Authors Note: So Charlie is basically the opposite of me. I like to be lazy and stay in bed most of the day writing, and he likes to be up and moving all the time. The early bird with the friendly smile is back in action and itching to get out of bed! Thank you for getting this far, and enjoy!
-Saturn
The next day, Charlie woke up bright and early to another big breakfast. His stomach was slowly getting used to this meal plan, but he still wound up with a lot of food left over. He still felt guilty about wasting so much of it.
This time he was by himself for breakfast. Usually Dr. Button would sit with him in the mornings. Max liked to sleep in, so he would always wind up eating at a later time. Charlie was glad that Max didn't try to wake up as early as he did. It wasn't healthy if he didn't get a good night's sleep. Although it would be interesting to see how he looked like when he first got up in the morning.
Did he sleep with clothes on? Or....
Ever since what happened in the hallway, Charlie couldn't get these thoughts to leave his mind. He could still feel the man's arm around him, and his hand cupping his face. It was almost impossible to sleep.
He wished he could get himself to believe that there was no way that this would work out. Charlie still had work and an apartment. Max wasn't meant to be with someone like him. He was meant to be with someone else who was rich and successful. Charlie didn't have either of those things. He was just the guy that everyone either took advantage of, or took pity on. As much as Charlie hated to think like that, it was true. He wasn't meant for anyone. He was meant to work and struggle until he could finally get success. That's something he realized when he got out of school.
Tears started welling in his eyes. This was not the time to think these thoughts. He was alone, which is when his mind liked to wander into things like these, but he couldn't eat when he was getting upset.
Instead of trying to force himself to eat anything else, Charlie left it on the tray and slipped out into the hallway. He needed to get out of the room. Hopefully, the library would be open so he could find something to read in there. He knew that Max wouldn't be up for a couple more hours at least. And Charlie desperately needed a distraction from his thoughts - all of them.
The library was locked. It must be too early for someone to open it. He wondered why they kept the library locked at night. But he figured that if you had such priceless things, you'd probably want to lock them up at night too.
Charlie wound up wandering. There wasn't really much else to do. He got up at five and hadn't really seen anyone else up this early. He had the sleeping schedule of an old man. Even if he stayed up late, he would wind up waking up at the same time as always. Even when he closed the restaurant at 2am. He'd wind up getting home at 4am and only getting an hour or two of sleep before his mind would be up again, wanting something to do.
It helped when he opened the restaurant, though. That was his favorite shift, though it wasn't the best shift if you needed tips. The people were always nice, and there was always something to do in the kitchen to get it all started up. Charlie would always help Ryan whenever he had extra time. Whether it was starting up the coffee, or washing some extra dishes for him. It always helped put Ryan in a cheery mood. They worked well together.
He missed working, honestly. He loved keeping his hands busy and meeting new people. It always led to an interesting conversation. And it was much better than not being able to talk to anyone in the morning.
There were always so many elderly people that loved talking in the morning. They would talk to him about just about everything. Whether it be about the wars they were in, or just about how adorable their grandchildren were, Charlie loved to hear their stories. Most of them were more talkative than the rest of the people who came in. Although, he did have a few women that were really talkative towards him.
Charlie surprised himself with how easy it was for him to remember the layout of the hallways. He hadn't gone upstairs because Max was worried about his bruises and didn't want him straining himself. But the bottom floor was pretty easy to get used to. Most of the smaller doors were to small rooms for the workers, Charlie assumed, so he decided against trying to explore them.
He wound up walking to the kitchen. It was the one place that was bright at the moment. It was fall, so the sun was coming up later than before. The house was dully lit up as the sun peaked over the trees and into the windows. Charlie thought against turning all the lights on as he walked through them. He liked the peace that the sunrise had to it. It was the one time during the day that no one was in a rush. It was right before the rush hour.
Of course, there was no rush hour in the middle of the forest. Charlie forgot where he was at some points.
The kitchen was bustling, as every kitchen usually was. It reminded him of the restaurant. When everything was calm and peaceful in the morning, the kitchen would be loud and bustling, just like a mother getting everything ready for her children to wake up and go to school.
One thing that visiting the kitchen always reminded Charlie of was just how many people that were actually in this mansion. Half the time, whenever he walked around with Max, there wouldn't be anyone in the halls. Charlie didn't particularly know why, but it only seemed to make the mansion seem bigger. The kitchen had so many people all working to get one thing done: breakfast. Even the dish washers played a part in this. The best thing about a kitchen was that every member was important, no matter how small the job seemed.
He noticed Chef Aldi before the man noticed him. He was barking orders at a couple of the other chefs, making sure that nothing got burnt. It looked like they were making pancakes and waffles. It was enough to cater a wedding, there was so much batter. Charlie loved the idea of cooking those, even if he wasn't really that hungry at the moment. He couldn't remember a time when he had pancakes. It was probably when he was little.
When things were still nice.
