As it turned out, I wouldn’t have to ask for a letter of recommendation from Roni – at least not yet. Dante finished the sauce as the steaks finished cooking, and we swapped back before Natalie was any the wiser. But for the rest of the dinner service I kept thinking about Gabe and his film projects. Once Roni dropped the last dinner under the heat lamp, she clapped her hands. ‘Great work tonight, everyone.’ We all thanked her. ‘Tommy, when you turn eighteen?’
‘Uh, February.’
‘Remember to have George put you in the kitchen on a Sunday brunch when I’m here.’
I tried my hardest not to smile. ‘Okay, thanks, Chef!’ She gave me a thumbs-up as she and Dante went out to the loading dock for some fresh garbage air and to decompress.
So shedidlike me! If I screwed up Natalie’s task list, Roni would be a great backup. Especially if I could get Gabe to agree to work a little movie magic for me.
James waited until they were gone before hitting my arm. ‘Look at you, Bahama Mama, getting a brunch shift four months out!’
‘They’re going to make you, me and Sean G. fight over kitchen duties.’
James shrugged. ‘Eh, you andSeencan swap off. I just hate old people. Keep me in here as KS and I’m cool.’
I had to go find Ava in her section and tell her. Just about the working-on-the-line part. Not the Gabe part.
That part still needed a little finesse.
The following Wednesday was the October birthday night at Sunset Estates. I was in the private dining room showing Ava a meme on my phone when the door from the kitchen opened. I tucked my phone in my apron, and we both turned around to see who it was, pretending we were setting the table in front of us.
‘I’m here to bribe you,’ Morgan said, closing the door behind her. Ava and I smirked at each other and pulled out two chairs to sit down, motioning for Morgan to take another.
‘Please, step into our office.’
Morgan sat down, giving a quick glance back. ‘How many other people have come to you so far?’
‘You’re the first,’ Ava lied.
‘Bullshit. But I checked the schedule and you’re both working days I’m hosting for the nexttwoweeks.’
‘What do you propose?’ I asked.
‘If you have a section, I seat everyone else’s tables twice before I seat you once. Then at the end of the night I helponlyyou clear and reset your tables and I complete your chores for you.’
Ava glanced at me, her eyebrows raised. Like me, she was impressed.
‘Do we give her a chance to counter other offers, or are we doing silent auction rules?’ I asked.
Morgan frowned and crossed her arms. ‘What better offer could you have gotten?’
‘Mackenzie says she’ll take every other table we get while we’re working with her,’ Ava said.
I continued. ‘And she’ll bread and water every table we have, get our linens, and presort the silverware for our section and hide it from everyone else.’
Morgan seemed to be thinking. ‘For two weeks?’
‘Three.’
‘She’s off the whole last week of October,’ Morgan said.
‘How do you know?’ I asked. ‘The schedule for that week isn’t even posted yet.’
‘She asked Natalie for time off because she’s on the Halloween dance committee.’
‘That sneaky witch,’ Ava said.
‘So her offer’s off the table,’ Morgan said with confidence. ‘Who else?’
