Master Chef

Chapter 3

The next morning, Raquel arrived at Hunter's for work before Alexa. She had spent the night at her girl's house before heading home in the morning to shower and change into her work attire of black pants and a black polo shirt with the Hunter's logo on it.

"Morning. Another day on the grind," Bayley said when Raquel walked into the kitchen. She didn't need to announce that Alexa wasn't in yet. That was self-evident since no orders were immediately issued.

"Morning," Raquel said, heading to wash her hands. Once she had done that, she gloved up and went over to help Bayley start the prep work for when the kitchen opened in an hour, ahead of lunch time. The bar was already open, but didn't offer a breakfast menu. "How was your night?"

"Went home, showered, ate, passed out in front of the TV. Same thing I do most nights," Bayley said with a small laugh. It was hardly surprising, given the demands of working in this kitchen under Alexa, who somehow seemed to work just as hard but without the fatigue affecting her anything like as much as her underlings. Raquel realised she hadn't helped the previous night. The fryer oil she had spilled had taken more than half an hour to clean up.

"Sorry about last night. The stupid handle just slipped out of my hand."

Bayley waved her off. "Shit happens. Next time it'll be me who makes a mess, no doubt."

Raquel genuinely liked working with the easy-going and talented sous chef. It was one of the few positives of doing pot washing and waitressing for minimum wage – the main privilege of course being to have a job at all in these difficult economic times. Why Bayley stuck it out working under Alexa was something of a mystery though. Sous chefs were a lot more sought after than waitresses. Or maybe all head chefs were like that, and Bayley knew it would be the same wherever she went? To hell with it, she thought, deciding to come out and ask the question.

"Why do you stay here, with the way Alexa drives you so hard?"

Bayley continued working while she answered. "Several reasons. Alexa's not much worse that other head chefs I've worked under. I like working at Hunter's. And also, despite how she is when the kitchen is open, Alexa has taught me several dishes that I didn't know how to make before. I'm talking about dishes that we don't serve here – she showed me just to teach me and I appreciate that."

Raquel nodded, glad that if only fleetingly, the nice side of Alexa also came through at work. Bayley's comments proved to have reached their conclusion just in time, for Alexa came through the door into the kitchen. She was already wearing her chef's attire, ready to get straight to work once she had washed her hands.

"Morning," the diminutive but intimidating head chef said.

"Morning, chef," Raquel and Bayley said in unison.

Barely had Alexa washed her hands when Stephanie Helmsley, one of the owners of Hunter's, came into the kitchen. "Alexa, can I see you in the office before you get started, please?"

Not bothering to hide annoyance at the interruption to her pre-opening routine, Alexa complied. "Bayley, inventory the walk-in as your next job," she barked over her shoulder before leaving the kitchen.

Following Stephanie through a nearby 'staff only' door that led to a locker room, a store room and an office, Alexa resisted demanding to know what this was about.

The description office was perhaps a little generous. There was a small desk in the room, with an old computer, a couple of worn leather office chairs and a pair of filing cabinets. Various paperwork littered the desk, triggering Alexa's almost compulsive need for tidiness.

Stephanie closed the door and sat down behind the desk as Alexa to the seat opposite her. The owner looked pleased with whatever she was about to say.

"Alexa, Hunter and I have read through our reviews on various sites for the past few months. We like to keep an eye on them to see how we're doing. The vast majority are five stars, and almost all of the five star ones make positive comments about our food. That's why, although it's a little early for our annual reviews, we've decided to give you and Bayley ten per-cent pay increases with immediate effect."