Page 26 of For the Record
Sawyer massaged the tension in the back of her neck, spotting Barb in her peripheral vision. Her sous-chef watched her, likelywaiting for Sawyer to commence the pre-shift meeting. Picking up her glass of ice water, Sawyer took a long drink before saying, “Let’s get started, shall we? Mikey, what have you got?”
“Thank you, Chef.” Mikey, Sawyer’s front house supervisor, glanced at the notes he’d written down. “We’ve been getting a lot of compliments on this season’s added menu dishes, namely the fresh take on ourbouillabaisse. And I’ve heard quite a few customers commenting how nicely the new light fixtures suit the dining room.”
“Very good,” Sawyer acknowledged. “By the way, let Kelly know by shift’s end what inventory needs to be ordered.”
“Certainly, Chef.”
“What else do you have for me? Kelly, what about you? Any potential hires coming my way?” Sawyer asked, sparing a glance at her phone resting on the table before her. She toyed with it absently, her gaze trained on her manager, but her mind wandered. McCoy had showed up that morning sporting a fresh undercut, the fine hairs trimmed low to her scalp, and the urge to slide her fingers over it had come on so strong that Sawyer had dug her nails into her palms. Hours later, she still bore the indents. Since when did she fantasize about burying a piece of herself into someone’s hair of all places? She was off-kilter, thinking and almost doing things she’d never considered pre-McCoy.
Kelly filled her in on the handful of résumés passed in, but only two seemed promising for an interview. Sawyer gave her the go-ahead to set them up, preferring to stay out of it as much as possible. Cindy’s offer of coming to work for her circled back more often than not, but it was more of a last resort for Sawyer. She liked things done her way, and Cindy, well, she wasn’t one to easily fall in line. Truly, Sawyer would be doing her friend a favor by not hiring her.
“I have news,” Sawyer informed everyone once Kelly was finished. “Last night, while Desmarais was closed, I had video surveillance installed in all the storage rooms.”
Murmurs broke out over the dining room, loud enough to drown out Sawyer’s next words, so she paused and took a sip of her water. When she held her hand up, the voices abruptly died off as all eyes focused on her once more. Sawyer curled her lip, disgust slipping past her collected features. “In light of recent … events going on behind closed doors, higher security is a must. Furthermore, the surveillance company replaced the cameras near the washrooms and walk-in fridges with newer models.”
It was truly a shame. Having an outstanding ability to float in the kitchen had allowed Dustin so many liberties in the three years he’d worked for Desmarais. She'd spent a long time waiting for her husband to install cameras in the storage rooms, especially after a significant theft years prior, but he always gaslighted her when the topic came up. She later found out why. Dustin wasn’t the first she’d stumbled upon with his pants down. As rumor had it, Olivier had been with at least two of the servers while Sawyer was on shift. He’d always found some way to humiliate her. Needless to say, surveillance was long overdue.
“It should go without saying, but I feel like I need to remind everyone to keep Desmarais as drama-free as possible. That includes sneaking alone time with any of the staff.”
“Olivier used to,” someone in the back murmured, probably hoping Sawyer couldn’t hear.
Fury mottled her cheeks, and her fingers gripped the edge of the table hard. “Esti!” she said through gritted teeth. “Olivier is dead, and quite honestly, I could do with never hearing his name spoken in Desmarais again. Now that he’s gone, I not only run my kitchen, but I’m also the sole owner of the entire restaurant. You’d do well to remember that. I’m paying you to work whenyou’re here, not slip away from food prep when it suits you. Do I make myself clear?”
Sawyer’s gaze swept the room, landing on each one of her staff to make certain they were all on the same page. Kelly sat across from her, pride evident in her warm eyes. “Yes, Chef.” A chorus of replies rang through the room.
“Good.” Sawyer took a deep breath, letting it out slowly before she spoke again. Taking another drink, she said in a much calmer voice, “Just so everyone understands, I’ll have Kelly draw up new contracts for everyone to sign at the next meeting. That’ll be all, then. Thank you all for the hard work.”
“I thought you handled them well,” Kelly said, picking up her notepad and mug of coffee. Her office was just off the dining area. She used to share it with Olivier, when he seldomly made an appearance, and hated every minute of it.
“Oh yeah, the staff love when I lay down the law,” Sawyer wryly replied. She picked up her phone, swiping the passcode in to see that her daughter had replied to Sawyer’s latest text. They’d been trying to schedule a video call, but so far, their schedules weren’t lining up.
Bree: I can try to stay awake if you want to call when you get off work? Xoxo
“Bree,” Sawyer explained to Barb, who stood waiting for her. She gestured to her phone, “We’ve been playing phone tag.”
“Good to see Bree is still a mama’s girl,” Barb said with a fond smile. “I’m lucky if my kids call me once a week, let alone FaceTime. Kylie has the new baby, and Trent is so caught up with getting his Masters.”
“That’s life, unfortunately.” Sawyer sighed, following Barb into the kitchen. “I’ll be in my office for a bit if you need me.”
“Got it, Chef.”
Sawyer sunk into her office chair the moment the door was closed. Tension radiated through her shoulders, neck, and upbehind her eyes. Lately, it had been taking less and less to get her to this point physically. How would she get through the next eight hours if stress was taking its toll so soon?
She took two Advil before opening her text thread with Bree again.
Sawyer: Okay, I’ll let it ring twice and then hang up so I don’t wake you or Scott.Je t’aime, darling.
Sawyer pressed Send before returning to her home SMS screen. At once, she saw the thread she’d kept of her and McCoy’s conversation. She’d found herself slipping into the thread repeatedly over the past week, rereading McCoy’s daily facts she had previously deemed annoying and attention-seeking. Now, she was shocked to find she missed the consistent interaction with the younger woman.
Is this somehow a punishment in McCoy’s eyes?
It was the only thing that made sense. McCoy had been acting off since Sawyer had instructed her to show up that Sunday evening, almost two weeks before.
“She’s certainly sensitive,” Sawyer commented, opening the thread yet again. McCoy never complained about the one-sided conversation, and Sawyer secretly enjoyed learning about her this way. It was informal and much less daunting than trying to connect with someone face-to-face. Interpersonal connection had never been Sawyer’s forte. But this … this was doable. If McCoy had continued, Sawyer might have relented with a few facts of her own. Now, they’d never know.
She settled more comfortably into her chair, scrolling mid-way up to McCoy Miller’s fact number six she’d sent weeks before.
McCoy: 6. I want to backpack through Europe. It’s always been a dream of mine but I’ve never been able to save for a trip just for the sake of it. Something always delayed it.