Where does the good go?

Chapter 6

"AND THE DAY BLEEDS, INTO NIGHTFALL.."

Humming along with Lewis Capaldi, I walked to the closet and pulled out my favorite pajamas, and sniff them. The smell of the fabric conditioner and that homely smell I've lived in for the past 25 years immediately comforts me and hurts me to stay so far away from home. Not wanting to waste another moment I pull my laptop and facetime mum.

She picked up on the second ring and gushes, "Oh honey, I read your text! I'm so proud of you!" "Mum? Are you driving?", I shout noticing her background, her Camry. "No silly, I parked as soon I saw you call", she laughs. That's what I missed the most, her carefree laugh. "I thought you were trying to multi-task", I say and shrug and immediately jump to what I wanted to talk to her about.

"Did you see his picture mum? Isn't he hot? I told you it was not graphics, you should have seen him in real life mum! He is incredibly talented!"

She laughs at me and shook her head, "You, my girl are so adorable when you crush on someone. But you mentioned Moretti is managing just pastry now. What about savory?"

Ummm. "Uh, Andrew made his friend man the savory department mum. They're like partners now. Anyways it's better for me, I can learn just deserts from him", I say trying lie. But is it a lie if I omit the truth?

Mum looks at me for a second and, "But you need to learn other things too Bella! We've discussed this. The reason Moretti hired you was because you showcased potential in all techniques. Just because you love eating desserts, you can't just cook that sweetie. Appreciate all of it, you can focus on deserts when your time comes", she says to me not unkindly.

She's right. But how do I tell her the Devil is the one in charge of savory?

We quickly move on to talk about all the techniques Andrew made me show him, the sauces I made, and I tell her about all the chefs I met. "No one acted like that, but do you think they might be angry I got the job, mum? After all, they have more working experience than me even without a college degree", I ask feeling uneasy and needing her reassurance.

"Bella sweetie, you were hired because you are worth the money. I'm no master chef but Chef Moretti chose you to be the sous instead of any other position. You should be proud, not ashamed. I'm sure you can ask him yourself, Paul did mention he was a really sweet man."

"Thanks mum, I really needed that", I smile.

"Of course honey! I should get going now, Jason has called two times already", she laughs. That boy, I roll my eyes and bud her goodbye and get ready to sleep. My first day was good except for Mr. Asshole, but I'm not letting him rule my life.

***

I reach The Ambrosial sharp at noon and park my bike and lock it. I walk in to see Adrian looking over something at the reception. Not wanting to be rude I greet him with a good afternoon. What do I get in return? Silence. Not letting him dampen my mood I walk in to see Andrew and all the other cooks going over some produce. I take a peek and see some langoustines.

Whoa. Aren't they like forty dollars? Per pound? And, extremely rare?

"Adrian managed to get these for just 130 euros!", Nikki screams in my ear.

"Is that less?", I ask stupidly.

"Of course! He got us two and a half kilograms for just 130 euros! Isn't that amazing?", she screams. Sure, sure, not so much as being polite once a blue moon.

I smile in understanding and move to get my apron on and start my day in the kitchen. Yesterday was just me observing Andrew do my job and his, and understanding everyone's position in the kitchen. Today I was going to be working under orders. I quickly tie up my apron and move to the closet.

"Hello, new Bella", Jasper, the patissier of the kitchen sings as he joins me in the closet. "Are you making your hollandaise again today?", he asks like an adorable 3 year old excited for candy.

"I'm not sure Jasper", I stammer. I watch him as he puts and shakes his head.

"But yours is better than Lucas'!", he whines.

Lucas is Jasper's older brother. More like his Irish twin. While Jasper mans the baker's platform, Lucas is our saucier. That's where the difference stops. They both look so alike I thought they were joking about being Irish twins. Both of them are so bubbly, I'm kind of envious, and they both have curly-haired, sturdy, and so cute.

"He's only saying that because he likes you Bella, but sure your hollandaise was good," says Lucas from behind us and Jasper turns red. I smile at them and walk out before their kindness kills me. "Oh there you are Bella!", Andrew grins. "I thought Jasper was already down on one knee inside", he jokes and I turn crimson. Really? Why do I feel so hot when there's not a single flame around?

He laughs at my expression and leads me to my station. He points out what recipes to follow and pushes me towards Nikki and Jasper to get to work. Our afternoon moves like that, prepping for all our desserts and one sweet main dish.

Nikki fills me in on her love life and Jasper tells me about his childhood and how all these cooks ended up working here without a proper degree, except Andrew. Jasper and Lucas were raised by their grandparents and their grandmother was their inspiration to work in restaurants. Paul was their neighbor's friend who recruited them and got them working with Chef Andrew. Nikki's story was a little different. She was a foster child and moved around a lot until she was adopted by a woman who ran a bakery. Spending every morning and evening baking with her mother, she became insanely good at it that she ended up working for their customer, Chef Andrew.

Noah, the other chef de partie was the only one who didn't find a reason to talk as much as everyone else and was only working for The Ambrosial because Paul forced him to. Apparently, he had some issues with drugs a few years ago, and Paul paid for his rehab, and Adrian, our favorite devil, trained him himself so he could work as a chef de partie here. They both always worked together and that's why he was always taking care of savory dishes.

Learning about all these people, who had the same passion as all my classmates at school for food but didn't have a chance at culinary school because of their circumstances made me realize how grateful I was to mum. She's done nothing but supports me through every step of my way and I was being dishonest with her.

I didn't want to tell her the truth, but I wanted to do something for her and so I made the stupid decision of going to Adrian and ask if I could help and maybe learn something about today's main course not noticing the hot sauce he just got from Lucas.

The second I ask, "Can I help you?", I have hot sauce on my new safety shoes and the sauce pot clatters on the floor spilling sauce everywhere around.

Everyone stops what they're doing and there are five pairs of eyes staring at us while the chocolate brown eyes are setting my heart on fire, and not in a good way.