With a nod, I proceed, “The menu would be cyclical, only using ingredients during their peak time to ensure the taste is perfection. At any given time, aside from the bread and desserts, there are nine dishes to choose from. Three appetizers, three meat-based dishes, and three vegan or vegetarian dishes.”
“Vegan is a very big market to tap into right now,” Cedric agrees. “Ensuring that’s an option is something many young people would appreciate.”
I smile and nod, “I am not much of a meat eater myself so I wanted to make it a priority.”Okay, yes, that is a lie. But I rarely enjoy animal meat, so I shall stick with it.
Liam looks at the woman to his right and the man on his left. “Well, what do you think?”
“I think we found our new head chef,” Stila says, swiping another bite of her dessert. “Cedric?”
“I agree.”
“Me, too,” Liam finally says, standing to shake my hand. “Welcome aboard.”
I leap to my feet and take the man’s hand, possibly a bit too hard. “Wow. Thank you, sir. I am so excited to be a part of this. I cannot tell you what it means to me.”
He beams, “It means we have to send Fritz a thank you basket for suggesting you in the first place. I’ll admit, I was unsure about the whole thing. He can be a bit… excitable. But you’ve really proven that you are willing to put in the work to make this place everything it could be and we look forward to working with you. When can you begin interviewing and training kitchen staff?”
Shit. I’ve no clue how to do that.
Marco steps in, “I’m happy to help with all of that. If you’re willing to keep me on-board, that is.”
I turn to him, jaw dropping, “Of course. I could certainly use your expertise.”
“Well, I suppose that settles it then,” Stila stands, shaking my hand. “We’ll prepare a contract right away and have it to you by the end of the week.”
Lastly, Cedric stands and shakes my hand as well, his other hand cupping mine in a genuine expression of excitement, “So thrilled to have you working with us.”
???
“Just… ease it, Caspian. Don’t push it all at once,” Fritz warns me.
Bel chimes in, “Yeah, just go slow, nice and gentle. Let’s avoid injuries for today.”
“Going slow is torturous,” I groan. “Just let me-”
“No,” they both say together.
“You cannot crash this thing the first time you get behind the wheel, Cas,” Fritz urges. “Bel is gonna kick your ass if you wreck her car.”
“Yeah and Fritz’ll help me,” she reiterates from the back seat.
I fucking hate this.
I want to just press on the pedal and go as fast as Bel does when we are on the freeway. How hard could it be?
I press on one pedal, trying to be as gentle with it as I can, and even still, it rolls, barely moving, then jolts all at once. I lift my foot completely off it in frustration.
“Hey, you almost had it that time. Barely press it,” Bel instructs.
I try again, the vehicle barely moving faster than a god’s damned turtle. I growl out my frustration. “This is infuriating. Why is it so difficult?”
Bel rubs my shoulder from her seat in the back, “Most of us have to go to an official class for this. It’s not something that’s like… instinctual.”
“Didyouhave to attend a driving school?” I ask Fritz.
“Well, no.ButI learned to drive when cars could only go like 10 miles an hour. And even then I crashed the first like… seven times I tried.” He shrugs.
“Seven?” Bel shouts. “How did you crash that many times?”
