Chapter 2 Going Over The Plan

 

At 6 in the evening, all the kitchen staff had been made to assemble in the ground floor storage room yet again to go over some last minute things.

“Wow! The mistress is really going over the top with the preparations, the food, decorations and basically everything. She was even generous enough to gift us these pretty uniforms and aprons,” Leena loudly whispers to me as Romina stands at the head of the group of waiters and chefs, yelling out some instructions. Mrs. Clifford and generous? I don't think so. At least she loved her son though, loved him enough to show others kindness albeit it was for him. 

I kept my thoughts to myself, not ready to burst sweet Leena’s bubble just yet. She’d started here as a waiter only about a month ago and was already everyone’s favourite. She did exactly as she was told, wasn't mouthy or snarky and was happy to please everyone any way she could.

I give her a small smile and just nod along. Leena was a few years older than me but seemingly as gullible as a child.

I grew increasingly nervous as the minutes ticked by. All the noise around me, Romina’s yelling, the kitchen staff’s constant chattering seemed to tune out as it drew closer to 7, the time the two most important members of the Clifford family were supposed to arrive at. There was excitement and anticipation lingering in the air, after all the most deadly assassin in the history of all mafia in the country, Edwin Clifford and Derek Clifford, heir of the Cliffords, one of the biggest if not the most dangerous and notorious mafia family in all of mainland USA were returning after a 6-year long absence.

And so I’d been told at least a million times by every single working staff member.

I looked down at my embarrassingly skinny body in the fitting new black and red uniform. I was missing my loose and dirty apron and shirt now, that attire only made me feel a bit embarrassed, this outfit just made me feel inadequate.

I fist my hands so tight, I end up forming nail marks on the palm of my hand, I bring them up to rub them together, cursing inwardly at myself. If I’d pressed any harder, I might’ve drawn blood. 

“Just breathe, Rose. Just breathe,” I mumble to myself, glaring at a chef who steps on my shoe, he cowers away and I’m lost in the crowd as I get pushed to the back of the room. 

The clock now being out of my sight gives rise to a different kind of anxiety. 

“Fuck me and fuck this claustrophobic room,” I silently seethe, trying to go over my plan again and again, step by step. But it was hard to do so when you were being continuously pushed into a wall by a herd of people who were too excited for their own good. At least the old ones didn’t care about the banquet and the “guests of honour” too much. 

“The tasterrrr!!” Romina’s voice booms in the storage room, dimming the noise of the common chatter. I stilled in place but then started to move my feet….. only if I weren’t crowded on all sides, I might’ve succeeded.

“Rose! Front of the line. NOW!”

Everyone around me soon parted like the Red Sea. Stumbling in my black pointy shoes whilst running my hands down my red shirt and black skirt and small frilly apron, I tried to walk faster toward the other side.

And to my horror, noticed that everything was ready and the food was just waiting to be served. And the waiters returned at that exact moment….. meaning that the banquet table had already been set. 

“Rose!!” Romina’s sharp voice brings me out of my horrified state, I try to muster up a neutral expression as I stroll over to her. 

She scowls at me, screwing up her chubby, round face in a very unattractive way as her bushy eyebrows drew together. 

“I don’t want any screw-ups today, Rose. None of your usual tardiness is going to work today. But the good news is you can do as you please,” I raise a brow at her. “The mistress will be dealing with you for today anyway,” Romina gives me a wicked grin, giving me a slight push on my back to stand with one of the waiters lined up at the front. 

I’m busy crossing my arms and sulking again when I throw caution to the clock and just as it strikes 7, a staff member, panting, runs up to Romina and whispers something to her. She turns to the crowd of chefs with white toques and waiters with black coats with a wide, excited grin on her face. As Romina’s grin widens, my horrification increases manifold, my breathing spinning out of my control.

“They’re here!” Romina announces and then that is followed by some more instructions as the waiters start moving and the chefs direct them about the food to be served. I stand frozen in place, my heart thundering so hard in my chest, it felt like it would rip it open any second now. I wipe my clammy hands down my shirt, deepening its red colour. I started panting, trying to draw in as much air as I could but it wasn’t enough. Breathe, Rose, just fucking breath. 

Nonetheless, the room started spinning and the light was rapidly going out as my mind whirred out of my control. So much preparation and this is how it was gonna go?! 

Romina says something to me about following the head waiter’s lead and then the sous chef says something and I just bob my head up and down, trying to pay attention but failing miserably. I see their lips move but the sound doesn’t reach my ears.

Romina shakes me out of my trance, lifts me up with her bulky hands, and glares so hard, I’m surprised I don't shatter into pieces like glass. I finally come to my senses and manage to glare back at her.

She leans close to me, and her smelly, hot breath comes out in puffs right in my face as I try to back away from her iron grip, “Stop your daydreaming and focus, you useless little bitch. One of these days, the food will actually be poisoned and you’ll be the first one to taste it.”

She cackles and lets me go. 

All I could do was roll my eyes, then quick on my feet, I followed the head waiter, closely behind on his heel. Walter looks back at me, grins and then looks to the front as we enter the banquet room. I surprisingly returned his smile.

I’d finally put a leash on my anxiety and had managed to go over the plan in my head at least a dozen times. It was a pretty simple plan. If I didn’t overthink it, it was a straight win. No curveball or yorker, a simple full toss. Luckily enough for me, there was no one to knock it out of the field.

The banquet room had this huge teakwood dining table, it was so long it could’ve seated about 40 people and taking into account how stocked the guesthouse had been, it was a good thing it was so long. And above the table, a huge shiny cream-pink and goldish-white chandelier hung on the high ceiling. The table was filled with elegant china and shiny porcelain crockery and two waiters were standing on either side of most of the seats.

My eyes were roaming all sides of the banquet table, planning on how to go about the next step and if I needed to make any last minute changes. The guests had been seated away from the head of the table as I’d expected. 

The seating arrangement was what I was most concerned about, it could make all my scheming go to waste.

I, as the taster, was made to stand at the head of the table, beside the throne-like chair. Yes, that was my main purpose. Tasting the food before everyone ate it. Wasn’t that amazing? At first, I’d found it gravely insulting that no one but I was handed that job. But then didn’t mind it too much since being the taster was what formed the crux of my plan. 

I felt someone nudge me, I looked back to see Jeremy wink at me, I didn’t have it in me to play along so I just gave him a careless shrug as he took his place standing beside one seat. 

I made myself stop fidgeting and forced my hands to fall by my sides before I clawed the flesh out of my palms. The only thing I could do to curb my anxiety without anyone noticing was tap my foot.

Then the huge doors of the banquet room opened, making me go perfectly still. I think even my heart stopped beating for a second to prepare itself for what was to come next.