Playing With Fire

Chapter 4

            I headed to the kitchen and was beyond thrilled to see some of the chefs that were employed when 'Maven' was just an outdoor catering company are still working here . 'Maven' by the way is what my Aunt named her restaurant, which is a combination of her son's names; Matthew and Steven.

               After greeting everyone, one of the waitresses walked in with a new order. Rump steak, jacket potatoes and steamed veggies. I decided to get to work. This is a dish I could easily prepare in my sleep. Not to brag, but my Aunt taught me well. About 25 minutes later, I looked at the dish set before me. For someone who hadn't really cooked in a while, I think I did good. I called the order up and the waitress came to collect the dish carefully placing it on the aluminium tray before heading out of the kitchen.

        Next up, I decided to keep myself busy so I started making salads for the salad bar. Just before I started dicing some beetroot, the waitress walked up to me and whispered that the client called me over to his table. I wasn't sure why I so i went in order to find out.

         " I followed the waitress whose name I later found out is Sarah
       
        Before me was a man with a natural tan,  thick shiny hair brushed away from his face, a well tailored suit which you could tell must have costed a fortune. His shirt was buttoned all the way up leaving the top two opened and no tie. The scent of his cologne greeted me before he did. He was on a phone call and he motioned for us to wait with his index finger raised up.

               He had an accent. Not sure where from . And it definitely wasn't a British one because that's the only one I know. Either way , I could tell he wasn't from around here. He got off the phone and immediately dismissed Sarah. He had some authority in his voice.

              "Every time I come here and order my vegetables, they taste normal but today, they taste different. Why?".

              He put emphasis on each vowel as he pronounced the words vegetables. I was taken aback but I had to be professional.

              " Oh. I'm sorry about that sir. I'm new here. " i couldnt ler him know I'm just helping out today.

             " Well why are they different? Do I have a child in there playing with food and you want to pass it on as five star food?". His voice grew louder. Geez, its just a tad bit of butter.

              I didn't know weather to be hurt, offended or just plain angry because once upon a time, I was that kid in the kitchen. But it wasn't just a hobby for me, its something that brought me hope and made me temporarily forget about all the bad things going on in my life

            
         Brushing off my thoughts, I looked at the jerk sitted before me with a very serious expression on his face.

         " I seasoned them and added half a teaspoon of butter but if you don't like them........"

         "No! I don't like them!". He said banging the table now drawing attention from everyone else in the restaurant. What an asshole. I just picked up his plate and assured him I'd pay for his lunch.

           " We all know that you can't afford it sweetheart. " He said taking a sip of the scotch now set before him. Wow. Why is it that every word that proceeds from his mouth is a bunch of crap? Other than the David thing I was actually having a good day.

          ' Maybe it's Karma for what you did to him.' My subconscious told me . That was the last thing I wanted to think about right now. I turned around returning to the kitchen and he shouts

         " Be professional or next time I'll get you fired. And make it snappy!"

         Seriously? Who shoved a spirit stick up his ass this morning. I would have told him off but this is my Aunts restaurant and I didn't want to give the establishment a bad reputation so I walked off to the kitchen without saying a word instead. I walked in and the chefs pretended to be working when they were clearly eavesdropping. I prepared a fresh side of vegetables and went to pay for this man's meal regardless.

              He ruined my mood and all I wanted to do was leave. I got changed, I went to my Aunts office to inform her of my departure. She was so busy making orders on the phone. I always told her to get an assistant but she insists on doing it herself.  I headed back home, had a long bath, watched a few shows along with a tall glass of wine. It was very relaxing. I mentally prepared for work the next day and for the first time in a long time, I was actually looking forward to it.