Across the Veil: Open Eyes (Book 1)

Chapter 12: First Day on the Job

Memphis sat in his office, feet kicked up on his desk with a notepad and pencil in his hands. He had been interviewing Willow for a short while, trying to get a feel for where she would work best. When Willow had first entered the office, she was all serious posture and formal tone, but she was gradually relaxing. That was a good sign for Memphis. He hated having stuffy personalities working around him. Made it hard to have any fun.

"Can you cook?" he asked simply. While he originally planned to have Willow working as maintenance and construction, it never hurt to figure out the range of skills his workers had. Hells, maybe having an extra hand in the kitchen would give him more time to slack off.

"Yeah? I can cook, bake... I make some mean brownies." she offered with a timid chuckle.

Memphis laughed, "Kid, if you were anyone else I'd wonder what makes those brownies 'mean'." He twirled his pencil absentmindedly as he spoke, "What else?"

"Well, how fancy do you go with food here?"

"Try me."

Willow pursed her lips, "I can roast chicken, turkey... I can whip up burgers... Fish. I can do fish too." She paused to think for a moment, "Baking... cookies, cakes, pastries... I can make almost anything I think, and if I can't, I look up recipes for it."

"How about drinks?"

"I learn quickly."

A smirk tugged at the corner of Memphis' mouth, "That's good to know." He sat up, practically leaping from his seat, "I'll show you the kitchen."

***

Willow followed Memphis downstairs and into the bar. Rayne stood behind the bar, while Savio was busy working in the kitchen filling in for Memphis. While Savio worked, Memphis gave Willow a tour of the kitchen and a run down on how the equipment worked.

Once Savio had completed his orders and Memphis was done with the tour, the Fae was ushered out of the kitchen. Memphis left, returning a couple minutes later with a few order tickets. He placed them on the table beside Willow and grinned, "Show me what you got."

"Wait... You mean now?"

"I don't mean tomorrow."

"I... uhm, yeah. Okay, I got this." Willow said as she looked at the orders. She let out a small sigh of relief. They were simple orders. Just some fries and burgers.

She started heating up the grill and preparing to cook. When she turned around, Memphis had vanished and her small handful of orders had doubled in size. She felt her shoulders sag. The Demon was just fucking with her now.

***

Memphis sat contently at the bar, occasionally peeking into the kitchen to see how Willow was doing. Savio and Rayne watched him while they worked the bar. They'd suggested it might be better for him to stick close to her for the first few orders, but he'd brushed away their concerns.

Willow stepped out of the kitchen with her first two plates, asking if she was to take them to the tables herself. Memphis waved off the notion and took the plates himself while Willow returned to the kitchen to fetch a third plate.

The Demon set one plate down in front of himself before shoving the other two towards Savio and Rayne. "Dig in." he said with a smirk.

"This... is your test for her?" Rayne asked as she took one of the plates.

"Consider it a test of quality." Memphis explained, taking a bite of his burger, "Plus, I was fucking hungry." He chewed his burger thoughtfully before looking at Savio, "How often does she cook at your guys' place?"