Page 24 of The Chef

Before I can comprehend what’s going on, one of the men rush forward and tackles Cliff. I take a step back in horror, but quickly realize he’s being friendly when I notice Cliff laughing. He pushes the guy away, patting him on the back.

Right. They know each other.

“Cove,” my boss says with a wide smile. “Good to see you.”

The man who Cliff pushed away - Cove - looks around the restaurant in wonder. “Man, you said this place wasn’t busy, but I didn’t expect to see it this quiet.”

“That’s because you’re here,” the other man says. I can’t help but notice he’s wearing a very nice suit. His accent is like a weird hybrid of Australian and cut-glass English. I got to admit it’s very sexy. “You’re scaring away all his customers.”

Cove jokingly lifts up a fist. “Shut up, Skipper, or I’ll knock you out.”

“You can’t knock out a fly,” Cliff laughs, and Cove swerves to tackle him again, arms wrapped around Cliff’s waist.

The two men are tall and handsome, just like Cliff. The two women in the group, presumably their girlfriends or partners, follow behind. The men are play-fighting and ripping each other whilst their partners roll their eyes at each other. I bet this is a typical display of masculine dominance in their household.

One of them, a pretty brown-haired girl that looks like Natalie Portman, turns and sighs at me with a smile on her face. “If you’re wondering if they’re always like this,” she says in an American accent. “Then I can answer yes, they’re always like this.”

The other girl winks at me. “They’re even worse at home. They’re like wild animals when not in public,” she says before turning to the wrestlers. “Come along, boys. Let’s not cause a scene, let’s go to our table. Maybe I’ll let you draw with the kids' crayons if you all behave.”

“Alright, Sandy,” the suited half-English guy replies sarcastically, fixing his collar ruffled from the play-fight.

The group heads into the restaurant and to a corner booth at the back, leaving Cliff and me alone at the front door.

“You know them?” I ask my boss.

“Cove and Sandy are my cousins, and Ripley and Skipper are their spouses. They’re the closest thing I have to family.”

“Oh, right.”

I squint towards the group. Cove does look like Cliff. Both are super broad-shouldered and tall. Athletic is the word.

Throughout the rest of the next hour, I pass by their table plenty of times as I get used to the layout of the restaurant. I get to overhear their conversation as I pass by. Yeah, I’m snooping, but I’m curious about Cliff’s family. The girls seem super friendly and the guys are super charismatic, so I simply just have to find out more about them.

Cliff dodges around the bar to make cocktails for them.

“Go and take their order,” he hisses at me as he dumps a load of ice into a cocktail shaker.

I’m pretty nervous. I don’t want to screw up the table of my boss’ family, not on my first shift, but I also don’t want to give Cliff the satisfaction of seeing me upset and anxious, so I hold my head up high and march towards their booth, fetching around in my apron for my notepad and pen.

Before I reach their table, I can overhear their conversation already.

“Did you know she’s just been announced as the new star of the Vindicator Team?” the American girl asks the group, leaning in conspiratorially.

Cove grabs her arm. “The movie series? The superhero one?”

“Yeah, duh. The one that Sandy and I love.”

The other guy - Skipper - nods. “Yeah, you guys never shut up about it.”

“And she’s the new star in it? I thought she was a supermodel.”

“Well, now she’s an actress.”

“Can you believe that Cliff’s dated a supermodel who’s now about to become one of the biggest acting stars on the planet?”

Cliff? Dating? A superstar?

He’s dated a model that now is in the box-office-smashing movie franchise? I wonder who dumped who?