After putting on her apron, Lucy busied herself in the huge gourmet kitchen, getting familiar with the contents of various cupboards, the pantry, and the enormous refrigerator. She admired the collection of dutch ovens, the gleaming stainless steel pans, the cast iron skillets, and the crockery. Oh, what wonders she could whip up in here with such impressive equipment.

Well, I better get started, she thought, marking the time. It would take her about fifteen minutes to prep. Lucy opened the fridge and began selecting some ingredients for the soup, when suddenly she got an unnerving feeling of being watched. She slowly turned her head over her shoulder, and saw a man whose eyes were unapologetically fixed on her bottom. She quickly whipped around, and looked at him sternly.

"May I help you?" she asked.

The man met her disapproving gaze, and a playful smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. He was quite tall, and broad shouldered, his hair dark, short, his eyes a deep green.

"The question is, may I help you?" he said, as he crossed his arms across his large chest.

"I am Lucy," she said, mimicking his motion as though to guard herself. "And you are?"

The man squinted as though trying to figure out whether that name should mean anything to him. It was clear by his blank expression that it hadn't.

"I'm Chase," he said finally.

Oh, the grandson, that's right. For some reason, Lucy expected someone younger, but it made sense now that she thought about it, after all George was approaching his ninetieth birthday.

Chase looked at the petite woman in front of him, scrutinizing her from head to toe, knowing full well that he was behaving most ungentlemanly, but something about her made him forget his manners. She was certainly unexpected.

Lucy stared at him in return, refusing to let him intimidate her, she dared to cast the same assessing gaze at him--staring at his shiny dress shoes, the grey slacks, the powder blue button down shirt undone at the collar, all the way up until she met his eyes, which looked to her to have a sparkle of amusement.

"Are you a new maid?" he asked, moving closer.

"No," she answered, taking a small step back.

He kept his slow, but steady approach, now tucking his hands in his pant pockets.

"Are you a nurse from Stonebrooke?" he guess again.

"No, I am the cook," Lucy said, though even to her own ears it sounded somehow fraudulent.

Chase came up very close to her, so close in fact that Lucy had to crane her neck up to be able to look at his face.

"Now, we both know that isn't true," he said, smiling strangely. "Nielsen is grandfather's cook, and has been for over forty years. Now, I was here a week ago, and he appeared to be in good health to me. To my knowledge there is one chef in this family, and sweetheart, you ain't it."

"I don't know what to tell you. George offered me the job, and so here I am."

"George? That's a pretty informal way to address your employer," said Chase looking at her as though she were trying to get away with some kind of crime.

"Well, I've known him for a while, so that's what I call him."

"A while, huh, I've never heard of you, darlin."

"Well, I don't really care whether you've heard of me or not, but I sure as hell am not your darlin."

Chase saw the glint of fire in her eyes. She's a feisty one to be sure. It looks like it will be a lot of work getting rid of this one.

"Okay, look, I am not in the habit of wasting time, so I'll be direct. You have one hour to pack up your shit and get the hell out of this house, or I will personally throw you out." His eyes, which moments ago were playful and almost flirty, were now dark and menacing.

Lucy's eyes widened with shock. "How dare you threaten me," she said through gritted teeth. "If you lay a finger on me I will call the cops."

"The cops? That's rich. I'd think having the police involved is frowned upon in your profession."

"My profession? What in the hell are you talking about? I am a cook."

"Yeah, and I am the pope."

Chase turned on his heel and began to leave, only to stop at the door, and say, "One hour. I'll be back. And God help you if you are still here." With that, he was gone.

Lucy could feel her heart jumping in her chest.