Page 13 of Mariah

Chapter 7

Graham

“Okay, these salads are ready to go out now! Earl, Renee, Casey, Angelica, let’s go go go! Jade, you go out there with the water carafe and give everyone refills. Tessa, you follow behind and take their drink orders. Go over to the bar and have Andreas fill them just like you did before and then deliver them. Then come back here and I’ll give you another job to do.”

Graham was in his element, calling out orders without looking up. Baze was hosting a dinner for several local businessmen, press members and investors, and Graham was working with a full staff, creating culinary gourmet masterpieces to his heart’s content.

With the salads out, he moved his attention to the main course. Beef Wellington.

“Mariah, you start plating. A smear of the potato puree, a sprig of parsley and three glazed carrot slices on each plate.”

“Yes, Chef!” Mariah said as she went to work.

They’d been working together for a couple weeks now, and he enjoyed the rhythm they’d found together. Mariah wasn’t the least bit demanding or pushy. She found pleasure in the simplest tasks, and if he sometimes caught her sighing at seeing a sink full of dishes to wash, she’d never once complained. Every so often, he’d see her smile and give a soft giggle when she’d plunge her hands into a pile of bubbles and squish a few between her fingers before getting down to the task of scrubbing the pots and pans. The Little had a calmness about her that made every encounter one without the stress of worrying about what might set her off.

Sometimes, especially when Earl was around, he found it hard to keep his emotions in check with her, but for the most part, they had nothing more than a comfortable working relationship, and he mostly managed to ignore the fact that he found himself wanting more.

He checked his Wellingtons and turned the ovens off, keeping them in the warmth for a few minutes. Soon he’d have Mariah plate them and let them rest before serving while he turned his attention to dessert.

Crash! He looked up, startled, to find Angelica, his main server, on the floor. She’d knocked a trash can over when she fell.

“Shit,” he swore as he rushed over to her. “What happened? Are you in labor?” Angelica was obviously pregnant. He wasn’t happy that the agency had sent over a pregnant woman but she’d proven to be a hard worker and quick on her feet. He looked at the size of her belly. It wasn’t that big, but he knew all pregnant women grew differently and he hadn’t wanted to ask how far along she was.

“No, I’m fine. I’m just a klutz and I tripped over the mat. I can’t see my feet.” She struggled to stand and he held out a hand, helping her to her feet.

“You should sit down.”

“I’m fine. I just need a minute and then I’m good to go.”

She looked fine, but he wasn’t taking any chances. “No. After a fall like that, you need to go get checked out.”

She opened her mouth like she was about to protest, but he pulled out his inner Daddy-Dom and cut her off. “No arguments. You’re done for the night. Casey, you’re done too. Take her to St. Mary’s to get checked out.”

The server balked, but he shut that down just as quickly. “Don’t worry, you’ll both be compensated for the full evening.”

Casey’s protest died on his lips and he nodded smartly. “Yes, Chef. Thank you.” He wrapped his arm around Angelica’s waist, helping her hobble as the two of them left to make their way out to Casey’s car.

Crap. Now he was down his two best servers and several minutes behind.

“Mariah. You’ll have to take over and help serve. Start pulling the Wellingtons. The one on the pan all by itself in the small oven is made with eggplant instead of mushrooms. When you plate it, add an extra sprig of parsley to the top and make sure it goes to Miss Lamont at table three.”

“Yes, Chef!” Mariah called out. She was already arranging the Wellingtons onto their individual plates.

“Don’t forget. Small oven. Eggplant. Miss Lamont. Table three.”

Miss Lamont was deathly allergic to mushrooms which he’d only just found out at the start of the evening. If he’d known ahead of time, he’d have fixed a different dish or made them all with a carrot and onion duxelles which he much preferred over the eggplant option. But the late notice had given him no choice but to work with what he had and that was a fuck ton of mushrooms and one lone eggplant.

“Got it, Chef!” Mariah answered. He breathed a sigh of relief. Despite his initial reservations, Mariah had proven herself to be more than competent in the kitchen, and he much preferred working with her over her counterpart Earl. If they made it through this evening, he planned to talk to Baze about officially promoting Mariah to sous chef.

Earl, he supposed, was equally competent, but he was a Switch who made no bones about failing to stay professional at work, no matter how many warnings he’d been given. He spent half the time looking at Graham like he wanted to devour him and the other half looking like a recalcitrant little boy who was just waiting for Daddy to bend him over, spank his naughty little ass and have his way with him. Neither of those things would ever happen. Graham had no interest in spanking anyone, he was not a Switch and he didn’t swing that way. The only reason he kept Earl on was because he knew how busy Baze was and how difficult it would be for him to find a replacement.

Jade popped her head into the kitchen. “They’ve finished their salads, Chef, and Tessa is clearing their plates as we speak. Is Angelica okay?”

“Excellent. Mariah, let’s start getting those Wellingtons out.” To Jade, he said, “I think Angelica is going to be okay, but I had Casey take her to St. Mary’s just to be on the safe side. That means we’re down two servers so I need the rest of you to work extra hard. We want this dinner to go off without a hitch for Baze’s sake. All right?”

“Yes, Chef!” Jade disappeared and he turned his attention to the individual creme brulees he’d had chilling in the walk-in cooler. He loved doing the pastry/dessert stuff but it didn’t come as naturally to him as cooking did, so he had to focus twice as hard. He concentrated on drizzling his ganache perfectly onto each plate while Mariah whizzed out with a tray full of Wellingtons.

When they’d all been delivered, she slumped into the kitchen and collapsed on the stool that was kept in the back corner of the kitchen. “Whew,” she huffed. “That was intense.”