Take Out Chef

Chapter Forty-Two

Chapter's song: Ariana Grande - Almost Is Never Enough ft. Nathan Sykes

I didn't last much without a job. James Olander, the chef I met in my first week, offered me a position in his restaurant. He said I'd impressed him with those brownies I made for him, and that he'd been wanting to snag me for his restaurant ever since. However, I had a feeling that Bryan had something to do with it. He probably felt bad for firing me. I wasn't complaining, though. Working at a restaurant had always been my life dream, and I knew I would give it my best.

Olander placed me in the bakery section, which was fine by me. I spent half a morning at school, and the rest of the day I baked sweet and salty breads from scratch. He was slowly introducing me to the pastry section, too. His idea was to rotate me through every team until I found out what I was best at. To be honest, I loved baking too much but I was eager to learn everything I could.

As my replacement, Bryan kept his promise and didn't hire Nadia. Instead, he offered the job to Seth. I was surprised at the beginning, considering my brother's age. Yet, the job wasn't hard. I'd made spreadsheets for every task, so he could work from home in his spare time. Bryan did hire someone else to work at school, one of the other students, a guy that had proved to be responsible and willing to work. In the end, Seth wasn't making as much as I did, but he had a job and he was happy about it.

I didn't admit to Bryan that I still felt a bit iffy about dating my teacher. I blamed my goody-two-shoes conscience. And, if I said something, he would probably expel me, because he seemed determined to be my boyfriend. Which was awesome. I wouldn't want it any other way.

In school, things remained the same. He was strict and demanding during class, and extremely sweet and romantic afterwards.

Graduation day came unannounced and too quickly for my own taste. I was going to miss seeing Bryan every day, even when he was bossy. Yesterday, chef Olander offered me a full-time job in his restaurant. I'd be working all day long without much free time to see Bryan, but I couldn't say no. It was a real job, one I'd dreamed for a long time, and the salary was great.

I smiled to myself as I thought about how my whole life changed when Seth signed me up for the cooking school. Never in my life would I have guessed that I'd learn to be a chef, get a habanero tattoo or date my teacher. Not to mention that I'd met wonderful friends like Monica and Andrew too.

With a heavy heart, filled with conflicted emotions about moving on and missing school already, I let my bed to get ready for the graduation ceremony. I was starting to style my hair when someone knocked on my bedroom's door.

"Hi Juno," I smiled.

My door opened and someone came inside. "How did you know it was me?" Juno asked.

"Seth knocks three times before barging in." I left the hair curler on the bed stand to look at her. It was still weird to see her with a pixie cut. After the wedding, she decided to get a makeover and donated all her hair to charity. The long, colorful dresses were still her everyday style, though.

"Well, at least he gives you a heads-up," she grinned as she moved closer to me. "How are you feeling?"

I turned on the hair curler again while taking a deep breath. "I can't believe that this is over."

Juno stood behind me. She grabbed a brush and started to brush my hair like when I was a little girl. "What are you talking about Jessie? This is only starting."

Our gaze met through the reflection on the mirror. "I'm going to miss Bryan."

Her smile widened. "Oh honey, I'm sure you won't. He'll devote all his free time to you. I'm sure."