Two pieces of gold Martin

"Don't forget to pass the pan to the water users after you used it!"

"Yessir!"

"Hey Kelvin, that steak is looking good."

"Thanks sir!"

"Lenny, how is our stock going?!"

"Perfect sir, Benny just brought some new eggs and bread with him, so we're restocking the new supplements right now!"

"I like to hear that Lenny!"

"Sir?!"

"Yes, Liz?"

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘭𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴.

"The Boss is coming to the kitchen!"

"The Boss? Thank you Liz, I will handle this."

"Yes sir!"

There he stood, the boss was a big man with red hair. He wore a brown suit with a white blouse under it. The boss was the owner of "Major Tastes." Major Tastes was the best restaurant from Lori village. Some say it was the best in the whole continent named "Vloricus." The boss was a rich man. Boris is his real name, but everybody had to call him boss.

"Good evening boss, what brings you here?" My voice trembled a little. The boss was a big man and that was why he acted big. If something was not big enough to please him, he got rid of it immediately.

The boss looked around the kitchen. His expression was angry as always. 𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥? You could never tell how he really felt, caus his expression never changed. "Martin!" He talked on his normal voice, but it always sounded like he was screaming. When the boss was real angry at you, you never dared to take another step in Major Tastes.

"Yes boss?!" I posed like a soldier listening to his orders.

"To my office, now!" The boss did not wait for a response. He immediately walked away and expected me to follow him.

I gulped and followed him with my trembling legs.

I heard my colleagues whispering to each other, "is Martin in trouble."

"No way that he will get rid of Martin, he is the best chef around here."

I was very beloved by my colleagues, I always took the lead. Everyone admired me for my cooking and teaching. 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺? 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘫𝘰𝘣! 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦!

We arrived in the boss's office. The place looked like the last destination. The office had a tribune, with all prices Major Tastes won. Most of them were gold prices. Gold was the same color as the name sign on the boss's desk. The sign said, "Boris Cornelius Heathead III."

The boss sat down first. I waited in the door opening for him to tell me the order. "Sit down!" the boss said.

I took place in front of him and asked, "you wanted to speak with me?"

"Yes Martin, I want to speak with you." This was the first time he called me by name. Correction, this was the first time he called any of his workers by name. "Take a look at this." He placed two gold pieces in front of me worth around two thousand silver pieces. "This is your bonus!" he said.

"Bonus? Where did I earned that with?" I did not believe my eyes and ears. 𝘈 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮?

"Martin! how would you feel, when everyone will call you captain?!" he asked.

"That would be great." I spoke fast out of nervousness.

"I can make that happen, when you accept your promotion to captain of Major Tastes!"

𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘥? 𝘐𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭? "I-I will accept it boss..." I said dumbfounded.

"Do not call me boss! From now on you will call me Boris!"

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦. I squeezed my finger to make sure I was awake. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦?! "Boris..."

"Hahahaha, that is what I want to hear!!" This was the first time he looked happy.

I squeezed harder in my finger, but I was still in the office.

"Take this! Two gold pieces as a bonus and your salary will be raised from 20 to 30 silver pieces an hour!" Boris shoved the two.gold pieces to me.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩! "Thank you Boris! Thank you thousands of times!" I was happy. I was finally the official captain of the kitchen. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘬𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘸!

"I expect you to work extra hard from now on!" Boris added.

"Of course Boris, I will do more than my best!" 𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘉𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘴.

After the meeting I went back to the kitchen. When I arrived everyone looked at me. "What did he tell you sir?" Liz asked.

For a moment I stood still... "I got promoted to captain!"

Everyone applauded to me. I felt like I won the lottery. "Thats our captain!" someone yelled. "We knew you could do it!" someone else yelled.

"Okay, okay," I said trying to calm everyone. The applause stopped. "Thank you everyone, I wouldn't be able to achieve this without you guys."

"Don't be so polite captain. You are the best chef in Vloricus," Benny patted my shoulder while saying that.

"Thanks guys."

"Now let's work for our captain, we can't let Martin lose his job on his first day as captain!" Benny yelled.

Everyone went back to work. 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘺.

I arrived back home and closed the door behind me in silence. 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘶𝘣𝘦𝘯. I made some soup and went to bed after it. Before I fell asleep, I looked at the silver spatula. 𝘚𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥.

I woke up with the feeling of being stared at. It was Reuben standing in the door opening.

"Who are you? Bring me back to my father right now!" He looked scared, but tried to hide it.

𝘈𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯? "Whats wrong?" I asked.

"Who are you? Where is my father?" He grabbed a knife out of his pocket. "Answer me!"

"Wow, hey, hey, hey! Don't try anything wrong, okay? You are safe here." I tried to calm him. His trembling hands made clear, he didn't wanted to kill me.

"Safe? Where is my father?"

"I'm Martin. I found you alone and you needed help."

"I don't remember any of that."

