Chapter 6 – First Impressions
About twenty minutes later they arrived at the restaurant. Dean had opted not to change his clothes. Romans were fitting him well enough so why go through the trouble? The only thing he added to his outfit was a cap he put on because "no way in hell I will put on one of those stupid toques" Dean had told Roman at Walmart.
Roman inwardly grinned. Damien liked his toque and was so proud to wear one. Roman himself just put his hair into a tight ponytail and was fine with that.
They were back where their journey had started a couple of hours ago and Roman noticed Deans gaze on the dumpster.
"Feels like it is already a million years ago." Dean admitted.
Romans big hand landed on his shoulder.
"You can do it Dean. It will be a struggle and probably not always easy but you can do this. Leave the cardboard box where it is. As a reminder. Now come on, I will show you around before the food arrives and Damien shows up."
Roman opened the backdoor and showed Dean around the storage room. He grabbed a spare apron from a rack and gave it to Dean, looking hard at him and telling him silently that this was not up for debate.
"Don't you have aprons with those fake abs painted on them? Or boobs. I would like boobs."
Roman had to blink a couple of times. "Why would you want boobs? Dude you are completely crazy. As for abs…you can come with me to the gym and work on those abs."
Dean made a face but followed Roman deeper into the restaurant.
When they entered the kitchen Dean stopped suddenly and Roman let him take in everything, watching silently.
Dean walked into the big room and trailed his finger over the stainless steel countertops, moving up to knock on every pan that hung at the wall.
At one of the stoves he stopped.
"Great setup. Big enough so you don't step on each other's toes and small enough to guarantee short ways. Efficient."
Roman noticed the longing look on Dean's face and decided it was his time to break up the sad mood.
"I studied millions of set ups in other kitchens and worked on this in my head for years. I am glad it turned out the way it did. Listen Dean, for tonight I want you to just get a feel for the place. Maybe you can help Brie and Nikki at the front. I want you in this kitchen as soon as possible but I have a requirement for kitchen personnel."
Raising his eyes from the stove Dean turned towards his new boss.
"Knowing what I know about you and seeing this place you want a clean bill of health first."
"Yes. It is standard. Plus I think it is good for you to know where you are at."
Dean walked up to him a small smile on his face.
"And it is good for you to know I am clean once you can't keep your hands to yourself around me anymore right?"
Again Roman blushed and Dean laughed out loud clapping his shoulder.
"Lighten up Roman. I mean those rosy cheeks are all cute but you really need to loosen up when someone flirts with you."
"Yeah, well…maybe I am shy."
"Maybe you are just too humble."
Roman showed Dean the wine room and then he had to take over the food he had delivered to the restaurant daily.
Dean watched from afar while Roman checked every box. He smelled the fish, he took a good look at the meat, checked the fruits and vegetables while throwing an apple Deans way which he caught with ease.
After signing off on the stuff Dean was by his side unasked and helped him carry the boxes to their destinations.
"I want you to study the menu tonight as well. Get familiar with the dishes we serve."
Roman pressed a menu into Dean's hands.
"Maybe you have an idea or two for additions."
Dean nodded and searched a quiet spot in the restaurant to study the menu and make some notes. Roman introduced him to Damien who gave him a stink eye and Nikki and Brie who batted their eyes at him to his amusement.
Somewhere between studying the card and preparing the restaurant for the first guests Nikki and Brie got talking.
"You know the homeless man from the back alley?" Brie asked her twin sister who scrunched her pretty little nose.
"Uhh yeah. What about him?"
"He is gone." Brie told her sadly.
"Maybe he found another dumpster to dive into. Now you don't have to put the fruits extra anymore."
Dean looked up.
"You put fruits extra for a homeless man?"
Brie nodded. "Yes. They were too good to throw away in the first place. And the guy was nice. Sometimes he held open the dumpster for me. So I thought I could be nice to him as well."
Dean thought Roman had put the fruits on top. He cast a glance to the entrance of the kitchen and spotted Roman studying him.
