"Awesome! I can't wait to put it together!" Elliot said with a huge smile, shaking hands with the head chef. He liked the head chef. He was a good man, a better cook, and an instant friend. Elliot had come looking for work when he'd flunked out of the police Academy. The head chef instantly put him on the floor and he's been working there ever since, moving up the positions to Saucier, and trying to save up the cash to have a place of his own someday. With that Elliot got to work, the old friends parting with smiles. Elliot finished taking inventory, and brought all his supplies, which included all the spices, oils, and vegetables necessary for the sauce. Elliot set the burner very low and started with oil. You always cooked a little just for yourself to make sure it tasted good, couldn't have you serving the customers crap. He brought the oil up to temperature, throwing in some arugula and tomatoes. He let them simmer for almost an hour, letting all of the flavor drain out of them before he skimmed the sauce for the large, lobed arugula leaves. After that, Elliot spiced it. He hit it with the standard oregano, parsley, garlic, and thyme and all the other boring things that go into a tomato sauce, but he also snuck in the smallest amount of cayenne pepper. Tasting it, he found his intuition to be correct, it was deliciously spicy, but not too hot. Finally, Elliot set about producing the sauce in volume. He kept the same pan, but quadrupled the amount of ingredients, and finally, the saucepan was full of a spicy delicious sauce that would go excellent with the meat and pasta. It had been a few hours, but it was lunch time. Elliot called over to the Grill asking about the meat. Sure enough, the first set had gone through and it was time to eat. Of course, that wasn't all there was to eat, the place had all your standard fare, local favorites and all that. The special changed from day to day, as it always did, and luckily, Elliot had been honored with its preparation for the last three weeks.
Chefs, unlike the people who eat at the restaurant have to eat well before the rush so they're not hungry during prime time. Sure enough, the plates all went around and everyone was impressed. It was delicious. "Fantastic job Elliot! Keep this up and I'll think you're gunning for my job!" The head chef exclaimed, bursting into laughter, and the whole kitchen following suite. Elliot laughed too, he knew it was lighthearted. "You flatter me!" Elliot said, "I'm not good enough for that kind of responsibility yet, however, by the time I save up enough, maybe you'll have pounded some skill into my thick head, eh?" Elliot said, referencing the head chef's own words when Elliot had told him his dream. "Aye lad! That I will! Now go on and fetch your apron, you're calling tonight, and I need you on wait staff, poor Reinholdt got sick. Anyhow, I'll have a swing keep an eye on your sauce and we'll play it by ear, don't hold back on the accelerare if it's getting hectic out there." Elliot nodded. Caller was a huge responsibility. It meant he'd take orders as well as put them in at specific times so a table's meals would all get to the table at the same time. Elliot felt proud that the head chef had enough respect for him to make him caller tonight. It was an honor. Elliot went into the back, got dressed in waiter's black and put on his apron, filling one pocket with pencils, another with silverware, and placing a notepad in the last pocket. Lunch rush was starting in a few hours, Elliot felt the excitement starting to get to him. He'd made an excellent sauce and he was calling. Elliot was off to a great start.
~~~~~
Thanks to Elliot’s expert calling and delicious special, the lunch rush had been one of the more prosperous that the restaurant had ever seen. Once lunch was finished, Elliot had a break. The restaurant closed for a few hours while the head chef thought up the dinner special and forced Elliot to get out of the restaurant and get a bite to eat. He said Elliot was running himself into the ground and it was why he was so skinny. Elliot smiled and joked with the old man, saying it was because he worked out and didn’t live with his hand in a cookie jar. They laughed for a while before the head chef literally picked up and threw Elliot from the establishment, saying that Elliot would get a page when it was time to come back. Elliot checked his watch. It was just about three o'clock. He had just enough time to head on down to his friend’s school for a quick meeting before he had to be back for the dinner rush. Elliot took his time, bumming around the quirkier parts of the downtown area and talking with some interesting people before heading over to the school. It was roughly five o’clock, but Elliot didn’t mind. He hadn’t gotten his page yet, and if the bossman needed him, he would call. Elliot strolled nonchalantly into the school and found the meeting room. He knocked on the door frame and peeked inside. “This the right place?” He asked innocently, smiling. “I hope I’m not disturbing something… revolutionary… You naughty kids. Heya Taryn!” Elliot said, equal parts of silliness and genuine idiocy pervading his speech patterns. Elliot was nothing if not a goofball. He walked over to his good friend and sat, his feet and legs hanging off one of the armrests of the chair and his head lolling off the other. He spun himself and giggled at the vertigo. “We starting soon? I gotta head back to work eventually.” Elliot asked, growing impatient.