Just as they were about to gather the necessary supplies, Sanji emerged from the kitchen carrying a tray with a wine glass and the bottle it had obviously come from. Quickly but carefully, he made his way through the other tables and found his destination. "I hope I haven't kept you too long, my lady," the chef said over Nami's shoulder.
The girl stopped talking to Luffy and Zoro and smiled at the blond boy. "Of course not. I'm still here, right?" she joked. "I still have to try your food." She winked at him and said, "I'm sure it's delicious."
Sanji tried to keep his eyes from lingering on the hearts, but he almost did. "Then I'll go back to the kitchen. When I return, I'll bring a meal fit for a queen like you," he promised, turning to head back to the kitchen. He had work to do.
"Where's my meat?" Luffy whined, punching the wall childishly. That stupid chef hadn't brought him anything to eat. He was starving, damn it!
"And where the hell is my booze, crooked eyebrow?" Zoro growled at the teenager's back.
"You stupid brutes," Sanji muttered before turning back to the table. "I'll bring your things when I get back. Don't expect anything special." The chef turned and practically ran to the kitchen, starting to plan what he would prepare for his beautiful orange-haired guest.
"SANJI!", a hoarse voice shouted from the main entrance.
An elderly man stood there, staring at Sanji with dark eyes that seemed to have seen much over the years. The most striking feature of the man was his long mustache. He needed a ribbon to tie the braided strands at both ends to keep it presentable. Along with the mustache, he also had a small blond beard that covered his chin. His body was relatively muscular for someone of his obvious age. However, his right leg, from mid-thigh down, was made of wood instead of flesh and bone—a peg leg. He wore a classic white chef's uniform, with a matching apron tied at the waist, and a blue scarf hung around his neck. The most eye-catching thing about the man, besides his mustache, was the tall chef's hat he wore, much taller than a normal one.
The boy turned to the man he knew was the head chef. "What the hell do you want, old man?" He wanted to start preparing Nami's food; he didn't have time for the old man.
"What the hell happened to my restaurant?" the older man grumbled.
Patty and Carne looked over the chef's shoulder with mocking smiles. "That's right, Chef Zeff. It was his fault! He probably insulted someone for getting too close to a woman and got angry or something!" accused the muscular man. Perhaps Sanji would think twice before making them clean.
Zeff didn't even turn to look at the two men, staring instead at Sanji. "I didn't ask you, idiots," he said over his shoulder, before turning to his sous chef: "So, brat? What the hell happened?"
The boy made a dismissive gesture with his hand and turned to walk to the kitchen. "Don't worry, old man. Patty and Carne were very kind to offer to clean up." He knew exactly what he was going to make. A smile of excitement spread across the boy's face at the thought of serving his orange-haired angel. "Oh, Nami-Swan! You're going to love what I've prepared for you..."
"We didn't do it!" the two cooks shouted angrily, interrupting the blond man.
He turned and glared at the two employees. "Shut up!" he yelled. "Obviously I wasn't going to clean it. I'm a chef." He looked at Patty and Carne with disdain. "I don't do that kind of menial work."
"Absolutely not," the head chef replied before his two employees had a chance to speak. "Patty, Carne. Get back to the kitchen, we have orders and I want them ready yesterday."
The two chefs greeted Zeff and hurried past Sanji into the kitchen. "Well deserved, kid," Patty said as she tried to bump the teenager in the black suit with her shoulder, closely followed by Carne.
The blond man thrust his left side back, causing Patty to brush against him instead of their shoulders colliding, and the muscular man stumbled. Sanji leaped into the air and spun around, slamming his foot into the back of both men's heads, sending them flying into the kitchen with a thud. The chef landed, clapping his hands as if dusting himself off, and stared blankly at Zeff. That should teach them to listen.
"You damn brat!" the man growled, walking up to the idiot sous-chef and grabbing him by the collar. "You're going to clean all this up. Right now." He paused as he shoved Sanji toward the restaurant entrance. "I don't even know if it was you. And frankly, I don't care. Just clean it up and stop making me look bad."
The man turned away from Sanji and looked back at the table he'd come from, narrowing his eyes as he approached the group. He cleared his throat as he reached them: "Excuse me."
The three turned curiously towards the man who had interrupted their conversation.
Forgetting his hunger momentarily, Luffy's eyes widened. "How the heck do you keep your mustache like that?!" the boy exclaimed excitedly. It was so cool! It stuck out so much!
Nami blushed, resisting the urge to hit the straw hat boy on the head.
"You three don't know what happened to the entrance of my restaurant, do you?" the man asked, ignoring Luffy and assessing everyone's reactions.
Nami rolled her eyes and immediately pointed at the other two diners, who were glaring at her. She certainly wasn't getting into trouble for something she hadn't done. She turned, glancing at the chef and then toward the entrance. Her eyes fell on Sanji, and she sighed. It seemed the old man had killed him too. She felt a little bad. She'd be furious if someone slammed a door in her face, too.
"You two," the older man said, grabbing the boys by the collar, just as he had done with Sanji, "let's help my idiot sous chef fix the damn door you broke." He turned to Nami, who was still sitting at the table, and gave her an apologetic smile: "I'm sorry I took not only your chef, but your friends too."
The little orange just laughed and smiled back at the man as she held the two struggling children. She had wine with her; she could wait a while for the food. Besides, a little peace and quiet would do her good. Perhaps she could find a newspaper somewhere. "Don't worry," the nami said, dismissing the man's concern. "Those two should learn to fix their own messes."
Zeff smirked at the girl before turning toward the entrance and dragging the two boys toward the mess they'd made. He'd been thinking the same thing. Who knows… He glanced sideways at his blond sous chef. Maybe he'd make a couple of friends… The man sighed. Then maybe he'd go looking for the All Blue… He shook his head. Why on earth was he getting so sentimental?
The old chef threw the two boys toward the entrance, and they tumbled to the ground, landing at Sanji's feet. "Fix this shit fast, or you'll regret it." He spun around and headed back into the kitchen as the voices of the three boys, arguing about how to start fixing the door, echoed in the background.
...
Hi everyone, what do you think of the story so far? The book has over 300 chapters. If you'd like to download the complete book, it's available on my Ko-fi page. Here's the link: 👉 🤩 ko-fi.com/winterstar01 🤩