Chapter 5

MADDIE

“Good morning, Maddie.” I look up from my work at the kitchen counter and smile as Joanne walks into the kitchen. “You are here early. I didn’t expect you in until later.”

“Good morning. I hope it’s okay.”

“Yes, of course. But we don’t open until eleven. It gives you plenty of time to prepare.”

“I wanted to look at some new recipes.”

“And there’s nothing wrong with that. I like an employee who takes initiative to go above and beyond what is expected. If you need anything, any help at all, I’ll be around.”

“Thank you.”

I like Joanne. To be honest, I didn’t choose to start my shift early to gain brownie points or take initiative. I had to get my mind off Rocco and what better way to do that than to delve into work? Besides, I figure if I can get the majority of my work done before he comes in, I have a better chance to avoid him when the time comes. I just hope my libido can stay put when it does happen again. I fell asleep to the image of him kissing me again.

Lunch comes and goes with no issues, work related or boss related. If everything goes well the rest of the day, my hopes of getting through this job will be stronger. Just as I finish that thought, I am interrupted by a crying waitress dressed in black and white, running through the kitchen.

“Tasha?” I call out. “Are you okay?”

She runs out the back and slams the door. Do I go after her? Without another thought, I wipe my hands on a nearby cloth and walk through the back door to find her sitting on a wooden crate in the alley, her face in her hands.

“Tasha?”

“What do you want?” she mumbles, sobbing.

“I just want to help. What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“No. I’m not. I just got fired.”

“Why? What happened?”

“Just go back to your work. Leave me alone. I have to figure out what I’m going to do. I should have known not to get involved with him.”

She had to be talking about Rocco. Joanne must have found out about them and she fired her. “How long have you been here?”

“If you even care, three years. Just stay out of it.”

She gets up without looking at me and walks away, disappearing around the corner of the building.

I walk back in, determined to help. Joanne is a sweet woman. As soon as I walk into the dining area, I see Joanne disappear into her office so I follow her and knock lightly on her door before entering.

“Come in, how is everything going so far?”

“Good, for me.”

“Ah, you just ran into Tasha.”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.” She clasps her hands together, giving me her full attention.

“I saw Tasha. She was pretty upset after getting fired. Can I ask why you let her go?” I pretend that I don’t know, even though I’m sure I do.

“There are a number of reasons. She has been late twice lately without enough notice and her breakage rate is very high. She is just not cut out for this line of work.”

She knows I know more. “When we hired you, Maddie, I had told you we would be making some pretty big changes. This includes the restaurant and the staff. It is one of the reasons we decided to hire you. Do you have an issue with something?”

“No. I just, I guess I feel bad for her. I want to know the type of situation I am becoming a part of.”

“Okay,” she says, listening for my next bit of discourse.

“I sort of caught her and Rocco together and…”

“And you want to be sure she isn’t being let go because of that?”

Well, when she put it that way, it sounds like I’m divulging more than I should, especially about my boss.

“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to rat them out.”

“Maddie, I’m well aware of my brother’s extra-curricular activities in and outside of this restaurant. But it seems although we both want to see this place succeed, I have been the one working hard in actually trying to make it happen. Recently, something has finally gotten to Rocco enough that he does too. He came to me and recommended that we hire new waitresses to replace the mediocre ones we have been trying to work with. Looks aren’t enough to run a successful restaurant.”

“I agree.”

“We don’t mind paying a little more for quality employees. This is why we hired you. Your school gave you such high recommendations, I couldn’t say no. I am hoping my decision wasn’t made in haste.”

“No, ma’am. I mean, Joanne,” I say with a smile. “I will do my very best.”

“I know you will. Is there anything else?”

“No.”

“Okay, then. I’ll let you get back to your work.”

“Thank you.” I walk out, second guessing my ability to do this job successfully. The actual job itself is not the issue, it is the male boss I have to answer to who worries me most. I need to lay down the law the next time I have the chance, before there is no chance here for me.

I see Rocco walking through the dining area to the kitchen and I take a deep breath. What better time than the present, right?

I walk in behind him and continue my work at the counter, allowing him to do whatever it is he needs to do. I watch him go through the supplies, reading the labels and marking something down on his clipboard as I struggle with the words to say. I sort of said my piece when he chatted to me last night. Was it enough? I watch him and try to read him. He doesn’t look at me or even try to strike up a conversation.

“Can I talk to you, Rocco?” I blurt out.

“Sure,” he says without looking. He continues to take inventory without skipping a beat.

“I saw Tasha earlier. She was really upset.”

“She has a reason to be.” He walks into the back room and continues his inventory there. I follow him, determined to make sure he knows I am not available to him.

“Can I ask you why she was fired?”

“She’s not a very good waitress, never has been.”

“Then why did you keep her on for so long?”

He turns and looks at me, and it isn’t just a look. He penetrates me with his eyes. I feel it deep in my stomach and suddenly, it’s hard to breathe.

“Why do you care what happens to her?”

“She seemed upset. I just…”

“Wanted to help her? Wanted to save her from heartache? We didn’t have any sort of love affair, if that is what you are worried about.”

“I… didn’t mean that.”

