"God damn, I'm going to be late, Chef is going to kill me!" Sadie Webb swore loudly as she wove her way through the crowded streets of London. Her phone began to ring from somewhere in the depths of her bag as she ran across the street. Sadie let out a string of curse words that would make a sailor blush as she rummaged one handed in her large slouchy bag. A woman with her small child glared at Sadie as she pulled her son away. She flipped her vibrant red hair out of her face and held the phone to her ear.
"Sadie, where are you? We've got a business brunch and no one to make their omelettes!" Her coworker Brian hissed into the phone. Sadie could just imagine him crouched behind the sink, trying to hide from their boss, the Grouch. The Grouch made Gordon Ramsay look like a culinary saint.
"Sorry, had a crap morning, I'm on my way!" She snapped irritably, startling an old man giving her the perv-eye.
"Oi, what's that you're doing, soup man?!" She heard the Grouch bellow. Sadie winced and hurried up, racing to catch a red light so she could cross traffic.
"Nothing, dropped a spoon, Chef!" He called nervously. "Seriously Sadie, I don't know what you're playing at, just be here!" Sadie swore magnificently as Brian hung up. Today was turning out to be the shittiest day she'd had in a long time. First, she slept late because her electricity was shut off, and then, she'd found that (after she got in the shower) the water had been turned off as well. She knew she should have paid those damn bills on time.
Sadie was 20 years old, and lived in a two room flat in London, by herself. She'd been saving for it since secondary school, and she'd come to London to get a job in the culinary business, as there really weren't many jobs as a chef in Oldham, Manchester, where she'd grew up. She had no family, except her bastard father, who'd left their family when she was fourteen and ran off to Los Angeles to marry an actress or some such thing. She'd never heard from him again, but she highly doubted that had worked out for him. Her mood darkened even more when she considered where her d-bag of a father was now. She checked the time on her cell-phone and swore loudly again. She had a bit of a swearing problem. Sadie picked up her speed as best she could, weaving through the crowds like quicksilver. She glanced down as her phone beeped, showing a text from Brian. Cursing under her breath, Sadie sped up, slamming into someone and flying to the hard asphalt. She landed on her shoulder and heard a sickening popping squelching noise, and then an overwhelming wall of pain that clouded her vision. Sadie gasped in agony as she dimly noticed that the person she had smashed into was picking himself up and gathering what looked to be a bag of groceries he had been carrying, helped by someone on the street. A few people crowded around her, tittering.
"Do you think she's alright? Oh dear, she was really moving there, wasn't she?"
"It looks like something's wrong with her arm, oh Esther, look, her shoulder's gone all funny!" Sadie groaned as tears gathered in her eyes, it felt as though someone had ripped her arm off. The man she had knocked into came over to her, anguish in his dark eyes.
"Are you okay? Oh my god, I'm so sorry! Is your arm okay? Oh my god, I'm really sorry!" He said in a London accent. He leaned over her, and she noticed his eyes were a rather pleasant chocolate shade. He had blond hair which was casually tousled into every direction, and a strong jaw and nose. Sadie groaned again and tried to sit up, however, she jostled her arm and quickly fell back to the pavement, wincing.
"Oh my god, you're really hurt! I'm taking you to the hospital! I'm so, so sorry!" He said, looking as though he'd just hit a puppy with a car. A man from the gathering crowd around them stepped in to help the blond guy lift Sadie as they cleared a path to his car, which apparently he'd been getting into when she bulldozed him to the ground. They did their best, but Sadie had been teetering on the edge of passing out for a while, when her arm hit against the door of his small blue car, she passed out.
Sadie opened her eyes to find herself in a rather plain white room, with a window covered by blinds. There was light streaming through the cracks. She was lying in a light blue hospital bed, and in the corner she saw the man who'd she'd run into sleeping in a green plastic chair. She gave a weak smile at his Darth Vader t-shirt, as she happened to be quite a fan of Star Wars herself. She shifted and winced as her left shoulder gave a ringing note of sharp pain, before settling into a steady, nauseating ache. A middle-aged, matronly woman bustled in at once.
"Oh dearie, don't move about so much, your shoulder must be aching pretty awfully right about now. It's no wonder it does, you horribly dislocated your shoulder." She said in a comforting voice that reminded Sadie a bit of her mother, who'd died about six years ago. She cleared her mind of those depressing thoughts.
"Thanks, is it better now ma'am?" She asked politely. The nurse smiled.
"It is, yeah, but you'll have to take it easy for about a week. You're quite lucky, you almost severed a nerve, which would've meant you couldn't use that arm anymore."
