Chapter 1: There's a fly in my soup
"Waiter! Waiter, excuse me!" Gabriel Novak groaned internally at the sound of the posh voice beckoning him over. He turned slowly, plastering a fake grin on his face and walked over to the man who was clicking his fingers impatiently to get his attention. These were the sort of customers he, and every other waiting staff on the planet, despised. The typical playboys who lived off a family inheritance and wouldn't know a days work if it flashed them on the subway. Not like this jackass looked like he ever knew what a subway was.
The man had one leg crossed over the other, blocking the aisle and making it more awkward for the other waiters and waitresses to get passed. He was sat with a young woman. A beautiful long haired brunette, with legs that appeared to go on forever. Which was probably a good thing, Gabriel decided, considering her dress looked no bigger than the napkin laid out on the table beside her.
The worst part of the whole situation was that this guy wasn't even sitting in Gabriel's assigned area. Balthazar was his server. But he could see his poor English friend was run off his feet. So Gabriel approached the table and prepared for the worst.
"Yes sir, can I help you?" He asked in the politest way possible.
"I don't know, can you?" The man sneered at him over his wine glass.
"My apologies." Gabriel corrected and folded his hands behind his back slightly. "May I help you?"
"Well, I was just wanting to ask you what rating this restaurant had?" The man enquired. Gabriel could see the man's date, out of the corner of his eye, trying to suppress a giggle. Obviously there was a joke here that he was missing out on. And that sucked because Gabriel loved a good joke.
"I'm sorry, sir, what do you mean by 'rating'?" He asked, trying to keep his face void of all emotions. The man rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed beyond belief.
"What is the star rating on this restaurant?" He snapped angrily.
"Oh!" Gabriel slapped his hand over his face and laughed slightly. "Sorry, sir, this is a five star restaurant."
"Um…no." The man sneered. Gabriel looked at him with slight confusion and frowned. "If this place was a five star restaurant, then the silverware would be polished," he picked up his fork and showed Gabriel a smudge on the edge. Gabriel wanted to argue that that mark could have easily come from this guys fingers. But he remained silent. "The table cloth would be clean," he added pointing to a red mark on the table. Again, Gabriel thought, it could have come from the man's wine glass. "And would you explain to me what that fly is doing in my soup?" Gabriel sighed, stood up straighter and rolled his shoulders back before peering over the table. He really did hate the posh dicks that came into this place.
"I believe it's the backstroke, sir. But I'm not much of a swimmer, could very well be freestyle for all I know." The woman choked on her wine and couldn't prevent the laughter that erupted from her mouth.
"Who the hell do you think you are?!" The man yelled, grabbing the attention of the entire restaurant. "Have you any idea who you're talking to?!"
"Not really, no." Gabriel replied calmly. "I'll have your server bring you another soup on the house. But I would ask that you please keep your voice down. Other people are trying to enjoy a quiet meal." He turned to walk away. Which had been a bad idea. His father had always taught him to never turn his back on the enemy.
He was suddenly covered in lukewarm, sticky chicken and vegetable soup. He could feel it running down the inside of his uniform and had to quickly rub his face to stop it going into his eyes.
"I make more money in a hour than you would in a year. You should show me some respect." The man sneered at him. Gabriel turned slowly, staring at the man like he was on the verge of murdering him. He took a step forward but, before he could do anything, he felt a hand grab his arm.
"It's not worth it, Gabe. You hit him and you'll loose your job." Balthazar warned, keeping a firm grip on him.
"You know what." Gabriel replied with a smirk. "You're absolutely right." He walked over to the guy and smiled. "Your food is on me tonight, sir." That earned a laugh or two. "I'm so sorry for any inconvenience I caused you and your lovely date." The jackass smiled like he'd just won the lottery. "We're all good, right?"
"Sure." Jackass replied. "I'm just glad you finally know your place."
"Me too." Gabriel grinned and Balthazar could see the evil plan forming in his head. "Come on, hug it out." The yells of the customer, as he was suddenly wrapped in a soup-y hug, sent the entire restaurant into fits of uncontrollable laughter. Needless to say, the boss took all expenses out of Gabriel's wages that day.
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"Do you think you'll ever have a day when you aren't pissing someone off?" Balthazar asked, as he took a long draw from his cigarette. Gabriel stood to one side, batting the flies away from the mess on his clothes. He had managed to wash most of it out of his hair, but Naomi had insisted they were too busy for him to leave. She was currently searching for another shirt for him to wear, as the other one was bringing more bugs into the restaurant.
"My days are far less entertaining if I'm not pissing someone off." He retorted and yelled "fuck off" to the next fly that tried to land on his shoulder.
Balthazar smirked around the bottle of beer he had stolen from the kitchen. Naomi had ushered them both outside when the customer had complained, loudly enough for most of the city to hear him. The only reason that Gabriel still had his job was because other customers spoke up about what they had witnessed. He suspected most of them just didn't want to wait any longer for their meals.
