Cooking Up Love

Fully Booked

"Gordon?" Ana called as she walked down the stairs from his office. Holding her slight bump out of instinct since she had the heavy reservation book in the other. All reservations were also computerized, but having a hard copy had proven smart more than once when the computer went down.

She heard movement and looked up to see her husband standing at the bottom of the stairs worriedly with his hands on his hips. "How many times have I asked you to hold the rail when you walk down the stairs?" He asked resignedly. He quickly took the heavy leather book from her. "JP!" He shouted.

The Belgium man scurried up. "Oui, Chef?" He asked apprehensively. "From now until the baby is born Ana is not allowed to carry this on her own. You will follow her and be responsible for carrying it, understood? Good." He shooed away his Maitre'd and looked back to his wife.

She looked at her husband with a raised brow. "Darling, I know you're just concerned, but wasn't there a better way to have handled that?" He sighed dragging a hand down his face. "You're killing me. You know that, right?" He asked incredulously. She nodded with a giggle.

He moved leading her towards the kitchens. "Now, what was so bloody important that it couldn't wait?" He asked sarcastically. Remembering why she was in a hurry to see him before the chefs came down she gasped. "Oh! Darling, since your appearance on the show this morning the bookings have flowed in. We are officially fully booked tonight." She said with a grin.

Gordon looked surprised but happy. "Fully booked? Shit, we'll never make it through." He teased. Ana scoffed and hit him. He quickly grabbed her hand kissing her palm. "You know, you get very violent when you're pregnant." He said kissing her fingers. "Sorry?" She asked not having heard what he said as she watched his mouth.

His smirk snapped her out of her daze. She huffed and took a step back. "We open in 15 minutes. Go do your job." She said with a wink. He laughed and headed for the side opening near the pass. Hearing the chefs coming down the stairs she took a calculated risk. As he past she swatted his ass.

The look she got sent shivers down her spine. Hearing the chefs enter the kitchen she knew there wasn't anything he could do at that moment. She watched wide eyed as he wiped his mouth with his hand and walked backwards for a moment. If that look was anything to go by it was going to be a long night at the Ramsay  home tonight.

-_-_-_-_-

By 7:15 pm the dining room was filled. She knew the chefs and JP would be feeling the effects of Gordon's sexual frustration, but was too happy to care. Sure enough, as JP came up with the first tickets he took the first shot from Chef.

"I need some orders in here, yeah? Otherwise, yeah, we become mediocre again." He snatched the tickets from the man's hands to call out. "Okay." Was all the seasoned Maitre'd said. "On order, four cover, table 23." They were off.

With the first table reading he was already yelling about having to read the ticket twice. Ana shook her head knowing this didn't bode well for the chefs. "We might be busy, but I'm not slopping out!" She heard yelled moments later. Ya, not a great mood for the chef.

An hour into service Gordon was fed up. He decided to switch up the stations. If you weren't well versed this could be a breaking point for one of the chefs. "I don't want any fish or meat on the hot plate unless we're ready to go together."

Another half of an hour she saw things seemed to be pretty smooth. Oh wait, Gordon stopped the kitchen and switched the stations again. The main courses had started so it would be a telling time. She saw Gordon trying to rub away a headache.

She knew Gordon was doing everything he could to not throw the grossly plated food. She saw JP mopping up emergencies in the dining room. She couldn't blame them for being upset at no food after more than an hour. She got up as quickly as she could when she saw JP approaching the pass.

They didn't get a chance to say anything before Gordon took the single mother to the side and tried to walk her through it. Ana saw the gears turning in the other's minds. So, that's what it was, a freeze out. An old childlike game kitchens played. A game that Gordon didn't allow.

At the 3 hour mark only half the restaurant had their main dishes. She walked quickly when she saw JP's discrete wave for her. "Hello, I'm Anastasia Ramsey." She said introducing herself and giving her best smile. "Is everything alright over here?" She asked worriedly looking to the diners.

JP picked up the woman's plate and held it towards her. She closed her eyes for a brief second at what she saw. A small but incredibly dangerous piece of wood that had been left in the food. Looking back at the table she immediately tried to help the damage. "On behalf of Gordon and myself we would personally like to apologize and pay for your meal." They were lucky the guest were understanding and gracious.

Walking to the pass with Jean-Phillipe she had a few choice words for a certain chef. Gordon looked tired as he saw them coming up with a returned plate. He knew it had to be terrible if she was involved. "Oh no, oh fuck." He said seeing the wood piece. She waved up the blonde that was on the lobster.

"Jessica!" Gordon shouted making the scared woman hurry. Ana had stayed quiet until now knowing the mistakes were harmless and Gordon had it well in hand. This one she couldn't let pass. When the woman came to the pass she looked terrified of the Ramsey duo.

"Listen and don't say a fucking word, understand?" Gordon explained. "Jessica, I'm going to say this once because there won't be a second time." Ana started bluntly. "If you ever endanger our guest and nearly ruin everything my husband and I have built you will never even be able to work a fast food service line. Do I make myself clear?" She asked never breaking eye contact with the girl.

"Yes, Chef." She mumbled frightened. "I'm sorry? I didn't hear you." Ana pressed. "Yes, Chef!" "That's better. Get your ass back in line."  She dismissed the woman by looking over to her husband who though still pissed had a grin on his face. "I've certainly missed you in the kitchen, sweetheart." He said quickly kissing his wife. Ana smiled feeling better now that she had gotten her rage out. "I've still got it." She said with a wink.

"You certainly do." She heard Gordon said softly as he watched her leave.