Chapter 7 - The Resignation
Monday morning at 11:00 AM, the kitchen of Ilvento was in full prep mode when Tessa walked through the back door.
She wasn't wearing her crisp white button-down shirt or her black slacks. She wore a tailored charcoal-gray blazer over a silk blouse, her brown hair unpinned and falling in loose waves past her shoulders.
Richard was standing by the expediter station shouting at a line cook when he saw her.
“Tessa! You’re twenty minutes late!” Richard barked, marching over. “And where is your uniform? We have a corporate lunch rush coming in at noon, and—5”
Tessa reached into her handbag, pulled out a crisp white envelope, and slapped it down onto the stainless-steel prep table right in front of him.
Richard blinked, looking down at the envelope. “What is this?”
“My resignation,” Tessa said, her voice clear, loud, and entirely steady, carrying across the entire kitchen.
A sudden hush fell over the line cooks and prep chefs.
Richard let out a nervous, high-pitched laugh. “Resignation? Tessa, don't be ridiculous. You’re working a double shift today. We’re short-staffed. If you walk out now, don't expect a single reference from me—”
“I don't need your reference, Richard,” Tessa interrupted, stepping closer to him. She pulled out a second piece of paper—an official bank verification notice—and placed it right beside the envelope.
Richard glanced down at the paper. His eyes bulged.
It was a wire transfer confirmation from a Swiss corporate account to the regional hospital network, stamped PAID IN FULL for the exact balance of $45,000.
“How... how did you—” Richard stammered, his face turning pale.
“Tell Chef Louis his steak was mediocre,” Tessa said with a cool, radiant smile.
Before Richard could answer, the back service door swung open.
Two men in immaculate black suits walked into the kitchen. They weren't restaurant staff. They moved with the silent, coiled precision of professional security operatives. One of them held the door open wide.
Through the doorway, parked curbside in the narrow alley, sat a sleek, black Maybach with tinted windows.
Gabriel Rossi stepped out of the car, ducked his head, and stood by the open rear door, waiting.
Tessa didn't hesitate. She picked up her designer leather handbag—the one she had purchased over the weekend with her new corporate signing bonus—and walked past the frozen line cooks, past Richard, who was staring at her with his mouth hanging open like a fish, and straight out the back door.
May you like
As she slid into the leather interior of the Maybach beside Gabriel, the door clicked shut with a solid, satisfying thud.
The car pulled away from the curb, leaving the loud, frantic world of Ilvento far behind.
