Party Perils by Patti Benning (the chimp paradox TXT) 📕

getting out of it, and she didn't even try. The alternative to working would be to stay at home, where Caroline and Dean were packing up their things in preparation for hopefully returning to their own house soon. She didn’t think they would be busy enough to need much help from her, which meant that she would eventually have had to suck it up and call her brother. She was not looking forward to the argument she knew would ensue, so she went into work with the cheerful knowledge that she was procrastinating, and she was darn happy about it.

“Hey, Audrey,” she said as she passed the young woman who, in many ways, was the face of Hawk's Place, and had done an admirable job of it. She was friendly, outgoing, responsible, and was wonderful at dealing with all sorts of customers, even the unpleasant ones. “How are you doing?”

“Pretty well,” her employee said as she pinned on her name tag. “I started taking some online courses. The amount of homework they assign is driving me insane, but it’s manageable. I might put off some of my assignments until later this evening, though; it’s such a nice day out, and I want to enjoy the sunshine when I get out of work.”

“It really is beautiful out,” Hannah said, glancing out the window. It was a lovely, sunny, summer day. She hadn’t even noticed how nice it was when she got to her car that morning. “It’s definitely important to take the time to enjoy life, no matter how busy you are. Hopefully it will be an easy day today.”

“Earlier shifts usually are,” Audrey said with a smile.

Hannah walked into the kitchen, mulling over just how true that statement was. The earlier shift, which started just before eleven and ended at five, managed to miss most of the dinner rush. Their lunch menu was a bit on the lighter side, and the entire atmosphere was more casual. Dinner was when things really got busy, though weeknights usually weren't anywhere near as bad as the weekends could get.

It was all just part of the restaurant business, and Hannah had long since gotten used to the stress of working in a busy kitchen. Thankfully, her other employees had too, and they had a good system going at Hawk's Place. She was in about as good a mood as could be expected when she walked into the kitchen, though Edward's death and the looming promise of a confrontation with her brother kept her from being truly happy. She went through the opening routine, checking all the appliances, going over their inventory, and making sure everything was in place and clean. She rarely found any problems, but if there was one, she’d rather know about it now rather than when she needed a certain appliance or ingredient for a dish she was trying to get out quickly.

Satisfied that everything was in place, she stepped into the office and pulled her hair up into a ponytail before securing it with a net, and then pulling on her apron, which was a crisp black. She didn't wear a name tag – anything that was at risk of falling into food was strictly forbidden in the kitchen, which included most jewelry. She didn’t bother with makeup when she was working either – the steam and heat assured that even the most expensive of mascara would run, and she would rather just not worry about it. When she did her rounds to talk to the guests, she usually removed her hair net and would occasionally dab on a bit of concealer if she thought she looked especially exhausted that day, but that was about the extent of her primping. Being a chef was hard work, and being a fashionable chef was even harder.

The morning got off to a decent start, with most of her customers ordering salads or sandwiches, both of which were easy to put together. At three , when Brian arrived, she took a quick break to go and see how all of her guests were doing. Most people enjoyed the personal touch and liked the opportunity to chat with the chef. The locals usually knew that she was one of the co-owners of Hawk's Place, but even the guests from out of town were suitably impressed to have the chance to chat with the woman who had made their meals. It always cheered her up, too; she liked to get a feel for how people were doing, and most of the time the things they had to say about her cooking were very positive.

When she stepped out of the kitchen that day, she noticed a morose looking man sitting at the bar. Since the bar was currently closed and wouldn’t open until after five, this raised an eyebrow. He had a plate of food in front of him and was poking at it more than eating it. It wasn’t until he turned his head to look at her, though, that she recognized him as Bucky, one of the dinner guests she had met Saturday evening. She immediately detoured over to him.

“Hey,” she said. “How are you?” He seemed to recognize her, and she wondered if he had come here specifically to talk to her.

“I’ve been better,” he said with a dry laugh. “You’re Hannah, right?”

He probably hadn't come to talk with her, not if he wasn’t even certain of her name. “That’s right. And… Bucky, right?”

He nodded. “I didn’t realize I'd run into you here, but I guess it makes sense. Caroline can barely go five minutes without mentioning the restaurant, it makes sense you would both spend a lot of time here. How is she doing?”

She pulled out a stool to sit at the bar beside him, deciding that she didn’t want to stand the entire duration of what seemed like was bound to be a long conversation. She was keenly aware of the fact that she had to get back to work soon,