The Old Oak is a family restaurant renowned for its food, which tastes just like home. Many people visit the place to see for themselves if it really tastes as good as everyone says.
In the staff room, a man was tidying his ginger-coloured hair before straightening his maroon tie. He examined his reflection in the mirror, wearing a long-sleeved white shirt paired with a dark green waistcoat featuring thin stripes. Attached to his lapel was a small wooden name tag bearing the staff member's name: 'Robin Loxley'.
"Romeo, are you ready?" the man asked another man wearing an identical uniform. The tanned-skinned man walked over and flashed a faint smile.
"This uniform suits you," Romeo complimented, whilst the man being praised seemed strongly at odds with what he'd just said. "Hm? What's the matter, Robin?"
Robin tugged at the collar of his shirt with his fingers, creating some space for air to get through. "I don't like uniforms that are too formal like this, especially around the neck—this collar feels like it's trying to strangle me alive," he remarked, drawing a laugh from Romeo.
"If you don't like formal wear, how will you ever get married?" he joked, still laughing as he watched Robin's expression—he looked as though he was truly suffering in that uniform. Hearing this, Robin looked back at his uniform for quite a while and seemed to be thinking about something. "It's your first day at work, don't spend too much time spacing out—"
Before Romeo could finish, Robin had already cut him off and said, "You're right, but unfortunately I don't want to marry anyone right now," said Robin with a faint smile on his face. Romeo was puzzled by the smile, which seemed to carry another meaning, but he chose not to dwell on it. "By the way, I wonder if they've arrived yet."
"If they'd arrived, Alice would've told us by now, wouldn't she?" Romeo replied, and Robin nodded in agreement; the two of them then stepped out of the changing room and could just make out that quite a few customers had already arrived.
"Hey, you two," a firm, girlish voice called out, making them both jump in surprise and utter an inarticulate sound. The girl then gave a little laugh after playing a prank on them—this mischievous girl was none other than myself. "Don't just stand there staring—do you want to get sacked on your first day?"
"Good grief, you really took me by surprise," Robin said, placing a hand over his chest, which was still pounding. His dark eyes then scanned me from head to toe as if trying to analyse me. "…You look rather good in that," he muttered, almost to himself.
But his voice still caught my ear, and I couldn't help but grin and laugh proudly. "I really do look beautiful, elegant, and unrivalled in whatever I wear!" It was the first time I'd worn a chef's uniform, and to be honest, it was quite comfortable.
"Ah, I've accidentally fed her ego," Robin replied regretfully. Before long, his eyes were drawn to another girl walking towards us—a girl with light grey hair in low twin tails—it was Snow, wearing the same chef's uniform as me. A white chef's jacket, accessorised with a maroon neckerchief, not to mention a white apron and toque—yet Robin seemed even more mesmerised by the way Snow wore it.
Snow walked towards us with a smile, but it vanished instantly as we stared at her without uttering a word. "D-do I look strange?" Snow asked, stammering slightly, her hand tucking her fringe behind her ear whilst her blue eyes avoided everyone's gaze.
"No, not at all," Robin replied, causing Snow to breathe a sigh of relief and smile again—which left Robin lost in thought.
I couldn't help but smile mischievously and nudge him repeatedly until I pulled him out of his own little world. His dark eyes then turned to me as I giggled uncontrollably at his utterly adorable reaction. "And you call yourself loyal?" I whispered, and an annoyed Robin immediately gave my ear a harsh tug.
"Ow, ow, ow! Let go!" I screamed in pain, and suddenly we heard footsteps approaching. When we turned towards the sound, it turned out to be a middle-aged woman with a slender build and hair as brown as a tree trunk. "Ah! Good morning, madam!"
The woman was the owner of this restaurant, who had kindly allowed us to work here temporarily. "Good morning to you too. You lot are certainly full of enthusiasm this early in the morning, aren't you?" said the elderly woman, and Robin almost immediately took his hand off my ear.
"We're always like this. Thank you once again for letting us work here for a little while," Romeo replied politely. Yesterday, when we tried to sign on, the woman had looked very hesitant and seemed keen to turn us away, but after we had sincerely convinced her—she finally relented.
"It's all right. Besides, I'm in your debt—to Mother and to you lot—for saving this town," she replied, though her smile faded slightly before she added, "As long as you don't break anything, you can work here." It was a stern warning; although her face seemed friendly, she was clearly still wary of our presence.
