Carmen de la Pica Morales, or as her shiny gold nametag read, "Carmen Morales, F&B Assistant Manager", looked herself over in the floor to ceiling mirror of the Excelsior Restaurant in the Hotel Sovereign. She patted down her two-piece Anne Klein black skirt suit, picking a stray hair from her formal jacket top and adjusting her above-the-knee hip hugging skirt. When she was sure her suit looked immaculate, she ran her hand through her neatly brushed hair that was held by a simple and stylish bun. Satisfied at how she looked, Carmen picked up her folder and took in a deep breath. She lifted her shoulders confidently and strutted into the restaurant's kitchen.
"Oh god. Here she comes again." Alice Pieszecki, a pastry chef at the restaurant rolled her eyes. She nudged her boss, Shane McCutheon, and pointed out at the Latina walking into the kitchen. As soon as she caught sight of the beautiful F&B assistant manager, her eyes was fixated onto the exceptional gorgeous body. Carmen stopped in front of the head Chef of the hotel, Kit Porter and started to discuss some work seriously.
"What's up with her anyway. She acts like she owns the goddamn kitchen." Alice snorted in disdain, "She's not even the freaking manager."
"Stop, Al." Shane tore her eyes away from the elegant figure that her eyes were feasting on, long enough to shoot a disapproving look at Alice. "She's just doing her job."
"Yeah. Doing her job of making our lives hell." Alice added before she saw Shane's look. "Fine fine." She said, walking away as she saw the Latina making her way over.
"Miss McCutheon." Carmen said as she approached the Head Pastry Chef. Her look serious and confident. Lazily, Shane looked up from the dough she was kneading, trying her best to act as if she wasn't ogling at the gorgeous Latina. "Yes, Miss Morales?"
It took a lot of will not to touch the porcelain skin in front of her. The smooth, silky feel was all Carmen could think about. She was hoping the strong hands kneading the dough would knead every part of her body. But now she had work to do, she cleared her throat and put on her most businesslike voice. "We have just accepted a last minute banquet that Miss Peabody is throwing here at the Excelsior. There is an order of 30,000 sweets for this Saturday."
"Thirty thousand! Are you crazy! It's two days away!" Alice, who had overheard the order, shouted, running over to voice her protest.
"No, Miss Pieszecki, I'm not crazy. Miss Peabody had also ordered her favorite diamond Oregon Black and White Mousse Yogurt Biscuits that Miss McCutheon is famous for."
"You know that's impossible! It has to sit for at least a day before it is ready. We don't have the ingredients too." Shane finally protested, feeling annoyed for the first time.
"Well, then I suggest getting to work immediately. This is the list of pastries and sweets that Miss Peabody had ordered." Carmen stated, handing Shane a piece of paper. Shane looked over the dreaded paper, staring at it in disbelief.
"Five thousand of the Oregon biscuits? Three thousand Baby Truffles? Come'n Carmen, there isn't enough time."
"Miss Peabody won the bid to hold the banquet from Hotel Angelo, because of some problems. It is for all the F&B management from all across the country. They are here solely for your sweets, so be sure to do a good job."
"Fuck!" Alice murmured under her breath, she turned away when she caught the look of disdain on Carmen's face.
Carmen decided to ignore Alice's look and directed her question to Shane. "Miss McCutheon, what kind of assistance do you need to make this possible?" Carmen asked, softening her stance.
"I need a purchaser and a van to get the ingredients." Shane said calmly, still looking at the list in her hand.
"Thank you." Carmen said, relieved that Shane was not going to make her job difficult. "I'll get it ready in 15mins, is that okay?"
"Yes."
Carmen nodded as she straighten up again, "Miss McCutheon. Miss Pieszecki." She bid her leave.
As soon as Carmen was out of earshot, Alice started to protest. "Shane, are you insane! How can you agree to this? We'll have to work round the clock to get this done."
"What am I suppose to do?" Shane asked as she slammed the list down. She turned her tired eyes up at Alice, "It's beyond our control, if Helena Peabody ordered it, there's nothing we can do."
"She could have helped us fight our case." Alice snorted as she lifted her head in the direction Carmen walked off to.
