Damian Dorson

“Your processes,” she mumbled, paying close attention to his hands as he worked. “I’ve never been good at this kind of thing, guess I’m better at business than food itself.” 

“I’m not going to talk about my process. You can watch. But don’t expect a play by play. I’m not a teacher.” Damian said with a roll of his eyes. 

“Usually they’re not your parents though,” she muttered, sighing and tilting her head as she watched him. “Talk to me as you cook?”

“Talk to you about what?” He asked, glancing up from the pots and pans around him. She was so talkative when he would rather focus. But if they were going to run a place together he’d have to get used to it.

“I’ll get you the order, you can get it through my people. I’ll take you with me next time I go out so you can get acquainted with them.” Damian explained, already moving to stand up and stretch. “Want to test another dish?”

“Yes please,” she nodded quickly, grinning and hopping onto the counter beside him. She took a moment to be silent and watched him, swirling a thought about in her mind. “So many people thought I’d screw this up, y’know?” 

“Well D cups aren’t working in a vest top, so I guess I can live with that.” She avoided answering about the flirting meaning happy customers - she never flirted at the café, and here in La Belle View she wasn’t sure she would either. “Six it is. Next port of business is the ordering process. This is your kitchen, you can decide whether I do the ingredients ordering, or you can be in charge. I am sure you have a long list of suppliers up your sleeve, and I really don’t want an argument over who’s suppliers we use.”

Originally posted by prettylittleliars

“I’ll get you the order, you can get it through my people. I’ll take you with me next time I go out so you can get acquainted with them.” Damian explained, already moving to stand up and stretch. “Want to test another dish?”

“Is that because the third had D cups and the fifth definitely flirted with you at least twice,” Jazmine commented, looking through the resumes and being pleasantly surprised by the other four. “Do we take on all six or just hire the five we need?” It was odd to ask him questions regarding her business, but she felt like this was somewhat a partnership.

Originally posted by heroindeathwish

“Flirts make for happy customers as well as cheifs. And the D’s has five years experience.” He informed her. “You take six, we need six.”

Jazmine rolled her eyes at him and, having only been joking, tried grabbing the resumes from him. “Dam-” she gasped, watching him walk out to meet the young lad waiting for her. Oh well, maybe he’ll actually be kind. 

Kind wasn’t exactly a word any of the applicants would have used for Damian. But he wasn’t a complete dick either. At the end of the day he dropped six applications down in front of her.  “These will last.” 

Jazmine’s eyes narrowed to a thinness that was only reserved for him in previous weeks. “Oh so I should be more like you? Laid back and not a care in the world, and then when they start, they drop plates on our customers?” Jazmine huffed, looking at the resumes in front of her. “If you’re so damn confident, you take the interviews.”

“I know what I’m doing.” He smirked as he took the resumes from her. “Gladly.” He said as he stood and walked away to greet the first applicant. 

“We open in forty eight hours, and we don’t have a single damn waiter.” 

@damiandorson

“Because you’re being to damn picky.” He shot back with a roll of his eyes, pushing his sleeves up. “Look, we’ve got the kitchen staff. We’ve got interviews today. Just don’t be so...you to them this time.”

Jazmine looked at him in confusion, then down at the dish he had planted in front of her beforehand. “It’s sweet potato and chicken,” she said, shrugging. “And that’s either duck, or beef. Until I taste it, they look the same.” Jazmine wasn’t a chef, she had to admit. But she knew her stuff when it came to food consumption. “In a good restaurant the chef and owner come up with a menu together, I don’t know what special things you can cook, what you struggle with. That’s why we have to work together.” 

Jazmine shook her head and took out a spoon, sipping at the soup. She was pleasantly surprised - for all his arrogance, he made a good soup. But she wasn’t entirely impressed. “They make over ten grand a week profit,” she mumbled, hoping to even come close to half of that, “pretty good for a gimmick” She gave a sigh, sitting on a stool with her back to him. 

“Momma always said I had too high of expectations. Maybe she was right. I can’t even hire a decent chef, how am I going to run a restaurant?” she groaned, something peaking her sense of smell and forcing her to turn back around. “Is that duck?” she questioned, curious now to what he was cooking. She never thought about putting duck on the menu. 

