Hell's Smitten (Gordon Ramsay x Reader)

Chapter 5- The First Dinner Service

Tuesday, June 25th, 2013

Everyone in the dorms wakes up around 6am or so. We have some time for ourselves, so we all spend it further studying the recipe booklet.

Well, almost all of us. Bella spends as much time as she can cozying up to the men on the blue team. It is easy for her to get their attention and she holds it as long as she can. I'm fairly certain she is either being stupid and sabotaging herself or she'd studied hard enough last night and is attempting to distract the men so they can't study. Either way it isn't hurting anyone on the red team but potentially her, so I am not bothered.

After the hour of study and breakfast we had to prepare for ourselves, Sous Chefs Scott and Christina come upstairs to greet us. Scott stands a head taller than Christina and the way he crosses his arms gives me flashbacks to the first time I saw Gordon on the limo's TV. I recognize Christina as the previous season's winner. She hasn't changed much from how she looked last season– her straight, shoulder length black hair and black rimmed glasses frame her jovial face. It is pretty amazing to see her here as one of Chef Ramsay's Sous Chefs. I quietly hope if I win, I will be able to assist Ramsay in the future just like Christina.

"I see everyone's wearing their jackets." Scott quickly glances about the room. "Good, because it's time that we all get to the kitchen and prep for tonight's dinner service! Come on everyone, follow Christina and me."

Scott turns on his heel and walks down the stairs. Now Cindy looks about ready to pounce. She leans into Gail and whispers loud enough for anyone who is paying attention to hear,

"Chef Scott has always been the sexiest man in Hell's Kitchen. What I wouldn't give to lick his bald head." she arches her eyebrows and starts laughing, which evolves into a coughing fit as we walk down the stairs.

Gail looks alarmed and a bit put off, but otherwise doesn't respond. Kalyani, on the other hand, had heard what Cindy said and almost cartoonishly reels backward to put herself much further back in line, as far away from Cindy as she can get.

We file into the kitchens, the women lining up wearing their new red chef jackets while the men line up in their kitchen on the opposite side. Ramsay is waiting for us at the head of the kitchens and nods in greeting.

"Good morning everyone, today we'll be prepping for our first dinner service of this season. I have high hopes for all of you. Please, oh please do NOT let me down. I have a gift for you all."

He leans down and pulls out a box filled with thin black packages.

"Here are your new knife sets. They are quite sharp, so please be careful, right?" Ramsay passes each set out and we all pass the kits down the line until everyone has received one.

Giddily, I take the knife set and open it, examining the perfect blades inside. A beautiful set given to me by Chef Ramsay himself. The fact that Ramsay made sure to give us the best knives in the industry speaks volumes for how much he believes in each one of us. I'll treasure them for as long as I live.

"Alright now that that's sorted, we have a lot of prep for this dinner service. Please be quick. Service is starting at five pm tonight. I'll leave you to it." Ramsay nods curtly, then turns and heads back into his office. I wonder what he'll be doing in there for the next ten hours before dinner service, but I don't get much time to think about it before Sous Chef Christina hurries the red team along.

"Come on girls, you don't want to lose the first dinner service, that'd set you all off on the wrong foot for sure and Ramsay doesn't forget things like that," she leans in a bit, "and I have a hundred-dollar bet with Scott that you all win. So please don't make me regret it." She grins at us and then proceeds to shoo us along.