The Bear Trap

Mango Salmon

Your alarm goes off at 8am and you rub the sleep from your eyes as you shut it off, cursing yourself for your late night glaze expedition. You grab your phone off your nightstand & see a text from Carmen.

Berzatto 🔪: Dinner service tonight, seared salmon with mango glaze. What do you think?

You're shocked, you really didn't think your glaze was ready.

You: Sure chef, I trust you.

Berzatto: Perfect, you can teach Syd how to make it before we open for lunch today.

You slowly get out of bed and start your morning routine, getting into your hellishly hot shower. You finish up, put your hair into braids, put on your chef whites, grab your keys, and head out to your train.

It's a short ride before you're at the restaurant. You take a deep breath before heading inside. It's only been a couple of weeks since Carmen called you and asked you to come help him manage The Beef. His timing was perfect, actually- you'd just been forced to shut down your own restaurant, after your sous chef set the entire kitchen on fire and the building all but fell apart. You were horrified of starting again, horrified that maybe you weren't ready to be a real chef again. You hadn't handled the fire well, it was a miracle your staff all got out alive.

God y/n, it's just salmon with a mango glaze, get a hold of yourself.

You hear someone walking up behind you and turn to see Syd.

"Good morning, chef. I saw you standing here from across the street, are you ever gonna go in?"

"Uh yeah, I was just thinking. Had a kind of long night."

You open up the door and let Sydney go in ahead of you, following her in. As you get to the kitchen you see Carmen, sharpening his knives on the whet stone. He looks up from what he's doing to greet you and Sydney.

"Good morning chefs, glad to see you. Sydney, we're doing a salmon for dinner service, y/n is gonna teach you how to make the glaze."

"Salmon? Richie's gonna throw a fit."

"Well fuck Richie" You and Carmen say this in unison and can't help but laugh together. Sydney looks suspiciously between the two of you.

"Y/n, we've got plenty of time before the rest get in, why don't you start with Sydney once you guys are settled in?"

"Yes chef."

You and Sydney walk to the lockers to put your things away and grab your aprons.

"So like, what's the deal with you and Carmy?" Sydney question you as you both tie on your aprons.

"What do you mean?"

"Like, you guys have known each other for a while right?"

"Oh, yeah. We worked together in New York after I graduated culinary school."

"Oh shit, at NOMA?"

"Yeah, but I was only there for a few months, I left to open my own place."

"So you guys dated in New York then, right?"

You start to blush and try to hide it by staring at the floor.

"No, no, nothing like that. We were both so busy you know, neither of us really had time for anything like that. Not that it would've mattered if we did.. I don't think he sees me that way."

"You're blind then, I see him staring at you across the kitchen all day!"

You laugh it off and proceed to the fridge to get your mangoes.