Claudia sits in her car, staring down at her phone. She doesn't have time for this. Not now. It was from her sister. Her heart is beating faster every time that fucking phone buzzes.

"Hello?" Claudia gives in and answers. She hides her face away from the windows in case anyone sees her.

"Hey?" Mariah speaks softly. "You busy?"

"Im heading into work, why?" She sighs.

"Its dad..." Mariah sighs. Claudia looks up at her roof, closing her eyes, trying not to cry. "Hes been asking for you. You should-"

"I will try okay? With this new job, i don't know when i have the time..." The excuses. She fucking hated making them. She sounded like a bitch the reason why was devastating. "I will try. Tell him i love him." A small hum answered back. "Tell mom...tell her the same." Mariah hangs up.

Richie walks out of his car and sees Claudia hiding behind the wheel, head banging on it. He cant tell if shes crying or not. But he didn't care. What he did care about was why the hell she was back.

"Cousin!" He walks in, slamming doors as he walks in. "Why the fuck is the grim reaper back? You said she would be here for only one week! Why is she in her car in the parking lot?"

"I didn't. I said that she will be with us for a week and she will let me know if she is staying and she is. If you have a problem, i don't want to hear it."

"You get that witch away from me." Carmy takes a deep breath. What the hell is wrong with them both? They both want to stay away from each other but work at the same place. Carmy isn't a miracle worker. He wants Claudia here and Richie is family so, he cant do anything about it.

"She is important. Don't you-"

"I don't give a damn who she is."

"You should." Carmy shoves him back as he leaves. Richie stands there, huffing and puffing.

"You should." He mimicked. "Fucking bitch. She thinks shes so tough. Brat." He bumps into Claudia. Her eyebrow twitched, giving him a scary look. She heard. She heard him say brat. "You-" He pointed at her.

"Me what?" Claudia sits down, opening a locker and putting her stuff and switching shoes. The heavy clunk of her platform doc martens scared him.

"You better not fuck up anything today. Do you hear me?" He still pointed his finger at her. "The last thing I want is cleaning up your mess." Is he serious? At this point Claudia believes that Richie was just doing this because hes bored.

"How about you get your dirty fingers out of my face." She smacks his hand. he was speechless. They were dirty, she wasn't lying. "Listen up, Richard." That boiled him up. That fucking name. "I don't need any of your shit. Im here now and theres nothing you can do about it. Never. In here," She pointed in the kitchen. "You belong to me. You take my orders. You back up when I say you do."

"Im not your little bitch."

"Then stop being a fucking dick or Ill make your life fucking hell now that i am here." She shoves him as she walks away. Richie squeezed his fists and looked at her as she walked. He never hit a woman but Claudia... Oh she on thin ice.

"What is wrong with you fucking jackoffs?!" Richies yells through the front. "We're down six dozen pepper, five greeks with ravioli. Lets go!" Claudia chops away. His voice bothered her rhythm. Shes getting pissed.

"Nobody gonna say shit?" she looks around. "Sydney?"

"Lets just make what we are-."

"Fuck it. Let me, im on a roll." She slams her knife on the cutting board and charges to the front. "Richie!" Richies groans as he hears who it is. The way she says his name makes him so bothered. "We are down because you are not firing."

"Chefs, chill!" Carmy tells them.

"Are you out of your mind? Im firing like a fucking maniac! Cousin dont tell me to chill." He gets in Carmys face.

"I am not out of my mind! You are! I need chits!" She yells. "We need chits!"

"Whats chits?!" Richie yells back.

"I need the fucking chits you asshole!"

"Little girl! Listen to the words coming out of my fucking mouth!"

"Little girl!? Who the fuck are you speaking to with that?! We are swamped, you are out here fucking adding shit up, we cannot catch up!"

"Chef!" Carmy yells at them both. "Lower your voice. Please, thank you." The two rolled their eyes.

"Call me little girl again and you will see what will happen." She pointed her finger at Richie as she entered back to the kitchen. "Sydney, you deal with that. I cant with him." She cuts more, faster this time. She was putting all that anger from Richie into the food.

—

Claudia looks at the green lights. Rush Hospital. Her stomach turns as she walks in, the beeping, the loud noises, the crying. She goes to the floor where she hasn't been in for a while. She feels guilty. Shitty.

"Hi papa." She smiles as she closes the door behind her. Her heart sunk as she sees her father pale, skinny. The older man smiles at her. His first daughter.

