"Hey, Ramon!"
"Yeah, Patty!" I shouted back without taking my eyes off the pairing knife in my hands that I wielded with the precision of a surgeon. Clenching the tip of the blade between my thumb and forefinger, I made an incision along the shrimp's spine, exposing its intestinal tract, which I pulled out using the flat of the knife. It took all of five seconds, seeing as I had done the exact same thing more than a hundred times over to produce the mountain of deveined shrimp that would go into the gumbo.
"There are some people at the front door saying that they're here to do you a favor and that you supposedly offered them a thousand dollars?"
"Send em on back, can't step away right now, we're in crunch mode," I replied as I set down my knife and glanced over my shoulder just as Patty walked into the kitchen with four young adults in tow, though only three of their faces were unfamiliar.
"So this is where the magic happens," Jackie commented as she glanced around the kitchen before focusing her aquamarine eyes on me, "Nice to see you again, Ramon."
"Same, though I wish it was for a different reason," I replied before scanning my eyes across her company, "Surprised you managed to scrounge together this many people I really didn't think anyone would be open on a monda-"
Before I could complete my sentence, the blonde girl in Jackie's company suddenly reached behind her back and pulled out what I first thought was a toy wand a little girl would use in her princess costume. But then the yellow star-shaped stone in the middle started to glow, and an unmistakable aura of power rose from it.
"Freeze, demon!" The blonde hissed as she pointed the wand threateningly in my direction.
"Star, what are you doing?" The only boy in the group asked, glancing at her with a wild expression on his face.
"Yeah, Star, what the fuck," Jackie muttered as she turned around to face her friend while stepping in front of me.
"He's a demon," Star insisted as she narrowed her eyes at me, "I'm sure of it. Did Tom send you to kidnap Marco again or poison him with a bowl of really good gumbo?"
My wariness faltered as I realized that Star was more upset about me possibly being related to this Tom person than being a demon, 'Is it possible she belongs to the same organization Sombra is a part of…no, Sombra's whole deal was subtle. No one working for the same people as he wouldn't be this brash.'
"Alright, everyone, just take a deep breath and calm down," I said softly as I kept my eyes on Star, "Patty, make sure Tricia doesn't see any of this."
"She's busy making our Instagram, I don't think anything short of a bomb going off will get her to look away from that phone," Patty muttered, surprisingly calm given the tense situation.
I slowly nodded my head, "That's all good then, and T, there's no need for that, especially not with the good cast iron."
I watched as Star glanced over to where Tiana had slowly been creeping forward with a heavy skillet hidden behind her back, only to stop as I called her out, "If you say so."
Now with the situation somewhat under control, I turned back to Star, "Alright now just to be clear, yes I am a demon. But I have no idea who this Tom person is."
"I find that hard to believe given the fact that he's the prince of hell, your home realm," Star muttered as her gaze narrowed even further, almost comically so.
"Okay, bit of background on me, I've never been to hell. I was born a human, ended up dying, and was reborn as a demon. You're also the first person I've encountered who's able to use magic and only the second to realize that I can also use magic myself."
"Oh yeah, what happened to the first person?" Star asked suspiciously.
"I hired her as a sous chef to keep me in check," I answered honestly while pointing to Tiana, who crossed her arms and continued to glare at Star, 'If I hadn't said anything, she really would have put that cast iron to good use.'
I watched the wariness in Star's eyes slowly start to fade away, and she slowly lowered her magic wand, "Okay, then what's the point of the restaurant?"
I shrugged, "I like to cook, and business is booming. Which is why I asked Jackie here to get some of her friends to come work the busiest shift of my career."
"So you're a demon running a restaurant," the last member of Jackie's group said, a girl with short dark hair sticking out from under her beanie. "Sounds like the plot of a TV show."
"Yes, one called my life," I replied back sarcastically, "Now are we gonna keep doing the standoff thing or do y'all want to make 1250 bucks tonight?"
Star pursed her lips for a second before putting her wand away, "We'll work, but just know I'm keeping my eye on you."
I shook my head, "As long as the other is looking out for tables that need to be bussed, I don't care."
There was a collective sigh of relief from everyone else in the room as a somewhat uneasy truce was reached, "Good, now that no one is gonna start throwing spells around, mind introducing me to everyone, Jackie?"
The skater girl nodded, "Sure, as you know, that's Star, and then we have Marco and Janna. We all used to go to the same high school together."
"Great, have any of you worked in the service industry before?" I asked hopefully and was pleasantly surprised when Marco raised his hands, "Yeah, I worked at a taco restaurant for a couple of years."
"Perfect, then you'll be in charge of helping Patty teach your friends all the ins and outs of waiting tables," I instructed, "With any hope, we might actually be able to avoid tonight from being a complete disaster.
---
'What am I doing?'
Colette couldn't help but admonish herself as she stood in line, hiding her identity with a turtleneck shirt, a scar, hat, and sunglasses, 'I should have already left this tone and gone about my life, the one I've always deserved!'
Still, despite her internal monologue, Colette didn't leave the line, partially because she had waited for nearly two hours but also because the same thought that had been playing in her mind ever since the end of the competition.
'I need to taste his cooking.'
The typical feeling of satisfaction Colette craved more than anything else had been missing ever since her victory against Ramon. The sense of superiority and reaffirmation of her ability was dulled by a hollowness that Colette knew she needed to crush as it would only hold her back.
Over the weekend, Colette realized why she couldn't feel satisfaction. While she had won the competition had been close, far too close, and for a reason Colette could not grasp.
'It must have been the judges' simple palettes. Surely once I taste his cooking for myself I will know beyond a doubt that I am the better cook.'
So now Colette stood in the line that had wrapped around the block at one point, desperate to get a seat at her enemy's restaurant and taste his cuisine. It took nearly another hour before Colette managed to step foot inside the restaurant and then another twenty minutes before she finally stood in front of the hostess.
"Hello, welcome to Ramon's Grill. How many in your party?"
"One," Colette replied coldly while subtly judging the busty and overly cheerful hostess, 'Ugh, American women.'
"Well then it looks like we can seat you right away," The hostess replied as she grabbed a menu, "If you would follow me to your table."
Colette wordlessly agreed and let the hostess walk her through the restaurant, which was absolutely packed, with every seat filled. As she passed by the tables, Colette snuck glances at the food being served, 'Nothing special, just typical high-end American cuisine. Perhaps this was all a big waste of time.'
"And here you are," The hostess spoke up as she stopped in front of a small single-top table on the second floor of the restaurant, "Your waiter will be out with you shortly, though before I go I have to ask that if you are here to perform a food review that you do so without live commentary. "
"I'm here to eat, not take pictures," Colette muttered as she sat herself down and plucked the menu from hostess' hands.
"I see…well then your waiter will be with you in just a moment."
"Hmm," Colette replied dismissively as she scanned over the menu, only becoming increasingly disappointed, 'How could I come so close to losing against someone who serves a menu this basic!?'