“Have fun, Pepita. I’ll see you after.” She turned to hurry back to the kitchen.
But before she could get far, Tina stamped her foot.
Elena turned again, trying to hold back her temper. One of the sitters was already coming toward Tina. She took her by the arm to lead her in. But Tina shouted, “No!”
“Tina.” Elena headed back to the door. Another woman laid a reassuring hand on her arm. “It’s probably best if you leave right now. We’ve got everything under control. Your daughter will be just fine.”
“We’ve got her covered, Elena,” Kyle stage-whispered. Elena smiled at him.
“Oh, will you be in there?”
He shook his head, looking annoyed. “Mrs. Bennett wants us staying out here. She’s afraid we’ll scare the kids.”
“I doubt they’d even notice you, but whatever.” Elena took another look at her daughter, nodded, and jogged back to the kitchen. Tina would be fine. This was a good lesson in patience and getting along with other kids her age.
By the time she got back to the kitchen, nearly everything had been plated up and servers were coming back in with empty trays already. “What’d I miss?” she asked Claudia.
“Not a thing, boss. You got us into a good routine and things are going smooth.” She held her hand up for a high-five. Elena grinned, tied an extra apron back on, and dove back in, feeling like the queen of the castle.
Elissa came back in to refill her tray. “Don’t look now, but Julia is here. She’s in a mood, fair warning.”
Elena rolled her eyes. The big news over the past week at B&P was their newest client, Roger Bennett, and the event on Saturday night. “I’m not surprised. Did she see you?” Elena took Elissa’s empty tray and passed her a full one.
“She looked right through me. I don’t think she was expecting someone from IT passing around appetizers, so she didn’t recognize me.” Elissa laughed. “That, and she’s too busy shoving her nose up every potential client’s ass.” She lifted the tray. “Are you going to stay in here or go out there?”
Elena blew out a breath. Now that she knew the night was going to plan and the job at Delia’s was ninety-nine percent hers, she planned on giving B&P her two weeks’ notice on Monday. She should have known Julia would be here, though she’d counted on someone higher up who probably wouldn’t recognize her. Her boss would probably chew her out for taking yesterday off, now that she could guess why. Julia would probably see her no matter what later during the kids’ photoshoot, but maybe not.
“I think I’ll just stay in here for now. It’ll be easier that way.”
“Elena, you have no reason to hide. Julia owes you for bringing the Bennetts on.”
“I didn’t. We just happened to be friends, and Brant and Phillips is one of the biggest firms in town. They were considering it long before I came along.”
Elissa shook her head. “Modest to a fault, girl.” She winked and headed back out to the party.
* * *
Toward the end of the evening, Elena felt a tap on her shoulder and turned, expecting to see Claudia or one of the other servers.
“What do you need…oh.”
“I wondered if I’d find you in here when I saw your friend from IT.” Julia had a look of absolute disgust on her face.
“Julia. I—”
“You’re fired.” She crossed her arms as her expression went from disgusted to triumphant. “Not only did you skip work on Friday, but you’re breaking the rules about professional conduct with our clientsagain. As our receptionist, you’re the frontline face of B&P, and right now, you’re making us look unprofessional, moonlighting as awaitress.” She spat the word out like it was rotten food. “I took a chance on your low-class butt when I hired you, and I should have known better. You’ll amount to nothing.”
Elena stood up as tall and straight as she could. “First of all, I arranged for Friday off over a week ago and you approved it. Second,” she pulled out her cell phone, unlocked it, and hit a button. “Check your email. You can’t fire me, because I quit. I just sent you my letter of resignation which I also typed up over a week ago. Third, as for amounting to nothing, I was not hired as a waitress, which, by the way, is a tough job and not to be looked down on,ever. No, I’m in charge of food service tonight, and it’s been perfect down to the last detail. I’m just getting started here.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, really. When you’re still stuck in your little power-vacuum of a job, my name is gonna be in lights as one of L.A.’s top restaurateurs, count on it. Now, get the hell out of my kitchen because you’re a walking health code violation.”
Elena waited only long enough to watch Julia turn fire-engine red, then pale as a ghost before she turned on her stiletto and marched out.
That’s when the clapping and cheering started behind her. Delia’s voice carried over the sound, “Girl, that was poetry.”
Elena turned to see Delia, Claudia, Elissa, Pete…and Camden. They were all clapping, with huge smiles on their faces, but Camden’s was the biggest. Delia stepped forward, black cloth folded in a neat square in her hands. She unfolded the cloth, revealing a chef’s apron withDelia’s Restaurantemblazoned on the front.
