‘Of course I do.’ She read his food columns religiously. It was one of the things that had led her to this restaurant in the first place.
‘And you still decided you’d take it upon yourself to serve him up your amateur-hour attempts at cooking? Why would you do that?’
Lou felt her face flame. ‘BecauseI know who he is. Would you rather I told him he couldn’t have what he wanted? The dish he’d come here especially to have, by the way.’
‘I would, actually. It’smyreputation on the line. What did you think? That this was going to be some sort ofA Star is Bornscenario, where the plucky chorus girl gets her big moment in the spotlight?’
‘Did you just call me a chorus girl?’ Lou said through gritted teeth.
‘Well, you’re certainly not a chef. And even if you were supposed to be cooking, Shane is in charge when I’m not here, and he told you no one makes that dish but me.’
‘He did tell me that. It’s not his fault.’
‘So you decided you’d just ignore him and—’ He broke off in exasperation, too furious to even speak. He shook his head. ‘What even made you think you’d know how to make it? You didn’t have the recipe.’
‘Well, no, because you refuse to leave one. Which I think is bonkers, by the way.’
‘Oh, really? Please tell me more of your opinions because I’m fascinated.’
‘I’ve eaten it,’ Lou said, her tone defiant. ‘I had it for lunch the first time I ate here.’
Aidan was stunned into silence. ‘Are you actually serious?’ he said finally, his tone quieter now, but somehow more ominous. ‘You mean when you’d just moved here?’
‘Um… yes.’
‘So you ate it once,one time, about a month ago and you decided you could?—’
‘Try it for yourself,’ Lou said, nodding to the pot with the remains of the soup.
Aidan shook his head. ‘I don’t care what it tastes like. You’re fired.’
‘Wh-what?’ Lou faltered, her bravado draining away. ‘Seriously?’
The rest of the team looked at her, silently signalling horror and sympathy.
‘Yes, seriously. Get out of my kitchen.’
‘But—you can’t do that!’
‘I can. You’re still on probation, remember? Well, you’ve failed that spectacularly. You clearly have no idea how a professional kitchen works. It’s not a democracy, it’s not some free-for-all, let’s-put-the-show-on-in-the-barn bullshit. I need staff who can take orders and follow protocol. Even if you were supposed to be cooking, which you’re not, you chose to ignore a direct instruction from Shane and that’s not acceptable. You’re employed here as a waiter, and since you’re not prepared to do that – and only that – you can feck off.’
‘Fine.’ Lou’s heart was pounding, but she kept her voice steady.
The rest of the staff had watched Aidan’s tirade in dismayed silence. They shot Lou sympathetic looks as she took her apron off with shaking hands.
‘Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out,’ Aidan called after her.
