You've Been Replaced, First Love novel · Chapter 22 of 24
Chapter 22: The Line
The kitchen door of The Annora Room was propped on a milk crate.
Steam rolled out of it into the cold.
I went in at five on Thursday with a roll of brushes under my arm.
Maddox had walked me to the alley and stopped at the dumpster.
"It's their room," he said. "I'll be at the truck."
Inside, the kitchen roared.
A full crew moved through a space built for nine, and nobody collided.
A ticket printer chattered.
The sous chef ran the pass with a dish towel on his shoulder.
He called orders in a voice like a warm cello.
It was the first service since the night nobody had been paid.
At the far end, past the steel racks, stood the dish pit.
A man in a canvas apron was loading a rack of plates into a machine.
His sleeves were pushed to the elbow, and his forearms were red and cracked from the water.
His dark-gold hair had gone flat with steam.
"Top rack," said the dishwasher beside him, not unkindly. "Bowls on top. Plates on the bottom, you'll crack them."
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of You've Been Replaced, First Love are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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