Eliona's War 2: Veiled Healer

Chapter 8

Tripp burst into the kitchen, the door swinging behind him. "Where's my dessert?"

Seth didn't even glance up. All his focus was on piping a perfect swirl of whipped cream over the bowl before him. It had a brownie, caramel sauce and vanilla ice-cream combo that would tempt anyone who possessed a stomach.

"Almost done."

"Great," Tripp flashed a quick smile. He was a small Asian man who looked to be somewhere in his forties, but Seth suspected he was several decades older than that. Tripp turned his attention to the other inhabitant of the kitchen. "Jake, another order of the special, if you could."

"Hn." Jake grunted his response, ever a man of few words. He was a giant of a man, closer to seven feet than he was to six, and he clearly spent all his spare time at the gym. His build was 90% muscle, with arms that could easily lift a car and legs that were wider than the average man's waist.

Yet despite his intimidating appearance, Jake was an all-round good guy. He made an extra serving of the day's special for Seth, ensuring that he never went home with an empty belly. And not once had he ever expressed anything but a quiet patience towards Seth's occasional mistake or forgotten task.

"There, done." Seth set the bag of whipped cream down and picked the dessert bowl in both hands. It was some of his finest work, if he was honest.

"Very nice," Tripp appeared to agree. He held out a hand for the dessert. "If that wasn't a heart attack in a bowl, I'd ask you to make one for me."

Jake made a scoffing sound as he turned to open the fridge, ducking down to look for what he needed.

With a half-smile, Seth went to bring the dessert over to his boss. He had to navigate around a trolly filled with clean dishes, which he deftly stepped around, but then there was the counter's corner for him to pass by. He went to go around it, but then his foot landed in a different place than he thought it would. Just like that, his balance was lost and he stumbled, hand flying up, the bowl of dessert leaving his grasp.

Eyes widening, Seth watched it go airborne, horror draining the blood from his face. Then he was flailing because the world tilted on him. One of his hands caught the edge of the counter; he used that to stabilize himself. But it was still too late for—

Oh. Tripp held the bowl in one hand, safe and sound. He looked at Seth with a single raised brow. Seth instantly flushed with embarrassment. "Sorry."

"Just take it easy, kid," Tripp said, his tone showing he wasn't upset in the slightest. Then he glanced over at Jake. "I'll be back for that special in a few."

As he pushed through the swinging door into the main dining area, Seth sagged. It wasn't the first time this night that he'd had a mishap. He'd already knocked over a stack of plates, breaking several of them in the process, and he'd bumped his knees into the counter and cupboards countless times.

Even though he had a day off yesterday to recover under Mrs. Beakor's care, his coordination was still a mess. But it was getting better as far as he could tell. Though it would be nice if he could stop being such a klutz.

Jake directed him over to a bag of onions, and soon he was engrossed in the lovely task of peeling them. It wasn't as bad as the next step, at least. The only thing worse than peeling onions was chopping them. He really wasn't looking forward to that part.

Tripp came back into the kitchen a short while later. "Where's my special, Jake?"

With a grunt, Jake set a freshly plated serving on the counter. It was what one would normally consider breakfast food, with fried eggs, seasoned potato chunks and two farmer sausages. Yet it was popular with the late-night workers coming in for quick feed before heading home for the night.