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"I'm here to see Calum," I tell the person who stands between me and the restaurant, the list of bookings on the podium in front of them. "He's one of the waiters here."
"Who should I tell him is looking for him?"
"Here's the thing I never actually got around to telling him my name." How stupid could I be? "Just tell him the girl he saved from a terrible date is here to see him."
"Will do," he tells me before turning around and leaving me. I grab a handful of mints from the bowl on the podium and stuff them into my bag just in time for the guy to come back. "You can go into the kitchen."
"Really?"
"Yeah, it's whatever," he shrugs off.
"Well, thank you," I say before scurrying off to go in the kitchen. The restaurant is almost empty at this time, and I notice servers starting to pack up. When I enter the kitchen I see Calum standing in a white dress shirt wearing an apron over it. His gaze is fixed intently on a plate before his eyes move up to meet mine. "Hi."
"Hey," he smiles, running his hands over the apron. "I hope you're still starving because I made a shit load of food."
"You cooked for me?"
"I do work in a restaurant," he reminds me as he leans back against the counter, arms folded over his chest. I notice a few tattoos showing through the white fabric of his shirt as it stretches out over his skin.
"But you're a waiter."
"I'm a chef here actually," he tells me and I walk closer to where he's standing. "I mostly take care of dinner so I don't come in to work until after lunch most days. I pick up extra shifts as a waiter early in the day whenever they're low on people."
"Oh."
"I didn't know if you had any dietary restrictions, so I just made everything vegetarian and without nuts."
"That's really sweet of you," I smile. He pushes himself off the counter and steps over to point out the foods.
"We've got some tofu tacos with a cilantro dressing, spinach and ricotta cannolis, and my personal favorite, a Thai green curry noodle bowl." The food looks so good I don't want to touch it. "For dessert we have a key lime and meringue tart, a piña colada panna cotta, and a lava cake with whipped cream and fresh strawberries."
"Wow," I blurt. "Good thing I'm borderline ravenous."
"Take a seat and dig in then," he grins as he hands me a fork. I happily take it and hop onto the counter beside all of the food.
