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Sasha: Me too, you better go on the big rides with me.
Gwen: Of course!
“Why are you so happy?” Kerim asks as I come back in from my break and put away my things. “You’re working and your face is blue; you shouldn’t be happy.”
I slap his arm. “My face is not blue.” Is it? “And I’m happy because I’m going to Alton in just over two weeks!”
“Ah, yes, your day off to ride the rollercoasters and spend ridiculous amounts of money on watered down drinks.” He raises a brow. “What’s not to get excited about?”
“Right?”
He rolls his eyes at my glee and returns to his work. “Your break is over. Stop disturbing my employees.”
“Didn’t realise you employed yourself,” I mumble, still grinning.
“Nobody else will,” Harold adds and we all laugh. All of us but Kerim, who hisses at the man in Turkish and as aggressive as it sounds, we can tell that it’s in jest.
This makes Harold laugh harder.
I wish I could speak Turkish; it seems like such an interesting language. I wonder if all Turkish people use salt as eagerly as Harold and Kerim do.
“Again?” Kerim suddenly sobers and throws a rag onto the side.
My eyes follow his and I immediately tense when I see the thing that has caused his ire. Mrs Weston.
When her eyes meet mine and her lips tilt up at the edges in what should most likely be a friendly smile, my hands clench into fists by my sides.
“Before you started working here she never came as far as I’m aware. This is the fourth time she has been.” Kerim tells me, his hand gently touching my wrist just above my hand. “Ignore her.”
“Fourth?”
“You weren’t here the previous times.”
“I hate her.”
“I know,” he states and pulls me to where Patience is preparing the herbs for the evening. Her back is to the restaurant thankfully. “Here, just ignore her.”
I take a pizza cutter and begin chopping through the fresh basil leaves before dropping them into a bowl beside the cutting board.
“That’s a neat trick.” Patience seems impressed and my heart swells with pride.
“I find it easier.” I roll the pizza cutter blade through the green and swipe the fragments of leaves to the side.
I can’t help but glance over my shoulder, though I wish I hadn’t because she looks my way the second I do and just the feel of her eyes on me makes me want to scrub my skin until I feel clean.
When I turn back, my bad mood evaporates when I see Patience and Johnny using pizza cutters on their piles of herbs.
“You’re right,” Patience states. “This is easier. By far.”
“I’m glad you approve.”
“It doesn’t matter how long you cook for, how long you do anything, for that matter. There are always new things to learn.”
“Such a wise woman.” Johnny pats Patience’s shoulder and tosses more herbs into a separate container from the one I’m using. “I’m done. Get to it before Kerim shouts at all of us.”
“He thinks he’s boss since Kerim allowed him to be head chef for two hours.” Patience whispers and I can hear the envy in her voice, though she’ll deny it if I point it out.
“He did really well though,” I admit, because it’s true. “Kerim just couldn’t handle it.”
“Yeah,” Patience giggles a little and it’s such a foreign sound. I’ve not heard her laugh before. “No one can even try to better him. He’s too competitive.”
I shrug and nudge my shoulder against hers. “I like that about him though. He doesn’t kneel before anybody.”
“Only beautiful women,” Kerim comments loudly, pulling all eyes to him.
I’m caught off guard when he winks at me. I’m not certain what kind of wink it was and I decide not to dwell on it. My mind produces little to no good thoughts these days. I don’t trust myself to not twist this most likely innocent exchange into something more sordid.
There I go… I just inadvertently turned it into something sordid and now my cheeks are heating in a way that confuses me. Why am I blushing?
Patience sighs quietly, affected by our Head Chef’s charm and appearance. Wait until she meets my Nathan. I have yet to meet a man more beautiful than he.
Although his charm leaves much to be desired.
I giggle at the thought of how unapproachable my partner is. The only person he has ever been remotely friendly towards is me. I love that and hate that all at the same time. I love it because it was me that cracked him. Out of every woman in the world, it was me he fell in love with and I just know that no other woman could ever penetrate his barriers as I have. Yet I hate it because I’m the only person he has ever been able to open up to and that breaks my heart.