"Listen. I know your name. Your name is Reuben right?"

"Y-yes..." He calmed a bit, but still held the knife.

I stood up very cautious. "Listen Reuben, you probably have Alzheimers. That can happen after a trauma." 𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵? 𝘐𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦. 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘮𝘦, 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘯𝘰𝘸.

"Alzheimers? What are you talking about!" He did not understand what was happening, he was confused.

"Alzheimers is a sort of dementia. It causes loss of memory." I tried to explain it and it seemed to work.

"I don't understand," Reuben said having tears in his shining eyes. He dropped the knife and repeated, "I don't understand!"

He started to cry. I walked to him and gave him a hug. "It will be alright. You will be just fine. Let it all out."

"Papa! I want my father!" he cried.

"It will be alright, I'm here for you."

When he stopped crying, I baked some toasted bread for the both of us. "Here you go, eat something."

Reuben pressed his finger on the bread. He probably wasn't in the mood for food. He wore a yellow t-shirt. The t-shirt was so large he didn't need to wear pants.

"Should I wash your purple blouse you chose?" I asked.

"Chose...? I don't like purple," Reuben said.

"You don't...?" He acted like a different person. 𝘏𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘦. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘙𝘦𝘶𝘣𝘦𝘯. 𝘏𝘰𝘸...? 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘈𝘭𝘻𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵?

"I want to choose new clothes" he said.

"Ehm... sure." I got two gold pieces as a bonus anyway.

But then the bells rang. 𝘖𝘩 𝘯𝘰, 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯. 𝘐 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. Every season prince Lucas and his knights came to the village to collect some money, 500 silver coins per person. If you didn't, you would be punished.

A loud knock sounded on the door. "Open up!" a loud voice added the knock.

I opened the door. The knight in front of me, was the red suited knight Reuben and I encountered yesterday.

"So it is you huh? That kid of yours wasted a lot of my time." He looked angry

"Is something wrong Darius?" It was prince Lucas, he stepped of his horse and walked to the knight.

"This guy was a real pain in the ass." Darius muttered.

"Mind your manners Darius. I will handle this."

"My apologies your highness." Darius bowed to the prince and took a step back.

"You will be forgiven." Prince Lucas was small. He was smaller than Reuben, but a year older. Prince Lucas was the firstborn son from king Grandon. He was the king of Vloricus. Everyone hated the royale family, but nobody had a choise but to listen to the king and his son.

Prince Lucas looked at me and and said, "If it is not the new captain of Major Tastes." He recognized me and knew about my promotion. "Congratulations with your promotion Martin."

"Thank you your higness." 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴.

"One of my best knights is a bit upset about what you did to him. Is it not Darius?" he said looking at the knight.

"Yes your higness," Darius responded.

Prince Lucas continued at me "Is this true Martin?"

"I am sorry your highness it will not happen again." I bowed to him.

"You will be forgiven."

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘨𝘰𝘥!

"However," prince Lucas wasn't done yet. "You must hand over your bonus as an apology."

"M-my bonus?" 𝘐 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘮𝘦. "I-I go get it."

"Thank you for your cooperation Martin," prince Lucas smiled at me pretending to be nice.

I turned around, but someone stood there. It was Reuben.

Reuben walked to the opening and looked at prince Lucas. "You can not have it. It is our money."

Prince Lucas looked shocked at Reuben.

I walked before him and said quickly, "I am sorry your higness. Please forgive him, he is just a child."

"It is fine. Let me speak to the child," he looked calm, but he was up to no good.

I gulped, 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘯𝘰.

"Come take a look over here Reuben."

Reuben stepped towards prince Lucas, he seemed anxious.

"What is your name kid?"

"Reuben," he responded.

Prince Lucas laid his hand around Reubens neck. "Listen Reuben. Everyone her has to pay for me. My daddy is the king of the country and if I want something, I will get it." He looked at Darius and said, "Darius that woman seems troubled, can you get her for me."

Darius did as he told and brought the woman next-door to prince Lucas. Her name was Mary, she was poor and had no family. She was somewhere in her eighties. We did not talk a lot, but she was a nice lady.

"What is the problem her miss?" prince Lucas asked to the old lady.

"I am sorry your highness. I do not have enough money right now. I pay double next time," Mary replied.

"This is twice in a row miss." Prince Lucas looked back at Reuben and said, "sometimes I do not get what I want. When that happens someone will be punished. So will this lady over here." He pointed at the old lady.

"No please! I beg you!" the old lady panicked.

"Darius execute her."

"No! No!!" The old lady screamed when the knight drew his sword.

"Yes your higness." Darius walked to the old lady and he cut her head off.

Reuben was shocked, but he could not look away. I looked to the other side, 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘺.

Prince Lucas laid his hands on Reubens head and said, "That is it Reuben. That is what happens, when I do not get what I want."

TO BE CONTINUED...