"Charlie?" Chef Aldi turned to look at him standing in the door. It was deja vu all over again. "What are you doing here?" He had a polite smile on his face, although he looked like he was trying to look nice when he was actually mad.
"Good morning, Chef," he gave a quick smile. "I was wondering if you needed any help around here."
Aldi looked a little surprised at his statement.
"Well, we always need help around here, but aren't you still supposed to be recovering or something?"
"I'd like to think that some exercise could help be recover quickly too," Charlie said. "Unless I'd just get in your way. I just thought I'd ask." He forgot to think that this might just complicate things if he started to try and help. Aldi looked like a busy man, and he didn't want to take too much of his time like he did yesterday.
At this point, some of the other workers were looking their way. He didn't mind the spotlight a little bit. But it did make him a little more self-aware of the situation he had put himself in. He just wanted something to do. Anything. He wanted to be around people, not left by himself to his own thoughts.
He just wanted to run away from them.
"I can't deny that," the chef's grin got wider. "But you don't have to help around here, you know. Dr. Button's a good friend of mine. He just wants you to take care of yourself. And as for Max and his parents: they're a weird bunch, but they're kind-hearted people."
He wished that all of these people weren't so kind-hearted. All he wanted to do was keep his hands busy. It was either that, or he would be walking around the hallways once more until Max got up, and then he might not even be able to see him until even later that day.
"I know that, believe me," Charlie started. "It's just that they've done so much for me, and you've done a lot for me too with the food that you make. I just want to return the favor in whatever way I could."
"You can return the favor by getting better," Aldi patted him on the shoulder. "Trust me, that's all they want to see."
Charlie could get the hint that he was not wanted. Head chefs were always picky about who they let in their kitchen when they were allowed to pick. And since Charlie still had a long way to go, he would probably just burden the workers.
"You're probably right," Charlie nodded his head. He tried to keep the disappointment out of his voice, but he was sure that he slipped up in those regards. "I'll leave you to your work then. Have a great day."
"You too, Charlie."
Charlie could feel the chef watching him as he walked out of the doorway. He had no plan on what he was going to do the rest of the day, but he knew he didn't want to go back to his room. Maybe he would try to find the door out of here and try to go for a walk in the woods. That always seemed to help.
"Hey, Charlie!" Aldi's voice boomed from the kitchen. Charlie turned around to see that he was standing in the doorway. "I suppose, if you're really that bored, I could use the help anyway."
"It's alright if you don't want to, Chef," Charlie shook his head. "I don't want to cause any trouble for anyone."
"Well, you know how to wash dishes, at least, don't you boy?"
"Of course," he nodded. "I started out in the restaurant as a dish washer."
"Perfect," Aldi beckoned him in the kitchen once more. "Then I'm sure Dr. Button won't be too upset that I've gotten your help."
It took a while to get used to the kitchen. It was much bigger than he was used to. But it only took asking a few questions before he got the hang of which dishes go where. After that, it was a piece of cake getting anything done. The workers seemed a little distant with him at first, but they were a talkative bunch, and Charlie had them warmed up to him in no time. None of them really seemed to be like Evon, or any of the other workers at the restaurant that loved to slack. They always seemed to have an issue with that when it came to kitchen workers. That was the main reason why Charlie wound up doing so much during his shifts. It wasn't good when the cook had to wash all the dishes as well as make the main course.
The only people that seemed a little slow to work were the ones who just walked in. It was common for anyone to be a bit slow and groggy when they first came into a morning shift. But they never stopped to chit chat and they didn't work any less than the people that were in the kitchen first.
They were a good team.
And it was easy to get on their good sides. Charlie was always good with talking to strangers. It was a trait of his that he really enjoyed. He was a people person. He loved meeting new people and learning new things from them. And a few conversations about food with these guys, and they were all relaxed and laughing with him.
"So, you work in a restaurant?" one of the chefs asked. He learned that her name was Katy. She must have been maybe twenty. But the way she cooked was the same as Chef Ryan, so he trusted her with food. If she could make food like Ryan, then she truly had a gift.
"Yeah," he answered, taking more dirty pans from her counter space. "I'm just a waiter right now. But I work in the kitchen cleaning if we're short staffed. It's either that or I wind up helping the chef over there clean the kitchen after closing. Sometimes I'll help get the kitchen ready for the start of the day, though. It depends on what my shift is."
"What do you know about cooking?" another chef, Nick, if he remembered correctly, asked. He looked really focused on the food he was making, but he was definitely the most talkative out of the people here. That and he could make pancakes like there was no tomorrow.
"Not much, to be honest," he gave him a shy grin. "I have my Food Handlers card, so I know about the safeties of kitchen work and all of that. As far as making food, though, the most I've done is help the chef over there make pies."
"Pies?" Aldi was the one who asked this time. It was a big kitchen, but the Head Chef seemed to be able to overhear everything that was going on in it. He seemed much more relaxed than when Charlie first came in. There was something about when they all go into the zone of working together that seemed to relax most of them. Of course, some were still a little tense, but he couldn't help everyone.