"Dia." He whispers her nickname. She kisses his cheek and he did the same. He pats on the empty spot on the bed for her to sit, holding her hand with his cold ones. "How are you?"

"Im okay." She lies. "You?"

"Keeping me here for a few days, i might go crazy." He has lung cancer. He just had surgery two weeks ago, Thoracotomy. "But i get to see you." He pats her burnt hand she caused herself a few years ago. "Mariah told me that you got a new job?"

"Yeah, you remember Carmy?"

"Skinny white boy?" She nods. "You both dating?"

"No papa." She shakes. "He has a restaurant, he asked me to help him out." There was light in her dads eyes. She saw it. When she told the family that she had quit as a chef, they knew something was wrong, she would never leave something she loved. "So ive been there for now, going for two weeks."

"You like it?"

"Sure." She shrugged.

"Oh no. What is it?"

"It's nothing." He looks at her, seriously. "His name is Richie. Hes just an asshole. Always up my ass. Hes just an idiot." She spills.

"Language." She nods. He hates when they swear. He just doesn't want to hear his girls talk like that.

"Sorry." She tucks her hair behind her ear. "But its true. Like what is his problem you know?"

"You want me to beat him up?"

"I think he'll yell at me for having me send my dad to beat him up. Or he'll just make fun of me for just thinking about him."

"There's always that one person mija." He looks at her. She looks just like him. "Hows Luca?" Her heart ripped in a way.

"Dad..." She said quietly.

"Right." He stops. He looks at her arm. "Got a new tattoo?"

"This one." She shows off her web tattoo on her elbow. "Hurt like a dog." They laughed. "But, that means we are matching." She looks at his tatted arm. Her dad was a badass. OG cholo, he had his motorcycle, listened to his old schools, tattoos that made him look like a beast. All her childhood memories were around him and his crazy cholo stories and his love for her mom. But when they got the news that he had cancer. Everyones life fell apart. She became numb, the second devastating news she got within 5 months. She hated the universe. They took her best friend away and then her father. She couldn't handle the pressure.

"I love it." He kisses her arm.

"Im sorry." She tries not to cry. "I should have come to help you. I wanted to see you but-"

"No no." He shushes her. "Dont be sad. I understand. Its been a rough couple of years. You have your life. Don't let me stop you."

"But papa-"

"Dont." He stops her. "I love you no matter what." He takes a deep breath. Winced at the end. "I feel a bit tired-"

"Its okay. Im just gonna stay here for awhile." He nods. Claudia tucks him in, kissing his head and pulling up a chair beside him to keep him company as he falls asleep. She kicks off her boots and pulls her legs up, chin resting on her knees. She listens to the sound of the beeps and his breathing. Her hand still held onto his as her eyes start to close.

—

Her alarm went off. Claudia panicked as she was scared that it was the machines that were hooked on her dad making the sound. But no, he was okay. She looks at her phone, fuck. She is late. Carmy is going to loose his shit. Claudia quietly gets her things and kisses her dad and left. She drives and hits traffic. She bangs on the wheel and honestly gives up. She will get whatever is thrown at her.

"Claudia!" She hears Carmy. She whips the locker open and starts rushing to get ready for the game plan.

"Dont. I know." She refuses to look at him as she switches shoes.

"You know the drill. Why the fuck weren't you here?"

"Shit came up, okay?" She slaps her knees.

"If you want to be here, act like it." She curled her lip as he left. Richie comes in, he notices that she was wearing the same outfit as yesterday. Those white pants were still stained from yesterday's lunch rush. Her hair was a mess, and well shes late. He starts to laugh, clapping his hands.

"Holy fuck!" She groans as she throws her shoes into the locker as she heard him. Not now.

"Fuck off." She whispers.

"You are something. You really did the walk of shame?" She turns to him, disgusted. "Im just-"

"You have some fucking nerve. Whatever you are thinking, its not that."

"Im just shocked." He leans on the wall watching her. "I mean, same clothes, hairs a mess, you're late. Its not looking good. Im just saying whoever you decided to stay with, god bless his heart."

"I wasn't out you idiot. I had a family matter. God you are such an ass. This is why nobody likes you Richie." She tries to leave but Richie stops her, blocking her in.

"I mean there's nothing wrong with-"

"Are you going to be problem today? You are making it really difficult, i don't have time for this. Move." She pushes him.

"Its a joke Claudia. Lighten up." She swears under her breath and goes to the front to see if she can at least see whats todays plan is.

