Excerpt Twenty Eight

 

Maxime was a tall skinny blonde French guy with a British accent and had suddenly approached me out of nowhere. He must have lived in London I thought to myself, as he didn’t have the typical adorable French accent. Maxime was apparently higher up in the restaurant and allowed to dine outside of this pitiful underground dungeon and this was the first I was seeing of him. I quickly got up and took my plate to the dish room. I followed Maxime and we went into the wine cellar, which was an open viewing cellar within the dining room of the restaurant. He explained to me my duties each night of setting up the wine cellar for service, making sure we had all the bottles necessary and also ice-buckets to chill the champagne and white wine. Every night the first hour was set-up before the dinner service started. There were only seventy wines by the bottle, which would make it easier for me to memorize. I was excited I didn’t feel much overwhelm when it came to the wines on the wine list. Maxime had a slight arrogant demeanor and I could tell working under him was going to be challenging. Just in the first twenty minutes of talking to him, I could tell he was a no bullshit, work hard kind of guy. David was much more smiley with me and relaxed. Maxime meant business. 

“Oh Fuck, I cannot believe this, I have this large stain on my dress. Shit! Goodness, this never fails.” Instantly, a tall blonde model of a woman walked through the frosted glass entrance of the restaurant, cussing like a sailor. 

“Oh gosh, sorry, Hi sweetie!” She gave Maxime a kiss on each cheek, towering over him.

She turned to look at me with a smile. 

“Bonsoir, Je m’appele Krista.” I said nervously. 

“Um, Hi I am Elizabeth, I’m American honey, no need to speak French with me. Please I need a break from it honestly. I am married to the damn French chef here.”

“Ok. Nice to meet you.” I said with a laugh and shook her hand.

Elizabeth went to the small side mirror at the hostess podium and started applying her lip-gloss. She was spraying her perfume everywhere, and took off her fur coat that went all the way to the ground. She started talking out loud to Maxime and me, and anyone else within an earshot.

“I need a vodka on the rocks immediately Maxime. Can you guys get that pronto?” This woman was incredible, walking into her own restaurant cussing, looking like she had stepped off a runway in Paris, and demanding a stiff drink. I had only been at this restaurant two hours; but already felt that I was on a movie set. This restaurant was full of characters. 

Elizabeth and I continued to speak; we discussed California as she was also from California. She offered me a glass of champagne during our small conversation. It was a Monday night and the restaurant was a bit slow on the bookings.

“I have recently lost twenty pounds, due to eating one chicken breast and one yogurt per day. Yes, I pretty much starve myself. But let me tell you it’s well worth it to be the size I was when I met Gilles.” I could not believe how freely Elizabeth spoke with someone she had just met. I sense the vodka and now champagne had gone to her head. Gilles Epie was the Chef and owner of Citrus Etoile. Elizabeth had met him years ago. She had been dining in a restaurant twenty years ago with Richard Gere, in LA, and Gilles happened to be the Executive Chef there. He came out to the table, well because it was Richard Gere, and him and Elizabeth locked eyes. She said that she felt it was love at first sight. After that, she no longer dated Richard Gere and married Gilles instead. They stayed in Los Angeles several years after and then eventually moved to Paris to open Citrus Etoile. They were now married twenty years, with the last twelve years being in Paris. Maxime came in the cellar and motioned for me to follow him. I quickly exited the cellar. 

“Okay, you will start with the water service. Whenever you see glasses on any table less than half full, go fill them up. No exceptions. Eyes on all tables.”