“This has nothing to do with whether you cross your T’s or dot your I’s,” Jazmine snapped back, her hands gripping the edge of the middle island in her kitchen. “This is about how well you work at quick instruction. We have a lot of competition, and I plan on being at the top week-in week-out, and keeping the menu fresh and original is how that works. You can’t always be prepared. Just north of here is a restaurant, that actually comes up with a whole new menu on demand when they get asked to. 

“It also has everything to do with seeing how you respond to simple instruction from a leader. And you’re losing marks, period.” Not one for being argumentative, Jazmine checked herself. Why was she letting him get her so riled up? Damian was an interviewee, she could request he leave instantly. “Just tell me what you’re making, it’s as simple as that,” she added, her voice seeming very exasperated and fed-up.

Damian shook his head, his eyes trained on his dishes. “If you want someone like that, than don’t hire me. That restaurant is a gimmick and their recepies are thoughtless and lack substance. They won’t last a year.” He told her as he grabbed a bowl to pour in the first finished item. It was a simple cold soup, taking the fifteen minutes their conversation had taken to prepare. He garnished it and slide it across to her. “Why don’t you tell me.” He said, wiping his heads before getting back to the harder dish. 

From the moment he stepped foot into her restaurant, she hadn’t liked the look of him. If it wasn’t for his application, she’d have told him straight up that she’d already filled the position. And his attitude was already grating on her last nerve. She gave a laugh as she followed him. “Listen, Dorson. I’ve been here since ten this morning, and it’s now gone seven. If you aren’t going to adhere to rules that I have in place, you can just walk your ass right on out my restaurant.” Jazmine wasn’t usually snappy, but she had seen enough disasters for one day.

“I’ve seen what you can do with your hands, it’s the only reason I invited you down here, but if it comes with a lousy attitude - well them hands of yours ain’t welcome.” She was offering top money for this position, because she had banked everything on this place being a success. The Hideaway was her whole life, and if this place was going to be worth it, she needed the top chef she could find. “Either write me a quick menu, or use your words and I’ll write it down myself.” 

He started to unpack his kit, getting everything the way he liked it before gathering ingredients. Damian worked best in the kitchen, it was where he felt like himself. Himself was still kind of an ass but it was a comfort zone none the less. “I gave you a menu and saved you five minutes by being prepared.” He told her smirking a bit as he started up the stove. “You’ve seen what I can do with my hands huh?” He shook his head, scoffing off a remark he knew he couldn’t say in an interview. 

@damiandorson

Jazmine rounded the table that evening handing him a few documents to sign before they got started, along with a ballpoint pen. The interview process was unusual, but Jazmine always did things a little differently - it’s why her magical cafe was also no-maj proof. She sat across from Damian and smiled gratefully. Her first impressions of him were pretty good, especially the way he carried himself. However, she wasn’t going to hire him based on his personality - the question was, can he cook?

“Alright Damian, so far all the candidates have failed to impress me, but I have three more lined up over the next week, so if you do a good enough job tonight, you can start here Monday. I don’t like to question my interviewees, instead I let my taste buds do the talking. As you may already know, I own a Cafe down in Elkhorn, however if I’m going to expand my business out here to Pinewood Plains, I need a good head chef to take charge of the kitchen. What I’m looking for tonight is a menu, cooked to the highest standard that I expect every evening from my staff. You have five minutes to give me a three course menu on paper, and then we’ll retreat to the kitchen where the floor will be yours.” 

Jazmine spoke with the upmost confidence one would expect from a CEO of a major finance company - not a twenty-four year old who’s dream since she was twelve was to open a cafe. Now she was on her way to completely re-branding herself as a business owner. “Is there any questions before we get started?” 

Damian tried to control the roll of his eyes at the paperwork. He wasn’t one for semantics or really any sort of BS he didn’t feel like dealing with. He raised an brow as she explained her ridiculous request. “I’m sorry, I thought this was for a chef position not a literally writer.” Damian scoffed as he toss the pen on the paper and pushed himself from his spot. He pulled a menu from his brief case, something from his portfolio and tossed it to her before turning. “Kitchens this way right?” He asked as he showed himself to the kitchen.