"All right!" They both jumped slightly when Naomi appeared. "Hope you're paying for that." She hissed at Balthazar, as he tried to discreetly hide the bottle. "Here, this is the best I could do. You both have ten more minutes on your breaks and then I want you back out there." She turned and headed back inside not waiting for a response.
"Someone seriously needs to get laid." Balthazar huffed and passed the beer to Gabriel, as he lit another cigarette. "How are your savings going?"
Gabriel rolled his eyes slightly and moved to lean against the wall next to his friend. It was no secret that Gabriel didn't want to spend the rest of his life as a waiter. The pay was good and the tips always helped, when he got any. But what he really wanted was to open his own bakery. He and Balthazar would talk about it for hours over what they wanted. Balthazar wanted to open his own Bistro. He hated high class restaurants and their outrageous prices. The two of them had sat and joked about buying two properties, side by side, and knocking a wall in to make it one big establishment. Balthazar cooking to his hearts content and Gabriel dishing up dessert. But so far, their dreams were just that. Dreams.
"Every time I get anywhere with putting money away, something comes up. Thankfully, after tonight, I'm up to date on rent. Got the money in the back ready to go to the bank tomorrow." He grinned feeling happy that at least one problem was being solved.
"You'll get there, Gabe. We both will." Balthazar patted his shoulder lightly and headed towards the door, taking one final draw from his cigarette before discarding it. Gabriel sighed again and lifted the shirt Naomi had found for him. He opened it and could hear Balthazar laughing, as he quickly rushed inside.
"Where the fuck did she go to get this?! Up a fucking beanstalk!?"
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The rest of the night appeared to be running smoothly. Any of the customers, who had witnessed the attack on Gabriel, left an extra big tip for him. The money was quickly stowed into his back pocket before Naomi spotted it and snatched it away for damage costs. There were only a few people left and most of the staff had already closed off their section to be cleaned down for the night.
Gabriel had just finished removing the last of the dishes from his final table when a loud bang shook the whole building.
"The hell was that?" Benny, the head chef, yelled. He had come out to talk to Naomi, leaving the kitchen to his Sous chef for a few moments. He went to run back in but Naomi grabbed him and pulled him back. Smoke was already pouring out of the hatch leading into the kitchen and they could see the yellow flames already touching the ceiling.
"Everybody out!" Benny yelled and suddenly the staff and customers were running for cover, as smoke began surrounding them.
Gabriel grabbed the fire extinguisher and ran to the sounds of screaming. There were still staff trapped in the kitchen and he had to do something to get them out. Two teenaged girls, cleaners, and the Sous chef, Anna, were trapped on the other side of the flames.
"When I tell you to, run towards me!" Gabriel called over the roar of the flames, feeling his throat constrict against the smoke he was inhaling. Anna grabbed hold of the two terrified girls and Gabriel began spraying at the flames. "RUN!"
They were at his side in no time and running out the door. Gabriel turned to follow them, when his eyes widened in panic. He could see his jacket on the other side, still untouched by the flames. He had left his money inside it. He knew his landlord would make no exception to loss of rent this time. He sprayed the hose from the fire extinguisher again and raced towards it.
The smoke was starting to cloud his vision and he was having difficulty breathing. He pulled on the jacket, sweat soaking his arms, making it near impossible to get it over them.
"Hey!" He looked up to see two figures through the smoke. "Hang on, we'll get you out!" A male voice called out to him. They began putting out the flames and making their way towards him. Gabriel slumped against the wall, black dots dancing across his eyes. 'What a shit place to die in' he thought when he felt two strong arms wrap around him and carry him outside. The man holding him up had the full protective suit on, so Gabriel could barely see his face.
He felt himself being lowered to the ground and suddenly a mask was placed over his mouth and nose, allowing him to get deep breaths of fresh air into his lungs. He looked up at the fireman, ready to try and voice his thanks, when the poor guy was shoved out of the way by a frantic Balthazar.
"You're alive?" He screamed and then proceeded to shake Gabriel mercilessly. "You dumb shit! What the hell is wrong with you? You were just gonna die and let me spend the rest of my life with these miserable bastards!" Gabriel just grinned at him and lightly patted his face. If he had been in any fit state, he would have mocked Balthazar for tearing up. But at this moment, it just felt nice to know that at least one person cared.
"Sir, you need to step back and give him some space." Gabriel turned his head slightly when the fireman came back into view. 'Holy shit' his mind practically screamed. Of all the times for a hot as hell man to be almost lying on top of him and Gabriel couldn't even form words. Hell, he could barely remain conscious. Although it was nice to get a small look at his saviour, now that the guy had pulled off his helmet and mask to properly check Gabriel over.
The last thing he saw, before he blacked out, was the most amazing eyes he had ever seen. The fireman was talking to him, face coming in closer and Gabriel's instincts told him that he should try and kiss the hot guy that saved him. Instead his dizziness won out and he slipped into darkness. Damn!