The kitchen staff.

Weird that my first instinct was wanting to ask Diana if she had noticed Dylan’s flirting and what she planned to do about it. Weird because the last thing I ever want to do is gossip, but given that this was work related, it worried me. Still, I didn’t say anything for the moment. Not while we were working.

“Oliver,” Diana called me. “Please take these to the kitchen.”

She had prepared two Piñas Coladas and already had them on a tray for me to carry.

“On it.”

“After that, we’re on dinner break,” she told me. “Ask the kitchen whatever you want and take it to the break room. We’ll follow in five minutes.”

I nodded and took the tray with the drinks. Dylan quickly opened the backdoor for me when he noticed it was closed, so I nodded my thanks, too. The path to the kitchen was practically a straight hallway, and with every step I heard more and more noise.

Unlike our backdoor, which was made of dark wood, the kitchen’s backdoor had a clear glass window, so one of the waitresses saw me and opened the door for me.

“Are those for table six?” the girl asked me, a slender brunette with her hair in a ponytail.

“...Not sure. Two Piñas Coladas.”

“Then yes, they’re for table six. Thanks! Please leave them on the counter. over there.”

I stepped into the kitchen while the waitress went to get other things. I glanced around the large kitchen and caught at least five people moving around aside from the waitress. One man was wearing white with the classic chef hat, while everyone else wore black. Everyone seemed pretty busy, though, be they making sauce or slicing onions so thin you could see through them. The waitress put a bottle of soda water on the tray with the other drinks and went out to take them to table six.

“...”

And here comes the classic social anxiety paralysis. Not as bad as it used to be, no, but Diana had told me to ‘ask the kitchen’ for my meal, and… everyone was so damn busy! Who should I ask? The head chef? What if he’s not the one I’m supposed to ask!? What if I get in everyone’s way? The way they moved may look hectic at first, but standing there, watching, proved to me that there was a thigh system. I didn’t hear anyone talk except for when something needed to be done or when something was ready. No one got in each other’s way, mostly keeping to their stations.

It was very tempting to just go back to the bar and wait for Diana and Dylan, but… That’s what the old Oliver would’ve done. Now? Better accept that I’ll either make a fool of myself or make someone mad, but I’m getting my meal one way or another.

“Um… Excuse me?” DAMMIT, KID! SAY WITH SOME SPINE!

“Ah, new guy!” The head chef turned to me and waved for me to get closer. “Come here! Don’t loiter in my kitchen! What are you eating?”

OH THANK GOD.

“Um… Hello. What CAN I eat?” I asked him, approaching carefully.

The head chef looked… young. Around his 30s or so. He was smiling, yet his hands never stopped stirring the pan over the fire, making the mix of vegetables fly. He had green eyes, a sharp jaw and a perfectly clean shave.

“Haven’t perused the menu yet, huh?”

“I can order anything from the menu?” I asked, a little baffled.

“Yep. If you don’t have anything in mind and you like fish, the tuna is super fresh tonight.”

“Um… Then yeah, I’ll have that,” I told him. I’d actually never had fresh tuna before. Only canned.

“Garlic rice?” he quickly asked back.

“Y-Yeah.”

“There are drinks in the fridge of the break room. Take whatever and as many as you want,” he said right after hearing my answer. He was talking a little too quick, and with the noise in the kitchen, I was **** to speak a little louder.

“I… see. Thank you.”

“Don’t worry. Someone will take your meal to you.”

“Okay.”

“And one more thing.”

“Yes?”

“You’re dating Diana, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

I froze. His questions came too quickly and he seemed in such a hurry that I started answering without thinking. Then he caught me off guard.

The whole fucking kitchen went quiet. I looked around in a panic and saw all the other cooks staring at me. I wanted the earth to swallow me. It’s not like it was supposed to be a secret, and our boss hired me knowing that, but I knew Diana’s relationship with her coworkers wasn’t… great.

One of the male cooks, another young guy around his mid-20s, nodded his approval and gave me a thumbs up. “Nice.”

“Seriously, no wonder she’s been in such a good mood lately,” one of the older women said, laughing as she went back to chopping vegetables.

“What, you mean the last few months?” the younger woman next to her said, chuckling. “I mean, I’d be over the moon, too, with a boyfriend like that.”

“I guess even Diana has a life outside of work,” one of the guys said

The guy beside him, the one who gave me the thumbs up, shook his head and groaned. “What did you fucking think?”

“Sorry, kid. We knew, kind of,” the head chef told me, smiling as he started seasoning the vegetables in the pan with spices. “Don’t let it get to you if she’s too harsh at work. She cares about doing things right, but has a hard time conveying it right. Well, I’m guessing you know her better than we do at this point, but still.”

I relaxed a bit. Reading the general vibe of the kitchen made me believe all their comments were genuine.

“Hope we can talk more some other time, but for now go take your break,” the chef told me, gesturing with his chin towards the backdoor.

I sighed and smiled tiredly at him. “Thank you.”

I left without saying much else, which left me with a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. Hopefully I didn’t come off as bitter for that little prank. Truth is I didn’t really mind. In fact, not having to hide my relationship with Diana from our coworkers would make this simpler, and if I got things right, the people in the kitchen, at least, seemed somewhat fond of her. Didn’t expect that, considering how Diana always spoke of her relationship with people at work.

It was reassuring.

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