"So let me get this right, you ran someone over on your way back from the police station, and now you're checking that someone into the hospital."
Tiana's voice was thick with disbelief through the phone, and I couldn't help but feel a bit guilty leaving her with a majority of the prep work, even though the situation was completely out of my control. "Well, technically, I didn't hit her with my car; she kind of flew off her skateboard and landed in the road in front of me. If I had actually hit her with my car, I wouldn't be this calm right now."
"Alright, I get it, I'm glad everyone is alright, do you know how long you're going to be?" Tiana asked after letting out a quick sigh.
"Well, they took her into the urgent care as soon as we got here, so I'm just waiting for someone to come out and tell me that she's going ot be alright. I don't see any reason that'll keep me here for more than half an hour. I'll get back in time to help you finish up prep."
"I'll see you soon then," Tiana replied before hanging up, though instead of putting my phone away, I started looking at different real estate listings in the area. I might have been far off from the ten million dollars, but doing some research ahead of time was never a bad choice.
"Excuse me, Sir, are you the one who brought in that young woman?"
A soft, polite voice caught my attention, though I nearly forgot the question that had been asked of me when I looked up and saw who had spoken.
If the term blonde bombshell ever had a textbook example, it would have been the woman in front of me. She somehow made her nurse uniform fit like a glove, showing off her hourglass figure, long shapely legs, and large perky breasts.
"Yes, I am. Is she alright?" I asked while standing up, forcing the nurse to take a few steps back, "A-a bit banged up, but nothing serious or life-threatening. She's awake and called her parents, but she wants to thank you in person."
I let out a small sigh of relief before nodding, "Sure, I'd be happy to see her, but do you think you could show me the way, nurse…"
A small smile split the nurse's plump lips, "O-oh, you can just call me Heloise."
"Heloise, what an interesting name! It sounds French?" I asked curiously.
"It is actually, both of my parents were born in France and moved here a couple of years before I was born," Heloise replied, her grin widening, "I'm surprised you figured that out, is someone you know french Mr…"
I grinned as Heloise repeated my own strategy, "Mr. Young, but please call me Ramon. And no, but for a while I did business with some french based companies. Maybe I can tell you about them while we walk to Jackie?"
Heloise blinked, clearly having forgotten why we were originally talking, "Of course, sorry about that. I shouldn't get distracted so easily. Please follow me."
Heloise turned around, and my eyes couldn't help but dip down, 'Definitely not as big as Megan or Summer, but I've never seen such perky bubble butt…still prefer size over shape though.'
I managed to drag my eyes away from the enticing sight as we rounded the corner and walked to the end of that hallway, "She's right in here."
Heloise stopped outside the room and turned back around to flash me a smile, "I'm afraid that I can't stay around longer to chat."
"They have you all on a tight shift do they?" I asked with a grin.
"Never enough hands," Heloise replied as a way of explanation.
"Well, if you ever catch a break, maybe find your way over to my restaurant, Ramon's Grillhouse, I'll treat you to a meal." I offered with an expectant look.
"Absolutely, that sounds amazing," Heloise replied with an excited smile, "I'll look you guys up online and see when I can make it."
"Excellent, then I can't wait to see you there," I gave Heloise a final smile before knocking on the door, and after a second, stepping inside
"Heard you wanted to see me?" I flashed Jackie a small smile as I watched her sit up in the hospital bed, wearing a gown and connected up to an IV.
"Well, I think it would be pretty rude not to thank you for driving me here," Jackie replied with a sarcastic grin, "Though you might want to get out of here before my parents pull up. You'll be forced into like an hour long unskipable cutscene."
"Not entirely sure what that means, but I get the gist. Were you able to talk to your boss?" I asked as I moved to stand by the foot of the bed.
"Yeah, she didn't fire me, thank god," Jackie muttered as she leaned her head back, "I probably shouldn't have been worried, Wendy is strict, but she's a nice person. I don't see her doing anyone wrong."
"Huh, where do you work?"
"The community pool, I'm a lifeguard," Jackie answered with a sigh as she glanced down at her wrist that was already in a brace, "Though it looks like I'm gonna be on snack stand duty for the next couple of weeks."
I gave her a reassuring grin, "Well, sprained is better than broken, I would still consider yourself lucky given everything that's happened."
"I was lucky that you were the one behind that wheel, you'd be surprised how many assholes would have just left me in the road," Jackie replied with a grin, "Seriously, I owe you big time, if you ever come by the pool, snow cones are on me."
I let out a genuine laugh at that, "You know I just might have to take you up on that offer, with all the shit I've been dealing with."
"Well, if you really wanna blow off some steamyou should come to the employee swim, it's a few weeks from now afterthe pool closes, so there won't be any kids running around." Jackie suddenly sat up with a grin, "If you're interested, let's exchange numbers."
"I can't give an absolute that I will make it, but if I do, would it be alright if I bring a few friends?" I asked, while handing Jackie my phone.
"Sure, if they're friends of yours, I bet they're good people," Jackie answered with a thumbs-up before quickly typing in her information and handing back my phone. "Hopefully, you can make it out. We always have a blast."
"Hopefully I'll be able to find out," I replied before glancing at the time.
"Gotta get running?" Jackie guessed, and I smiled apologetically, "Yeah, I need to get back before my sous chef is buried in lobsters. But it was nice meeting you, Jackie, even if it was under less-than-favorable circumstances."
"Same here, man, and thanks for not running me over with your car," Jackie shot me one last grateful look before I left her room and quickly made my way out of the hospital, 'This has been a long day…and I haven't even started dinner prep yet.'
---
"Finally, you're back!" Tiana exclaimed, glancing over as I walked through the kitchen door.
"Miss me much?" I asked with a cocky grin as I took off my coat and threw on an apron, "Where are you at right now?"
"I finished cutting up the fennel and got the pastry dough we saved from last night cut up," Tiana answered, switching from humorous to all business in the blink of an eye, "I did a test bake, and you were right, that vacuum sealer is magic. Tastes exactly the same."
"Great then, I'll get started prepping the lobster for boiling, while you should start bagging the stakes so they can go in as well. "
"Got it, are we still going with fifty bags at a time?" Tiana asked as she moved over to the fridge and started pulling out steaks, "Or do we want to change things up? I feel like we had to do more steaks mid-service than we did lobster."
"I trust your gut, go up to sixty bags, and we'll go smaller on the lobster," I replied even as I grabbed one of the crustations and quickly put a knife between its eyes, "Now enough talking, we got a lot to get through, no more room for distractions."
"Hey! Excuse me, you can't go in there!"
My knife paused as I heard Patty's voice call out, and I looked over just in time to watch a woman I did not recognize kick in my kitchen door, glaring at me and Tiana like we owed her money, "Which one of you is the head chef?"