Tarte Tatin

Olivia sits in her car, hitting her vape. It’s almost time to head inside, but she wants a few more minutes to herself. Her friend Hannah pulls in the drive and parks. I guess that’s my cue, she thinks to herself, grabbing her apron and opening the door.

She walks toward the back restaurant, stuffing her phone, keys, and money in her pockets. She clocks in and looks for Hannah. She’s in the kitchen, rolling silverware.

“Did they not do that last night?” Olivia asks her.

“Of course not! Bella said that Alexandre took the night off, so they didn’t do shit!” Hannah tells her.

They’re so lucky, Olivia thinks to herself. Alexandre and his wife Vivienne are always breathing down their necks at the end of the shift. Vivienne goes through the whole restaurant critiquing their closing duties, and if she can’t find anything wrong, she’ll mess something up so they’ll have something to fix. There is no such thing as perfect in Vivienne’s world.

“I’ll go double-check the bathrooms,” Olivia tells Hannah, “We better make sure there’s plenty of toilet paper and paper towels before they get here tonight.”

“Damn straight!” Hannah replies.

Olivia goes in the women’s first. Surprisingly, everything looks okay. The cramped stalls are adequately stocked, the toilets are cleaned, and the trash has been taken out. She sneaks in a few hits on her vape before heading over to the men’s.

The men’s bathroom always stinks. It doesn’t matter how many times they clean it; there’s a musky odor that they can never scrub out. The urinals have been washed, the cakes have been changed, and the floor looks mopped. However, there’s less than a fourth of a roll of paper towels left in the dispenser, not even enough to last until eight o’clock. She grabs some more and restocks them.

She heads back toward the kitchen and spies Hannah prepping salad for the night. Olivia gets the supplies to make the tea. She hates making the tea. The urns are huge and cumbersome, and she hates the smell. She doesn’t even like tea!

“The bathrooms weren’t too messed up! I just had to add some paper towels to the men’s room,” she tells Hannah.

“Well, that’s a miracle,” Hannah replies.

Olivia adds two giant cups of sugar and tea bags to one of the urns. She turns on the water and turns around to start making salad dressings. All of a sudden, something starts splashing all over her feet.

“Son of a bitch!” she cries out.

She forgot to put the nozzles on the urn before starting the water. It was splashing all over the room. Hannah bursts into a fit of giggles. Olivia grabs a mop and cleans up the mess.

“Who are we working with tonight?” Hannah asks.

“I don’t know, but I hope it’s not that idiot Kaylee. She’s dumb as shit!” Olivia replies.

“I know! Did you know that last week she went home with that loser Ethan after we closed?” asks Hannah

“Talk about desperate,” Olivia says.

“For which one?” asks Hannah, not even trying to contain her smile.

Just then, Anthony comes stomping in the back door.

“Good evening, ladies!” he says.

Anthony is the head chef. He’s about ten years older than the girls, at least in his early thirties, and is effortlessly cool. He wears leather jackets and drives a motorcycle. He’s of average height, stocky, and has dark blonde hair with a matching beard. He looks like a total badass, but really, he’s a giant softy. The girls adore him.

“Hey, Anthony!” they say in unison.

“You ladies got everything in order? Alexandre is back tonight, and I don’t want to hear about how his waitresses left everything in a mess.” Anthony asks them.

“Of course, Anthony!” says Hannah. “We wouldn’t want you getting into trouble now, would we?” She smirks at him.

Anthony shuffles around the kitchen, gathering supplies to cook for the night.

“Well, you girls better get going, people are going to start coming in soon,” he tells them.

As if Anthony didn’t have enough going on as head chef, he’s also the restaurant manager. He answers to Alexandre and is at his beck and call twenty-four seven. So if things aren’t ready when Alexandre arrives, Anthony has to face the music.

Olivia and Hannah head upstairs to make sure the restaurant is ready to open. They turn on the open sign and start to update the specials board.

“Did you ask Anthony what the specials were tonight?” Hannah asks Olivia.

“Shit, no, I forgot!” says Olivia, heading back downstairs.

She finds Anthony talking to his crew. She has a hard time keeping up with the cooks’ names; they change so often. She’s doing well to recognize their faces. That’s what you get when you pay them minimum wage.

“Hey Anthony, what’s the specials tonight?” she calls out over the fan in the kitchen.

He replies, “Steak tartare for the app, Bouillabaisse for the soup, Blanquette de Veau for the main, and Tarte Tatin for dessert.”

“Damn, you think you could write those down for me?” Olivia asks.

“Get out of here, you crazy bitch,” he says, smiling and shaking his head at her.

She has never been able to spell the names of the dishes to save her life. Why anyone would want to move to a small town in North Carolina to open a bar that serves French food is beyond her. Somehow, though, it seems to work.