"There you are." Sydney says as she packs everything up.

"Yeah, sorry." Sydney hands her a blue apron. "Nice, uh so what did I miss?"

"We are doing our french ranks."

"Le brigade de cuisine." She said in an accent. Claudia knew some French while her time in France. It's good enough to get by.

"You are going to be relief chef." Claudia knew something was up with Sydney. She wasn't like herself. "Since Carmy left, im taking his spot, so help me out. shred and cut some carrots, cook them, you know how its done." She knew Carmy had put everything on Sydney.

"Yea chef." Claudia walks back into the kitchen, putting on her apron and starts to prep her station. She starts to cut and shred her carrots taking her time. The way she worked that knife was almost supernatural. Nobody could cut that fast like her.

"Im doing check ins in a second." Sydney said as she heads into the walk in. Richie makes his way into the kitchen. He looks around the place, acting like a hotshot. He sees Claudia, in her zone. That dumb part of his brain tells him to annoy her. Thats what he does.

"What are we doing today?" He stands behind her, looking over her shoulder. She ignores him. "Ahh carrot duty, who did you piss off?"

"Leave me alone Richie." She mumbles.

"Hey, im just trying to learn a thing or two from the chef that everyone talks about. Is that a crime?"

"Back up." She elbows him in the chest. "This is harassment. Back up." She does it again as he doesn't move.

"You gonna say something to HR? Well youre looking at him sweetheart."

"Dont call me that." She continues to cut.

"How do you cut that fast? Can you teach me?" He tries to make her mess up. He grabs her knife, now they are tugging on the handle.

"Let go." She tugs.

"Come on." He tugs back.

"Fucking Richie i said let go!" He lets go, the knife cuts down her finger instead of the carrot, Richie swore he heard a crunch. She yelps and holds her bloody finger. "Fuck!" He sees now. Fuck. "Fucking idiot!" She hits his chest.

"Let me see." He tries to make up for it. Tina and Sydney came by, seeing what happened. "Let me see your boo boo."

"Have you done enough Richie?" Tina tries to let her see her finger but all Claudia did was hold her hand close to her.

"Can I help? Let me see." Tina tries again.

"Wanna help? Get him out of here." She stomps to the sink.

"I just wanted to learn." Claudia heard him, raising his arms up and going out. She ran her bloody finger under the water. She sees the bloody water.

"Not to be a bitch, but-" Sydney walks up behind.

"What now." she grinds her teeth.

"I need your help with cutting onions."

"Fine. Just go." She waves her off. Claudia wraps her finger, putting on a glove and got to work. She heads back, grabbing the onions that Sydney left and starts to peel and cut. She blinks as her eyes start to water, rubbing her face on her sleeve.

"Chefs, walk through." Sydney starts with Claudia. "Love the effort here, the slices are a bit thin so lets not be to stingy. Maybe also change the glove because the last thing I want is blood on the food and Carmy going for our heads. Now i want you to start slicing the beef." Ouch.

"Heard chef." Claudia went to change gloves as the old one was breaking. She added a new bandage, double gloves and heads to her station. She was going for her knife but it wasn't there. She looked for her knife bag, also gone. "Where are my knifes?" She looks up at the tiny window, she sees Richie. "Richie!" He heard her voice from the front. Great. He rolled his eyes as the guys he was talking to laughed. "Where are my knives?" She says as she opens the door. He looks at her.

"The fuck do I have them for? I don't want your shit." Claudia believed him. That shrug and that confused look on his face sold it to her. Thats when the panic kicks in. Claudia heads back and goes to Carmy. He was sitting in the small dark office. The men teased Richie as they called her his work wife and he cussed them out and laughs.

"Hey." He said as he sees her. "You should be cutting the meat."

"I will once I find my knives." He looks at her, confused.

"You cant find your knives?"

"You didn't take them?"

"No. I know better. They did this to me last week. Its just part of paying your dues." Her heart starts to beat faster.

"I came here to cook, not to fool around." She says as she turns around and walks. She heads to her station to see if they returned them but there was nothing there but kid toy ones. It was getting hard to breathe. Her heart was about to burst out of her chest. Even if it was a joke, those knives are very important to her.

"You are angry right now." Marcus laughs as he puts down her knives on the counter. "Damn we got you. They made me do it." Everyone starts to laugh. But as for Claudia. her eye and nose starts to twitch. Dont loose it. She grabs the plastic container off of the shelf. She throws it across the room. They all stopped laughing.

