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AFTER AN EXTREMELY LONG AND tiring day, everyone gathered together to clean the entire kitchen from top to bottom under Carmy's approval. Which meant that literally every inch of it had to be scrubbed. Unlike Mikey, Carmy didn't allow any lacking. Which is why Kitty found herself cleaning the oven with a tiny toothbrush.
And although it meant that the cleaning took much longer than usual, and after such a long day it was extremely draining, Kitty was glad about the new change. As much as she loved Mikey as a friend and supported him in any way she could, he certainly was a bit too lax when it came to things he should've put more attention into. Especially in the restaurant.
"Chef, do you want me to strain that oil for you?" Sydney asked, looking back at Carmy.
He shook his head, wiping down the counter, "No, no, I got it. Thank you, Chef."
"Why are we using toothbrushes, Chef?" Marcus asked. Frowning at the cleaning object in his hand and Kitty's hands.
"It's about consistency and being consistent," Carmy replied as he straightened some things on a nearby shelf, "Can't operate at a high level without consistency."
"I like this level," Richie announced, nodding his head, "I like this level."
"Me too," Tina agreed.
"Yeah, well, at The French Laundry you know how much time we'd spend--"
"Well, go fuck your French Laundry," Richie groaned in annoyance, rolling his eyes at Carmy, "Stupid fuckin' name."
Kitty nodded her head, snickering, "Yeah, kind of agree with you on that," She stated, briefly glancing at Richie. It certainly was a stupid name.
Carmy ignored them, "All right, then at Noma--"
"Fuck your Noma too," Richie scoffed.
"System, baby," Tina commented.
"Noma's the shit, huh?" Marcus asked.
"The best," Both Sydney and Carmy said.
Kitty shrugged casually, keeping her eyes on the oven she was scrubbing as she confessed, "It seems overrated."
Richie nodded, pointing at her. Glad to see someone else wasn't so hot and heavy about Noma.
"Teach you to operate at a level you didn't even know you could, Marcus," Carmy said, before he turned to look at Richie again when he heard him muttering stuff under his breath, "And just to be clear, I wanted to work here. Mike wouldn't let me."
"No, no, no," Richie shook his head, throwing a tea towel onto his shoulder, "Right, you went halfway across the world to learn all this fancy, useless fuckin' bullshit!" He exclaimed, his voice getting louder as he glared at Carmy, "I went to West Lawrence Avenue and learned every level."
"You talking about DeVry?" Marcus asked.
"Yeah, exactly," Richie nodded.
Marcus laughed, "Oh, DeVry. 'We're serious about success.'"
The rest of the kitchen laughed. Even Kitty chuckled under her breath when she saw the look on Richie's face as he rushed towards Marcus.
Richie grabbed Marcus around his middle, "Oh, is that supposed to be fuckin' funny, fucko?" He asked, lifting Marcus slightly off the ground, pretending to be angry but ended with both men laughing as Richie let go of Marcus and looked back towards Carmy and Sydney, "Yeah. Let me tell you somethin'. No, for real. Where else are you gonna learn the crucial database management specialisation skills while troubleshooting a vented OptiSpark distributor in Trans Am..."
Sydney shrugged, "I would never need to learn that."
"...Definitely not Noma."
"I would legit do anything to go to Noma," Sydney confessed.
"And eat bugs?" Richie interrogated.
"And be inspired, stupid," Sydney stated.
Richie scoffed, "Oh, God. And be lame."
Ebraheim suddenly burst through the door, "Guys, the cream machine is broken," He announced before running back out.
"Shit," Richie groaned.
Carmy looked over at him, "DeVry teach you to fix that?" He asked mockingly.
Sydney laughed.
"You know what?" Richie asked, grabbing some stuff from the shelves, "Actually, yes..." He scoffed, turning around and walking towards the door, "Fuck yourself."
"Wait, did you actually graduate?" Kitty asked, looking amused.
She could've sworn that Mikey had once told her that Richie never actually graduated. So watching him defend the university was certainly amusing.
Richie glanced over his shoulder as he opened the door, "Fuck no," He shook his head, walking out to the cream machine.
Sydney looked around, a confused expression across her face, "Does anyone actually order the ice cream?" She pondered.
Marcus looked up at her, an amused glint in his eyes, "I forgot we even served ice cream."
