Okay Karen

TW: Profanity

The lively restaurant bustles with energy and activity. The savory aromas waft throughout the kitchen, the sounds of sizzling food on the frying pan, vegetables being sliced and diced to fine bits. Work carries on as usual even when the head chef Rory is out celebrating his daughter's engagement.

Connor is in charge while Rory's gone, as he watches over the other chef with analytical eyes. Calm before the oncoming storm which appears...now.

Seymour bursts into the kitchen, sweating bullets with his chest heaving hard, frantically scrambling up to the manager, Connor. "We have a problem."

"And it's another Tuesday, what's your point?" Connor's quick-witted snarky response made Seymour flinch, in which Connor arches an eyebrow. Seymour clears his throat, running a hand through his brown curly hair.

"So, please don't get mad at me, but I may or may not have pissed off a lady and she's threatening to put a zero-star review on Delish." Seymour explains quickly, his voice quivers slightly when seeing the look on Connor's face.

"Jesus Christ, newbie. What's your damage?" Connor groaned, facepalming, "Were you just born an idiot who gets into trouble or am I missing something here? This is the third time this week. Pull yourself together!" Connor shakes Seymour by the shoulders briefly, not wanting to give the poor boy more issues.

"I'm sorry, it's just that, Jasira said I needed to start pulling my weight, since it's already been a month that I've been working here." Seymour stammers while avoiding Connor's hard stare, shuffling his feet nervously.

Connor pauses. Seymour would never do something as irrational as that without proper training, so to hear the name of the sous chef being brought up made Connor's face pales at the thought. "Going out on a limb here, Jasira told you to take on a more complicated job?"

"Mhm. I cooked food and was a waiter too. I think you already know where this is going..." Seymour hinted to Connor, trailing off, gulping audibly.

"The next time I see Jasira, she's going to get an earful from me." Connor's piercing gaze scans the kitchen in hopes of finding the perpetrator, only to be disappointed when she wasn't there, and is most likely on break.

"Anyways, is the lady still here?" Connor inquires with his arms crossed over his chest.

Seymour nods and leads the way, dodging other waiters and customers passing by, coming up to a table where a grumpy lone woman in her mid-fifties sat there with her face contorted into a scowl.

"So scary." Seymour thought to himself, meanwhile Connor is unfazed by it since Connor is used to dealing with imbeciles on a daily basis, either as customer or a coworker.

"Finally! The manager. Have this young man fired immediately, he's a menace!" The woman points an accusing finger at Seymour, in which he cowers behind Connor.

"What seems to be the trouble, ma'am?" Connor's polite tone caught Seymour off guard since Connor is often sarcastic and curt.

"Well first off, I've been waiting for my food for almost two hours, then when my drink came, the busboy spilled the drink all over my lap. I was served the wrong order, but once I got the actual one it tasted like shit! I want a refund." The woman complains to Connor about the previous events, Seymour shrinks back in shame and contempt.

Connor glances around for a few moments, in which the woman's expression softens, turning quite puzzled by Connor's actions, "What're you looking for?"

"Whoever you're talking to with that nasty attitude, because it sure as hell isn't me."

And there it is, the classic sassy retort of Connor's. That just fueled the flame, in which the woman was escorted out of the restaurant for causing a scene in public.

"How dare you! You won't be getting business from me ever again. Delish gets a zero-star review from me!" She got all up in Connor's face, and shoved Connor harshly, Seymour manages to steady Connor's balance with a hand on the lanky man's shoulder.

One of the customers overhear and saw the commotion, wisely deciding to call the cops on the lady who was about to slap the tired manager across the face.

"Don't even try to touch me. You'll get escorted out of here so fast it'll make your head spin." Connor hands grip onto the lady's wrists, his jagged nails dig into her skin, making the woman wince.

Police sirens wailed as they manhandled the now handcuffed woman into the vehicle, since she attempted to assault Connor and Seymour.

A low yet playful voice could be heard behind the busboy and manager, "Goodbye and good riddance, Karen."

"Jasira! Where've you been?" Connor turns on his heel, giving an icy glare at the sous chef, in which she shrugs nonchalantly.

"Around. I see you've got yourself in another pickle there, kid?" Jasira responds coolly, glancing at the timid boy who stands there awkwardly.

"Only because you told him to! You know the newbie can't cook even if his life depended on it." Connor states, obviously exasperated by the entirety of the situation.

"It's true." Seymour added quietly with a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

"Aw c'mon, can't a girl have any fun around here? Don't be so uptight." Jasira's laid-back comment annoys Connor, his fists clench tightly.

"I'm not uptight, I'm just trying to not get you fired by our boss. You're not making this any easier for me." Connor protests defiantly against Jasira's claim, his hands unfurl and are placed firmly on his hips.

"Psh, no big deal, I mean it was rush hour. Another waiter bumped into the kid, resulting in the drink spilling. Someone switched the food accidentally, a simple mistake." Jasira made a good point, and Connor concurs.

"Fine, but Rory will be hearing about this, you know that right?"

"Fair enough, totally worth every second of it though." Jasira replies with a cheeky smile, nodding to Connor.

"Some things never change." Seymour chuckles softly. The chaos continues on in the restaurant, Delish.