Natalie

one

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"Nat, the dishes!"

I jumped, slowly observing my surrounding. The sound of the steak sizzling and the clanging of pots and pans are suddenly audible to my ears; the smell of freshly cooked meat and pizza hit the olfactory senses along with the smell of soap coming from the sink. Clearly I was dozing off while doing the dishes.

"Nat we're running out of plates! Hurry up!"

"S-sorry! I'll do it faster!" I shook my head with my eyes squeezed shut, trying to get rid of my sleepiness. Wake up, Nat. You only have an hour left to keep your eyes open and focus on your work. Focus, focus, focus.

"Kyle, stop receiving orders! This girl can't even wash the dishes properly. We won't be able to serve everyone if it takes almost 5 minutes to have one clean plate. We're closing early!"

"Got it, chef!"

I could definitely feel his venomous glare shooting on my back. Nathan Wade, the owner of this restaurant and also, the all time famous celebrity chef. I didn't know why I got accepted to work here in the first place, considering there were a lot of other workers who were better than me.

But eversince I worked here, I had never been allowed to cook for the customers. I was only assigned to do the dishes, eventhough that wasn't what I wanted. But as long as I could see him everyday, this job was absolutely fine for me.

As soon as the last customer stepped out of the restaurant, I was dragged outside of the kitchen with a strong grip around my wrist. My heart was beating twice as fast, the fear of actually being fired lingered around me.

"You," he sighed, his arms were folded across his chest. "I don't think you're taking this job seriously, and I don't like that."

No. Please. Don't fire me.

"I-I'm sorry. I was unable to sleep last night, I promise I won't fall asleep again next time. Please don't fire me. I-I'm really sorry," I apologized, not daring to look into his captivating blue eyes. So I looked down to my feet, waiting for the words to come out from his mouth.

"Can't you say anything besides 'I'm sorry'? Because I'm starting to get tired of hearing you say that. Breaking news, saying sorry won't change a thing. If you're not going to fix your own mistakes, then don't say sorry. Be responsible of your own job, because if you messed up, you're the one who's losing the job. Not me."

"I'm sorry.." My voice faded out as soon as I realized that I wasn't supposed to say it again. I cursed myself deep down, but even that wouldn't change what this super attractive man would think about me. Groaning out of frustration, he ran his fingers through his hair and walked past me.

Great.

I just made my crush hated me even more.

When he was gone to his room upstairs, my legs gave out. I ruffled my bangs, it seemed like his frustration had moved over me. I noticed that the others had already left, maybe they were going out somewhere together. Without asking me, of course. They never thought of me as their friend. We rarely talked, and I don't think them shouting at me to do something was considered as 'talking'.

Refraining myself from muttering a string of profanities, I stood up and went inside the changing room. And when I saw my clothes lying on the floor, wet, it was pretty obvious that they didn't like me at all. Ignoring me was one thing, but this?

I looked at the clock. It was almost 10, and the only light left was the one in the kitchen. Creeps went all over me as I hurrily grabbed my wet clothes and scurried out of the room. Stay calm, Nat, breathe.. don't freak out.. just get out of here. Asap.

Okay, this is not good.

I definitely felt the presence of 'another' in there, and the vibe was only getting worse and worse. I bit my lower lip as I walk back to the kitchen. No, I didn't like this feeling at all. I switched off the light as fast as I could, and immediately, I felt a hand creeping up to my shoulder, and let me tell you, it was really cold. My body shivered, so I squeezed my eyes shut, reading the lord's prayer out loud as I ran outside. I seriously wouldn't be able to stay here if things like that happened every night. Why should it be me? Was I that weak?

"Watch where you're going, young lady," I looked up to see a man around his mid-forties a few feet away from me, but he wasn't the one who was talking.

It was the ghost next to me.

If the ghost hadn't informed me, I would have bumped onto that old man. And yes, not all ghosts were evil. Some of them were kind, like the one who was walking beside me.

"You're not gonna thank me for that?"

I sighed, looking down. "Thank you."

"You look.. sad."

"Wow, captain obvious. Thank you for noticing," I forced a smile to him before looking down again.

"Hey, I'm just curious,"

"I don't want to tell you. Now go away and don't disturb me. I want to be alone." I received some strange looks from the people around me, but I didn't care. I wanted to look for another job at another restaurant, where I could actually cook for people. Where I could develop my talent and get better at cooking. I thought by working at Nathan's restaurant, he could teach me a thing or two to improve my cooking, not to wash the dishes. I'm also a cook after all.

But maybe I can hold on. As long as I could see him everyday in the kitchen, and how messy his light brown hair was by the end of the day. I tasted his food once, and let me tell you, it was amazing. Even the most censorious people in the world would never find any imperfection in it.

I admired him so much, and Nathan Wade can never know that.

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Please tell me what you think about the story. Thanks a lot!
-el xx