by Natalie Ann
“As long as she meets your standards, that is all that matters,” his mother said, then walked back out the door of the kitchen into the bar before he could say anything else. He was used to her doing things like that, coming in, talking, and leaving suddenly. He just shrugged and went back to work.
A few minutes later Brody came in. “What did you say to Mom?”
“Why?” he asked.
“She just ran out the door like her ass was on fire. Did you get lippy with her?”
“If I did, I’d be the one running out the door with smoke trailing behind and she’d be holding the book of matches chasing me.”
Brody’s laugh echoed off the walls, causing half of the kitchen staff to turn and look at them. “Point taken. Maybe she was in a hurry to go meet someone.”
“Maybe,” Aiden said, then turned and went back to his office where he was working on some Italian recipes before he was interrupted. He wondered if he should pick Nic’s brain in a few weeks before he finalized his dishes.
***
“Whoa, slow down, Jolene.”
She turned and looked at her husband sitting on the front porch in the shade. She hadn’t even seen him there, but he was the one she was looking for.
“Sorry. Hook, line, and sinker, baby,” she said, walking over and sitting in his lap.
He wrapped his beefy arms around her, kissing her forehead. “Always, when you plant yourself like this.”
She laughed and playfully slapped his arm. “Not you. Aiden.”
“What about Aiden?” he asked, nuzzling her neck now. She wasn’t going to be distracted though.
“Gavin, stop that.” She moved off his lap.
“Come back here. Don’t you know better than to walk over, sit on my lap, and tease me that way?”
She moved to sit in a chair next to him. “Later. I’ve got to tell you the important stuff first.”
He sighed, knowing her well enough that he’d get nowhere if she didn’t say what was on her mind. She loved that her family knew her so well. All four of her sons and husband. Even Ella. Ella shared that trait of knowing everyone so well and made Jolene proud. “What is it?”
“Aiden filled Shawn’s position.”
“That’s nice. I’m sure everyone is relieved.”
“He isn’t really that bad when it comes to finding his staff.” At Gavin’s raised eyebrow, she relented. “Fine, he’s the worst of them all. He just has such high expectations and doesn’t realize that he isn’t going to find someone just like him. But he hired someone.”
“What is so special about this person that he hired that has you running home to tell me?” She wiggled her eyebrows, grinned wide, and then laughed. “You didn’t. Not again, Jolene.”
“Come on. It worked with Brody.”
“That was just luck.”
“Luck has nothing to do with it. You acted like you were all for it with Brody. And you knew I was going to try my hand with the rest of them. What changed your mind?” she asked, giving him a stern look. The one that normally had him backing up, just like he was doing right now. Like she had a grenade in her hands and now she was moving her fingers toward the pin.
“Nothing changed my mind. I just didn’t think it’d be this soon or another employee. You’re really playing with fire doing that.”
“Nah. Aiden is married to his work. If he is going to find someone, that person needs to be placed right where he spends most of his time. Trust me on this. There is no way Aiden will fall for someone that doesn’t share the same loves as him.”
“Whatever you say. Now come back over here and finish what you started.”
She jumped up and went back into his lap, loving that he was so much bigger than her, then wound her arms around his neck. “I just want those kids to have as happy a life as we’ve had together.”
“You’re trying to convince me to agree with you.”
“Is it working?” she asked, her hand moving down his chest to his lap.
“It always does.”
The Hard Part
Saturday morning, Nic parked her car in the parking lot of Fierce, then made her way to the back door. She hoped she could get in. The bar wasn’t going to open for another hour, but she was told to be here at ten.
The big steel door was indeed locked and she was just getting ready to turn and walk around to the front when it popped open. “Hey, you must be Nic. I’m Stacy. I saw you on the monitor.”
Nic walked in and then waited while Stacy turned the lock back in place. “Monitor?” she asked.
“Yeah. I’m the first one back here and it’s a security measure to keep the door locked until another staff member is here. But you’re going upstairs to do your paperwork with Ella right now, so I locked it again. Once someone else comes back here, I’ll unlock it for the day.”
Nic followed Stacey’s gaze to the three monitors on the wall. She hadn’t noticed them during the interview. They looked more like TVs than monitors. One was a view of the back parking lot, one of the front door and sidewalk, and one of the bar.
“Is this the only place with them?” Nic asked, nodding above where she could see Aimee moving around the bar.
“No. The bar has three, front and back doors and a wide view of the kitchen. They’re smaller screens under the bar that most people don’t know are there. Then Ella’s office upstairs has monitors for the whole place. She can see everything that’s going on. There are cameras all over the property. Same with the brewery.”
“That seems a little excessive,” Nic said. She’d never heard of that much security before for a bar and restaurant.
“I’m not sure the reason why. We’ve always had a few cameras, front and back doors, but more were added over a year ago. Actually, it’s nice to see into the bar. That lets us know how busy it is. We can see the restaurant from here when we move food to the window, but the bar and seating in there is blocked by the wall.”
“Everything seems to have a great flow here,” Nic said, impressed. It seemed like everywhere she turned was something else she didn’t notice the last time.
