CHAPTER 23

DAKOTA’S POV

“Good morning. Where’s Ivo?” A beautiful woman entered the door of the restaurant. Everyone who was in it looked at it because of its beauty. Tall, long hair tied up high. It has a sweet smile on everyone it passes by.

I looked at Chef Ivo, who immediately came out of the cooking area. “Almira! It’s good that you’re here.” Chef Ivo greeted the girl with a smile. She reciprocated and lightly patted his back.

“I’m so sorry, Ivo. I was just in too much traffic. You know me—I’m an early bird. But now... oh my God!” She rolled her eyes.

“That’s okay. The important thing is that you’re here. How was the flight? Come to my office so you can rest for a while,” said Chef Ivo to the woman whose name was Almira.

“No need. I’m here because of work. So, where’s the kitchen?”

The young man smiled because of what she said. He pointed the way and accompanied the woman to the kitchen.

“Okay! Our new chef is beautiful. It seems like he and Chef Ivo have something. What do you think?” Ashton’s smile reached his ears as he hugged the tray he was holding.

“Stop that, Ashton! Let’s get to work,” Wendy said, then patted Ashton on the arm.

Everyone went back to work inside the restaurant. I just kept feeling when Chef Ivo and Almira would come out of the office. I don’t care, but who is that?

When lunch came, Shane suddenly asked me a reason that stopped me from doing what I was doing. “Dakota, what can you say to Chef Ivo’s new co-chef?” she asked me while we were eating in the cooking kitchen. Because we can’t eat together, especially at lunch, because there are many people.

I just shrugged while chewing.

“You should say something,” she said again.

I swallowed the food in my mouth before drinking water. “And what will I say?” I thought for a moment and remembered Almira’s appearance. “Well, she’s beautiful. She looks good at cooking,” I answered while peeling the shrimp on my plate.

“Probably! Sh’s a chef, but what I want to know is what kind of character do you think she has? Like, is she nice? Is she rude or what? Something like that.” After Shane said this was the one who took the bite.

I thought about it. I honestly don’t feel good about that girl. Her aura is heavy for me, but I am not sure. I see some aura in Almira. But I wasn’t sure, so I just put it aside.

“She looks nice,” I just said.

“Really? But you know what, for me, that girl’s have a bad attitude,” Wendy whispered, who had just entered. She brought her plate. “There aren’t too many people, so I’m going to eat.”

“Shh… she might hear you,” Shane scolded her friend. Wendy raised her eyebrows, but followed our friend to keep quiet. “We have to be careful because we have someone else here.”

We just continued eating. After a while, the door opened from the outside. Almira came to us with her forehead raised. The three of us looked at each other as we silently finished the dishes.

“I need this seafood immediately. Buy these at the supermarket. Thanks in advance. And please, hurry up.” Almira even put down a list of seafood that it said it needed immediately.

“Huh?” Shane suddenly looked up. Wendy and I did the same. "Excuse me, chef?" The disbelief was in our eyes.

“You heard me right,” she said to us coldly. She was like she’s a superior.

“B-but we haven’t finished eating yet, chef,” Wendy said. “Is it okay that we finish this first and then I’ll buy that right away?”

“No. It’s not possible. That order is urgent so it can’t be delayed. And one more thing, that’s why you should hurry eating. Don’t slow down in your actions,” Almira said flatly.

We looked at each other. We couldn’t believe we had to rush through the food. I was annoyed because what he said was wrong. I stood up to get Almira’s attention. “Chef, can’t you see that my friends and I are still eating?” I said coldly, but my face was calm while raising my eyebrows as I said to Almira.

“W-what? What did you say?” The woman seemed surprised by my behavior. She even laughed, but it was obviously fake. “H-huh? Who are you to disobey my orders? You’re just a staff here, ah! Know your place here in the restaurant to yell and disobey what your boss told to you.”

“I am not yelling at you, chef. Yes, we’re just staff here, but we know how to get along with people, Chef. We’re still eating. It’s time for us to eat because there are a lot of people since the restaurant opened earlier. So please don’t rush us. We’ll follow you, but we’ll just finish first this.” Dakota took a deep breath

Almira gave me a bad look. She angrily took the list that she put on the table. “If you don’t want to obey me, then don’t. I will ask Aston to do it. What you said to me will reach to Ivo!” he said to me with a tinge of threat before quickly leaving the cooking area.

