Taste of Iron

Twenty One: Esteban- The Man, The Mystery

Twenty One: Esteban— The Man, The Mystery

"What are you guys doing here?" Emil asked, a grin on his face as he joined his friends at their table.

"Thought I'd come and see what you've done with the place," Ava answered. "We really need to sit down and discuss all the financials soon. You hired more staff, right? That's got to impact the revenue. We might need to make some tweaks in the menu if there's a substantial change."

"I just wanted food," Taylor muttered.

"Sí," Esteban nodded. "Food."

"Yeah, yeah and we're all here for some good food," Ava sighed at the manchildren around her.

"Nice!" Emil exclaimed. "Do you want to say hi to Atlas?"

"Isn't he busy? I don't think you should disturb him," Ava reasoned.

"Did he dye his roots blue yet? He said he would," Taylor recalled. "He also said he'd help me dye my hair pink."

"You seriously want pink hair?" Ava asked.

"Yes," Taylor stated, before frowning. "Why? Do you think it'll look bad?"

"Te verás guapo sin importar el color de tu cabello," Esteban pitched in. Taylor glanced at him, confused once again, before looking between Ava and Emil, expecting them to translate.

"Uh," Ava blinked, facing Emil to be sure that he heard the same thing that she did. Emil had a matching expression on his face, both of them just stunned and lost. "You..."

"Weren't you going to go call Atlas?" Esteban cleared his throat as he cut her off.

"Right. Yes. Atlas," Emil nodded, getting up from his chair.

He made his way to the kitchen, a smile automatically decorating his lips as he saw Atlas talking to the new sous chef. Emil had been a tad bit jealous at first, but then he got to know that Leo already had a boyfriend he had been dating since high school, and he was also half a decade younger than Atlas. So Emil deemed that he wasn't a threat.

"Atlas!" Emil called out, making the blue-haired chef look at him.

Atlas rose a questioning brow, as if asking what was up. Emil said nothing, simply motioned his hands to beckon the man. Atlas sighed, said something to Leo that Emil couldn't hear, and then walked to the crime boss.

"What?"

"Ava, Tay and Esteban are here," Emil spoke. "Wanna come say hi to them?"

"Um," Atlas frowned slightly, as if he was thinking it over. "You want me to meet your friends again?"

"Only if you want to and are comfortable," Emil replied. "Besides, I'm sure they want to give their compliments to the chef as well."

"Right," Atlas let out a light chuckle, and Emil felt his heart skip a beat the same way it always did each time Atlas smiled or laughed. "Okay. I'll come say hi."

~~~

When Emil asked Atlas to go out to the dining area and meet his friends again, Atlas assumed that it would just be for a minute. He didn't expect that Taylor would get super hyped to see him and make him sit down, and then ask endless questions about his hair care routine.

"—don't worry, you won't have to bleach your hair to dye it. It's already pretty light blonde," Atlas said. "I'll tell you which shampoo and conditioner I use and you can see whether they work for you or not."