George Durand, who preferred to keep his far-too-American first name as private as possible, was not a very friendly man. However, what he may have lacked in his character, he made up for with his size. He was a large man- in fact, large was a rather major understatement. This quality was what made him such an efficient manager at Maison de la Bête. He was not only respected as an individual of high position in the restaurant’s business (the owner was far too important to show up to work himself since he had an entire chain of various restaurants to his name), but also a pretty scary one, who rarely needed the assistance of his tongue to help him make an immediately menacing impression. However, when he did open his mouth to speak, it was enough to blow any measly waiter off his or her feet, and this was exactly why he saved his words for those occasions when a scolding was especially necessary.
Durand was a very dedicated drinker and this is perhaps half of what attributed to his enormous size and his hot temper. It was a rare event to find him not entirely intoxicated or at the very least not reeking of wine, liquor or whiskey. The surprising thing was that while the alcohol consumption may have slowed his learning abilities, he was still a very avid thinker when it came to some kind of strange event. And this particular event- an event where his least favorite, longest term, but still youngest waiter was absent from the party- well, this was certainly an occurrence that he could point out like a hawk.
“Where is Renaldo?” he barked at one of the other waitresses. He did this across the entire front lawn, without even bothering to shift his enormous body closer so that she could hear. But he didn’t even have to do that- the waitress Jenny was trained to hear his demanding growl from miles away. Being the second longest working employee of Maison de la Bête, she quickly hovered over to his side and offered the best smile she could.
“I haven’t seen him out. He must still be in the kitchen.”
“Go find him, and tell him to come out. I don’t want him lumbering around my favorite consumables or poking his nose around anywhere else on these grounds. He should be serving the clients- not sitting around the kitchen once the food’s all cooked!”
“Yes, sir,” Jenny replied politely before hurrying off to her new assignment. But halfway to the kitchen, just as she got out of sight of her lobster-faced boss, she paused and considered her options. If she went into the kitchen and the young Renaldo did as he was supposed to, he would keep his job. But, being a keen observer and a clever woman, Jenny also knew that if Renaldo ignored the manager’s wishes, he would be fired nearly immediately. That would promote her to the status of the longest-term employee, which meant that she would begin receiving his salary very soon as long as she kept on kissing up to Durand. And while that salary would not be much greater than her current one, she would much more gladly take a higher pay rate this week rather than a few weeks from now. After all, she had to repay her mortgage…
With an entirely new mindset, Jenny continued on to the kitchen. Just as she neared it, she spotted a glum-looking guest making a slow approach towards the front of the mansion from the gardens. She slowed down once more and peered at him curiously, debating whether she should ask what’s wrong or whether she should just shuffle away, minding her own business. Before she could decide exactly what to do, the guest lifted his platinum head and spotted her. Oh how handsome was he! Though he was obviously several years younger than her, he was still very attractive in his expensive, formal, dark suit, which contrasted so nicely with his hair color.
Stuck dead in her tracks, Jenny watched as he speeded up and then addressed her in an audibly unpleasant tone of voice.
“Have you seen my colleague Chloe? She’s a young woman, wearing a sky-blue dress.”
Disappointment at his rude tone brimmed in Jenny’s voice as she responded, “No, sir. I’m actually looking for someone else at the moment. But I suggest you check the party in the back- there are quite a lot of people there.” With this reply she was all ready to depart, when the man suddenly expressed real interest in her words.
“Wait. Who are you looking for?”
Jenny’s eyes lit up a bit at the promise of further conversation with this attractive individual, even if he did seem a bit disrespectful towards her. Hastily, she tried to re-order her answer to prolong their word exchange.
“I’m looking for another young individual,” she offered eagerly. “He actually works here. Well, not here, exactly, but at the restaurant where I am employed. I don’t know if you are familiar with Maison de la Bête or not, but it’s the restaurant that is catering this party- all of the food is made and served by us. I don’t know if you’ve tried the food or if you liked-”
“Who exactly is this young individual whom you seek?” Damian enunciated, immediately preventing her from raving on for the sole purpose of conversation.
“Oh, I don’t believe you’d know him, sir. His name’s Renaldo- oh! Can you believe it? I’m so sorry, I don’t quite recall his last name exactly. Our manager, well, technically, our boss- he isn’t very keen with names, you see, so he usually just-”
“Please, can you just describe him to me briefly? How young is he? Dark hair?”
“Um…I believe so, yes, sir. I mean, yes, he has dark hair, and he is rather young. He’s actually our youngest employee! But he is also strangely our oldest employee as well-”
“Could you tell me where he may be?”
“Where? Why, he’s probably in the kitchen, at least, that’s where I last saw him. But did you not say, however, that you were looking for a young woman and not-”
“I’m sure I did say, and I’ve said many other things. But I have a feeling that this waiter might also be in the same location as the young woman I am seeking. Please, show me the kitchen, and do not delay me any further by your useless rambling.”
Shocked into silence by the roughness of his words, Jenny immediately shut up and led the way to the kitchen. She no longer had any desire to interact with this mean, heartless individual. He may be attractive, but a heart is still something to desire in a man, no matter how small it may be.