Chapter 16
Jack opened his sleepy eyes to see Rachel approaching. Marc was asleep in the room with his mom and Rachel let him be.
“Come on, Jack. Let’s go find some food for our hungry tummies, huh?”
“Mom, am I allowed coffee?”
“Sure, kiddo. Just don’t drink too much, okay?” She sighed. “I could use something a little stronger if I’m being honest, but this isn’t the right place.”
Jack didn’t know what she meant by that. What could be stronger than coffee? Even he knew it made him very hyper when he had snuck a cup of it at the breakfast table early one morning, when his dad was in the shower.
Rachel grabbed his hand and they took the elevator up to the canteen. There didn’t seem to be many people sitting down to eat at this time; no one even seemed to be serving at the counter. In fact, the people who were sitting down were the evening staff who looked liked they would rather be at home, in bed. The girl who sat behind the cash register on her high stool was deeply absorbed in reading her Look Good Issue #1. She hadn’t even noticed them come in. But she looked up, sensing their presence. Continuing to chew her gum, she tossed her shallow magazine aside.
“Help you?” She did not even attempt to smile.
Rachel looked at her for a few seconds, thinking how unprofessional the girl was. Nevertheless, she was the only one serving at three o’clock in the morning.
“Yes, please. What kind of hot food do you have left?”
“There’s tomato soup left from this afternoon, we have fries… we always have those, though. They’re a little past their best…um, and the only other things left are these burgers.”
“I see.” Rachel was trying to decide what the best option might be when a voice came from the kitchen. It sounded so familiar and she knew it immediately.
“Don’t go serving that food, Mel… Rachel?”
The owner of the voice walked out of the kitchen and up to the counter. He stood behind it, smart in his chef’s whites.
‘Oh boy, he looks the biz!’
“Todd! I thought you still worked at the hotel?”
“I left there just after you did, actually. Oh, hello Jack, and how are you doing, huh? Last time I saw you, you were only a little squirt! Hey, well what do you say? Come on into the kitchen with me and I’ll cook you both up something fresh? And it’s on me, you won’t have to pay a dime.”
“Can we, Mommy?”
She hesitated at his kind gesture, but then gave in, thanking him. Jack let go of her hand and ran into the kitchen, straight away scrambling up onto one of two high stools that faced a metal workstation. In front of him were various coloured chopping boards, to his left a large canvas roll of knives and on his right, an industrial size food mixer. This all looked so weird to him; it was nothing like their kitchen at home.
He wondered who this guy was that his mom was talking to by the door and wanted to ask about him, but he kept his mouth closed for now, knowing it would be rude of him to interrupt their private conversation. He was curious about the mixer, too. He could see what looked like paste in there, but he wasn’t sure what it was, so the curious little boy inside him took over and he stuck a small hand deep into the gooey mixture.
“Jack! Get your hand out of there this minute!” She yanked his arm out of the mixture and slapped his face without any hesitation.
“Hey, Rachel, now calm down. You didn’t need to hit him like that. Hell, it’s only cake mixture, I can make another batch, it’s no problem to me.”
