“Hey,” she said, when she saw Bill.
He said, “Hey.”
“Be done in a minute. This for Caesar. He didn’t like it the way it was.”
“He ask you that often?”
“Every now and then. But it’s not a big deal. Other people ask too. I do it when I can. It’s slow.” Millie turned full toward Bill. “Been working?”
“Doing banquet prep. No service. Nothing is going on until later and I’ll be in The Falstaff Room.”
“When you coming in tomorrow?”
“About nine. Banquet chef told me whenever I got here would be good. They have a small luncheon, little over a hundred. He wants me to do it with him and Victor.”
Millie went back to ironing. Bill stood there. He didn’t quite know what to do, whether to go or to stay. But after a few ironing strokes, she asked if he wanted clean clothes.
“Just a jacket,” he said.
“Well give me that one.” Millie stood the iron upright and went over to the rack she kept his uniforms on. She pulled a clean, starched jacket for him and brought it over to him.
Bill unbuttoned his chef’s jacket and slipped it off. He took the clean one straight from her hand without touching her in any way, left the soiled one, which was barely soiled at all, on the counter. Millie quickly scooped it up and tossed it into her dirty laundry.
“I didn’t really need to change,” he said. “Came by to see you.”
“Why?”
“Say hello. See if you’re still okay with me.”
“Why shouldn’t I be? You still okay with me?”
“You bet.”
“Want a return engagement?”
“What you offering?”
“Told you, anything you want, any time you want long as we can get to it. Now, never know when Caesar coming back, and he’s the only one, way I hear it, wants you eighty-sixed.”
“I’m cutting into his authority.”
“I hear you ain’t afraid of him.”
“Why should I be? I’ve already been told what my limits are, and he doesn’t play into it.”
“What’s your limits?”
“Why do I think you already know them?”
“I don’t know anything,” Millie said. “I know what I hear.”
“So what do you hear?”
“I hear they told you you can do what you want but not to get caught. I hear no stealing, no outrageous behavior, no harassing any of the females, etc. I hear they told you not to fight with Caesar, that they had your back so you could stand up to him appropriately, but no fighting with him out in the open.”
“You hear pretty good.”
Millie smiled. “I hear the banquet chef said you could mess with me and your waitresses over there, but not to be crazy about it. That right?”
Bill didn’t answer. Before he’d finished buttoning the clean jacket, Caesar came by for his tuxedo.
“Be ready in a minute,” she said to Caesar.
“It would be ready now if you weren’t busy flirting with him,” Caesar said.
“We were just talking,” Millie said.
“I’ll be letting your supervisor know you were making time instead of working,” Caesar said.
Millie didn’t say anything. She went like a little schoolgirl who’d been scolded back to finishing the ironing.
“See you later if I need another clean coat,” Bill said.
Millie didn’t say anything.
Bill went off and began making his rounds. First thing was to get hold of a truck, which he did easily since five of them were parked where the trucks were stored. He went quickly around getting all the cold items first and placing them securely on his truck. While he was making his rounds, he saw jimmy G come into the kitchen. Jimmy G told him he would make the Hollandaise sauce. Bill said he would take the first trip out to the room, which he did. He’d already decided he would have a big, cold liquid spill on his jacket. He’d already prepared the pretense for going back to see Millie.
