The afternoon sun beat down onto the three men sitting outside the rear of the restaurant. Mello grumbled deeply, "Seriously. Who does she think she is?"
Aiden lifted a long black cigarette to his soft lips, holding it loosely between his velvet like fingers before pursing it to his plush lips. "If my sources are correct, and they seldom are incorrect. She's the cause of much unrest within Epicurious. Only time will tell her true motives and intentions, she makes me uncomfortable."
Light watched people pass the alley before clearing his throat. "Everything thus far today has made me uncomfortable, Aiden, what do you do exactly?"
The darker brunette gasped and covered his heart in a hurt manner before Mello butted in. "He's a foreigner. He's only been here for a few days. From Japan, go easy on him."
Aiden smiled in relief, replacing his elbow at his side and taking another long drag from his cigarette. "I was certain my reputation was slipping. I am the Prime Minister's grandson. I have his ear fully. He says I've never lead him astray from the people's hearts yet."
Both Mello and Light stared in slight amazement, before the blonde blurted out. "I knew Chef had some influential friends, but, damn, I guess, I never knew what the Prime Minister's grandson looked like. I'm sorry, Aiden, I never knew the full magnitude of your position. That's badass!"
Light stiffened as the door flew open, and he pulled the other two towards the front of the building as Olivia stepped outside, lighting her own cigarette while glancing around suspiciously. "Oh, this will be a joke. Without its wildcard Epicurious is as good as done. Without the bastard, L will no doubt fail, and BB will be as good as ours."
Both Mello and Aiden shared an angry glare and attempted to go and confront her only to be stopped by Light who spoke in a hush. "We need concrete evidence that she's up to no good. For all we know, she's only speaking of an event coming up. We don't know the fullest extent of this situation. Maybe whoever she's speaking with is in competition with L and Epicurious for a banquet. We can't just barge in." Light smirked deviously. "I have a recorder and a camera in my room. Let's bug the kitchen. I bet if we can sway L, he'd likely help. However, we need a solid reason to suspect her, or he won't act."
Olivia's laughter could be heard around the corner of the building, a deep, full bodied as well as menacing. "Of course, I'll need to gain his trust first. L doesn't trust just anyone. He's more suspicious, if not more so, than that front end manager of theirs. The line of questioning he gave me before allowing me back, was like being interrogated by a detective whose already solved the case." She butted her smoke before tossing it carelessly into an open trash can. "I need to get going, I can't speak to openly about it." She ended the call and the door could be heard pulling open as it clumsily scraped against the concrete slope leading into the back.
Light grinned at the other two. "And now we know who we can trust. We need to get Near on board." The brunette tucked his hands into his pockets before rounding the corner towards the back door.
Aiden squealed quietly and followed behind Light. "It's no wonder he fancies you. You're a genius! It'll be like those spy movies!" The younger male glanced back to him with a confused and inquisitive expression.
Mello rolled his eyes and followed the brunettes, avoiding Light's quizzical stare and avoiding the comment as a whole. "You guys are ridiculous. I'll talk to Matt and see if we can't gather a few other resources. Light, that leaves you Near. Aiden here, obviously doesn't have a high repute with the albino."
Aiden hung his head dejectedly and Light gave the blonde a thumbs up. "Got it. I didn't go through all the hassles I went through to get here, just to have it ripped away from me."
A few fragile hours of peace and prepping for the service passed. L stood in front of the kitchen and cleared his throat. "Service in ten. Take your places." On command, the entire kitchen shifted to their usual positions. The sauciers adjusted the heat of their broths, the grillers fired up their stations and Light stood next to L.
L nodded to Light before turning away. "This is the last position I was in…"
"It is the correct position. I have strict orders for you to remain with me here, until the close of the week." The monotoned voice reassured before taking a slightly more commanding tone. "Olivia." The woman jerked slightly at the sound of her name. "I won't be able to make the rounds of the kitchen during service. Please, ensure this is done. I assume you know what that means."
The service began and orders became to fly into the kitchen, before long they began to fly out just as quickly. Light watched the elder twin and smiled slightly. 'Rusty, huh? He's just as fast as Chef.' L expertly plated the dishes and dismissed them through the window with almost a bored expression on his face before snapping a stare at Light. "Don't look at me like that. I'm only this proficient because my brother held my hand through this on countless occasions."
