Emery was sitting across Henry at the dining table, they had already finished the food from their plates and were taking an after-meal break.

"It never crossed my mind that you would be the type of person who carried such heavy baggage." Emery's face darkened as he recalled Henry's words, his fists clenched in anger and frustration. "That sick bastard… Beatin' up his wife and telling his son to die instead of talking over things calmly." He groans as he massages his temple, he looks at Henry with a worried expression.

"I'm glad though… you managed to live through that, kiddo."

Henry had finally calmed down, although his eyes were a little red.

"I owe it all to Ein so… you should thank him instead." A bashful smile forms at Henry's face.

"Now it all makes sense! Is that the reason why you took that dishwashin' job years ago?" Emery chuckles as he wipes his lips with a napkin.

"Yes... Although, I wasn't able to approach Ein back then… So I'm very grateful that you sent me an offer to take your place here." Henry takes a sip of water from his glass.

Emery then glares at Henry while raising his eyebrow. "Are you perhaps… stalking Ein?"

Henry almost spat out the water from his mouth due to shock. He was caught off-guard with Emery's question, he quickly swallowed his drink and wiped his lips dry with a napkin.

"N-no! O-of course not! I-it's just that by sheer luck… I found Ein here by chance when you first invited me to come to the UK to study."

Emery crosses his arms and pouts at Henry. "I don't believe you, kiddo."

"Ems, have I ever lied to you?" Henry groans. "I took the job back then because I thought I could see Ein and thank him personally." His demeanour became dispirited and a gloomy aura emanated from Henry.

"But I never got the chance to approach him since he didn't even eat here in the dining hall. I only saw him from a distance…" Henry sighs as he recollects his first month in the hotel. "Well, during my smoke breaks at the roof deck. I used to watch him leave the hotel every 6 o'clock sharp…"

"There's something therapeutic about watching people leave the office in a good mood." Henry mopes.

Emery sneers at Henry. "Kiddo, that's clearly stalkin'. Don't make me call the bobbies on you…"

"I-it's not my f-fault! I swear! I didn't mean to keep tabs on Ein in the past! It's just that I noticed that he would always leave at that time and would always take the cab home!" Henry's face flushed and he had a stray cold sweat on his neck.

"I-I q-quit smoking last year… S-so you won't see me l-loiter upstairs from now on."

"Good."

Emery claps his hand and a proud smile was on his face. "Your answers have pleased me greatly, you passed!"

"What?" Henry was baffled at Emery's reaction. He looked at him like a dead fish.

"Actually, Monique told me earlier to keep on pressin' you until you fess up completely about your dishwashing days so…" Emery scratches his head.

Henry felt demotivated, being doubted by the GM herself was a big blow to his ego. "I guess she doesn't trust me that much still…"

"Well… there is some truth to that. Don't take offence with Monique's methods though. She's just doin' it to protect her only little brother." Emery drinks half of the water from his glass.

"I remember Monique tryin' to drag Ein and Seori come and eat here in the past, but those two were a couple of workaholics and she would give up and ask the kitchen to bring up food instead."

Henry raises an eyebrow. "Were they being put on overtime?"

"Nah! It's just that those two would rather deal with their tasks within their hours and would prefer not to go on overtime." Emery massages his forehead as he recalls his memories of Ein and Seori.

"They would sacrifice their lunch and breaks to do that and it was unhealthy! It was worryin'. So Monique pestered me to teach them how to cook on their own, and bring packed lunches if they can't come down and eat here."

"Then the chances of me meeting and talking to Ein this time…"

"Probably close to ten to twenty percent, kiddo!"

"Well… at least I'm not going to be stuck at the dishwashers this time. It's better than zero. Haha..." A nervous chuckle escapes from Henry's mouth.

"Well, you are the new kitchen manager, so you'll either be working inside the office or attendin' meetings with the management… You have the freedom to go out there in the kitchen too!" A sneaky smirk forms on Emery's lips, he then whispered to Henry. "Ein does the morning inspections every morning so if you want to talk to him, informally, that's the best time."

Emery fixes his sleeves then stands up from his seat.

"Anyway, lunch break is almost over, let's go back to the kitchen, kiddo! I'll teach you the recipe for the pies." A jolly smile appears on Emery's face. "You did bring a change of clothes for workin' right?"

Henry nods. "I'll just grab them from my car, you don't mind waiting? I'll need to change so I'll probably be back in ten to fifteen minutes."

"Sure! Take your time, kiddo! Let's meet at the Bakery's service area then… Around 1:15 PM. that should be enough."

"Alrighty! See you in a bit." Henry stands up from his seat and scurries off to the carpark to fetch his clothes.

Emery watches Henry leave the dining hall, when he was certain that the young lad was out of the vicinity, he hastily pulls out his smartphone from his pocket and calls Monique.

[[Emery! I was waiting for you to call… so how's his story? Is he a tame wolf waiting for fresh meat or is he a sly fox?]] Monique's voice sounded excited.

"Neither. He genuinely just wants to be friends with Ein. And his story checks out too. You can put your trust in him, Monique."

[[Boo! How boring! And I thought I've found a good love match for Ein… Haaah… I guess it's back for the drawing board for me.]]

"You give up easily, Monique! I have a hunch… But somethin' tells me that good things will happen if Henry manages to talk things out with him. You should get those two to spend some time together."

[[Oooohhh! The legendary intuition of Chef Emery is tingling! Alright, do tell me what you've discovered! I'll reward your efforts so tell me what else did Henry confess to you.]]

~~~~~

To be Continued.

~~~~~