Sadie's eyes widened. The nurse chuckled at her reaction. "Not to worry dear, you're perfectly fine now, but we've got some medication you're going to want to take every twelve hours, to numb the ache a bit. This young man here insisted on staying until you woke up, he kept saying he felt terrible about it, did you two get into a fight or something?" She asked curiously. Sadie felt terrible. She had smashed into him, and all he kept saying was that it was his entire fault. She grimaced. Once he woke up, she'd apologize for taking up his time, and ruining his day. SHIT! Sadie realized she'd missed work. She looked around for her purse. She needed to call the Grouch, NOW, if she was going to beg for her job. She spotted it on the floor a few feet away. She couldn't get out of bed, but she really didn't want to wake up the guy just to ask him to hand her her purse. The nurse was gone, but she had the feeling if she got up, she'd be back in a heartbeat. Sadie frowned. She'd rather not wake the guy when he'd already done so much for her. Suddenly two guys about his age opened the door and crept over to him, from their angle, Sadie expected she looked like she was still asleep, as she had flopped back onto her pillow. One was about her height, she expected, with dirty blonde hair and a hint of a colorful tattoo peeking out from under his blink-182 shirt. She inwardly squealed. She had always wanted that shirt! They didn't sell it anymore! This guy slumped into the seat next to her blond guy. Her? The other was tall, with a dark brown sort-of mohawk and five o'clock shadow. Mohawk leaned over Blondie and poked him softly on the cheek. Tattoo grinned at Mohawk and licked a long trail up the side of Blondie, sending him, spluttering, into consciousness. Sadie hid a grin. These guys must be Blondie's friends? She guessed.
"Ugh, Dougie!" Blondie whispered, wiping his face emphatically. Dougie grinned and leaned back in the chair. Mohawk slid down the wall and sat next to Blondie on the floor.
"So Tom, who's the stray?" Mohawk asked in a slightly posh accent. Tom glanced over at her, and Sadie quickly pretended to be asleep. Apparently fooled, 'Tom' turned back to Mohawk. The guy named Dougie had one earbud in, listening to Tom and his iPod.
"I was walking out to the car with the groceries, when this girl comes running down the street, cursing like a sailor, and we ran into eachother! She dislocated her shoulder when she fell, and apparently she didn't have an emergency contact so they asked me to stay." Tom said. Sadie blushed, still feigning sleep. She shifted in her 'sleep', turning towards them, so she could hear better. She opened her eyes only a tiny fraction so she could just see a blurred outline of them through her long lashes, but it still looked like her eyes were closed. They all looked over at her, curious. "They put here in here, then, oooohhh it was gross, they just grabbed her shoulder, she was passed out by this point," Sadie listened closely, as she hadn't known what had gone on. "And they just shoved it back into place! It was the worst sound I think I've ever heard, like a squelching, scraping, popping noise!" Tom said, wincing. Sadie turned slightly gray thinking about it, and was glad she'd been unconscious. She vaguely saw Dougie give a shiver.
"That's disgusting, man. So when are you coming home?" Sadie felt her eyelids getting heavier, and as the boys' conversation took a boring turn, she fell back asleep.
Sadie woke up again, and the lights were on in her room now. There was no sunlight coming from the window, and she guessed it must be nighttime. Sadie sat up, rubbing her eyes, and noticed Tom was awake, doing something on an iPhone. She smiled at his concentrated expression as he tip-tapped away. She rolled her neck and it cracked loudly, she winced and Tom sat up straight, putting down his phone.
"Are you okay? You've been asleep all day. I'm Tom, by the way. The idiot who ran you over." He said sheepishly. Sadie gaped at him.
"I'm Sadie. You do realize I completely ran into you, right? I didn't even see you, and I fully bulldozed you into the pavement!" She said in protest. He grimaced, rubbing his nose.
"You did, sort of, I suppose." He grinned. Sadie laughed.
"Too right I did. So, I'm sorry, I was just really late for- SHIT!" Sadie swore loudly and threw the covers off. Tom quickly moved over to her, but jumped away again as she leapt out of bed and grabbed her purse. She retrieved her phone and with a sinking heart, saw five new messages and three missed calls.
"REALLY, there's no call for that sort of- Excuse me, miss, please stay in your bed!" The motherly nurse had come bustling in and seen Sadie on the floor with her purse. "I'm afraid we must ask you to stay in bed until we discharge you!" The nurse said sternly. Sadie blushed crimson and got back in bed, her phone behind her back.
"I'm very sorry, ma'am. When will I be discharged? I really feel fine." The nurse eyed her skeptically, hands on hips.
