My part-time kitchen experiences from college finally landed me a job at one of the prestigious restaurants in the state. There was immediate hiring. The chef de partie of the cold kitchen department found out about the new management being a fresh graduate from university. The owners were letting their son take over. He couldn't handle the fact a child was about to give him direct orders. Men and their huge pride. 

It was lucky timing when I handed over my credentials. I didn't have the money to get into culinary school. Though, I was a quick learner and self-studied at night. My first part-time job was being a steward, cleaning the dirty floors of the kitchen. When I was done with my tasks, I helped out the veteran stewards with the pots, pans, and dishes. The was certainly not for a woman but it paid the bills. 

My fascination with food started when I saw these chefs run around the kitchen as if their tail was on fire. It was nonstop. From breakfast to dinner, they still made it out alive after working for more than eight hours a day. You could see the satisfaction on their faces when a certain dish was fully completed with garnishes at the kitchen line. It was where the dishes are being dispatched under a warmer to be served to the guests. Looking through the chaos behind then seeing the gentleness and purity of the dish being served like it had not gone through so much.
Contrary to popular belief, the chefs I had worked with were not assholes. They scream at you for being clumsy inside the kitchen. But at the end of the day, there was nothing a cold beer could fix after a long day's work. These chefs took pride in their work, so it was normal for them to apprehend you for a mistake that you committed. It took a while to get a hang of these things but once you found your grove then your daily shift would be smooth sailing. 

Whenever the kitchen wasn't busy, which was a rare feat. They took time out of their busy lives to teach me how to do some basic knife skills. I loved asking questions. The learnings I got were from their answers to my queries and observing how a dish was made. The techniques needed to be practiced. After changing jobs, I took all their wisdom with me and passed it on to my new work environment. 

Here we were, working in a bigger kitchen with bigger opportunities. I had been working here for a month now, and I finally got my big break. Two days off of work was like only a two-hour equivalent in the kitchen world. But, I wasn't complaining. I earned it after an intense month of training. 

On my first day out, I had to go into the restaurant since I forgot some laundry in my locker. It was only a quick detour before I head back into my apartment to do some cleaning. After getting a bag full of my laundry, I proceeded to head out after saying goodbye to everyone. I was waving while I walked backward until I unintentionally bumped into someone. Dropping my bag, I quickly bent over to grab it when a hand already swooped in to pick it up. As I looked up, my heart sank when the owner, Alexandre Clement was holding my bag of dirty laundry.

"I'm so sorry, sir. It was clumsy of me. Thank you," I quickly snatched the bag from his hand. This was not happening right now. I had seen him a few times here in the restaurant but never interacted with him since I started. From what I had observed, he was not the type of leader to care about small chitchat with his employees. He was direct to the point and wanted things done as soon as possible. 

He sweetly smiled, giving me the chills as he was not friendly with the staff at all. "No worries, my lady. You seem to be familiar with my staff. I haven't seen you around. Are you a regular?"

My lady? A regular? What?

It was impossible for him to not recognize me. I was dressed casually for this establishment. Checking myself out, I realized I was wearing one of the nicest dress I owned. My face was looking fresh from putting on some light make-up. Most of the time, it was the usual shirt and sweatpants whenever I went to work. I was going to wear my uniform for the whole, so I didn't see the point in dressing up. Today was an exception.

Not wanting to embarrass him, I chuckled uncomfortably, "Oh, I just passed by to look at your menu. I do have to commend your service staff. They're efficient and really helpful."

"That's great to hear. Would you like to stay for some smoked salmon quiche?" Alexandre offered.

"That won't be necessary. But, thank you for the offer. It was nice meeting you," I politely dismissed. 

I could feel everyone's eyes on us, fighting the urge to laugh out loud. The soft change in his demeanor was surprising. It was only usually used when there were guests that desired to have the best gastronomic experience.

"Andre."

"What?"

"My name is Andre," he proclaimed when no one asked. 

He had no idea who I was.

"Celestine."

Before he could utter another word, I turned my back and hurried out of the building. That was so close. I couldn't breathe properly. 

~*~*~*~

I came back to work, carefully avoiding Alexandre at all cost. Ever since I started my shift, I had been seeing him around. He usually was at the restaurant are, subtly trying to take a glimpse at the window. I didn't want to assume, but was he waiting for me to return? 

"Celestine."

I looked up to see Chef Remi, our executive chef, holding a plate full of assorted canapés. "Yes, chef?"

"Bring this outside and let the servers know that Sir Alexandre is expecting a guest this afternoon," he placed the plate in front of me as I was chopping condiments for the salad bar.
"Right away, chef." I stopped what I was doing and washed my hands properly before handing the prepped food over to the servers. I carefully looked around so I wouldn't accidentally bump into our boss again. The food was safely transported.

A week passed by without a hitch, avoiding my boss had gotten easier. An upcoming launch event was coming this weekend. It took my mind off some things since the kitchen was busy planning what dishes would go well with the theme. When the day of the event finally came, Chef Remi assigned me to make sure that the buffet display was executed as planned. 

The restaurant was transformed into an event hall with the bright lights and extravagant decorations that glittered the walls. The buffet table was twice as big on what I had imagined. I then remembered we were hosting at least two hundred people tonight. Walking around the buffet area, I saw some food labels that weren't properly placed in the right dish. Some of the sauces were mistakenly placed by the desserts. Good thing I saw the imperceptible slip-up. We didn't want guests dipping their skewered fruits in soy sauce. 

"Celestine!" 

I twisted my neck to see who was calling so loudly. A server ran to me and gave a few platters of assorted cheese for me to begin displaying. Thanking her, I went back to my task.

"Celestine?" A deeper voice unsurely uttered.

Without looking, I just gave him the signal that he could put the platters beside me. I was too engrossed in arranging the cheeses with the selection of slices of bread available.
All of a sudden, someone cleared their throat.

Raising my head only to see Alexandre with his arms crossed, looking confused. My eyes widened in surprise that the basket of bread I was holding slipped from my hand. I inwardly cursed to myself and kneeled to pick up all the bread that was no longer edible. The five-second rule was a blasphemous practice for the food industry. 

"Let me help," he offered. 

I squeaked in surprise, "Sir, no! I'll handle this." He didn't listen, no surprise there. I hurriedly picked all the bread that scattered on the floor and put it back into the basket. 

"Why didn't you tell me you worked here?" he asked directly.

"I-uh," It was embarrassing enough I couldn't look him in the eye. I had to be honest. "I was too flustered to correct you, sir."

"Is everyone that afraid of me?" 

I answered a little too fast, "Of course not, sir."

He chuckled in amusement, "You don't need to lie to flatter me, Celestine."

My face was turning beet red from embarrassment. "Sorry," I mumbled. 

Alexandre gave me his sincerest smile, "I'll have to deal with you later. Now, I know where to find you."

Deal with me later? Was I in trouble?