Always and Forever

1

There was one thing that Faith Williams was passionate about and that was food. Ever since she was a little kid, food had always interested her so it made sense when she decided to be a chef. She was able to do what she loved over and over again, day in day out. It was all exciting to her, whenever she cooked; she always received compliments that the food was great and delicious. The restaurant where she was working was a four star, so the food had to match the status of the restaurant; she had learnt to be precise and fast in executing her food. Customers always crowded the restaurant and woe unto anybody who did not make reservations early enough. It was always full of food enthusiasts like her, tourists and other restaurant owners who were looking to poach staff. The maître d' always had his hands full, trying to squeeze in the customers and at the same time ensuring that they were comfortable.

The executive chef walked to her station and smiled at her, he was a tall handsome guy who had everyone playing to his tune. Apparently he was invaluable and the owner of the restaurant did whatever he said. He had everybody eating at the palm of his hand and Faith did not like it. The guy was a narcissistic machismo bastard and she loathed him greatly. Yes he had great culinary skills that far surpassed hers but that did not warrant him to be a pain in the neck. Everybody was complaining about him, he insulted anybody at will and if you made a mistake of disagreeing with his opinions you were fired immediately. So Faith Williams had learnt to keep her distance from him, she never liked trouble so she did her best to avoid him. This job was her only income earner and getting a job as a chef was hard, the pay was extremely good so she did not want to ruin anything. She had thought of starting her own restaurant but that needed capital which she was not privileged to have, she had applied for a loan but the bank had turned her down, so she had decided to do the best she could, save as much money as she could and maybe if God willed three years down the line she would venture on her own. Everything was planned out, how the decor would look like, the painting on the walls, the utensils, name it. The capital was the only thing holding her back, her business plan was ready, her mind was set and her spirit was more than willing.

Dylan Foster, the executive chef, picked up a spoon and tasted the soup she was blending, he did not say a word instead he moved on to the pastry station. Hailey Rodgers was busy making some tarts and pie bases, Faith saw the way Dylan placed his hand on Hailey's waist before he brushed his hand over her bottom and to Faith's dismay, Hailey smiled and winked at Dylan. Was the girl crazy? Everybody knew Dylan was a non-committing type of guy; he had numerous women whom he insisted were not his girlfriends. So why would Hailey play along to his tune? Humans were wired differently and she decided not to bother with other people's business. Her love life was non existent; she had had only one serious relationship that had almost ruined her. Looking back she was thankful and equally grateful that her boyfriend back then had ended things. In her mind she knew perfectly well that he was not the one and their relationship was not meant to be. Argument after argument, that's all there ever was to their union, it had made her insecure and so afraid that she had put up a wall. A year had passed since she had been in a relationship and that had given her time to work on herself and her insecurities. She only thanked her old flame for he had opened her eyes, her naïveté was a thing of the past now and she had matured and knew exactly what she wanted. She smiled as she saw Hailey blushing, the girl was smitten but who could blame her? Dylan was handsome and Faith would have fallen prey to him if she hadn't known any better. Experience really was the best, no, it was the perfect teacher. Faith knew she did not want to go through what she went through with her first boyfriend; she had to guard herself against that. That one year had taught her a lot of things that she was grateful for. She got busy with her soup and made some garlic croutons and when the orders started trickling in, she availed the food with finesse and precision. None of her orders came back, that was a good sign that she was executing her orders perfectly. She looked at her watch, it read three minutes to three in the afternoon, her shift was almost coming to an end and she had an interview at four o'clock. There was a new truck cafe that was opening later in the week; the job would be great for her because she would be working at night so it would not interfere with her current job. As soon as the clock struck three, she gathered her things and as she was leaving Dylan stopped her.