Taste of Iron

Twenty: New Colleagues And Old Stories

Twenty: New Colleagues And Old Stories

"This is good," Atlas stated, tasting the sauce that Leo had made. "Is it your own recipe?"

"It's my grandma's," Leo replied.

"Nice," Atlas nodded, patting the younger man's shoulder. "Good job on your first day, kiddo."

"You're only, what, five or six years older than me?" Leo retorted with a slight roll of his eyes.

"Yep. I'm basically old enough to be your grandfather," Atlas joked. Or at least attempted to do so.

Even though Leo had only been there a day, the two of them clicked really fast. It could've been because most of the other staff members were in their thirties, and despite being younger, Atlas was their boss. So it was nice to have someone closer to his own age. Of course, apart from Emil.

On cue, Emil walked into the kitchen. Atlas couldn't help but glance at him, and their eyes met immediately. Ever since that day in Shawn's office, things had changed between them ever so slightly. There was growing tension, so thick that it could be cut by a knife. But neither of them had made a move, and Atlas was convinced in his resolve and self control.

Okay. Somewhat convinced.

"What's the deal with him, by the way?" Leo muttered, motioning towards the crime boss. "The owner was never this involved in the last couple places I worked at."

"It's...complicated," Atlas answered, not really knowing what else to say.

"How? You both got a thing going on or something?" Leo questioned. Atlas whipped his head towards the new sous chef, his eyes wide. Leo shrugged casually as he glanced at the blue haired man before going back to chopping the vegetables. "Hey, I'm not blind. He gives you the puppy dog look my boyfriend used to give me back in school. Same look my dads still give each other every day."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Atlas mumbled, his lips pursed in a thin line as he sighed. "I... I need to get the duck from the freezer."

With that, Atlas walked away. He wasn't expecting Leo to call him out like that, and he knew that if he were to stay, his reaction would've given him away.

Atlas went to the back alley instead of the freezer. He really needed to take a moment for himself so that he could get back on track and prepare himself for dinner service. He leant against the wall as he looked up at the night sky, trying to calm his chest that was beating uncharacteristically fast.

At this rate, Emil would cause him to have a goddamn heart attack without even doing anything.

Atlas heard the backdoor open and then shut, and for some reason, he knew who it was going to be. He didn't bother to look, knowing that he was right when the gangster joined him.

"You good? You walked out of there in a hurry," Emil asked. Atlas nodded, feeling like his throat was too dry all of a sudden. "Things going okay with the new kid?"

"Yeah. He knows what he's doing," Atlas replied, his voice low.

"Good. That's good," Emil muttered.

Atlas hated this. He hated the awkwardness that was the remnant of whatever happened in Shawn's office. Even Emil, who was usually so bright and jolly seemed dull. Like he was struggling to figure out how to act or what to say to the head chef.

"How...how is your brother now?" Emil questioned.

"He's fine. He was having some issues with a new co-worker so his boss shifted the asshole to a different section," Atlas answered.