"Well that was awfully nice of you Brie." Dean concluded and Brie beamed.
He and Roman had decided to keep his past a secret to everyone but it was touching to hear Brie talking about him so nicely.
After the restaurant opened Dean found himself in a corner of the kitchen studying the processes.
Roman was efficient but when he looked at Damien he had to hide a smile.
When Roman put spices into a dish Damien simply mirrored him and did the same. To the same dish. No wonder the food was salty.
When Damien wanted to put more wine into a sauce Dean grabbed his hand.
"There is enough wine in there. You have to spice and salt the dishes you are preparing and not simply copy Roman. What are you? A cook or his stunt double? When he threatens to get burned you throw your hand in front of his?" Dean had to chuckle about the image that appeared in his head about a flying Damien that dodged pans left and right.
Damien pouted. "Roman told me to do what he does." he explained and Roman and Dean shared a short look.
"I am sure he meant to do what he does for each dish you are preparing not copy his every move blindly."
Roman nodded in agreement.
"You know the recipes Damien. I told you to prepare them like I showed you. Dean can you help Damien out tonight?"
Dean raised an eyebrow because he had no clean bill of health yet.
"Just give him pointers, please."
Dean nodded and worked together with Damien for the rest of the night.
To Roman's surprise he did it amazingly well. He was patient with Damien but he also made him step up his game. He was a good teacher and Damien seemed to realize that as well because the pout slowly vanished from his face and he hung on Dean's lips when he taught him something. Roman was glad that they worked well together. He couldn't deal with animosities in his kitchen. He wanted them all to be friends. Or good colleagues at least. Maybe that was a bit naïve but that was his vision. And he would try to make it come true.
After closing everyone helped to clean up so everything was done over an hour earlier than if Roman did it by himself.
Nikki, Brie and Damien said their goodbye as Damien would walk the twins to their car. That left Roman and Dean alone.
"You did good." Roman told his new sous chef.
"Well, cooking itself doesn't change over the years I guess. But Damien is a piece of work. Not a hoepelss case, he is good, but he needs a teacher. I don't know how you could survive this long with just him as help."
"I did most myself. And that left me no time to properly train him I guess."
"Yeah and you tired yourself out. I will go to the doc first thing in the morning so that I have my bill of health hopefully by the end of the week."
"Good." Roman nodded and tried hard not to acknowledge the little butterflies in his stomach about what other doors could open for Dean other than the kitchen. His cheeks colored in their telltale crimson and Dean bit his tongue not to smirk. Instead he grabbed the trash and walked out with Roman.
"I always thought you put the fruit on top." Dean told him when he threw the trash bags away.
"No Brie started it. She has a good heart. Nikki does as well. She is not as superficial as she seems at first glance. She is actually really sweet as well."
"She grabbed my butt." Dean grinned like a little school boy.
"She did what?"
"Grabbed my butt, said it was an accident and I told her if she did it again I might have to grab her boobs."
Roman groaned. "You did not."
"I did. She is fun, she got it. We get along just fine. Don't worry."
Roman looked at him darkly. "I worry about sexual harassment reports."
"Ahh, don't. As I said, me and the twins…" Dean wiggled his eyebrows and Roman shook his head, "we get along great. So about the fruits…"
Roman was surprised about the sudden change of topic.
"Maybe we could stop by at a shelter to bring them the fruits because most of it was still good."
Roman was touched that Dean wanted to help other homeless people as soon as he was given the chance. On first impression he might seem like a goofball, easygoing, bordering childish, but behind that façade he was thoughtful, helpful and a good guy.
"Sure, that sounds good and we should really do that." Roman simply agreed and wondered why he never thought about this before.
A/N:
Thank you for your reviews! Each one of them makes me smile. Updates will come maybe every 2 or 3 days now depending on the little things I fix in each chapter before I post it. There are still two or three scenes missing that need to be written first but the updates will come still very frequent.
Happy Valentine's Day to all of you!