“Tasha is a good person. I kept her on because of that. I wasn’t thinking about the restaurant. But I do know I should have let her go a long time ago. She just isn’t a good waitress. I kept her on my staff for the wrong reasons. I guess I was selfish. I know that now, thanks to…” He looks at me and my stomach does a flip. Am I that reason? Everything I want to say to him dissipates into thin air.

“I don’t know what you are talking about?” My body stiffens and my throat constricts around my words. The air feels heavy around me. This wasn’t what I wanted to happen. “You just took me by surprise, that’s all.”

“You shouldn’t lie to me, Maddie.” He looks me straight in the eyes. I want him to kiss me like I imagine him kissing me at night. However, he doesn’t move. The only movement that I can sense is the pounding of my heart and the sound of my pulse in my ears.

“We both know better, don’t we?”

I nod, not knowing what else to do. My mouth is dry and my fingers turn cold. I feel the heat he gives off as he leans into me. His fingers run up my arms causing goosebumps to chase after them. The combination of it all sends my mind spinning. He forces my head up and looks into my eyes and it was all it took. The connection I fought between us since the first time I saw him strengthened and wove itself around us so quickly I lost the reality around me.

He moves in closer until his mouth is covering mine and all I can do is mold myself to him. He wraps his arms around me, pulls me into him and completely dominates me. My surrender betrays me and I am powerless to fight it.

I faintly hear my name in the background, but it doesn’t sink in until Joanne is too close. I only feel Rocco’s body against mine.

“Maddie?”

Rocco moves away from me and picks up his clipboard, pointing at something I couldn’t read and talking gibberish as Joanne walks in. “So, this is where you would write down the inventory we have in stock,” he says. I look up at him and then back at the clipboard. Everything swirls together until I realize he is trying to make the situation look like we are working.

“What are you doing?” Joanne asks, her eyebrows furrowed.

“Teaching Maddie inventory.”

“I don’t want her learning inventory. That is your job. I need her to focus on the menu. Jesus, Rocco, she has only been here a few days.”

I look at Joanne, still spaced out from the quick change of pace. She asks me something but I only hear mumbling. I follow her out of the stockroom and back to my station where I am putting together several pie crusts for the evening’s dessert menu.

“These are what I want for tomorrow evening, Maddie. I know they are a bit difficult to make, but I wanted to get your opinion on them.”

I stare at the recipes before me as reality begins to seep back in. Crème brûlée, lemon meringue pie, baklava and baumkuchen. Is she kidding? Is this some kind of test?

“Um,” I stammer still trying to clear my head. “You want me to make these for tomorrow evening?”

“Yes.” She was curt and expecting me to say yes. “Can you?”

“They are all quite difficult to make and time consuming. If the rest of the menu is fairly simple, I think I can pull it off. I have never made baumkuchen before, but one of my classmates did while I was watching. I think I could do it.”

“That is what I want to hear. I’ll leave you to it then.”

I wait for her to leave before examining the recipes a little closer. “This is going to be impossible.” I look around and see Rocco coming out of the stockroom.

“We should continue our conversation later this evening.”

“No, Rocco. This is a mistake.”

He walks to me, causing my breath to catch in my throat. “This is not a mistake,” he says sounding desperate. “I don’t feel like this if it is a mistake.”

I fight it. I keep my head down and I grit my teeth. “I don’t want anything to do with you unless it pertains to my work. I expect you to honor that.” My body aches for him to touch me again. I want his lips pressed into mine. I want so much more.

“Please go.” I whisper as I grip the counter until he walks out.

Later that evening, Joanne introduces me to a new face.

“This is Nancy. She is starting here with us this evening.”

“Hello, I’m Maddie,” I tell her as I hold out my hand. She is soft spoken but she holds my gaze. She is strikingly beautiful yet holds something behind her toothy smile. “Welcome to the team. I just started a few days ago, myself.”

I don’t like her, but I’m not sure why. I try to let it go. My father always told me to give everyone the benefit of the doubt and that first impressions are almost always wrong. I smile and offer my help if she needs it.

Finishing my shift, I clean my counters and put away my ingredients. I look in the display cases at the lemon meringue pie and the crème brûlée and I smile at a job well done. My hopes are high for the other recipes that I plan to conquer tomorrow.

I walk out of the kitchen and my heart begins to race when I see Rocco standing at a table in the corner. I stop and quietly walk backwards to the kitchen. If I go out the back, I can avoid him. I start to turn around and I hear a woman’s voice giggling from the same corner. He steps back and reveals Nancy, the new girl. I slowly move back in the shadows as I feel my heart drop. She glances over to me and unbuttons the top of her blouse. I force myself to think he is just a playboy rather than face my jealousy and I turn too quickly to go back through the kitchen but I somehow find a way to collide into the wall instead. Rocco looks directly at me and turns away from her.

“Don’t stop on my account. I was just leaving,” I spit and quickly disappear into the kitchen and out the back door. When I finally climb into a cab and have time to think about what just happened, I mentally kick myself in the ass for stopping in the alleyway in hopes that he decides to run after me instead of staying with her.

I shake my head and pray for this stupid crush to pass.