= Sarah POV =
We walked over to the crowd of eager co-workers, all holding their trays, and it seemed that everyone also had a preferred chef, as each person was peering around as if looking for a specific person in the kitchens.
However, the kitchens were only accessible to kitchen staff, so everyone had to remain on the other side of the walls that divided the kitchen from the canteen. However, they could stand at the expansive windows that looked into the kitchens and call out to their chef of choice, pleading with them to do their dish next.
As Heather and I made around way through the small crowd, keeping an eye out for Ms Ms. Jun as that was Heather's preference, I spotted Chris at one of the stations, brandishing a spatula and aptly tossing up fried rice while she nimbly added various sauces and spices to the dish.
"Oh! Chris is still here?" I asked, surprised that the midnight staff would work during waking hours.
"Again, only on Fridays. We try to keep things fresh, and so as this is the end of the week, we allow the midnight chef to choose to either work three to six on a Friday or take one of the weekend morning shifts," Heather explained while she stood on her tippy toes trying to find Ms Ms. Jun in the kitchens.
Chris looked up, and we locked eyes across the kitchen. A smile tugged the corner of her lips, but it immediately vanished as Hana approached her from behind and said something.
I looked away and gulped. I felt butterflies in my stomach, and suddenly, I didn't feel confident about my food choice. Was this too basic?
I was about to turn away to suggest to Heather that we should look elsewhere for Ms. Jun when I heard my name being called and looked up to find Chris smiling, leaning out the kitchen window, a hand stretched out towards me.
"Here, let me make that for you," Chris said and smiled.
I felt my face grow hot and shyly handed the tray over. I heard an audible groan nearby as Chris turned and went back to her station, placing my tray down next to two others who were already there.
"Sarah, she's new, she might give you something crazy, you sure you wanna let her make your dinner? You might get something out of this world," Lawrence from Marketing said as he looked from me to Chris and my tray sitting at her station.
"Oh! Is that why she has the least number of trays?" I asked, suddenly realizing that other chefs had at least two dozen trays stacked in their work area.
Lawrence nodded. " It's supposed to be that we all let whoever wants to cook for us cook, but after working here so long, we know who to go to," he said smugly. "Maybelline makes the best bread bowls; Mr. Ichikawa is your go-to ramen chef, and Ms. Jun, well, Ms. Jun makes anything and everything perfect," he explained.
"And speak of the devil, Ruby! Ruby!!!" Heather started to yell and jump up and down eagerly.
Out of the flurry of kitchen chaos emerged a haggard-looking Ms. Jun, who seemed to be covered with flour except for her hands and a part of her face.
"Not now, Heather. I dropped a container on the floor, and I need to clean up", Ms. Jun sighed, waving Heather off.
"But I want it baked," Heather said, pouting and waving her tray around like it was trying to fly out of her hands.
I looked at Lawrence in shock, having never seen Heather behave so childishly!
Lawrence laughed and shook his head. " It's the same every Friday; these two are like an old couple or something."
After a second of hesitation, Ms. Jun suddenly turned and marched over, grabbed Heather's tray with a huff, and disappeared back into the inner depth of the kitchen's chaos.
"Yesh! Baked rice with a bottom layer of bread," Heather said, pumping her fist like a child that just won a prize at a fun fair.
"Man, it must taste amazing if you are excited about it!" I laughed, and Heather nodded her head vigorously.
"I'll let you taste some; I don't know what magic she does, but once you have a bite, all other baked rice will pale in comparison, I swear," Heather grinned, clapping her hands in delight.