"Oh yeah! The restaurant I work at is famous for them. Chef Ryan perfected them. He makes them fresh every morning." The memory of morning pies with Ryan made him smile. The chef would always tell him his dreams of starting up his own bakery. He'd tell him that he was going to buy a building around the downtown area and turn it into a bakery. And he would take Charlie with him when he did it. Charlie always thought it was ridiculous. He barely knew how to cook anything. But Ryan would always say that he had a gift for it. Charlie just enjoyed making them with him.
It was one of the few good memories that Charlie tried to hold onto.
Nick groaned as he flipped some more pancakes in the air.
"Pies are the one thing that none of us know how to make correctly."
"And the one thing that the Alpha's want from us the most," Katy groaned with him.
"Alpha's?" Charlie furrowed his eyebrows. What did they mean when they said Alpha's? Was that just a way of saying boss?
Everyone froze when he asked that question. Well, it wasn't really a proper question, but it was still a question. They all looked scared for a second. Like they were going to get some really big trouble. All the tension that Charlie had worked to dissipate was now right back to where it was when he first started working in there, if not even higher. Charlie hated the feeling of tension. It always stressed him out, especially when it was due to him. He didn't want to scare anyone.
Maybe he should have just tried to go on that walk through the woods.
"Sorry," Katy shook her head, "the heat from this stove is starting to get to me. I meant-"
"Your boss," he cut her off. When she looked up at him this time, he smiled at her. "I like it. It's not the most orthodox way of saying it, but I like it."
"We aren't really the most orthodox kind of people," Nick said.
"I can tell," Charlie laughed a bit. "But, being orthodox is kind of boring anyway." The tension was slowly starting to slip away as he said that. Everyone was quickly going back to the normal hustle and bustle that the kitchen had. This was an interesting place, but Charlie was already starting to love it. They all had their own language in a way. It seemed like this crew had already gotten many strange comments for their own lingo.
"Not when you can't even make pie," Nick muttered to himself.
"I could help you make some if you want," Charlie volunteered. The thought of making pies again brought back nothing but happiness. "It really isn't that difficult if you have the right ingredients."
"I thought you said you don't know that much about cooking," the chef raised a suspicious brow at him. He looked curious about it though.
"Pies were the only food that I was allowed to help with in the kitchen," he laughed. "I've helped make them for about three years now. I know my chef's recipe for them by heart at this point."
Ah, Ryan. Charlie missed him so much. He was probably so worried about him. He would call the chef up to talk to him, if it weren't for the fact that his phone barely had any minutes left on it. He didn't really want to ask anyone to use the phone here, and he doubted that they would let him go back to the city to get more minutes. Ryan was like a father to him, though. He knew him since he started out as a dishwasher when he was thirteen. He took care of him and would even let him have some of the leftover food that would get brought back. Charlie practically lived at that restaurant ever since he first started working there. Most of them were much like his own little family.
Most of them.
"Hold on!" Chef Aldi interrupted them. He looked like he just had the greatest idea since the invention of the pan. He handed off the spatula that he was using to his assistant and walked towards him. "Charlie, you just gave me the greatest epiphany I think I've had in my life!"
"What is it?"
"What pie's do you remember how to make by heart?"
"All the one's that we sell at the restaurant," he answered. He's had to make them so many times. And most of the time he didn't have time to look at the recipe book every time he went through the process of baking them. "Apple, blueberry, raspberry, lemon, and pecan. Chef Ryan said that my best was apple pie, though."
Aldi looked like his face was going to break, he was grinning so much.
"Alright, Apple," he said, referring to him. "If you really want to return the favor to Max and his parents, the best thing you could do is make them those pies."
"Are there the right ingredients here?" he asked. This was a little sudden, but it only seemed to excite him rather than scare him. Even though he thought what Ryan said about him being great at baking ridiculous, he still loved making pies. He just thought Ryan was the best at it.
"Of course, we do!" Aldi patted him on the back. "And we have a ton of berry bushes in the garden."
"You grow your own berries?" he wondered how none of them had ever been able to bake pies.
"We grow a lot of our own ingredients," Aldi explained. "But we can't grow everything. We still need to take a few trips to the grocery store every month or so. Other than that, we're pretty self-sufficient."
"That's great!"
"It'll be better when you make us some of those pies!" he laughed.
"Are you sure you want me to make them?" he didn't want to step on anyone's shoes here. He already got punished by that. And he wasn't sure if he really was to be trusted on one of these ovens. He never really made these by himself before. Suddenly, his confidence was seeping out.
"You said you remember the recipes by heart?" he asked.
"Well, yes, but-"
"And you've been making them for three years now?" he folded his arms across his chest.
"I've been helping, yes -"
"Then it's settled," the chef ended his interrogation. He looked very pleased with himself. "You're making the pies."
And, just like that, Charlie was finally about to have a really busy day.