Page 31 of Scar

“Wait, when we were there last week, he wasinsideyour apartment? That’s why you asked us if we saw anything out of place?”

Tally made a face. “You guys didn’t believe me before. I thought if I came out and asked if you saw him then he’d vanish again. I was trying to be evasive so he didn’t know what I was doing.”

“Tally, are you listening to yourself? You sound insane! I’m calling Mark. Maybe he can talk some sense into you because clearly I can’t?—”

“No!” Tally shouted without meaning to. “I mean, please don’t. We’re not… Mark and I aren’t…” She fought the urge to rub her forehead because she had to keep her hands sanitary. “I don’t want Mark to know about any of this.”

“Tally, I am telling you this because I love you. I amreallyconcerned for you. You have a stalker but somehow you’ve deluded yourself into thinking he’s a bodyguard?—”

“He’s not a stalker,” Tally defended.

“Have you spoken to him? Has he said why he’s following you around?”

“No, he’s never spoken to me.”

“Then how do you know why he’s there or what he wants?”

Tally hesitated. How did she explain about the fight with Gordon Tremont’s thugs? Simone would never believe that she fended off two street thugs because she didn’t know about Tally’s fighting skills. Shit, she really was a terrible person. Always keeping secrets from the woman who was supposed to be her best friend.

“It’s hard to explain, Si. You just need to trust me. It’s frustrating as hell that he hasn’t said anything, but I know he’s there and yet no one else seems to know he’s there. I felt like I was going insane for days, like I had an imaginary friend, but I swear, he’s real. I just… I don’t know how to explain it. The more he’s around, the more I feel like he’s here to protect me, not to harm me.”

“But youthoughthe was there to harm you and yet you didn’t call me or Tom?”

How did she explain that they weren’t the protection they thought they were? Fuck, why had she even told Simone anything about her mystery man? All it was doing was adding to her headaches for the day.

And where was he anyway? Had he gone with Gordon Tremont? The very thought left a sour taste in her mouth.

The entry door to the kitchen slammed open. Tally’s grip on her knife tightened as she clicked her tongue in the direction of the door.

“Chef, I swear, I will walk out tonight if I don’t have Station Three. Chelsea insists on putting me in Station Two and Irefuseto work that section.”

Tally put down her knife—mainly so she didn’t throw it at the jackass—and let out a long sigh. She really missed Gretchen and wondered how much of a bonus the woman would require to cut her maternity leave short. Tally would even pay for a nanny if it got the woman here faster.

“First of all, Noah, don’t youevercome slamming into my kitchen like that again. If you need to talk to me, you walk in here andaskif I have a moment tospeakwith you. We have a lot of dangerous equipment back here. Do you honestly thinkstartlingus is a good idea?”

“Yeah, whatever, sorry. I just need you to tell that bimbo out front?—”

“Watch it,” Tally snapped. “You’re already skating on thin ice, Noah. If you want to walk out and quit a well-paying job in this economy, then that’s your prerogative. I will not allow you to disrespect me or anyone on my staff just because you’ve got your panties in a wad.”

“Hey, I don’t wear panties!”

“And I don’t give a fuck! If you want to keep your job, you will march yourself out of this kitchen, over to Chelsea, andapologize. You will work whatever station she’s given youandyou will assist the janitorial staff in cleaning the bathrooms before you depart for the night. Have I made myself clear?” Her hand itched for the handle of her knife.

Tally knew every inch of her kitchen. After purchasing the building and updating some of the equipment, Tally had spent a week familiarizing herself with every nook and cranny prior to hiring staff and adding food supplies.

Her kitchen was forty feet long by sixteen feet. She knew how many steps it took to get from any point in her kitchen. Entry and exit doors in a restaurant were alwaysfromandtothe kitchen. That way, there was no confusion as to which direction someone was allowed to walk through that door.

In the center of the room was the salad prep station and two long prep tables with pass-thru shelves. On the far wall were the fryers, griddle, charbroiler, double deck ovens, burner range, and french plate. The front wall between the two kitchen doors housed the serving staff’s work tables bracketed by two handwashing stations with splash guards.

By the exit door on the left wall were the reach-in fridge and freezers, a single compartment sink, and another worktable. The entry door Noah had so rudely come through was on the right, next to the dishwasher’s station.

All of her equipment was top of the line and stainless steel. A good part of her opening budget had been spent updating the fire-suppression system and the HVAC throughout the entire building.

Tally was working behind the prep counters in the center of the room. Her back was to the range where her sauces were simmering for the evening meals. To her left was her spice rack, and like everything else in her kitchen, it was kept in a specific order. Her kitchen staff was extremely good at putting items back when they weren’t in use and putting them back inherrequired locations. Everything had a braille label on it, which was one of the duties of her prep cooks when they accepted new orders.

She heard Noah approach the prep table. He knew better than to come behind it. Her dining staff were only allowed in the front of the kitchen. That was mainly for sanitary purposes, but also because they were not trained to be anywhere else. She required all of her staff to beServSafeCertified, but there were different levels to that certification. Why create an unnecessary hazard?

But Noah was a problem employee. He’d been a problem employee for a while and Tally was on her last straw with him. He either shaped up or he was out. She was certainly not going to allow him to bad mouth Chelsea, who was only doing her jobandGretchen’s at the moment.

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