“Woah! Dakota, how did you say that?” Shane suddenly clapped while Wendy touched my forehead.

I looked away from my friends. I was suddenly nervous because I knew that would report to Chef Ivo. What if we scold each other because of my answer? But what I said was right. We are still eating but if Almira can order; it is inhumane.

My feelings seemed to change, and then I looked at my friends. I don’t even know why I said that earlier, but I know I’m right.

“H-huh? I don’t know,” I said, while avoiding Wendy and Shane. I’ve been feeling annoyed with that girl for a while now, but since she doesn’t do anything bad to me, I don’t pay attention. But because of his profanity while we were eating, my mood changed and my head started to heat up. It’s a good thing I said it well because if it happened, it might be the reason Willow and Aki kicked us out.

“That’s great! I didn’t think you had the same level of integrity, Dakota. But that’s okay. At least, that woman knows that it’s not because we’re just crew and staff here that we can be ordered that way. We’ll follow, but let’s not rush to eat. We are not slaves.” Shane even flipped his hair.

“But maybe we should report it to Chef Ivo.” Wendy seemed apprehensive. She looked around. "What if she told to chef that we started it?"

We noticed that Willow had entered the cooking area. “Akihiro finished eating. Why? Why do you look like that?” This is surprising because we are now serious about what we are talking about.

I suddenly felt guilty. “S-sorry. I couldn’t stop myself earlier. I’m really sorry, Shane... Wendy.” I looked at my two friends.

Wendy sighed. They smiled and held my hands. “Don’t worry. It’s okay.”

IVO’S POV

“Ivo, can we talk?” Almira asked when she entered my office.

I finished cooking at that time. I am currently signing something on the table. “Sure,” I said smiling. I gestured to the chair opposite the table. “Sit down.”

Almira sat down before speaking. “Where did you meet the girl with the wavy hair." She crossed her legs and leaned on the chair.

Suddenly, I looked at her and thought. Dakota is the only one with wavy hair because Willow has straight hair. Shane has curly hair and Wendy has short hair. “Dakota? Why? She’s new here. She worked as staff less than three months ago. Why?”

Almira crossed her arms across her chest. “Do you know that she arrogantly answered me earlier while I was ordering them to buy seafood? That order was urgent, so I couldn’t order anything else. I didn’t think a staff member would answer and disobey me like she did.” it seemed unbelievable.

“Huh? She arrogantly what?” I frowned because I couldn’t believe what Almira was saying.

“Yes. Earlier, while I was ordering her other colleagues to buy seafood, she suddenly responded negatively. She even raised her voice at me.”

I was stunned for a moment and thought. Dakota can’t seem to raise her voice. From what I know of her, she is not like that and she is not rude. “She’s kind, Almira. Maybe you’re just making a mistake. Don’t worry because I’ll talk to them,” I said to her and smiled.

“I don’t think so. She’s not nice, and she’s rude. You don’t need that kind of staff here. Believe me, Ivo. She can cause you a lot of trouble because she's like that,” Almira said, clearly annoyed by what happened.

“Bye, Ivo. See you tomorrow.” Almira even kissed my right cheek before getting into her own car.

“Be careful,” I told her.

“I’ll call you when I get home.”

“Okay. Send my regard to your parents.”

"Al right." She nodded, then cast a bad to look at Dakota, who was now looking at us with her friends. Almira even waved at me before the car left.

When Almira finally left, I confronted Dakota.

“Dakota, did something happen between you and Almira?” I directly asked her.

She looked at me. Later, she bowed. “I’m sorry, Chef,” she whispered.

I took a deep breath before nodding slowly. “I don’t want to repeat what happened when you arrogantly answered her. Respect her because she is the new one who will be with us here. I hope you know my rules,” I said seriously.

“But Chef, she—” Shane was about to speak, but I spoke immediately.

“Enough, Shane. That’s it. She won’t be here long, so you’ll just have to be patient. Anyway, fix what needs to be fixed here and then go get some rest. I’ll go first.” I looked at Dakota again before heading up the stairs to my room.