"Guys, I don't have the lobster for table twelve!" Kate demands.
"Plating, chef," Arden replies.
Kate looks up, and she watches Bernadette talking to John.
"I'm an actress, and I can't believe he would ask me to star in an indie movie. The world is so full of people like him. The guy at table ten is the worst. Every week, a new bimbo. I swear, if he leers at my boobs again, he will regret it." Bernadette says as she waits for Kate to finish the order for table twelve.
Kate is rushing to get the order out to Bernadette, and as she puts the last garnish on the side of the plate, she gives it the once over to ensure it's perfect. Everything is ready, and she pushes the plates forward to Bernadette. Bernadette takes the damp cloth, cleans up the brim of the plate, picks up both dishes and turns quickly.
The kitchen is fast-paced, and Carlos, who is coming back in the kitchen from bussing a table, sees Bernadette turn into him at the last possible second. He has no time to avoid the inevitable collision. The food destined to be delivered to table twelve is now on the kitchen floor.
"Damn it, Carlos, why don't you watch where you're going!" Bernadette yells.
"Pay attention, everybody! Kate shouts out.
She quickly turns back to Arden and orders two more lobsters. Kate turns back to her prep table to see John and Bernadette picking up what should have been going out of table twelve. When Bernadette stands back up, she says to Kate,
"I'm so sorry, Kate."
"Just don't let it happen again, Bernadette. You have to be aware of your surroundings." Kate stresses.
Kate walks back over to where Arden is working and asks him to prepare two more lobsters. Standing there with a look on her face, Leah knows what's going on with her friend. Kate picks up the order slip from the server and goes over it again before starting the dish.
"At this rate, I swear we'll run out of lobster," Kate sarcastically comments, and she puts down the order slip.
"Kate, we're not going to run out of anything. We're fine. You know you always buy extra of what you need for tonight's menu just for mini disasters like this."
Kate looks at her, knowing that she's right.
"Now, hydrate." as if by magic, Leah produces a water container from her bag and gives it to Kate. Kate unscrews the cap and drinks greedily from the container. When she's finished, she returns the container to Leah.
"I can see you're starting to act like a mom."
"I need to keep you in line."
Both women share a much-needed laugh to ease the tension, and Leah leaves to start another task. Kate, who needs to get table twelve's lobsters remade, begins with two empty dishes, a pot of sauce, and swirls sauce in a design on the base of the plate.
The phone, which never rings in the kitchen, starts ringing incessantly. It gets to the point where it's starting to get on Kate's nerves. She is still preparing the dinner for table twelve when she asks Bernadette to answer the phone.
Just then, as Bernadette lifts the receiver, Kate remembers that her sister was supposed to call her back and tell her when she would get to the restaurant. So she tells Bernadette that as she's talking to the person on the other end.
"If that's my sister, tell her I can't be out of here before 9:00," Kate tells Bernadette.
She goes back to preparing the dish in front of her. When Bernadette tells her the phone call is for her, she tells her,
"Take a message, please."
"Kate, you really need to take this call," Bernadette repeats, being very serious.
Frustrated for the inconvenience, she wipes her hands on a towel. As she heads to Bernadette, she doesn't notice the look on her face as she grabs the handset.
"Hello?"
Kate can only listen as the person on the other end talks to her. They ask if they have her on the phone, and she confirms they do.
She still can't believe what she is being told and drops the handset, and as if on automatic pilot, she leaves the restaurant with no memory of ever doing so.
Leah watches as Kate walks by. She asks if she is okay and gets nothing in reply. She can't understand what is wrong with her friend, and then she sees the phone off the hook with the handset lying on the floor. When she reaches the phone, Kate has her coat on and walks past the kitchen doors into the dining area. She pulls the handset up and presses it to her ear, and she hears someone hanging up on their end.
She walks very quickly as her destination gets closer and closer; she's practically at a run by the time she reaches the desk. She slides to a stop in front of the nurse's station, and a nurse looks up to see her looking so desperate.
Kate needs to figure out what to do first. She looks to the room on her left and sees her niece lying in the bed, looking so very small. She wants to go to her, but she knows she needs to take care of things here before she can.
"Can I help you?" The nurse asks in a quiet tone, looking up from her charts.
Without looking over to the nurse, Kate answers.
"Yes, I'm here for…
The doctor, who looks to be in his mid-40s with a receding hairline, walks up to the nurse's station and finishes Kate's sentence.
"Zoe. Hello, Miss Beckett. I'm Doctor Garrett. We spoke on the phone."
Kate can't drag her eyes from seeing the small form lying on the bed.
"She's going to be fine, Miss Beckett." Dr. Garrett reassures quietly.
"Has anyone told her yet?" Kate asks.
"Not yet. We were hoping to have her father come in and tell her."
"Zoe's father is not in the picture. I don't even know how to contact him if he was. He left my sister before Zoe was born, not wanting anything to do with her."
As Kate finishes her statement, the intercom above their heads sounds off, paging Dr. Garrett to a room.
"I see. I'll be back to check on Zoe a little later, but for now, I have to go. If you want, you can go in and sit with her."
Kate nods and looks at her niece lying in her bed.
Kate is trying to sleep in the chair beside Zoe's bed. She can't understand why the light is so bright, and when she opens her eyes, she realizes it's not the light. She didn't know when she fell asleep early this morning that she was directly across from the window that faces towards the east. She never drew the shade closed, and the sunlight smacks her directly in the face. She's lucky if she got three hours of sleep.
