The Sultan's son

8. Onboard

The next afternoon Bernard drove to her house to pick her up. Her parents filled her with recommendations and hugs and her brother asked her to send his regards to Charmant, when she finally managed to stop the greetings, the butler escorted her on board.

“You will work in the kitchen, the chef is quite demanding but that's how you learn, you know? There is a lot to do onboard. It usually happens that the kitchen staff also serves the tables but we can spare you that. "

"Won't my colleagues get upset?"

"Not if you're cleaning the kitchen," he smiled.

"Count on it, I won't hold back." She was a little scared but also euphoric about the new experience. Never in her life would she have thought of having such an opportunity. Only ... she would try to avoid the prince, indeed all the royals to be safe. Of course, she would have been sorry not to have any relationship with Joridey.

Onboard she found the sultan, his wife and his two sons waiting for her. On the sidelines, there were some guys from the staff.

The sultan welcomed her aboard with good wishes for the travel and the work. The child threw himself at her and hugged her. "Can we play together?"

Quarin intervened: "She came aboard to work, Joridey, I'll play with you, come on, turn on the Playstation and I'll be right there."

“Really Quarin? Yay! I go now! See you, Regina!" and ran away.

The prince approached her and whispered to her: “And you pay attention to how you behave. Many accidents can happen, on the ship ... ".

Her skin crawled. 'Holy God, help me, keep this being away from me!'

Bernard did not hear the words of the prince but sensed something and tried to take her away: “Come, miss, this is Iris, one of our maids. And Barska, an assistant cook. Follow me, I'll show you your lodgings. "

"Bernard, a word." said the prince.

"OK, sir. Iris, I put Regina into your hands, take her to her room." And followed the prince.

Barska immediately introduced himself by shaking her hand, he was a boy about 5'8 feet tall, with curls and very dark eyes. He had surprisingly long, thick lashes and a contagious smile. "Listen, Iris, I'll accompany Regina, okay?"

"Mr. Bernard put me in charge, Barska."

"But since she's going to work in the kitchen, she must first meet the assistant cooks, right?"

"Exactly, she will see you every day, no need to rush things, and I don't want to have trouble with Bernard."

Barska walked over to Iris to whisper to her, "I'm doing your cleaning shift tomorrow, okay?" and added in a loud voice: "Come on Iris, I won't tell him if you don't tell him ..." and he raised his eyebrows in anticipation.

The girl nodded: "Fine!", and Barska put his hand on Regina's back: "Come, beauty, this way" and took the suitcase from her hands.

Meanwhile Quarin, having reached a quiet point, turned to the butler: “Bernard, I want you to watch that girl very carefully. We are slipping a stranger into the house, do you understand? I don't want her to go around snooping."

"Yes sir, the girl will be in the custody of Chef Senshaw and will mostly be in the kitchen, you can rest assured."

"Will she be working in the kitchen all day?" he pondered.

“Usually those who work the morning shift don't do the afternoon ones, apart from the chef. It's nine hours of work, from 7 to 14, then the staff alternates with the other shift from 14 to 22. The remaining hours are free. Obviously, during the hours of breakfast, lunch and dinner, they are supported by the wait staff. The contract does not provide for extra hours, the sultan doesn't want to wear out his employees."

"Well, in her case we will make an exception. A tired worker will have less energy for snooping and plotting. When she's not on duty in the kitchen, I want you to put her in cleaning. And she has to work hard, she has to tire and tire well."

"Do you want her to... clean the rooms?"

“Sure, but she doesn't have to go near our studio, there are the jewels, and she doesn't even have to go into the royal rooms. And if you see her chatting with Joridey, call her back to order immediately, discreetly separate them. I don't want my brother to get attached, the less he sees her the better. Ah, very important: turn on the internal camera circuit but don't tell anyone. Do you understand me?"

"Yes master Quarin, I will proceed immediately."