“Those five knew what they wanted and made sure it was all set up to run that way.”
Nic didn’t have a chance to respond before Ella came down a set of stairs in the back corner. “Hi, Nic. Why don’t you come up and we’ll get your paperwork out of the way. Aiden wanted me to tell you that you’ll be shadowing Stacy for now. He’ll be in later, so I’m sure he’ll come chat with you.”
Nic followed Ella up the stairs and was shocked to see the upper floor was set up like an office building. You’d have no clue there was a restaurant and bar below it. There was a long hallway with doors on each side. Multiple doors. “It’s really quiet up here.”
“It sure is. Most days it’s just me, Cade, and a few of the staff that help run the office with me. The bulk of these rooms are empty, but the way we’re growing, I’m thinking they won’t be much longer.”
Ella continued to walk down the hall. “I’ve got everything set up in the conference room. Have a seat.”
Twenty minutes later, Nic followed Ella back downstairs to find Stacy waiting for her. “All set now?” Stacy asked her.
“Yeah. I didn’t expect to fill out so much paperwork.”
“It’s a great place to work. Lots of perks and benefits.”
“You’re telling me. So where do we start?”
“Nice and eager. Perfect. And can I say I’m thrilled to have another female back here.”
Stacy looked to be older than her, probably ten years or so if she was guessing. “Are we the only two?”
“Oh dear no. But we’re outnumbered. Wait till you see what it’s like later. I think they’ve got you on shift until six, so you’ll get a feel for the dinner crowd. Over here is where the bar menu is prepared. On that side of the room is the restaurant menu. They’re so different that it’s best to treat them as such.”
“How does that work with orders?” Nic asked, looking across
the room at the larger area. The area where all the head and executive chefs worked.
“Waitstaff from the bar and restaurant give all orders to the person at the window. Their job is to sort the tickets and enter them into the computer. Orders pop up on the screens over there and are called out by whoever is taking the lead for the day. There are several working at once in each station. We’ll get to all of that as we move on.”
“Do you have something I can write with?”
“Why?” Stacy asked.
“I don’t want to forget any of this.”
Stacy laughed at her. “You won’t. Trust me. And I’m just giving you a big overview. I’m going to show you where all the supplies are right now, but again, that will all be set up before you actually start working most days. No one is just thrown to the wolves here.”
“There are people who set up the ingredients?” Nic asked, shocked. They had everything here.
“On most days, yes. When it’s slower, each person will restock their station as needed. It keeps everything moving fast. A lot of part-timers are hired to start out doing that. Learning their way around the kitchen before Aiden feels they are comfortable enough to move on.”
“So not everyone has formal training here?” Nic asked.
“Not at all. Not for the pub menu. The restaurant, yeah. Training or a lot of experience. Anyway, let me show you around. It takes a lot to get to that side of the room.” That wasn’t even a thought or a consideration in her mind.
A little before eleven, Nic was standing off to the side as Stacy was getting her station ready. She’d be working on the grill for the day. “Early on, we’ve got one person who plates, then another will come in. When a burger is cooked, for example, it goes on the bottom of the bun and put up for the plater to dress accordingly, then they grab the sides and assemble it all together.”
“This sure beats what I’ve been doing,” Nic said. She was used to taking the orders and cooking, plating and walking to the window all by herself. Start to finish.
“It’s a pretty fast pace back here. The goal is to turn the tables over as quickly as they can. If people want to linger, they are normally offered a free drink to move to the bar.” Nic was starting to wonder if she was getting in over her head. “Don’t worry about it, though. The hard part is done.”
“What does that mean?”
“You got hired. That’s the hardest part. Most people don’t even get a call, let alone an interview. I’ve heard horror stories about the results of some of the food Aiden has asked them to prepare during the interview.”
“Really?” Nic said, finding that odd, but then figured people’s nerves most likely got the better of them. She remembered how nervous she was. The only time those nerves went away was when she was cooking. Otherwise, she was too busy staring at Aiden and thinking thoughts that had no business being in her head.
“Yeah. I breathed a sigh of relief when he asked me to make a salmon dish. Not much I could really screw up there, at least I didn’t think so.”
“Asked you?”
“Yeah. What did Aiden pick out for the dish that you had to prepare? Or at least what protein?”
She wasn’t about to say Aiden let her pick her own dish. She was trying not to be embarrassed over it. That he probably didn’t think she could handle something he chose and wanted to go easy on her. “I had pasta.”
“Oh, that’s a tough one. Most people fail that. They either overcook the pasta or undercook it. If they even use the right pasta to begin with.” Nic kept silent rather than asking what Stacy was talking about. How could you mess up what pasta was used if you made it yourself? “You think I’m joking, don’t you?”
“Ah, no, I believe you.”
“Seriously,” Stacy said. “He’s asked for fettuccine before and had someone grab a box of spaghetti.”
“A box?” Nic asked, her face was turning red. What was she missing?
“Yeah. Did you make him homemade pasta?” Stacy asked slowly.
