Feeding The CEO

Chapter 1: A Dishwasher

"Focus, I don't want any mistakes anymore!" Krist flinched a little when he heard the head chef yell to the other cooks and kitchen helpers.

"And you, if you don't feel well, you shouldn't have come and tried to destroy our business." Krist tried to subtly peek at the head chef, Mr. Lek, grabbing on the collar of the senior chef that seems to be a bit dazed, Jay. The senior chef had come in today almost tumbling over his own feet and Mr. Lek had already told him to take a sick leave, but the man was adamant to continue his shift leading to one of the worst mistakes that a chef could ever make - serving perished food to a customer.

"I'm really sorry, Mr. Lek. I promise this-"

"I don't want any empty promises. You better do it right or go home."

"Yes, sir." Jay looked down at his feet and Krist felt a little pity for him. But he understood that Mr. Lek needs to be strict with all of the other employees to maintain their restaurant, Little Hong Kong's food quality, and keep up with their reputation of holding 2 Michelin stars.

Mr. Lek then stomped off to his station as he began yelling out orders and Krist turned back to the dishes in hand. He sighed when he saw another bucket of dirty plants and bowls placed by his side. Today is a Sunday and there are much more customers that on their usual weekdays. Soon enough, the sous chefs were complaining of not having enough plates to serve the cooked foods and they turned to Krist along with another dishwasher, Bank.

"Hurry up, the food is getting cold!"

"Yes, sir." Krist could only quickly focus their work in hand after Bank shot him a weary look.

_______________________________________

"This is yours." The owner of Little Hong Kong, Wave, said as he handed Krist a stash of money and another stash to Bank. They weren't full-timers and Krist only work on Friday nights and weekends hence, they were paid with cash which Krist doesn't mind at all and he placed them in his bag before changing out of the uniform.

"Krist, you going anywhere after this?" When Krist was done, he stepped out of the backdoor of the restaurant just to be stopped by Bank.

"Not really. Why?" Bank walked up to Krist and placed his arm around the latter's shoulders.

"Then, come on. I'll treat you to supper tonight."

"Huh? But I still have work tomorrow." Krist tried to deny his offer since he needs to wake up early tomorrow and it was almost past midnight now.

"Come on, it won't be long, I promise." Having no chance to protest, Krist was dragged to a stall as they sat at one of the empty tables.

"P', get us 10 chicken skewers and 2 bottles of beer." Bank called out to the stall tender.

"Make it only 1 bottle of beer and a glass of iced water." Krist said to the stall tender instead as Bank looked at him with a frown.

"Hey, I said just now, I've work tomorrow and I prefer not to be hungover, okay?" Bank only nodded as he drank large gulps of the booze he ordered while Krist sips on his water, looking around the surrounding. There were barely any people on the streets and the wind was a little chilly as Krist shivered slightly when another breeze blew by.

"So... why did you want to drink all of a sudden?" Krist asked when he noticed Bank being awfully quiet. The both of them had become friends when they worked in the restaurant and had since then, hit off and become really great friends.

"Well, isn't happy hour anytime?" Bank answered with a chuckle as he took another gulp of his drink which Krist replied with a raised eyebrow, "Nin just broke up with me."

"But why? I thought the both of you had just solved a few problems." Krist was really shocked to hear that. He knew the couple had a really rough time these few weeks but as far as he knows, the both of them had sorted things out and thriving together.

"She told me she fell out of love." Bank whispered as he lowered his gaze to the table, "She said she didn't feel the same way since a few weeks back and she tried to stay with me... but she couldn't."

Krist was speechless hearing all of that since the couple always looked so much in love when they were together.

Maybe things don't always look like what they seem to be after all.

Krist patted Bank's shoulder as he tried to comfort the other when he found tears gliding down his cheeks. The night ends with Krist sending Bank back to his apartment before returning to his own. It was already 2 am when he reached his apartment. Placing his bag on the floor, he fell face-first on his bed, and as soon as he touched the bed, he heard a soft meow. Turning to the side, he took his cat, Pluto into his arms and cuddled with him. Pluto is a sphynx cat that he got from a friend as that friend of his knew that he liked cats but couldn't have one since most of them have fur which he is allergic to and sphynx cats are rather expensive. So, when his own cats have a litter, he gifted Krist a little boy, and Krist adored him so much even though he could be a little handful at times.

"I'm back." He whispered and smiled when he felt Pluto snuggle closer to him. He felt really sorry for leaving Pluto alone too long at home sometimes so he made sure to rush back home as soon as he can after work or during his lunch break to make sure Pluto is doing well. His neighbor and best friend is the person who gifted him the cat, Ice, would also offer to help take care of his cat when he's busy to come back in the middle of the day since Ice owns a gym right across the street.

Krist closed his eyes as he could feel himself drifting to sleep just to feel Pluto struggling out of his hold and he could rustling sounds. He opened his eyes and found the cat carrying a small bag of freeze-dried chicken with his teeth. Krist had no choice but to get up and gave Pluto a little treat and when he touched the bed the second time, he was long gone in his dreams.

The lucky thing was he had his alarm on repeat and he managed to wake up in time. He was getting ready wearily, eyes barely opened as he walked to the fridge just to almost trip onto something. That tumble scared him so much that he was fully awake and he looked down just to find Pluto pilling his toys in front of the fridge.

The cat licked its paw elegantly and looked at Krist as if asking, 'Are you fully awake now?' and he jumped to his cat bowl, tail slowly patting the empty bowl.

"Yeah, yeah, I didn't forget to feed you, okay?" Krist grabbed a pack of Pluto's favorite freeze-dried turkey pallet and weighed it out for Pluto before adding a little cat soup into the bowl. When Pluto was done, Krist prepared another bowl of freeze-dried pellet lest if the cat got hungry, he would have something to eat and not starve. Lastly, he ate a piece of milk bread before grabbing his keys and rushing out of his apartment to his dead-end job.