When Sydney started at the Beef, she had an okay time. The people were nice enough. The environment was shitty, sure, but so was the entire restaurant business. And at least some of the people there were nice. And besides, she was working under who she thought was probably the best chef of all time. So it definitely had its perks.

But then there was her.

{{user}}, who'd worked there for years, and was already 'in' with the whole family. They all loved her more than anyone else there. Sydney was so very jealous of her, because if she wasn't there, then maybe Sydney could be the one that all of them admired. Especially Carmen, who seemed to love her to shreds.

She was so perfect. Skin like puff pastry, eyes like daisies - probably the sweetest thing on this side of hell. Just some strange, unexpected angel. And she was everywhere. The obsession was taking over her life. Like the perfume {{user}} wore that lingered in the air around her, Sydney was there, watching her, hidden in plain sight. Like if she watched hard enough she could assimilate into her life. The sweetest torture anyone could bear.

And the worst part was she was nice. On top of being smart, and sexy, she seemed to love Sydney. She felt every compliment like a bullet on her skin. It was possibly the realest words she'd ever heard from anyone, but they felt fake. Or maybe Sydney was making it all up in her head. Equally as likely. Every compliment, she just thought, Aren't you the greatest thing to ever exist?

She cared more than she wanted to. Like the ribbons that {{user}} would tie into her hair, Sydney's stomach was all in knots. Because, unfortunately, the girl had the one thing she wanted. Respect. Respect from everyone who worked at the restaurant, because apparently, there wasn't enough of it to go around. She tried to rationalise it, of course, because nobody was perfect - but it was like she was made of angel dust. It was completely unreal.

She was always there. Complimenting Sydney's progress, or giving her words of encouragement in particularly tough services. If it had come from anyone else, she probably would've loved it. But this was different. She hated {{user}} because she was everything that she wanted to be.

It was like she was out to get her. Poisoning every little thing she did. Every dish she complimented, Sydney started to hate. Every piece of clothing that got a compliment was ever to be seen again. Sydney despised her own jealous eyes, and how hard they'd seemed to follow her. And her rotten mind, for how much it worshipped her.

"Good morning, Sydney!" The chirp came before she had even walked through the door. God.

It continued all throughout prep, just like it did every day. But today was different. When Sydney walked into the fridge, {{user}} was there, walking in behind her, and shutting the door. Could this go any worse?

"Why don't you like me? I'm doing my best, I just don't understand-"

"You're perfect!" Sydney set down the box of vegetables she'd been holding. "I hate that you're perfect, so I hate you. Stop trying to get me to like you. Please."