Taste of Iron

Nine: Lessons On Atlas 101

Nine: Lessons On Atlas 101

"This is the best thing I've ever eaten."

"It's literally just an omelette."

"Yeah! But it's the best omelette ever!" Emil exclaimed.

Atlas sighed, watching as Emil all but inhaled the breakfast at a speed he had never seen before. It had been a week since Emil began showing up at the restaurant every single day, sometimes he was there before Atlas even reached and stayed until the place was empty. The head chef had assumed that the man would get tired eventually, but he was showing no signs of leaving soon.

"You know," Atlas began. He had planned to have this conversation with Emil, and there was no better time than the present. "The other employees might start feeling that you're giving me a preferential treatment if you hang around me all day."

"So?" Emil replied. "I told you I want to learn more about how the restaurant works."

"You can do that by shadowing others too. Maybe go out to the dining area and see how the waiting staff operates?" Atlas suggested, he really wanted Emil to get out of his hair.

"Nah, they're all good," Emil shook it off with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Then the other chefs. Like I said, they might get jealous or something. It's not good for their morale, you see," Atlas tried to reason.

Emil hummed, looking around at everyone else at work.

"Hey Frank!" Emil spoke up, making the said man look at him. "You mind if I keep hanging around Atlas?"

"You do you, man."

"Cool. Roy! Any issues with it?" Emil asked the other sous chef.

"Nah."

"Denise, my lovely lady," Emil smiled at the woman. "I'm not being a bother by being around your head chef, yeah?"

"Nope!" She answered with a wink. "It's good, actually. He yells a lot less when you're there."

"Awesome," Emil faced Atlas once again, who was looking simply dumbfounded at his co-workers' nonchalant attitude. "See? No one has any issues. You can relax now."

"Right..."

Atlas tried his best to ignore Emil for the rest of the day, like he usually did. It didn't look like the crime boss minded either, he seemed content just to be in the head chef's presence. At the very least, he didn't come in the way when Atlas was working which the man appreciated. Otherwise Atlas was sure he'd have to beat Emil away with a ladle.

Atlas couldn't help but chuckle to himself at the thought of running behind Emil with a serving spoon.

"What's so funny?" Emil asked.

"Nothing," Atlas muttered, clearing his throat. "So, what all have you learned so far by being in the kitchen?"

"Oh, a lot!" Emil grinned, as if excited to answer. "You're very punctual, and so methodological about the way you work. You're very kind to the other staff too, and if they mess up you help them fix the mistake and tell them what to do differently the next time around instead of getting angry. Even when it's peak dining hours you always maintain your cool and keep the kitchen running smoothly. You don't succumb to pressure and you always scrunch up your nose in the cutest way when you're deep in your thoughts—"

"That's now what I meant to—"

"You're so patient with everyone and I can see how they love working alongside you. You don't make anyone feel like they're your subordinates or below you in any way. You always check every plate that goes out and I don't think I've ever seen a single dish being sent back to the kitchen. When you plate food, you have the most adorable pout on your face and you always let out a small smile as the server takes it out, as if you're proud of what you've made. You're just so fucking passionate and it's contagious to everyone around you."