Olivia arrives back upstairs and she and Hannah update the board. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Dannie come in. Dannie is the bartender and also happens to be Alexandre and Vivienne’s daughter. She’s a beautiful girl. Petite, thick brown hair, dark eyes, and perfect white teeth. You’d never know by looking at her that she has a heavy pain pill addiction.

People start coming in the front door and lining the bar. It won’t be long until the tables fill up and the D.J. starts pumping music. Olivia decides to grab Hannah, and they head outside to take a smoke break. When the owners arrive, they can only have two five-minute breaks for the rest of the night.

“You want to hear something funny?” Hannah asks.

“You know I do,” Olivia replies.

“You remember last week, when we ran that special on prawns that everyone was going completely nuts over?” asks Hannah.

“Yeah…” Olivia says.

“Well, according to Anthony, the customers were obsessed with it. Talking about how cool it was that we were able to get real prawns and they could really taste the difference,”

“Go on…” Hannah urges.

“Well, they were literally just shrimp. From Florida,” Hannah says, and bursts out laughing. Their moment was interrupted, however, by Alexandre making his appearance. He climbs into a chair and pulls his laptop out onto the table, looking at Excel spreadsheets. His glasses are sitting at the bottom of his nose. The girls exchange a long look.

“It’s your turn tonight, I had them on Wednesday!” says Hannah. Olivia knows she’s right, but God, she hates serving them. It’s always so awkward. And never once have they tipped her. In fact, she’s pretty sure they’ve never tipped anyone. But every night, it is somebody’s responsibility to take care of them.

Olivia walks up and asks Alexandre if he would like something to drink. He lets out a long sigh, obviously annoyed that she interrupted his computer work. He pushes his glasses back up on his face before looking up.

“I guess I will have a Grand Marnier before Ms. Vivienne gets here,” he replies, winking at her. She scurries off to put the order in before he can find something to yell at her about. He is quite the ticking time bomb, always looking for a good excuse to take his frustrations out on his employees. He loves to fire them and rehire them at frequent intervals, until they’ve had enough and officially move on.

Strangely enough, though, Olivia really likes this job. She loves being around the customers and hearing their drama. She enjoys the challenge of keeping up with a busy bar crowd. She likes the quick, easy money. Her favorite part, though, is how it is encouraged to look a little slutty every night. Alexandre picked out the uniforms and they are low-cut for a reason. Every night before work, Olivia spends over an hour fixing her hair and make-up, pushing up her boobs, and picking out accessories to wear.

Unfortunately for Olivia, she is also a people pleaser. She really wants Alexandre and Vivienne to like her. She’s known them for years. She was a customer at the bar long before she was an employee. It would break her heart if they fired her, so she really feels the pressure on the nights she has to be their waitress.

Thankfully, Dannie picks up Alexandre’s order and rushes the drink over to her father. She gives him a big hug, then they huddle together in conversation. It isn’t long, however, before the discussion ends in yelling. Dannie leaves, shaking her head, and goes back behind the bar.

People are starting to pour in now. Hannah has already put two orders in and Olivia isn’t far behind her. Dannie yells over the bar that Kaylee called and isn’t coming in tonight. Great, Olivia thinks, now we’ll definitely be drowning all night. On the other hand, she realizes that means more money for her and Hannah.

Anthony starts ringing the bell, signaling that the food is ready to be picked up. Olivia races down the stairs to get it. Her first order was huge, a table of eight. She places everything carefully on a tray and starts to head up the stairs. Whoever thought to design a restaurant with the kitchen on the bottom floor should be shot, she thinks to herself. However, she successfully manages to heave the trays upstairs and get them to her table in one trip.

No wonder I’m losing weight, she thinks. She also started to notice some muscles developing. An unexpected perk of working here: no need to join a gym!

The night continues at a steady pace. Tables fill up and regulars start to surround the pool table, beers in hand. The D.J. starts blasting music, so now Olivia and Hannah will have to dodge drunk people dancing to get their orders out.

Olivia looks at Alexandre’s table and notices that Vivenne has arrived. She stops by their table, knowing that they will be ready to order their dinner now. She greets them with a smile and starts clearing the table of empty glasses. Vivienne looks genuinely happy to see her tonight, which comforts her more than it should. She knows either of their moods could turn at the drop of a hat.

They start with drinks and then order the entire special, including dessert. At least they’re alone tonight. Usually, they have friends at the table and the servers are required to cater to them as well. There’s nothing worse than old men making disgusting comments to you in front of your bosses.