Her eyes are almost open when she finally gets used to the light. She then turns to her right and sees a pair of light blue eyes looking back at her. She can see the tear tracks flowing down her cheeks, and Kate knows what happened to her mom before she even tells her.
"Where's Mom?" Zoe asks, curling more into a protective fetal position.
Kate can't bring herself to tell her what happened to her mother.
"Is she dead? She is, isn't she?" Zoe asks.
Kate's heart is breaking, but she won't lie to her. She has to tell her the truth. She won't detail what happened because Zoe probably already knows. But later, if she does ask, she'll sit down and talk with her about how this event will impact her life.
"Yes, she is Zoe. I'm so, so sorry."
Zoe cries quietly for her mother. Without realizing it, Kate is crying, too.
She drags herself up the stairs and to the front door of her apartment. She mindlessly puts the key into the lock, opens the door, and walks through. She pulls the scarf around her neck, hangs it on the coat rack along with her coat, and the first place she goes is her bed. She didn't even bother to get undressed; she just fell into bed fully clothed. She stayed with Zoe all day and well into the night. It's just a little after 10:30 p.m., and she is exhausted.
When she wakes up the following day still dressed, she gets out of bed and checks her voice messages on the answering machine. She hits the play button and turns to walk to the bathroom. When the message starts playing, she stops dead in her tracks.
"Hi, it's me." her sister says, "and me," Zoe adds. I just wanted to let you know I'm running late. But we should be there before 10:00. Traffic's insane. We'll get there eventually. Bye.
"End of messages." The machine announces.
The call ends abruptly, and Kate is left standing in the middle of the hallway, crying all over again.
All the servers are sitting at the table having a light lunch, each selecting an item on tonight's menu. Paula thought it was a good idea to have the servers comment on the dish if asked by the customers, and they do this every afternoon.
"Who can tell me where this 2002 Dolcetto comes from?"
Everyone looks at each other and shrugs their shoulders.
John, who feels a little bold, takes a stab at it.
"Probably Piedmont." He guesses.
"No. It's from South Australia. Adelaide Hills, to be exact. But that's an excellent guess." Paula tells him.
The chatter between John, Paula, and the rest of the servers continues. Leah and Bernadette are having a conversation of their own.
"I swear if Kate doesn't find a replacement soon, I will have this baby in the kitchen."
"I think that would be a health code violation." Bernadette comments as she laughs a little.
"Bernadette, look at the color of this wine," Paula says as she swirls what's left of the wine they were tasting in the glass.
"The color is beautiful, isn't it?"
Bernadette looks at Paula with a shamed look, as if she is passing notes in school and getting caught by the teacher.
Everyone stills at the sound of the front door opening and closing. They all turn to look to see who entered, and everyone quiets immediately. It's so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Kate traverses the floor through the dining room and into the room reserved for larger parties. Everyone expectantly looks at her, wondering what she will say, if anything. She stops at the head of the table, looks at Paula, then turns and walks into the kitchen, removing her scarf and coat to hang up.
"Give me three words that best describe this wine. I'll be right back."
Paula sets that wine glass on the table and heads to the kitchen. Leah and Bernadette can only wonder why Kate is here.
She walks into the kitchen. Paula sees Kate exit her office, tying her apron around her waist. She gives her a sympathetic look when they see each other. Once she has her attention, she asks,
"Kate, what are you doing?"
"What do you mean?"
"I thought you'd be taking a couple of days off."
"No."
"Are you sure about this?"
"Yes."
Paula turns around and leaves her to do her preparation for tonight's menu. She knows her friend needs to keep her mind occupied, so she lets her stay… for now.
The night is hectic. And she can put her problem in the back of her head. She knows she shouldn't, but it's how she can cope.
Everyone in the kitchen is walking on eggshells around her. They want to support her but don't want to say the wrong thing. Leah knows what she is going through. Her mother passed away from breast cancer last year.
Losing a loved one is something you never get over. She'll keep an eye on her just in case.
They were halfway through the dinner service, and they had a lull. Leah was so busy getting orders out that she never noticed Kate wasn't at her prep station.
Leah calls for a pickup of the meals that are ready to be served. Once she sees they're out of the kitchen and on their way, she moves to the only place Kate would go. Looking through the small square window of the walk-in refrigerator, she sees Kate sitting on a crate of green peppers. She's got some paperwork in her hand but doesn't know what it is. She's out of the kitchen and at Paula's podium before she can think twice.
Dear Kate,
The baby is gorgeous. I've called her Zoe, which means "life." Now she's here, I'm beginning to get what a huge thing it is I'm doing on my own. So I want you to know if anything should ever happen to me, you are the only person I would want to have her. I know you'll love my baby the same way I would. Listen to me, it must be the three-day blues. I love you, sis.
Christine.
Paula is concerned about her friend. She knew it was too soon for her to be back at work. She watches through the window of the walk-in refrigerator as Kate cries uncontrollably and wonders what she is reading. She quietly opens the refrigerator door, and Kate does not hear her coming in. She crouches down in front of her, takes both of her hands in hers, and says,
"Kate, I want you to take a week off. That's not a suggestion it's an order."
All Kate can do is look up at Paula and nod her head. She knows it's for the best, so after Paula leaves the refrigerator, Kate tries to make herself look a little better, and then she goes.
A/N: The movie that inspired this story is based loosely on No Reservations. It stars Catherine Zeta-Jones, Aaron Eckhart, and a very young Abigail Breslin. Kudos to everyone who guessed the title.