“Good, Bernard, I'm calmer now. I still don't get what my father must have thought of to call that woman aboard. "

A little voice interrupted them: "Quarin, you say you come immediately and then you never come!"

“Sorry, Joridey, I'm coming! Thanks, Bernard. " And with a pat on the back of the butler he walked away.

Regina was very happy with her room, it was much prettier than hers, and even though there were two beds she was alone.

“Barska, was this room empty before? Isn't it that I stole it from someone? "

“Don't worry baby, here stayed Raessa, the sous-chef, and alone because the girls are odd in number. But now she has moved into her brother's room who was also alone. The sultan requested the change, I guess he is very grateful. "

"Oh but I wouldn't have minded sharing the room, I hope it's not a problem for her"

"Don't mention it! Besides, if you wanted to invite a boy to your room, this way you would be free to do so ... I offer myself, if you want! " and winked at her.

She threw up her hands, she liked Barska and was flattered by his compliments too, but he was too straightforward for her liking.

"No thanks, I'm not looking for any relationship, just work!"

"Me neither, darling, but we can always have some fun!"

"I don't care, thanks." she crossed her arms.

"You are no fun" he smiled. “Come on, let's go to Chef Senshaw, he wants to meet you. But first, we have to put on the uniform, on my first day I entered the kitchen without the uniform and he scolded me for good!" And imitating the chef's voice: “Nobody enters the kitchen without a uniform! Go and get dressed decently, and don't ever let yourself here again if you are not dressed like a cook!"

Arriving in the kitchen she noticed that the chef was at the center of a group of six people. She bowed. “Good afternoon Chef. I am Regina."

The chef, who was a Japanese and in his forties, smiled and said: "And I'm the executive-chef Senshaw, young lady. I know you want to learn how to cook. If you follow my instructions to the letter, I will point you in the right direction. Six weeks are short but I have a lot of confidence… in my skills as a teacher! These will be your colleagues. I only demand a few things. Punctuality, order, cleanliness and obedience. If you follow these rules, we will get along well. That being said, the morning group is dismissed, to the others: let's get to work. And you, let's see how you can cut vegetables."

In a blink of an eye, the kitchen turned into a whirlwind of worker bees at work.

At that moment there was a knock and the butler opened the door.

"Halt!" Senshaw said. “You can't go into the kitchen unless I say so! What do you want Bernard? "

"Pardon, chef, I have to talk to the young lady for a moment" and he pointed to Regina.

"Well, the young lady hears you from here, go ahead and talk."

Bernard sighed to gather patience.

"Miss, I wanted to tell you that you will work half a day in the kitchens and the other half a day as a housekeeper. If you can't keep up with the pace, please let me know and I'll see what can be done. "

"No problem, Mr. Bernard, I'll do what I have to"

“But,” the cook intervened, “if that's the plan, I always want her on the morning shift. You don't have to cook tired, things get bad. And the food is much more important than cleaning. From tomorrow, I want her here at 7 o'clock!"

At 7? Wow, she wasn't used to getting up early, it would have been hard. But she wasn't the one to complain. She would get used to it.

"Sure chef, it will be done" she replied.

She was asked to slice some onions and courgettes, but she was absolutely unable to please the chef, who, after scolding her several times, raised his arms and made her grating carrots. She felt so incapable that she doubted that cooking was suited for her.

The sous-chef, Raessa, a tall girl with short blond hair cut in a feminine way, seeing her disheartened, approached and consoled her: "Come on, girl, I worked as a chef for years and when I started working with him, he scolded me too, countless times. He is a perfectionist, you have to learn to do everything well, but it takes time and training. You'll see that you will succeed in it too. "

"My goodness, but he scares me a little. Is he always so serious? "

“I wish he was always so serious! Sometimes he makes some terrible jokes and then he gets angry because we don't laugh… you'll see. " she smiled at her.

She felt a little better, maybe she had an ally she could count on in the kitchen.