“Christ.”
“That’s why I really need this job,” she says, painfully honest. “It pays so much better than every other job I’ve worked, and it’ll help me get to my goal faster.” Eden tenses, casting her eyes to the floor. “I didn’t want to lie to you. I really didn’t. It’s just... It’s a vicious cycle. Without the education I need, I can’t get the work. Without the work, I can’t earn the money. And without the money...”
“You can’t find your parents,” he finishes.
She nods, solemn. “Being a chef... It’s all I’ve ever been good at. Sure, I could work at a Dairy Queen or something, but who knows how long that’ll take me. I was just desperate. I saw in the classifieds that you were hiring, so I applied. I swear I didn’t want to lie to you, but I really,reallyneed this job.”
Alexander’s quiet for a long while, turning everything over in his head. Yes, lying on one’s resume is a terminable offense. If Sebastian finds out, Alexander will be in deep shit for hiring someone so under qualified. The smart thing to do is let Eden go. Maybe he can offer her a severance deal so she at least has the funds to find her parents. He supposes he can do that much for her.
But then again, it’sEden. There’s just something about her, something inexplicable. She’s got pure, raw talent. Eden can go far, maybe even further than he can. If she’d been given the same chances as him, they likely would have grown to be fierce rivals. It wasn’t her fault that her dreams were squashed before she’d ever gotten out of the gate. The fact that she’s self-taught and capable of running a kitchen all by herself? Even Alexander knows how much of a gem she is. And...
And he likes her.
He likes her more than he cares to admit.
He hadn’t realized until now, but seeing her every day at work is a breath of fresh air. She makes it easier on him. Makes him give a shit. Getting through a shift is less of a slog when he knows she’ll be there. Alexander shudders at the thought of firing her only to replace her with Hector—because seriously, fuck that guy. He wants her there.
“I believe you,” he says.
“You do?”
“Yes. But—”
“I understand,” she says quietly. “If you have to fire me, I’ll understand. But if you don’t, I promise I’ll work three times as hard. I’ll do whatever I have to do to keep this job. I love working at La Rouge. I really don’t want to go, but—”
“You can stay.”
“What?”
“You can stay.”
“Is this some kind of joke?”
“Do I look like I make jokes?”
“But I’m not formally trained.”
“I’ve never given a shit about formal education on a resume,” he says simply. “What matters the most to me is if you can handle the heat. It’s clear that you’ve got tons of practical experience, and you’re a natural in the kitchen. You can’t teach that shit in schools. I’ve had countless assholes walk through my kitchen thinking they were hot shit because they studied withwho-the-fuck-ever. But when it came down to the rush and orders were piling up and it was time to dig deep, they weren’t worth their salt. But you?” He gives her hand a squeeze. “You’re something special, Eden. My kitchen hasn’t run this smoothly in years and... And I really think it’s because of you.”
“Wow, I... I don’t know what to say. But what about what happened to Amanda? Isn’t this… hypocritical?”
Alexander nods slowly. “I realize that… If given another opportunity, I’d let her stay on, but there’s nothing we can do about it now. What matters is keeping Sebastian from finding out about you.”
“Right,” she mumbles. “Right, okay.”
“I’ll let you stay, but on three conditions.”
“Okay. What are they?”
“I want you to continue helping me come up with the new menu.”
“Done. And the second condition?”
“Don’t tell anyone that you didn’t finish culinary school. It’s quite frankly not their business to ask, but I know a few chefs at La Rouge who will make a bigger deal out of it than it is.”
“Hector?”
“Hector.”
