"There's coffee, Oliver."
I smile at her before I see my dad roll his eyes and glance down at his watch, "Tick-tock, Ollie. Restaurant going to run itself today is it?"
"It's nine-thirty, dad."
"So?" He scowls at me, "I'm up, and I went five rounds of five-card with the lads last night." He snorts, shaking his head as he glances back to his betting paper. It's as if somehow his being out playing fucking poker is anything remotely like the night I had last night; even without the whole Chloe debacle.
"Had a bit of a rough night last night, pop. I don't know if you know."
Dad just shrugs and turns to a new page of his sports paper.
"Your father called Ian this morning and heard," Laura says. The idea of poor Ian being roused by my father's poking and prodding phone call at whatever ungodly hour he called is half amusing, half cringe-worthy, but I grin to myself nonetheless.
She scrapes the eggs around the pan in a way that has me wincing before she looks up again, smiling, "So exciting about the Times, isn't it?"
"Yeah, well, a bit of a shitshow it was."
Dad shrugs as he scans down a list of greyhound track results, "Eh, the lot of those greedy fucks can sod right off. Who needs ‘em, yeah?"
I roll my eyes as I pour coffee. "Everyone needs them, Dad. It's a bit of a big deal to get a write up."
"Bunch of lazy twats looking for a free meal is what that is."
I swear to Christ, you couldn't make this up if you tried. This is literally how my father speaks and thinks about the world. And I'd like to think I'm wise enough to know when to just shut up and let him think whatever he wants.
"So, a little nancy with a notebook gets his knickers twisted and you get the day off, eh?"
I clench my jaw, and want to say something a bit more choice, but I decide not to in front of Laura. I realize that I barely know her, but she seems nice enough; probably too nice for a pisser like my dad, really.
"Guess I'll be going then," I say thinly. My dad doesn't say a thing.
*****
Chloe ignores me from the second I walk in the door.
Of course.
But where I should just roll my eyes and let it be, for some reason, I can't. Instead I glare at her from across the kitchen, sipping my espresso and growling to myself. Because for some reason, being ignored by this girl somehow gets to me in ways that stupid games like this never do.
It takes me a second, but when it hits me, it sticks with me. Because that's when it clicks. What annoys me the most about her standing over there with headphones in her ears and pretending she didn't see me walk in - pretending she didn't see me make myself an espresso three meters away from her, glaring at her the whole time - is that games like this are totally beneath a girl like her. Because she's not just ignoring me, she's making a game of it. She's making it obvious she is, which sort of dilutes the whole purpose ignoring someone.
A girl like Chloe Caulfield is way above playing games with a knucklehead like me, and that's what gets under my skin like a splinter.
I nod at Ian when he pokes his head into the kitchen, and grin when he glares at me. Yeah, there's the face of a six a.m. Barney Beckett wake-up call if I ever saw one. He coughs and makes a nodding gesture for me to follow him back out to the empty dining room.
"Oy, heard you got a call from room service bright and early this morning," I grin, sipping at my espresso as I step around the tables stacked with chairs, "Sorry about that."
He glares at me before he snorts and shakes his head. "Eh, no worries. I make Jerry take just about every call I get from your old man, I don't think he can actually tell us apart."
I laugh.
"Listen though, there's another call I got just now you should know about."
"Oh? What's it now?" I roll my eyes, "Barney changing the whole theme of the place to a topless chips shop?"
"Your pastry cook is putting out feelers."
I freeze, espresso cup midway to my lips, "Huh?"
Ian nods. "Got a call from Sean over at Maxwell, checking out her references." He glares at me, "Ollie, I don't have to tell you how hard it is to find a decent pastry cook right now."
She wants to quit? Over one fucking argument? I can feel my teeth grinding together as I glare into my coffee cup.
"Look, make nice, okay?" We can't be changing over staff in between Times reviews; you know that." Ian shrugs, "Besides, I like her."
"Oh, well, in that case-" I roll my eyes at Ian, "And why is she so high on the Ian Johnson opinion meter?"
"Because she serves your shit right back to you, that's why," Ian says with grin and a raised eyebrow.
Cocky git.
"I'll handle it."
"Nicely, Ollie."
"Oy, you want me to tell you how to manage your fucking wait staff?"
Ian laughs as he heads towards his office, "Play nice!" He calls back over his shoulder.
I stand amongst the empty tables of the dining room for another minute, stewing things over. She's looking for another job? Already?
Let her, the voice inside says with a shrug; Why not? Weren't you bitching about how living AND working with her was messing with your head?
And the voice is right; I should just let her do what she wants. I should call Sean back right now, give her a glowing recommendation, send her on her merry fucking way, and then go fuck half the waitresses on Ian's staff.
That's what I should do, when it comes to Chloe.
...Of course, I'm not always that good at doing what I should do, am I?
*****
So, she wants to play games? Fine; bring it. I can play kid games too.
Games like walking back into the kitchen, heading directly for my little office, and text messaging her with descriptions of every single thing I want to do to her.
It's amazing how graphic you can be in a text message these days. Emojis are downright filthy if you use them right.
I'm completely aware it's a bit of a mixed message after my behavior last night when I yelled at her like that, but let her stew on it. Let her think about my dirty, crude, filthy messages all day and night while she tries to work. Let her try and get orders out while I'm texting her the places I want to put my tongue, or where I want to screw her.
Let her try and think about swapping jobs when I tell her how hard I am, or how I'm dying to pull her panties off with my teeth and taste the honey between her legs.
Of course, I get absolutely nothing back; not even a look my way even though I definitely catch her looking at her phone at least half a dozen times throughout the shift with wide eyes and pink cheeks.
Okay, so I don't get a literal response back, but watching her cheeks go bright red as I send her another detailed description of my cock or some other dirty position is certainly just as good.
It's a start, at least.
*****
"Okay, you need to stop it."
I grin as I finish pulling my sweaty t-shirt off in my office and turn to see her standing in my doorway. She may have just worked a fairly grueling shift, and she may be frowning at me, but damn if she doesn't looking sexy as sin standing there in jeans and a tank-top with her hair cascading down her shoulders.
"What do you want, Oliver?" She says, crossing her arms over her chest and scowling at me.
It's not doing a thing to make her any less hot.
"Haven't I been making what I want fairly clear all damn day?" I say with a grin, "Oh, wait, you do get cell service in here, right?"
She rolls her eyes. "You can't text me like that. It's inappropriate."
I shrug, "I disagree."
"It's sexual harassment."
I give her a look, loving that forced heat to her eyes that says she's trying to convince herself of what she's saying about as hard as she's trying to convince me.
"Don't you think we're a bit past that?"
Her face flushes scarlet. "Do not remind me."
"So what is this about you working for Sean over at Maxwell's? What, I yell at you once and in the kitchen and you decided you can't stand the heat?"
"No, I woke up and realized I didn't need to spend my time fooling around with an asshole."
"How about ignoring me? That part of the deal?"
"Looks that way," she snaps.
I roll my eyes.
"Look, it's not appropriate, okay? What we did-" She blushes again and drops her eyes as she pushes her hair back from her face, "We can't do things like that, Oliver. Our parents-"
"Are grown adults, Chloe; sort of like us."
"It's wrong."
"Keep telling yourself that, sweetheart."
"I have to go."
"Oh c'mon! Look, stick around, okay? I promise I'll be good." She arches a brow at me and I grin. "Okay, I'll make a solid effort to be good at least. Don't go over to Maxwell's, we need you here."