The crowd continues to grow, but for now, all of Olivia’s customers are taken care of. She steps outside for a quick smoke break. She pulls her phone out of her pocket and checks her notifications. Nothing interesting, so she puts it back and slides down the wall to sit on the floor. Her feet are killing her and it’s only a little after nine.

She heads back inside and makes eye contact with Vivienne. Shit, that means I have one more official break for the night, Olivia thinks. Any extra breaks would have to be under the radar, and if she gets caught, she’d be fired. She straightens her apron and makes her rounds. She grabs a few orders and heads to the computer to put them in. She surveys the restaurant to see what’s going on.

She notices that Anthony is at Alexandre’s table with food and has a moment of panic. She forgot to bring them their food and Vivienne saw her taking a break. If their food is cold, she will be axed for sure! She takes a deep breath and walks in their direction.

Alexandre shakes his head and gestures at the food. Anthony is standing firm, face red, arguing with him about something. Vivienne looks aghast, like she can’t imagine what on earth brought all of this on. Olivia can’t be sure, but most likely Vivienne started whatever this is.

Olivia looks around the room, trying to find Hannah. They make eye contact and Olivia nods in the direction of Alexandre’s table. She knows she wouldn’t want to miss this. As she approaches the table, she can hear the heated exchange over the loud music.

“You know we do not accept this here! What is the matter with you? Are you an idiot?!” Alexandre yells at Anthony.

“You know what, Alexandre, I am so fucking sick of this shit! Every day we all answer to your beck and call! When you demand we jump, we ask how high! And what do we get in return? Bitching and complaining! Nothing is ever good enough for you!” Anthony screams back.

Alexandre shakes his head, his face turning a deeper red, and replies, “You are so ungrateful, Anthony. You act like you own this place, but I own this place! You and all these other jackasses would do well to remember that! Between you slacking off all the time and the useless waitresses sneaking around to smoke, it’s a wonder I have a business at all!”

Olivia panics, knowing that the conversation is about to turn to her. She never should have taken that break before their food was finished. She prepares herself to put on a brave face; nobody can see her cry.

All of a sudden, Anthony grabs Vivienne’s tarte tatin and throws it at Alexandre. It hits him squarely in the face. Bits of cooked apple and pastry drip down his neck onto his shirt. Anthony takes off his uniform and tosses it at Vivienne.

“How’s that for slacking off?! Good luck running this place now! You don’t have the slightest idea how to run that kitchen! And don’t bother calling me tomorrow when you’ve sobered up and you need someone to serve dinner, sort out payroll, and make the schedule. I quit!” Anthony shouts, then heads down the stairs and out the door.

Olivia is frozen. Without Anthony in their corner, how can she and Hannah survive this place? She sees Hannah rushing towards her out of the corner of her eye. Alexandre finishes wiping his face just as she reaches Olivia.

“You, girls! Why are you just standing there? Clean this mess up now!” Alexandre barks. Olivia and Hannah jump into action.

“Also, inform the customers that the kitchen is now closed. The bar will stay open but no more food tonight,” he says.

Olivia glances at Hannah and notices tears in her eyes. The girls quickly do as they’re told. They round on all of the patrons and inform them that the kitchen has closed for the night. The customers don’t seem to mind. They’re no longer interested in eating anything as long as the booze continues to flow.

The night continues like any other. People dance, talk, and play pool. Olivia and Hannah bring drink after drink. Eventually, Dannie yells over the crowd that it’s last call, and everyone starts passing out the tabs. After everyone has paid, security ushers out the last of the stragglers, and the bar eventually empties.

They count the money and the girls begin to split the closing duties. Hannah wipes the tables while Olivia follows, placing the chairs on top. They sweep, vacuum, and mop. They clean the waitresses’ area, refill dressing, and clean the bathrooms. Vivienne starts her nightly sweep of the place. She claims to have found toilet paper on the floor in the men’s room, although Olivia knows for certain there wasn’t any there when she left. She goes and picks up the litter Vivienne left for them.

It almost feels normal, but everyone knows that it isn’t. Tomorrow night, when they come in, there will be no Anthony. Nobody to organize the chaos. Nobody to protect the servers and cooks from Alexandre’s wrath. And nobody to make it all feel worth it.

After everything is finished and the doors are locked, the girls stand beside their cars. They vape and recap the night’s events, just as they always do. There’s a slight drizzle falling from the gray night sky.

“Have you heard from Anthony?” Olivia asks.

“Yeah, I texted him after we took out the trash. He was wasted, leaving a bar. Said that he is looking forward to a few days off,” Hannah says with a weak smile.

“That sounds like him,” Olivia replies. “Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“See you tomorrow,” says Hannah.

They part ways and head out into the night. Olivia is relieved that she made it through tonight and is grateful Anthony had her back. For now, she still has the job that she loves working for a man that she can’t stand.