“Yes.” Nic wasn’t about to say much more. This was all too weird for her.
“No wonder you were hired on the spot. I don’t know that anyone has done that before. Talk about a way to impress. Good for you. Come on, first order up.”
Nic pushed the conversation away and focused on what Stacy and everyone else was doing now, itching to get her hands in the mix, but knowing that it probably wouldn’t happen today. This place was way too advanced for someone to just walk in the door and get to work. At least someone with her lack of experience.
***
Aiden had been walking around the kitchen watching and tasting random dishes for the past few hours like he always did. As much as he wanted to be cooking at all times, he spent most of his time in the restaurant kitchen at night focusing on the supplemental menu that he hand-selected for each week. Prior to the hour when the restaurant opened, his time was spent walking the pub kitchen, working in his office, or making sure the restaurant had a good flow as well as the kitchen, or at least the staff in charge of the waitstaff.
Nothing left his kitchen without it being up to his standards, whether pub or restaurant fare. Someone didn’t have enough seasoning on the combo plate, so he walked over and made it himself while those working the station watched. Then he stood there and eyed their every movement while they made it for him again.
It never bothered him when that happened. It was quality control of sorts and part of his job. Plus, he found that he enjoyed teaching the staff and watching them grow and learn.
Once the concept of the combo special that Aimee developed months ago started to take off, he realized he had to plan the specials several days in advance, and have the combo picked so he could make sure they were stocked and everything was made to his specifications. Which meant creating the plate for staff to watch in advance and then supervising while they did it again and again until he was satisfied.
He had a system and it worked well. And he wanted it to continue that way.
If he was sidetracked stopping at Stacy’s station more than normal, he didn’t let on. Stacy knew what she was doing. That was why she ran the pub kitchen now. He often would have her floating between stations as needed and doing quality control for him, but for now he felt it was best she train Nic.
Not that it seemed Nic needed a lot of training more than learning how the dishes were specifically prepared. He could see she was holding herself back from wanting to jump in and just do something. Maybe tomorrow he’d let her cook. He liked them eager like that.
He was still talking about cooking…wasn’t he? Yes, he was. That was the thing he needed to focus on.
But for now, he enjoyed gazing at her watching the action in the kitchen. Her hair was pulled back in a bun on her head. Under her black chef jacket, she had black pants and a red Fierce T-shirt. The standard attire for everyone.
The kitchen staff didn’t wear colors based on rank. He never liked doing that. Pub staff wore black jackets, kitchen staff white jackets. That was the only distinction between kitchens. Preparers and others that restocked wore aprons. He wasn’t much on formality. He wanted skill and that was all he cared about.
Some restaurants wanted to showcase the next step as an incentive for people to work harder. He felt it caused unwanted problems.
His staff were paid on their skill, not by the color of the jacket they wore. He wasn’t looking for staff that wanted to move around as much as perfect what they were comfortable with. For that, he gladly opened the coin pouch wide.
For himself, he’d always been more comfortable not wearing a full-on uniform, and dressed the same as the rest of those in the restaurant kitchen. Since the restaurant was so popular and highly rated, he knew his way was working.
By four o’clock he was putting his own white jacket on, getting ready for the restaurant to start serving the weekly specials. Only pub food was served until four, but after that the supplemental menu came out and the place filled up rapidly. Especially on a Sat
urday night.
It didn’t matter it was an early dinner for many; his tables were packed from four until nine each night.
He’d had to tell his hostesses to stay firm on the four o’clock time slot. Otherwise he found people coming in at three and just taking up space until it was time to order what they were looking for. That’s what the pub was for, they could stay out there and have a drink if need be.
He walked over to Nic one more time. “Looks like you’ve got the hang of things today,” he said.
She’d glanced up and made eye contact with him, then shifted back to what Stacy was preparing and answered quickly, “Thanks. I don’t want to miss a trick. It seems like there is so much going on right now.”
“There is. You’ll get the hang of it.” She was still watching Stacy, so he waited until Stacy was done with the crab cake, then moved on to a burger.
Nic turned back to him. “I’m sorry. That was incredibly rude of me, but that was the first one she’s made today.”
“Not a problem. If you’re going to ignore me, I’d rather it be in favor of your work.”
She smiled at him and there went those flutters again. This was getting out of hand. He couldn’t ever remember having a reaction like this to an employee. Or anyone in his kitchen.
Not again. Not after what he’d gone through before. Best to separate food and personal life.
He needed space. “Time for me to get to the other side. If you have any questions, I’ll be in later tomorrow if Stacy can’t answer them for you.”
“Stacy’s been great. But thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said.
He walked away shaking his head. He needed to get over himself. She obviously was more concerned about the food than him.
Take the Victory
By ten, Aiden had walked around the kitchen of the restaurant to make sure it was cleaned up as he expected. They stopped taking dinner orders at nine. If the pub was overflowing, or people wanted to sit in the restaurant because it was quieter, that was fine, but the pub menu was all that was available if someone that wasn’t already on the waiting list walked in at 9:05.