She must have been afraid that customers would run away when they realised they were being served by a Fable, because even though we had saved this city from the giant that had nearly destroyed London—some people still believe that was all just a charade staged by us Fables to gain respect, or that we actually wanted to lay this city waste—once people have come to hate us, it's hard for them to trust us.
We then set to work, in the kitchen—Snow and I prepared the various dishes we'd been asked to make, and to avoid causing any panic, we didn't use our Everafter at all, so all the food was made entirely using our own skills. I was quite amazed at how quickly Snow and I were able to work in perfect harmony, as if we'd done this many times before.
Meanwhile, outside, the female customers were in high spirits, filled with joy as they were served by Robin and Romeo. "I'll have fish and chips… And… how about you?" One daring customer teased Robin, whilst her friends freaked out at just how bold she was.
Robin himself was a little taken aback, but he simply replied with a faint smile before answering. "It's a shame I'm not on the menu, but you could make me happy by ordering more," he said, winking, which instantly melted the female customers' hearts and had them nearly screaming with delight; they then ordered far more than they needed.
After taking their orders, Robin walked off with a sigh of relief at having managed to escape from there. Romeo, meanwhile, found himself in a similar situation; he was being called over and jostled for by various customers—leaving other staff members, who were free and could actually have taken orders, simply standing in the corner and watching it all unfold with resignation.
Because of the two of them, Snow and I found ourselves overwhelmed by the sheer volume of orders in such a short time. "Why are we being swamped with orders?! From what I've heard, it's not usually this busy!" I protested, my hands still busy gathering ingredients to put into the pan, whilst I glanced over at Snow, who was flustered by the sheer number of things she had to do.
The sound of the door opening could be heard and when I turned my head, I saw that it was the waiters who'd been out of work, but now there was something different about them—my eyes darted downwards and I saw that they were now wearing chef's uniforms. "Uh… Thank you?!" I, who still had no idea what was going on, was completely taken aback and baffled by the situation, but even so, I was grateful that there were people here to help.
They effortlessly flirted with the female customers, making the male customers jealous. At one of the tables that had just been occupied, a girl could be heard calling out, "Ah, just a moment!" Romeo walked over; as he reached the table, he immediately pulled out a small notebook to take an order. "What would you like to order?" But as his eyes darted around, he saw a face that was very familiar.
Without warning, the girl grabbed Romeo's maroon tie, pulling him forward. "You," the girl replied, causing the other customers to go into a frenzy and grow jealous, as she was the first customer to be that bold. "You seem happy being fought over by women like that, don't you, Romy?"
The girl with blonde hair and ruby-red eyes glared sharply at the waiter, whilst a mother who'd witnessed the scene covered her son's eyes before leading him out of the restaurant. "A-Ah, July… I can explain," Romeo said, still smiling as he tried not to look suspicious.
Elsewhere, Robin's eyes widened in surprise as he spotted two familiar faces—but especially the woman he least wanted to see here. "Fabl—" Before the woman with navy-blue hair could finish her name, Robin immediately covered her mouth.
"Shh," Robin gestured for her to keep quiet, his eyes glancing in the direction of the man sitting next to the woman named Ciel. "Felix, tell your girlfriend not to reveal my identity, alright?" he whispered, and the man with grey hair and green eyes nodded, whilst Ciel blushed crimson at being labelled Felix's girlfriend.
"Shut me up too, I beg you!" shouted one of the customers, and that made Robin chuckle as he slowly removed his hand from Ciel's mouth.
Robin turned towards the customer who had just shouted, and with a friendly smile, he replied. "It's not just this hand that can silence you, you know," Robin replied, causing the women to scream hysterically; the families who had come to eat left the restaurant, only to be replaced by a flood of women who had come in on the back of a rumour that, for some reason, had spread very quickly.
Felix, who'd witnessed it all, couldn't help but comment. "You've really made a name for yourself, haven't you, Robin?" Meanwhile, Ciel looked at Robin with a expression of disgust as he watched the former thief flirting with the female customers.
Robin placed both hands on the table and let out a long sigh that made it clear just how exhausted he was. "Shut it, you bloody prat…" he whispered. What Robin meant by silencing them was that he wanted to smash a tray into their faces so they'd be silenced for a long time.