Bouquets of Chocolate (manxman)

Memoirs #5

He was nervous.

It was obvious in the way he kept straightening out the new chef's whites he'd picked up a couple of days ago, in the slight shake of his fingers when he pulled some lose strands behind his ear, and in the way he kept sending tight smiles through the mirror.

"Jordie stop." I eventually said calmly. He immediately froze, then turned around to me, face neutral, waiting for what I would say.

"Stop being so twitchy. You'll be great. It's just a dinner service, you've done hundreds of those. No need to make yourself more nervous than you need to be."

He didn't respond to that, just looked at me like a deer in headlights, and for a moment I was seriously wondering whether he'd even listened to me at all.

"I'll be in the dining room the whole time, so just pretend you're cooking for me. Every plate is for me. You do that every day." I tried again.

The reason he was this nervous was likely the fact that today was not only his first day at Phro, but also the day they'd decided to launch the new menu he'd designed. And on top of that, it was Valentine's and people's expectations would be so much higher. So not only did he have to proof himself in the kitchen, his menu had to do well with customers and be achievable for his chefs. I knew he'd run through all of it with them multiple times and been more than specific when looking over their trial plates, but service was different. Once that first ticket came through the door, the game changed. Being pulled in three different directions like this was hard, but if anyone could do it, it was Jordie. I just wished he'd share my confidence in him.

"What if-"

"No." I immediately interrupted him.

"But-"
"No."

"Sam-"

"No." I crossed my arms over my chest, raised one eyebrow and waited for him to stop being so ridiculous. Clearly consoling him wasn't working, so I would treat him like the idiot he was being.

Eventually he sighed and his shoulders slumped a little.

"Okay?" I asked.

"...Okay." he answered hesitantly. Honestly, at this point he just looked like a drowned puppy. A tall, good looking one, but a drowned puppy nonetheless.

"Not very convincing Jordie." He only shrugged, not meeting my eyes and it was starting to annoy me a little. It was also adorable, but that was besides the point and most definitely not the right time.

When he refused to even budge and we stood in silence for almost 2 minutes, I finally gave in.

I sighed, opened my arms and before I could even say anything, he was hugging me in one of his bear hugs.

We were swaying back and forth and I had my arms tightly around his midsection in an effort the reassure him.

"You really think I'll do okay?" he eventually asked me quietly.

"I really think you'll do okay." I answered back in the same tone, and a few moments later he let me go, straightened out, and smiled at me.

"Okay."

His voice was much steadier, and while I could still see some doubt in his eyes, he'd told me many times that there were times when he trusted my judgement better than his own, so I was hoping that right now, he was leaning into that a little.

When we arrived at Phro, there was a little bit of a queue. Mostly couples. I wasn't sure how word had spread and what it was that attracted people to come today, but it must be either Jordie or the new menu launch. The more realistic part of me said it was the latter, the vain part of me wanted to believe it was because Jordie had finally arrived.