Location: The Painted Lady
MORNINGThe rest of he breakfast shift passed without any more incidents. The addition of Skye, the most enthusiastic janitorial staff member that Jared had ever see, seemed to make a huge difference in the speed the rest of the dirty dishes were completed. At first, Jared kept a careful eye on Skye from his cooking station, however as the stacks of dishes began to clear rapidly and no sound of breaking plates was heard, Jared was able to relax and focus on his own tasks completely. Jared had met a Skye a few times as she went about her business and she seemed a hard worker as well as rather personable.
As the rush of customers began to die down, Jared finished his last dish and glanced around the room. He registered the fact that he had been hearing whistling coming from the dishwasher's station for quite a while now. The tune was old and slightly familiar, though Jared could not but a name to the lazy notes that wafted by. He turned to the source of the sound and, rather unsurprisingly, found Skye. He looked closely at her for the first time since she had entered his kitchen.
Her overalls were covered in dust and paint, her blue hair oddly in tune with rather unique outfit. Under her overalls, Jared could make out her oddly, muscular legs a sure sign of significant strength training and protein intake. Her eyes told the real story though, they had heavy bags underneath speaking of her exhaustion. Her movements while efficient were starting to slow down.
'How long has she been working?'He turned back to his station, gesturing for Chef Yates to bring him some of her ingredients over. Sky had worked hard for him without complaint when she was obviously exhausted, impressing him. That would not go unrewarded. Based on what he knew of her and what he had observed of her, he grabbed ingredient from various dishes to combine them into something new. It needed to be dense in nutrients and protein in order for her to keep up her strength. He made one large salad with applewood smoked bacon, crumbled goat cheese, avocado and eggs. Tossing it all together so each bite would have the flavors of all the ingredients, he placed it into the largest to go container they had. Jared would have offered her a table to sit down at, but he felt as though Sky deserved to go home as soon as possible.
After he was finished the meal, he retrieved an apron monogrammed with the The Painted Lady logo on it. After some scrounnging, he found an envelope and slipped in the full pay that Sanders would have received. He slipped the envelope into the apron pocket, folded the apron over his arm, grabbed the salad bowl and walked back out to Skye.
"That's enough, O'Connell. I must warn you, here at The Painted Lady, we have a strict dress code." His tone was serious, but his expression gave away the humor, corners of his lips twitching. Slight hints of his natural accent crept into his voice.
"So if you'd like to work here, you best be coming in uniform." He handed over the items he had prepared for her.
"Thank you for your help, and if you ever want it, there's a job for you here." With that he turned and began to prepare for the lunch crowd.
EVENINGJared looked up as Samantha, the head hostess, frantically waved in his direction trying to get his attention. He frowned at her and raised an eyebrow. Wordlessly, she pointed out to the tables. He looked over and stood frozen in surprise. Sitting in his restaurant was a member of the Way family. The Ways were all extremely well known and were among the truly elite passengers on board the Lovis.
'One word from one of them can make or break my career.' His heart thudded heavily against his chest, focusing him into action.
He had another of the chefs take over finishing the meal he was preparing. There could be no errors if Andromeda Way had decided to eat here, he would handle her dish himself. He was not certain who Andromeda Way's companion was, but her opinion as Andromeda's companion made her opinion no less valuable, so he assigned Chef Phillips to the task. When he order came in he snatched it up immediately.
"Steak- perfect!"He entered the meat locker and emerged with one of their most prized, and expensive ingredients. Wagyu beef was well known for being the highest quality of beef there was, each cow coming with full certification to prove it was raised with the highest of standards from the Matsusaka region of Japan. The rich marbling of fat on steak ensured both the incredibly rich flavor and the sensation of melting in your mouth. He seasoned the steak with their house steak sauce that Chef Ramirez had created, delicately grilled it atop of white oak and charcoal, and let it rest briefly as he prepared a light side to go with the meal so as to not overpower the flavor. The rest long period done he tossed in the new high tech broiler and flashed it. He pulled it out and tested the meat simply by touching it with his constantly cleaned hands.
"Excellent." Finally, he lightly brushed the steak with garlic butter and fleur de sel.
Chef Phillips had in a stroke of creativity used some of leftover pears from the morning to create a light, but complexly flavored Aragula and Pear Salad with crumbled gorgonzola cheese topped with extra virgin olive oil, lemon, salt, and pepper. Jared nodded in approval flashing him a smile before sending the dishes out. He waited for a time, pacing slightly and glancing out occasionally from the kitchen to get a glance.
He sighed, washed his hands again and changed out his well used apron for a clean one. Jared walked out the kitchen onto the restaurant floor and began talking to each table exchanging small talk and pleasantries. The worst thing that could happen was that Miss Way thought he was singling her out to curry her family's favor. Of course, he was doing that, but it would not benefit him if she thought that. So he patiently went to each table before heading to hers.
"Good evening! How are the two of you enjoying your meals?"