefs start rolling in about 6:20, and as much as Sanji loved the sound of a bustling kitchen, he'd be lying if he didn't say he enjoyed the quiet, empty moments too. Even though he had to follow the menu Zeff always posted the night before, cooking in the kitchen alone gave him a bit of freedom. He was pulled out of his thoughts about what dish to make with potatoes when he heard the door open and Zeff entering the kitchen.

"Morning, old man," Sanji said, adding the seasonings to the eggs.

"You're always here so early, Sanji," Zeff replied with a thunderous chuckle.

"Breakfast isn't going to serve itself," Sanji stated, incorporating the scrambled egg mix again.

"We have chefs that can do that too," Zeff said, hobbling over on his fake leg to look over the blonde's shoulder.

"I know," Sanji said, rolling his eyes. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Zeff nod at his work and lean on the counter.

"Trust in the kitchen Sanji, they do hard work," He said. Sanji chuckled.

"I would if they knew what they were doing most of the time," the comment made Zeff laugh and pat Sanji's back.

"I'll give you credit for that I guess."

"Why are you here so early? Are we getting a shipment in or something?" Sanji asked, setting down the bowl of eggs and fishing his phone out of his pocket for the time. Zeff hummed and walked over to a shelf to grab another mixing bowl.

"I'm here early cause we have a new hire. Finally got us a barista to handle the morning crowd from that hotel 'cross the way," he said, as Sanji's ears perked up with interest.

"You hired someone?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, and without your opinion either," Zeff chuckled.

"Well, is he any good?" Sanji asked, getting out a pan to preheat it on the stove. Zeff sighed as he set down a bag of flour.

"She has experience, so she knows what she's doing," Zeff said, which caused Sanji to stop what he was doing and look up at the older man. "I've already trained her on the basics, she's got a cheat sheet if she forgets."

"Back up, she?" Sanji asked, now fully turning towards him. "Is she here??"

"She is, she walked in after I did." Before Sanji could even start walking towards the kitchen door Zeff grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Don't go flirting with my barista," He said in a low and stern tone.

"I'm not gonna flirt with her, what makes you think that?" Sanji laughed nervously.

"Cause the second I said she, ya got heart eyes. Eggplant, I know you're a ladies man. If you weren't complaining about being a waiter for the first couple weeks of us opening, you were laying charm on the women sittin at tables." Sanji frowned a bit at the call out, but Zeff wasn't lying. He knew he was a little girl crazy, and was the cause of a lot of fights. Zeff let go of his arm and sighed.

"You can introduce yourself to her, just don't make her uncomfortable." Sanji grinned as Zeff turned him back to the pan on the stove.

"Scramble these eggs first, since you're already here. You can check out the station after, and I need your help making the pastries to sell out there." Sanji sighed but turned on the stove anyway.