Rody cursed under his breath as he looked at his watch. He was late, again, and of course it was because he had spent the night trying to reach Manon on the phone. No luck. And to add to his woes, his bike had broken down and it was pouring rain, leaving him and his uniform soaked through. Rody sighed heavily as he started walking, the wet and muddy sidewalk beneath his feet doing nothing to improve his mood. By the time Rody made it to work, he was already dreading the dressing down he would surely receive from Vincent. The guy was always in a foul mood to begin with, and his tardiness would only make things worse. Rody entered the restaurant through the back door, preparing himself for the verbal lashing that was undoubtedly coming.

"Rody..." Rody suppressed a wince as he heard Vincent's deep, growling voice ring out from the kitchen. He knew it was coming—he was an hour late, after all. And as expected, Vincent was already on his case. "I needed my waiter an hour ago when I opened..." To Rody's surprise, however, Vincent was cooking alongside the other chefs in the kitchen. It seemed like the only thing keeping him from exploding at his employee. "Guess who had to do your job when you were lollygagging—" Vincent paused, his gaze landing on Rody.