Olivia made her rounds through the cooks, overseeing them one by one. The cook in charge of pasta glanced up and gave a brief face of relief. "Chef! Will you watch my noodle water? I need to fetch more sunflower oil." She nodded and readied herself. She smiled at L who was watching her closely. She smirked darkly when the stormy eyes departed her figure as she dumped an excess of salt into the water, quickly stirring it down. The normal cook returned and bowed to her before pushing her out of the way. "Pardon Chef, thank you."
She smiled sweetly and waved to him as she continued her rounds. From there she tucked her hands behind her back and nudged the temperature on the oven with her shoulder up twenty degrees.
L gave a head motion towards Mello. The blonde jogged up to the current chef. "Yes, Chef?"
The raven paused for a moment at the unfamiliarity of the title before shaking his head slightly in a hurried fashion. "We're getting a lot of pasta dishes. Do me a favor and start up two more pots of pasta water. And help out where you can. I trust you more than others here." Mello nodded his head and darted to help the other cooks.
Near pushed the door open about thirty minutes later holding a pasta dish. "Customer complains her pasta is too salty."
L eyed it closely and lifted a noodle with his fingers, smashing it slightly in between them. "She is indeed correct, the consistency is wrong. I'll have her pasta ready in a few moments. Allow her anything on the dessert menu and drink menu for free." The snowy haired manager nodded and disappeared back beyond the door to the dining room. L sighed and approached Mello. "Pasta was too salty. Test the waters and get me a new dish. Now." His presence was commanding as well we his tone, but his voice remained flat.
Before long the service was closed. The kitchen team visibly relaxed and immediately rolled into the clean up. Olivia smiled towards Light and L before approaching them. "Where would you like me on clean up? I'm a little unfamiliar, you shouldn't have to dictate me around once I can settle into a routine."
Staring at her for a moment, the raven cleared his throat and called attention to him. "Everyone. I appreciate the effort put in tonight, fairly smooth sailing for being the first night without Chef BB. However, the pasta seemed to be on the salty side for many patrons. As well as any baked items seemed to be too dry. I won't scream at you. It's not in me. But, ask yourself… What would Chef BB say?" He paused for a moment watching heads swivel around to look for the guilty parties. "He's be screaming at you with every language in his arsenal. I'll just have you know, I'm disappointed, I know he's trained all of you better than that. We are the best in this city. I expect five star quality. This was hardly four."
All of the heads seemed to simultaneously hang slightly. L turned on his heel and slinked back towards the stairway to his office. "You know what to do. I will see you tomorrow. Mihael. Come with me." Mello flinched and followed after L. Light watched him pass by, but the blonde wouldn't look up to make eye contact.
Light and Matt waiting patiently outside in comfortable silence. The door creaked open and Mello slid out the door with a gloomy expression. Both boys looked up towards him, the blonde took a deep, shuddered breath. "He thinks I screwed the water up… I miss Chef." His icy blue eyes welled with tears. "I want MY chef back. He would have at least asked me what happened before calling me a dumbass. This… this was a slaughter, a calm, monotoned massacre on my abilities. I didn't screw it up. I know I didn't, I was so careful to measure the salt because I wanted to impress him…"
The brunette tilted his head before speaking. "He'll be back. Also, he can't afford to fire you or anything else. You're needed too much. Let's head home and watch a comedy. Or whatever would make you feel better."
"Mashed potatoes. I want mashed potatoes mixed with macaroni and cheese. With some hot tea… How's that sound, Mels?" Matt pulled Mello into a hug and patted his back. "Me and Light will even make it. Oh! Or maybe loads of junk food and hot cocoa for you? Hmm?"
The blonde took a sharp inhale and released it slowly. "Yeah. That all sounds great."
Near locked the front of the restaurant and started towards his destination before glancing back at the trio. "It wasn't you. It was her. I watched her do it from the serving window. Don't kick yourself too much."
Light glanced over to Near before nodding. "We need to catch her in the act, with solid proof."
The white haired man smirked while he shifted his weight to his right hip. "Good thing Chef installed a security feed. We had an incident where his cakes kept going missing. They're constantly recording and uploading into a hard drive specifically for it. Now for the harder matter… Where is Chef? He also has the feed linked to his cellphone, the few times he misses the day he monitors his staff." A distinct hum sound came from Near's throat while he was searching for something on his phone. "Here. Looks like Gordon Ramsey is in the city. I bet that's where we'll find B. But for now, its late. No telling where he went at this hour." He looked up from his phone and directly at Mello. "If anyone has the power to absolve your name, it's Chef."
