Days Before the Opening

2 days later, Wednesday.

Three days before the opening of the restaurant.

Theo, Ayia, and the four assistant cooks arrived early in the morning at the restaurant.

"All the appliances are ready, and we can finally cook. What did you guys think of the kitchen?" Theo asked.

"It's amazing, boss!" Max exclaimed.

"It is so spacious. We can cook with much more comfort." Kimiko said with a smile.

"Theo, this kitchen is one of the best I have ever seen" Ayia exclaimed with eyes shining with excitement.

They looked at the kitchen that could easily house up to 15 people. It had numerous stoves, ovens, and all other cooking appliances.

It was a top professional kitchen.

"I am glad you guys liked it." Theo laughed.

Then they proceed to change room to put their cooking clothes on.

Theo ordered clothes with the logo of the restaurant.

The four assistant cooks had white pants and white jackets with an image of a spark on the sleeves and collars of the uniforms. They also had a grey apron to tie on their waist.

Ayia's uniform was different.

As the second chef of the restaurant, her uniform needed to be different from the normal cooks to show the hierarchy of the kitchen.

She had light purple pants and a jacket. And on the jacket around the upper left part, it was written her name and her position in the kitchen. On the back of the jacket, it showed the name of the restaurant and the flag of the Sakura Abode Country.

Theo told Ayia that she could draw on the uniform and personalize as she liked. He noticed that she liked drawing on her clothes and allowed her to do the same with the uniform. His only request was to not draw on her name or the restaurant's name.

Ayia was jumping with excitement when she heard that. She also loved that her uniform was purple. It went well with her purple hair.

Theo's uniform was all black. He loved clothes that had a darker tone of color. And all over his uniform, it could be seen sparks. It was a beautiful combination that made the sparks look like stars. His uniform seemed like a clothed version of the hall of the restaurant.

On the upper left side of his jacket, it was written.

'Chef Theodore'

And on the backside of the jacket, the name of the restaurant was visible alongside the flag of the Sakura Abode Country.

When they left the changing room, they looked at each other while analyzing their uniform.

When Ayia saw Theo in his uniform, she immediately became flustered. The contrast of his dark uniform with his silver-ash eyes and hair made him look like a movie star. He looked even more handsome than usual.

The other ladies too became infatuated when they saw their boss. Even Lauren, who already had a boyfriend.

'How can he be so handsome...' all of them thought the same thing.

Theo looked at his employees and became happy. They looked awesome. Especially when he looked at Ayia. To him, she looked like a top model who was about to shoot pictures with a chef uniform. She looked stunning with her light purple uniform and purple hair and her golden eyes that made her look like a goddess.

As they were coming to the kitchen, they heard a truck coming from the back of the building.

"That must be the supply of food I ordered. Let's go meet them." Theo said to them.

They arrived at the back of the restaurant building and saw that it had an unloading area connected with the food storage room.

"Mr. Gray? I am from Prime Industries, and I have a supply of food to deliver here. Can you point to the place where we can unload the food." a short man in a blue uniform said.

"Sure, you guys can back up the truck here in the unloading area. My second chef will supervise and if you guys need anything you can ask her." Theo replied.

Ayia was surprised when she heard that but also happy. She wanted to be productive.

"Ayia, can you do that for me while I interview the people for the other job openings of the restaurant?" Theo asked her.

"Sure, it will be my pleasure!" she smiled.

"You four will help Ayia with anything that she needs, okay?" Theo said to the four assistant cooks.

"Yes, chef." the four of them replied.

Theo nodded and went back to the front of the restaurant. He would interview people for the job of waiter or waitress, manager, greeter, and dishwasher.

For cleaners, Theo was going to contact a private company to contract them to clean the restaurant.

He had to ask for Sam's help to get in contact with these people. But as he interviewed these people, he was satisfied again with Sam's efficiency.

Theo contracted all the people he deemed competent and now the restaurant had all the staff required to open for business.

The manager was a freshly graduated student from the Bluecorn University of Elffire City of business management. Her name was June Collins, and she was 24 years old. She had short red hair that made her look like a tomboy. But that her look more pretty.

Sam told him that June studied with her back when Sam went to college.

Theo liked her personality. She was stern but she knew how to smile and handle different situations. That was exactly what a high-end restaurant's manager should be capable of.

Theo then proceeded to show the restaurant for them after he settled their employment contracts.

And like everyone else, they also became enchanted by his restaurant.

After he finished showing the restaurant for them, Theo called the kitchen staff that just finished organizing the food storage room to the salon. He wanted to say a few words to them.

"Hello everyone, I just wanted to say a few words before anything else. My name is Theodore Gray, and I am the owner and Head Chef of this restaurant." Theo said while looking at their faces.

"This restaurant was a dream of mine even before I knew I could cook. You guys know when you are kids and you see something amazing and you want to do it, even if you don't have any financial support or anything else? I was that kid. My dream was to cook good food for my loved ones and make them happy." Theo smiled.

"Even though I can't make them happy anymore, luckily I still have one person in this life who I want to make her happy with my food. And this restaurant is the place I build to share this happiness with others. And as workers of this restaurant, I want you guys to know that even if you are just salon workers or cleaners. We are all family and I want you guys to feel like this place is as magical as it is magical to me." Theo showed them a sincere smile.

After he finished talking, they applauded with fervor.

They all felt a warmth in their hearts.

'To have a boss like that is a blessing.' they all had similar thoughts.

"Now, how about you guys each introduce yourselves and your job occupation in the restaurant?" Theo said.

And like that they all had a great time after they were introduced to each other, as they all felt excitement for the opening of the restaurant.

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