"Al, like you said, she doesn't own the place. She's just doing her job." Shane sighed, throwing a lingering look at the door Carmen disappeared through.
"Well, she could have been nicer about it." Alice grumbled. "And Miss Peabody could have spoken to us directly."
Shane ignored her assistant as she started to calculate the amount of ingredients she needed. "Jenny, could you take stock of the existing ingredients?" Jenny, her other assistant nodded and went into the store, "Alice, quit grumbling and calculate the number of eggs we need for all the different sweets."
Alice lifted her hands up in exasperation, knowing she was protesting a losing battle, "Fine. Let's get cracking then, pun intended."
Shane lifted her keys to her apartment door. She had finished work 4 hours later than expected with that huge last minute order. Her entire body ached and her eyes were so tired she could just rest her head on the door and fall asleep standing.
The minute she opened the door, the strong aroma of the Pozole stew filled her nose. She slowly made her way to the kitchen and found the love of her life bent over a pot on the stove. Her love had a sexy ass in bod shorts, stripped off of the confining suit skirt; and a beautiful back, free of the layers of clothing except for a tight-fit tank top. The hair, no longer bunned up, flowed freely around her shoulders. Shane stared appreciatively at the sight in front of her, leaning on the kitchen doorframe for support. Her heart started to race as she saw her love tugged her loose hair behind her ear as she scooped a mouthful of stew to taste. Her love moaned her satisfaction at the stew, and Shane wanted to devour her to hear more of her moans.
As if sensing someone watching her, the sexy lady turned and jumped when she saw Shane staring at her. "Baby! You scared me."
"Sorry," Shane shrugged as she made her way towards her love, gathering her in her arms and burying her head in her girlfriend's shoulder.
"Had a long day?"
"You know I did."
"… I'm sorry baby! Was I too hard on you?"
"Yes you were Carm."
Carmen ran her soothing hand on Shane's back. "I'm sorry I was so hard on you. I was just doing my job."
"Yeah, I know, but you could be nicer," Shane pouted, sighing in her girlfriend's arms.
Carmen lifted her girlfriend's head up, "I'm sorry, baby. I'm sorry…" She placed a kiss on the chef's cheek, "Let me take care of you tonight," Another kiss nearer to her girlfriend's lips. "Let me make it up to you."
"Mmm…." Shane hummed her approval as she claimed her girlfriend's lips. She had wanted to do that the entire day, but she had to wait, wait till they were both home and away from the public eye, and now, she devoured the lips that had eluded her the entire day.
Carmen pulled her lips away from her love's and Shane groaned her protest. "Come, you take a seat on the couch, and dinner will be ready soon." Carmen held Shane's hands in her own and flashed her a wide smile. "I want to take care of you tonight, give you a massage. You are my queen tonight."
Shane sighed as she allowed her girlfriend to lead her to the couch, plonking down onto it as Carmen patted a cushion and put it behind Shane, keeping her word about making her as comfortable as possible. Carmen retrieved the remote control from the top of the television and placed it in Shane's hand, then she lifted Shane's tired feet off the floor and placed it on the table before her, taking off her shoes slowly. After she was sure Shane was settled in, she flashed her a disarming smile and gave her a quick kiss before sashaying away into the kitchen.
"This is delicious." Shane said as she leaned back onto the chair. They have discussed about the day's events throughout the meal, and understood that the F&B manager Tina Kennard, Carmen's boss was adamant about the kitchen being able to fill out the order. Carmen tried to reason with both Helena Peabody and Tina Kennard, but there was nothing more she could do.
"Thank you babe, just what I need." Shane grinned as she saw the gleaming pride on her girlfriend's face.
Carmen cleared the dishes and led Shane back into the living room once again. She forced Shane to lay on her front on the couch and proceeded to saddle her bottom.
Slowly, Carmen kneaded her fingers into Shane's back, just like Shane had kneaded the dough earlier in the day, she rubbed her fingers into her lover's muscles, releasing her knots and all the tension on the strong back. Carmen continued kneading, till she heard a soft snore escaped the tired chef, and realized that Shane had fallen asleep. She gingerly got off her girlfriend's back and pressed her lips on Shane's upturn temple, before returning to the dishes she left in the kitchen.