Page 17 of The Chef

“Good, good. So, why did you move to New Water?”

“Fisher - my brother - his wife… passed away recently and I’ve come here to help him and his family. I had no ties anywhere else. New start and all that.”

Dominika leans forward and shakes her head. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

She’s sincere. I really like her. I can sense her warmth and kindness already, it’s just a nice vibe she’s giving off. “Thanks.”

“Tell me more about yourself. Your passions?”

“Oh, I love food, especially cooking. That’s my passion, I just love to cook.”

Dominika laughs. “That’s good. I’m the chef around here, as well as the manager. And a waitress. I basically do everything. We’re going through a big of a rough patch, as you could see by how we have no one dining with us tonight.”

I nod, trying not to make it seem like I’m not too judgmental about Rockpool’s lack of customers.

“I really need this job,” I blurt out. “Like, really need it. I’ll do anything, pay me whatever, I just need a job.”

Woah, where did that come from?

Why did I ramble that out? What was I thinking?

I was practically begging.

Dominika doesn’t react to my random pleading outburst. She picks up my papers and shuffles them absentmindedly, thinking.

Knock, knock.

Someone’s tapping on the door behind us. Dominika left it open when we entered the office, so the knocking is clearly more for show than to be let inside.

“Is the interview going well?” A voice says from the doorway behind me. Dominika looks up, but I can’t see who it is without turning completely around in my seat.

It’s a male voice. Deep and resonate. Strong.

“Cliff,” Dominika replies to the voice with a raise of her eyebrows. “What are you doing in here without a top on?”

“I’ve just come from a very good swim at the beach and thought I’ll swing by and see how things are going?”

“You can’t come into this restaurant half-naked, Cliff. It’s not right.”

“It is my restaurant though, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, but…”

“So, I get to choose what the rules are.”

“Put a shirt on, you stupid man.” They’re teasing each other like old friends and not like this employee-employer thing they seem to have.

“Oh, I don’t like your attitude, Dominika. It’s my place and I can wear or not wear whatever I want inside it.”

Ah.

Cliff.

The man behind me must be Cliff Finn.

The member of the rich and famous family and the owner of the restaurant that Dominika was talking about. That Cliff Finn.

And he’s come in without a shirt on?