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“Then fix it. Now.” Henrique storms out.
The kitchen is deathly quiet before Lucas turns to the rest of the staff. “Everyone, start over on the appetizers.”
Slowly, the staff returns to their workstations and the sound of chopping resumes.
Without saying a word, Lucas drops to his knees and picks up the appetizer mess with me.
“You don’t have to do this,” I say. “You have food to make.”
“If the chef can’t do the same work as the rest of the staff, then he’s not a very good chef.”
“You’re a good chef,” I murmur. “And I’m really sorry about ruining your food.”
As he picks up the last pork skewer, his hand brushes mine. “You were doing your job, right? No apology necessary.”
Henrique enters a few seconds later, still distressed. “Gianna, if I could have a word with you.”
I give Lucas an apologetic look. “Excuse me while I beg for mercy.”
He offers a reassuring smile and dumps the ruined pork and shrimp in the trash.
Henrique moves toward the back door, trying to usher me out of everyone’s way.
“It seems I’ve made a mistake,” he says. He pauses, and I wait for his apology.
Henrique looks around, then lowers his voice. “When we hired you a week ago, we knew you were inexperienced. But we can’t have accidents like this in our kitchen.”
“I know. I’m so sorry,” I say. “I’ll stay out of the way.”
“It’s too risky,” Henrique says. “We’re going to have to let you go.”
My stomach drops. “But I can’t lose this job,” I beg. “Please give me more time. I have so many ideas for how we can make this kitchen run better.”
“You?” A surprised grunt escapes his lips. “What could you possibly tell us about how to run a kitchen? That’s not your job. You’re here to take orders. And I’m afraid you can’t even do that very well.” He gives me a dismissive wave. “Please leave before you cause any more accidents tonight.”
I turn quickly so he won’t see the hot tears forming in my eyes.
I just got fired. How am I going to survive my summer now?
Chapter Two
“Hey, look at this.” Jadyn hands me her phone while pedaling her exercise bike furiously in our apartment. It’s only been two days since I got fired from The Delacroix, but I still haven’t found any leads for another summer job. Right now, I can’t even pay my half of the rent.
“The Mack Attack finally published her review,” Jadyn says.
“How bad is it?”
“Actually, not bad. It’s surprisingly kind. Considering what happened,” Jadyn adds. “Even though the kitchen staff remade the food in record speed, she had no idea what happened with her appetizers. So our reputation is saved. Maybe Henrique will hire you back.”
“I’m pretty sure he’d rather eat the shrimp I dropped on the floor than admit he was wrong.”
Jadyn stops pedaling and slides off the bike seat. “Maybe you could ask Lucas to talk to him. After we closed, I heard him telling Henrique that it was wrong to fire you. Lucas was on your side.”
I shook my head. “Henrique doesn’t like me.”
“Henrique doesn’t like any of the servers.”
I fall onto the couch while Jadyn stretches her hamstrings. “I certainly won’t get a recommendation letter from The Delacroix.”