"Fuck all of you!" She throws spoons and bowls. Richie and Carmy went to see what the hell is going on. "Dont fucking touch my shit! You all are children!" They all look at how much havoc that girl was causing. They fucked up. They messed with the wrong person. Richie grabs her, stopping her from getting more violent. "Let me go! This is a kitchen not a damn playground!" Richie wraps his arms around her, dragging her out back. She kicks her legs and once that door closes, he lets her go. Claudia starts to pull on her shirt, trying to breathe. She was gasping.

"Hey..." Richie tries get close. She looks away from him, crying and shaking.

"Leave me alone! I do not want you here!" She gasps.

"Hey im just-"

"Are you fucking deaf? Go!" She said in between sobs. Richie watches her lose her mind but he leaves her. Claudia hears the door close, she unties the apron, squats down and holds herself. Breathe. She claws at her neck and chest to let it out. Claudia sobs for a good while, and just sits outside to calm down. The door opens and Carmy appears with a plate in hand.

"Chef." He hands her the food.

"Thanks but im not hungry. Looks good but i cant." She sets it down beside her.

"Mind if i chill for a second?"

"Go for it." She says as he sits next to her. Carmy sees the red claw marks on her neck.

"Whats going on with you?" She shrugs. "Claudia..." He lets her try again.

"Today was rough." She lets out.

"Is there more?"

"My damn knives." She rubbed her face. "They pulled that shit and i almost went full wolverine." He nods, understanding. "They could do that shit fine, but they messed with my knives. Those are special to me and when they took them...fuck...i couldn't even breathe. You let everyone act like trash, assholes. And dont tell me that my behavior wasn't acceptable because honestly to me, i think it was. They needed to understand that shit doesn't fly."

"Heard." He sighs. "But you remember that Terry wasn't there for it when you had your..." She looks at him deep, eyeing to watch his words carefully. "Moments. But you need to control that anger, throwing shit, come on Claudia."

"Heard." It was a problem for her. At times, she didn't know how to control that anger and she would burst out. It all started at Evers with the dickhead Josh. "You think that it was stupid of me to go mental for some stupid knives."

"Not stupid."

"Those used to be Anthony's." She bangs her head on the wall, pulling her legs close to her chest. "He gave me those right before he took his life." Carmy knew now. "I thought to myself that day, why would he just give me that, those were everything to him. Then the next morning, i got the news. I was stupid and the signs was right there. So when they took them from me, they took everything i had of Tony." She tilts her head to look at him. "You never knew him but god that man, that man had the best ideas. He saw something in me that nobody could have. He was everything to me and..." She stops. "Im doing this for him. I don't want to disappoint him."

"Hes not disappointed."

"We will never know." She sighs. "You need to step it up Carmy. You are the boss, dont let shit slide because they been here longer than you, that doesn't mean shit. You know this is a serious job, career. I am here because you believe i can do anything and you believe that this restaurant can be good, amazing. I will follow you to the end of the world Carmy, but i need you to step it up. If not, you will loose me. Do not waste my time." He knew she means it.

—

Richie goes to the lockers to get his jacket, but accidentally opens Claudias. He was about to close it until he sees a picture of her on the back of the door. He looks around to see if anyone is around and takes a look. It was her, crossing her arms and a man, older, wrapped his arm around her shoulder in their uniforms and having a smoke. He turns the photo back and sees some cursive writing saying

the future
first day '15
tony & claude

Richie leaves the photo were it was and goes home. He sits on his couch and drinks his beer watching whatever was on before. Richie couldn't stop thinking about Claudia. Not in that way. Never. But he wanted to see why shes a god or whatever Carmy said. He pulls out his phone and searches up Claudia. There was a whole bunch of photos, websites, she even had a wiki page.

"Fucking hell." He reads the awards she has gotten, how she traveled around the world and how her plates were top notch and well worth it. No wonder Sydney and Carmy worship her.

She was young and in her prime. She looked happier in those times. He looks at the images and sees her and mostly with that same guy from the photo. All smiles, living life. What happened?

"Anthony Bourdain?" He looks and sees he was a famous chef and was Claudias mentor. He reads on and realizes that he had passed away and that was the time where Claudia disappeared from the world. That figures. He deletes his history. He would rather burn himself than having anyone there seeing that he spent his night looking up Claudia. He did feel a little shitty almost cutting off her finger earlier but he didn't want her to see him go soft. God forbid that.