"I'll have to go speak with the doctor, but you seem to be fine. Ideally, we can have you out of here in half an hour." The woman said, before turning on her heel and strode out. Sadie groaned, running her fingers through her messy red hair. Tom's thick, abnormally dark eyebrows had risen dramatically as he swung the green plastic chair to her bedside, and sat in it.
"What was that about?" He asked, bemused. Sadie swore quietly again before slumping back onto her propped up pillows.
"I was late for work, and now I've missed work, and my boss is probably going to fire me." She said glumly. Tom hissed in sympathy.
"I'm sure they wouldn't fire you if went to the hospital, would they?" Sadie grimaced.
"He would. He's like Gordon Ramsay's evil twin." She said. Tom smiled.
"Are you a waitress then?" He asked curiously. Sadie shook her head.
"Nah, I'm a chef. I work at L'Elysée de Nourriture." She said, and then corrected herself. "Used to work at." Tom shrugged.
"You never know until you check." Sadie rolled her eyes and flipped open her phone.
"Yes, thank you for the advice Yoda." She muttered under her breath, dialing her voicemail. Tom laughed at her bad joke, and she remembered he was a Star Wars fan. Sadie set the phone on speaker; it hurt her shoulder to hold it to her ear.
Please enter your password, then press pound. Sadie entered her password with bated breath, glancing at Tom, face set. He leaned over to hear.
You have two new messages. First voice message:
Oi, Webb! You're an hour and a half late for work, and I had to get the damn garbage boy to fill in for you; he ruined the flambé and set his station on fire! Do you know what kind of ratings that'll get me? We could LOSE A STAR FOR THIS, WEBB! You've got two minutes to be here, or else!"
Second voice message:
WEBB. I DON'T KNOW WHERE THE HELL YOU ARE, AND I DON'T BLOODY CARE. YOU'RE FIRED! TURNS OUT A FUCKING CRITIC WAS HERE WHEN IT ALL WENT UP IN FLAMES, AND BEFORE SHE LEFT TO WRITE HER RESTAURANT-RUINING REPORT, I MADE SURE TO MENTION THAT IT WAS THE IDIOT SADIE WEBB WHO SCREWED UP! YOU'LL NEVER GET A JOB IN ANY RESTAURANT IN THE CITY NOW, SO WHILE YOU'RE SERVING SLOP IN A SCHOOL BACK IN BOLTON, OR WHEREVER YOU'RE FROM, YOU'LL WISH YOU HADN'T SCREWED THIS ONE UP!"
Beeeeep.
Sadie snapped her phone shut and turned to face Tom, her blue eyes bright with unshed tears of anger. Tom looked at her in total anguish.
"Sadie, I am so sorry, I don't know how to make it up to you, but I am so, so, so, SO SORRY!" He said, wringing his hands. Sadie gave a grim smile.
"It's really okay, Tom. I hated that place anyway. I told myself I'd never go back home, but now I suppose I'll have to, they'd let me work somewhere up there." She said, and immediately felt terrible as Tom's face fell to frightening depths of guilt.
"I'll employ you." He said determinedly. Sadie gaped.
"What? What the hell do you mean, you'll employ me? What does a twenty-something guy like you need with a chef?" Tom grinned, showing off a single dimple.
"What twenty-something guy DOESN'T want a chef?" Sadie looked at him as though he was crazy.
"Tom, chefs are expensive, and how would I get to your house, I don't have a car!" Tom was getting excited about this idea now.
"I've got a big guest apartment, and you could live there and cook for us!" He said eagerly. Sadie frowned at him. The idea of being a live-in servant didn't particularly appeal to her, but she knew Chef Grouch would make good on his word, there wouldn't be a job for her in the entire city by tomorrow morning.
"How do I know you're not a crazy psycho-pervert who's going to take me home and rape me?" Sadie asked skeptically. Tom laughed.
"I've had the same girlfriend for four years, and we're engaged. She's beautiful… Look, I feel terrible that I've ruined your career, and I promise I'll pay you lots of money. I'd already been thinking I'd need a cook to feed my brood." Sadie raised her brows. He looked a little young for a brood of children, but true love was true love, and by the way Tom's eyes had gone all starry for a second, talking about his girlfriend, she guessed this must be the real deal.
"I suppose I've got no other options, have I? But I'm not calling you sir, or bringing you breakfast in bed." She said warningly. Tom laughed again, and stood up.
"Great! Here's my address and my phone number so you can call me and let me know when you're moving in. Whenever's fine." Sadie laughed as he handed her a scrap of paper with his address on it.
"How do you know I'm not a psychopath?" She asked him, grinning. Tom grinned, flashing his dimple again.
"You like Star Wars. You can't be all that bad."
