Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
N ot so long ago, Warren couldn’t go a day without seeing Lewis around the hotel, but with the new general manager, Lewis spent far more time away from the place. Apparently, having his girlfriend living with him made home a more appealing place to spend his time.
It was Wednesday before Warren saw him. He’d been in the office all morning, so Warren took him a plate of food once the restaurant quietened down after lunch.
“Thanks,” Lewis said, looking up from the computer. “I lost track of time.”
“You’re welcome,” Warren said, sliding the plate onto the desk and setting cutlery beside it. “How’s everything?”
“Good. Just catching up on admin.” He set the keyboard aside and moved the plate in front of him. “How are things with you?”
“Fine.” He flopped onto the couch.
“How was it with your parents?”
“I survived.”
“I heard you took Anna out for dinner with them.”
“Yeah. I was going to talk to you about that. It was her idea. In return, I’m supposed to pretend to be her boyfriend at that Christmas party.” He’d mentioned it to Lewis in passing to check it was okay for him to have the night off, but they hadn’t talked about it beyond that.
“I still can’t believe she got you to agree to that. It’s good you’re going though,” he said, popping a chip into his mouth.
“Is it?” Warren was secretly looking forward to it, but had been a little apprehensive about Lewis’s thoughts on him posing as his sister’s boyfriend.
“The breakup with Hayden hit her pretty hard, and at one point I was worried she might cut off all of her friends to avoid seeing him.”
“What’s he like?” Warren asked, not sure what Anna’s type would be.
Lewis seemed to mull it over. “I always liked him. He’s one of those people who can chat to anyone.
Easy to get on with. I don’t know exactly what happened when they broke up.
Anna didn’t talk about it much, but she was devastated.
I always suspected he might have been seeing someone else, but I don’t know for sure. ”
Warren disliked the guy already. “So you’re cool with me pretending to be her boyfriend?”
“Yes.” Lewis chuckled. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I don’t know.”
A smile pulled at Lewis’s lips. “There’s a rumour going around this place, by the way…”
“What now?” Warren said, rolling his eyes.
“I heard you came storming into the kitchen on Saturday night and caused chaos. And Anna marched you out of there and sent you home.”
Warren winced. “There may be a grain of truth in that somewhere.”
“All true then?” Lewis asked.
“Yep. ”
“What happened? You weren’t even supposed to work on Saturday.”
“I got into an argument with my dad and took it out on Liam and Sam.”
Lewis sucked in a breath and had that look he got when he was trying to find a tactful way of making a point.
Warren moved from the couch to sit in the chair opposite Lewis. “Just say it.”
“What?” Lewis asked.
“Whatever you want to say as my boss, but don’t feel comfortable saying because we’re friends. I’m now just your employee.”
Lewis only hesitated for a moment. “You know I think you’re a brilliant chef. The food coming out of that kitchen is top-notch… but the kitchen could be run better.”
Resisting the urge to defend himself, Warren gave a curt nod of acknowledgement.
“You need to trust the rest of the staff to manage the kitchen when you’re not there. If they can’t, it’s a problem. I also don’t think them being terrified of you makes them better at their jobs…”
Warren opened his mouth to cut in, but closed it again quickly.
“They can respect you without being scared of you.”
Again, Warren nodded while he fought the urge to fidget. It felt like getting into trouble at school. He swallowed hard. “My parents’ visit has stressed me out…”
“I realise that,” Lewis said. “But your personal life shouldn’t impact the kitchen. Especially considering you weren’t even supposed to be at work on Saturday. And your attitude in the kitchen isn’t exactly a new thing.”
“Yeah,” Warren agreed weakly. He really couldn’t argue that point – he was only thankful Anna had been around to de-escalate things on Saturday .
“It’d be good if the atmosphere in the kitchen was more harmonious,” Lewis added. “I think you’ve got a good team in there. You should work on bringing the best out of them instead of crushing their spirits.”
Warren tapped on the arm of the chair. “I’ll work on it,” he said quietly.
“Thanks.” Lewis let out a heavy breath. “I hate being the boss sometimes.”
“It’s fine,” Warren said, but the atmosphere was far too tense for him to hang around. “I should get back to work.” He stood and headed for the door.
“Thanks for lunch,” Lewis said.
Warren managed a tight smile, but felt as though he only breathed properly again once he’d closed the office door behind him.
The mental chatter was fairly incessant as he walked back to the kitchen.
He didn’t make eye contact with anyone, but went straight to the back door and stepped outside into the freezing air.
Standing at the top of the steps, he leaned on the rail and released a long exhale, which fogged in front of his face.
Pulling out his phone, he opened his preferred review website and found the list of reviews for the restaurant. He scrolled through the latest ones with his jaw tight. He only relaxed when he saw they were all positive. Lots of them referred to the food as exceptional or excellent.
Previously, the food and the reviews were all Lewis seemed to care about as far as the kitchen was concerned, so Warren wasn’t sure what had provoked Lewis’s lecture on the way the kitchen was run. The fact that he probably had a point didn’t make it easier to swallow.
He turned when the door opened behind him.
“Sorry,” Liam said. “I have a question about the new specials... if you have a minute.”
The sous chef looked nervous, and for once, that didn’t sit well with Warren. “Sure,” he said, and gestured for him to go back into the kitchen. “Just give me a minute.”
“Sorry,” Liam said again and disappeared back inside.
Warren spent a few minutes staring out across the frosty car park before he pulled himself together and went back inside.
Calmly, he got everyone together and talked them through the specials again, then set Liam and Tom to work on the evening prep while he sat at the counter at the back with his laptop and went through the food order for the weekend.
As usual on a Wednesday, they weren’t overly busy at dinnertime, but had a steady stream of guests. He’d just sent out desserts for a table of four when Lewis wandered in.
“Hey,” Warren said. “I thought you’d left ages ago.”
“No. I’ll be in London for the next couple of days with Erin, so I wanted to make sure I was on top of everything here.”
“It’s Erin’s work Christmas party, is it?” Warren remembered him mentioning it, but hadn’t registered when it was happening.
“Yeah.” Lewis glanced awkwardly around the kitchen. “We’re good, right?” he asked quietly. “I feel weird about before.”
“We’re good,” Warren said.
Lewis nodded nervously. “Great, because I would like to switch fully back into friend mode…”
Warren chuckled, assuming he was so uncomfortable because he wanted to ask a favour. “What is it?”
“Nothing really, just that Carla has been messaging me all afternoon. She says Anna’s stressed about seeing Hayden at the weekend.”
Warren nodded. “I’ll look out for her.”
“Yeah?”
“Of course I will. By the way, I heard it being referred to as a ball. I take it I shouldn’t go in jeans?”
“It’ll be fancy. Trousers and a shirt, at least. Possibly a tie and jacket too. ”
“Good to know.”
Lewis smiled widely. “Have fun at the weekend. Thanks again for looking out for Anna.”
“No worries.” After what he’d heard about Anna’s ex-boyfriend, he was actually looking forward to being her date for the evening.