Not A Love At First Sight...

Chapter 13

Kelly got very early to work and Xavier was so pleased with this. She even got to the restaurant before him and was already getting started with some dishes on the menu. Xavier stood for a minute at the door and was quietly observing with a fixated smile on his face. Kelly didn't notice this until she turned back to get a knife that she saw her boss standing there.

She quickly dropped the knife and was going to apologize for her tardiness the previous day but Xavier stopped her. He signalled her to go on with the cooking and then approached her instead.

"Well, someone found their groove back. I'm glad to see your back to your old efficient self." He chimed in with a broad smile which made Kelly let out a subtle blush. She replied with a proper apology after which Xavier grabbed an apron too and started cooking too.

Andrea arrived not too long after then. The other chefs and interns arrived too. By this time, Xavier had already left the kitchen to attend to other things while leaving his sous chef, Kelly, to handle things...

"You know I could have swore you would get here before me." Kelly said to Andrea immediately joined her as she arrived.

"I know right, I had to make a brief stop at Steve's apartment on my way here." Andrea replied.

"His apartment? I thought you said you two are moving in together? Don't tell me you've changed your mind." Kelly asked.

"Of course not, why would I change my mind?" Andrea replied with much curiosity as she wondered what could be going through Kelly's mind to make her ask that.

"I don't know, probably because moving in together didn't work so well for me." Kelly replied which made Andrea stop briefly and look at her with much concern. Kelly smirked when she saw this.

"I'm fine, so quit the pity party already." She chimed in while Andrea chuckled and continued cooking. They are fond of gisting while cooking bit it never reduced their productivity. After Kelly, Andrea is the next when it comes to attending to orders in a light of speed, and that's why their little chitchat has never been an issue.

"Trust me, the last thing on my mind is throwing a party, let alone a pity party. For the record, I didn't change my mind. Steve is still living in with me, next week." Andrea explained while Kelly let out a little smile.

"I can't wait really, at least you would be busy with him and ease up on the new frolicking love you just got for me." Kelly replied in a funny way.

"Table two!!!" She called out almost immediately and slid the plate over the other counter. A waiter grabbed it and plated it in a tray before heading out of the kitchen.

"Are you sure that's the order? It looks like its missing something." Andrea asked as she turned back to check the food but the waiter was at the door already so she just assumed it was her mind playing tricks on her.

"Hmmmmmmn... Someone's thinking about their boyfriend so much and now starting to show it." Kelly taunted in a rhythmic tone.

"I take that as a compliment." Andrea replied and then called out as well. She was done with the order which was swiftly passed to the waiter.

The waiter had barely made it past them when the first one rushed in, wearing a seemingly down face while holding out the tray. Andrea who was the looking in the direction was the first to see and then tapped Kelly to look. She did and then immediately stepped over to the other counter where they interact with the others. Only chefs are allowed on their side of the kitchen.

"Chef Kelly," the waiter called she while carefully pushed back the plate and held the tray over her chest.

"What's the problem?" Kelly asked almost immediately.

"I think you mixed up the order or something. This wasn't what the order." The waiter answered while Kelly got confused. Andrea too.

"What? How's that even possible?" Kelly exclaimed while she turned to her friend who also has the same question. It was then that it occurred to Andrea that her mind wasn't playing tricks on her and was actually looking out for her friend. She wasn't being paranoid, there was really something missing in the food. To avoid creating a scene, Andrea quickly told the waiter to give them a few minutes to whip another plate up. Thankfully, the customer was rather a nice one and didn't take an offence. Instead, was willing to wait for the order to be rightly done.

In no time, Kelly had passed the plate to the waiter who in turn hurried to the dining hall.

Two minutes later, and the kitchen door flung open. It was the same waiter heading towards the two friends. This time, she didn't wait to get to them before calling out Kelly which got the attention of the others. They looked in the direction and it was starting to get awkward. That wasn't the waiter's intention, she was only eager to let Kelly know it was rejected again.

"Again??" Andrea exclaimed while Kelly just stood there watching with so much mixed reaction. This isn't even a new or difficult recipe, so how could she possibly get it wrong twice.

Andrea grabbed a spoon and tasted the food. Her look said it all. It was that bad. She asked Kelly to go apologize to the customer while she attends to the order. Kelly did as she said and by the time she was back, Andrea was ready.

"Are you good?" Andrea asked when Kelly got back. She insisted on taking the food to the customer herself.

"I really don't know, how did I..." Andrea didn't let her get past this before she interrupted her.

"Nah, Nah, Nah... Not today. There's no room for self doubts here. You can take a minute to relax but I won't let you do that to yourself." Andrea said firmly...