“We could do that,” Guilia said. “The other consideration is about what Tay will call me. If we are to be in a relationship, then I would hope that terms of endearment, even in the kitchen might be permitted.”
Tay’s heart leapt the moment Chef Guilia mentioned the words “we and relationship” in the same sentence. This had to be what people experienced when they said they felt a bit giddy. “Should I call you Chef Daddy?” asked Tay, teasing.
Derek leveled a look at them. “Little one, this is not to be taken lightly.”
“No, sir, sorry, sir,” said Tay. They liked the fact that Master Derek had his own way of addressing them. He called most of the Littles ‘little lady’ or ‘darlin’’, but he’d made the concerted effort to tweak that for Tay. Little one felt far more in line with their nonbinary identity than darlin’ would have been. “I just… I’m a jokey kind of person. I’m not going to be serious all the time, and I think if I changed to be so, the rest of the kitchen staff would find it weird and unnecessarily formal. And honestly, if Guilia is to be my Daddy”—here Tay snuck a look at thebrunette—“then I’m probably going to slip up and call her Daddy sometimes.”
“I think if it’s the exception, rather than the rule, then that would probably work,” he said. “And that’s a good point about your coworkers. Guilia, maybe you have a word with them so that it doesn’t come as a surprise? And let them know that I’m overseeing it.” Then he turned back to Tay and looked very serious. “And you have to promise me, Tay, that if something goes wrong, or you’re not happy, you come to me straight away.”
Tay shook their head. “Chef Guilia would never?—”
“Tay.” He cut across their objection. “I’m very serious. You never know how things can turn out, and there is a power differential here, so I’m going to transfer your line management to myself. Chef Guilia will oversee the day to day, but I’ll do your annual reviews.”
Chef Guilia looked so relieved that Tay was surprised. “Don’t you want to line manage me anymore?”
She walked over and took Tay’s hands in her own, her words earnest. “It is really important to me that your career is not affected by this, and if you are to be my Little one, my tesore, then I feel more comfortable making sure that we are doing things by the book.”
“And I promise not to bring up this latest prank in your review,” said Derek with a grin. “We all know how well you balance your Little side with work, and I wouldn’t want anything to disrupt that.”
“Okay then,” said Tay. All the changes were a little bit overwhelming, but they knew that they were for the best. And if it meant that Guilia got to be her Daddy… well, Tay would do pretty much anything for that to be the case. “I guess we’re all organized then?”
“Not even close,” said Guilia, “but for now we have to prep for service, so we will have to table everything until after work.”
They knew thatseemedfair, but it didn’t particularlyfeelfair, especially with the promise of a self-imposed punishment hovering over Tay, but pasta wouldn’t make itself.
Although they kind of just wanted to throw themself on their bed and hide away for a while.
“It’s okay,” said Guilia, correctly reading Tay’s mood. “It’s okay if you’re too tired. We have some dried pasta in the?—”
“Absolutely not!” said Tay. “Dried pasta inmy kitchen?! Unacceptable.”
CHAPTER 6
Guilia
Work was… strange.
They headed straight to the kitchen to do the morning prep and the rest of the staff were already there, working away. Guilia had to take ice cream off the menu, which had Tay looking more than a little shamefaced, but aside from that it was business as usual.
There were five of them working in the Italian restaurant. Guilia was Head Chef, and oversaw all the food, as well as running the pass and making the ice cream. Her team was comprised of Tay (of pasta and pranks fame), Lily (who made the most delicious hand-stretched pizzas), Nico (the king of antipasti), and Hannah (who was the dessert queen). The five of them had been working together for a number of years. It was hard work. The team, with the exception of Guilia who chose her own schedule and worked far more hours by choice, worked longer hours four days a week in return for three days off rather than the standard two. Chefs and line workers from the other kitchens rotated in to cover when people had days off, but they spent a lot of time together.
They had to, really.
But that didn’t mean that they couldn’t be friends also. Guilia had a rule that twice a week before service, the whole team came and had lunch together before they opened for customers—cooking staff and front of house—it reminded everyone that they were a family. Another mini-family inside the larger Rawhide one.
Because everyone had their own things. Tay, Nico and Hannah all lived in the Littles’ Wing, and British Lily had her own life out on Rawhide Ridge, being the only other Top in the kitchen. The Littles spent most of their time out of work playing together, and socializing, and she wasn’t entirely sure what Lily did up on Rawhide Ridge. It was only Guilia who had a room in the Submissives Suites. She’d taken one look at the layout of the Ranch when she’d first arrived and spoken to Derek about needing a room close to the restaurant. She liked to get up super early and bake fresh bread for the bruschetta, or even work on a new ice-cream flavor, and she hadn’t liked the idea of having to risk waking everyone else up so early.
That didn’t mean, however, that she was a submissive.
Far from it.
But she had made friends amongst the service subs, and they were good neighbors to have, rarely getting into too much trouble, and usually pretty quiet—even if that was because they spent most of their evenings in the Dungeon.
It worried her though. It had been so long since she’d had any kind of dynamic, that she’d simply gotten out of practice. She woke, went to work, came home, went to sleep.
Her life had gotten stale. Tired.
And then Tay had appeared.
