Chapitre 13: TWELVE (Christian Oh)
Mia resumed work early on Monday morning; annoyed and frustrated. The events of the previous weekend were still fresh on her mind. Little did she know that things where just about to get worse.
She kept murmuring as she walked through the busy streets of B-City till she reached the hotel's building.
The fuming and murmuring continued as she reached the staff's station. She was greeted by murmurs from all directions, although they were not directed at her but she knew at that moment that something had gone amiss.
At that same moment, Miss Lin called for her in her office.
"Good morning Miss Lin." Mia began with a nervous smile,
"And what exactly is good about the morning?" Miss Lin sneered.
"Mr. Fisher gives you a few days off and you return with bad news!" Miss Lin sighed.
"I'm sorry Ma'am, did I miss something?" She asked,
"You don't read the news, do you?" She sighed as she took out her phone and opened it. She handed it over to Mia, who still looked quite confused.
The headlines read;
"Nowel Luxury Hotel and Suites loses its five star rating after Sir Colin's…"
Mia then read further and discovered that Mr. Colin was a hotel critic who was on his way to give his honest review the day they had met.
A portion of the review read,
"Nowel Luxury Hotel and Suites is simply a wonder from the outside, with exquisite and lofty architecture that brings guests from all over, food and wine that gets you shamelessly asking for more. But one wonders how this is even possible when the staffs fail to reach a certain level of organization, simply putting on a façade to please their guests while in all honesty, they find one another "exasperating" and "overbearing." I may be speaking from a public eye, but an insider confirmed it herself. So it's safe to say that sooner or later, this pathetic "service" of a show they have been putting on will fall and bring the curtains to a close."
Mia suddenly gasped as she read the conclusion.
"Does this "insider" sound familiar to you, Miss Anderson?" Miss Lin questioned with annoyance,
"….I-I didn't know he…" Mia's voice trailed off,
"What have you done!" She suddenly snapped, "Do you know what's going to happen to you once the higher ups finds out who this insider is? You're going to be ruined! Why would you go around spilling your company's secret to a random person in a taxi, I didn't think you were that stupid!" She rubbed her forehead as she paced back and forth.
Mia couldn't find any words to say at the moment, she felt like there was a huge lump in her throat so all she did was listen.
"…I've decided to send you to the kitchen…As a cleaning staff for your punishment—"
"Miss Lin! Anywhere but the kitchen—"
"You have no right to protest, I'm simply doing you a favor by keeping this our little secret, so you'll do as I say. Maybe, there you'll find your superiors less exasperating and overbearing." She added painfully.
"Miss Lin…" Mia called remorsefully,
"You will start work immediately, you will be in charge of cleaning the floors, doing the dishes and taking out the trash…You can leave my office now!" She added sternly.
---
Mia walked into the chaotic scene of the "U" shaped kitchen and her nose and half-empty stomach was greeted by the contrasting odor of sweet and savory, bitter and sour all mixed together like they were destined to be.
The continuous yet satisfying clinking and clanking sound of knives as the cooks sliced, diced and chopped overlapped each other with different rhythm. Meanwhile, the overwhelmed cooks breathlessly scurried all over the place, forgetting the rising heat of the room. The only evidence of being affected were the tiny beads of sweat on their forehead.
Here and there, fire rose and a pan sizzled over the indistinct chatter of the cooks. In the far distance, the pupils of the head chef stared dauntingly at the hands of the sauce chef, at the same time, he managed to snap orders everywhere, especially to the intimidated waiters whose culinary dreams had been crushed.
With one look at the back of his broad shoulders, Mia knew he was a bad tempered man. Suddenly, he turned and his stern but handsome face met Mia's scared ones and out of the blue, she heard herself say,
"Hi," She smiled nervously,
"What?! Don't just stand there, do something!" He snapped at her.
Mia quickly hurried off aimlessly, but somehow, she found herself in front of the young man again.
"H-How…Who the hell are you?" He asked instead, standing tall and sharply staring at her.
Mia felt a lump in her throat as the man questioned her. Close up, he wasn't scary at all. He had a thick map of brown hair on his head, a cute face and beautiful eyes shielded by his long lashes, his small nose seemed like it was specifically made for his face. Judging by his looks, Mia could tell he was simply a few years older than her.
"I'm the new…Cleaner?"
"Oh, you must be Maya." He suddenly smiled,
"Maya?! For goodness sake, it's Mia, Sir…." Her voice trailed off as she realized the tone of her voice. The young man smiled instead,
"That's what your previous supervisor called you. My name is Christian Oh and I'm the new head chef here, so let's work together….Miss—"
"Miss Anderson, Mia Anderson." She said as she wondered how he was able to switch tones so easily. She also wondered how he ended up as a head chef at such young age.
"Miss Anderson, I hope you are a really quick learner." He said bringing Mia back to her senses.
"Y-Yes Sir." She stuttered,
"Good, so your job involves cleaning all the dishes, work stations, cooking equipment and food storage areas in accordance with food safety regulations. You're required to sweep and mop the floors, assisting the unloading of deliveries, cleaning trash cans and disposing refuse on a regular basis…" Mia suddenly zoned out as Christian kept ranting on and on about her job description, her heart rate increased and the world suddenly felt like it was spinning.
"Miss Anderson." He called, snapping her back to reality.
"…Did you get all that?"
"Not quite Sir." She replied honestly.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone