Before Gloria could truly come to terms with what her day entailed, the heavy double doors of her luxurious office swung open as the hurried clicking of heels tore into Gloria’s inner sanctum.
“Miss Vandergast! Miss Vandergast!” wailed the almost shrill voice of Gloria’s young assistant, Danni, cutting through the sublime victory that the Kitchen Boss had just secured.
“Oh don’t be so dramatic Danni, it is first thing in a morning dear”
Despite her usual temperament that had been flexed against the unprepared supplier on the phone, Gloria had a soft spot for the young girl that dutifully organised the basic day to day scheduling of her business and was often more teasing than cruel to the blonde assistant.
“Sorry Miss, it’s just...we have a problem” panted Danni as she halted her trot opposite Gloria with a folder clutched tightly to her button shirt-clad chest.
“It can’t be that bad Danni, what’s happened?”
The Kitchen Boss was not keen on the direction this seemed to be taking and adopted a far more imposing position within her executive chair ahead of the upcoming explaination.
*****
“That absolute bitch!” spat Gloria with rage in her eyes and an angry flush coating her face and cleavage.
“I’m sorry Miss Vandergast” repeated Danni for the umpteenth time as the unfortunate information had sunk in.
“So let me get this straight, this FORMER employee was ACTUALLY a spy and her SUPPOSED Human Resources complaint was her escape plan because she’s been conducting INDUSTRIAL ESPIONAGE?!”
Danni could only nod out of fear as her boss seemed to rise further from her perch far beyond her short height would suggest.
“This is a DISGRACE!” screamed Gloria as the lavish fittings of her office rattled from the volume “I paid her wages for 6 MONTHS!”
Danni nodded again just hoping to ride out the storm. She had seen Gloria get angry before but this was a whole new level. After all, no one had ever gone after the Kitchen Boss’s empire like this.
“Who sent her?” asked Gloria with a terrifying calm after her outburst.
“Well it’s not entirely clear at this point...” began Danni.
“You must have some idea Danni” snapped Gloria sharply as she heavily dumped herself back into her desk chair which squeaked quietly under her girth.
Instinctively Danni almost tossed the folder she was holding towards her boss as a collection of papers slid from the confines of the wallet.
“Those are the most likely suspects” muttered Danni quickly as she looked at her shoes wishing dearly to be dismissed, a thought that appeared to be read by her senior.
“Go, I’ll call if I need you” retorted Gloria with her characteristic snark as she opened the folder and began to flick through the pages presented to her.
Danni meanwhile turned tail and made her escape even faster than her initial entry.
*****
With a heavy sigh and five piles of varying thicknesses before her, Gloria was left with a decision she certainly hadn’t expected for the day.
“Well every one of these has a reason to hate me” admitted Gloria, slightly self gratifying, as she glanced over each pile “ok, let’s get started”
*****
First up was an admittedly new player but one backed by some serious culinary muscle.
Gina Bianchi was the youngest daughter of the legendary Bianchi family who had dominated the Italian scene for decades and, with Gina’s youthful flair, were on the rise once again.
A wild combination of Gina’s raw talent in the kitchen bringing American and Mexican fusion to family tradition and the young Italian beauty’s sex appeal driven social media presence was bringing in enormous crowds way beyond what her predecessors could have imagined.
Her food was delicious, which Gloria knew first hand, her stunning olive tanned physique, natural beauty and flirtatious friendliness had done wonders for the chain of restaurants her family owned.
Fired up as she was though, Gloria couldn’t help but think that Gina was a ticking time bomb of genetics as every Bianchi woman was eventually cursed with a metabolic crash and calorie soaked hips to boot.
Even Gina’s older sister Isabella, a senior by three years, had blimped at the hands of her new husband and her own sisters cooking.
Next was a face that Gloria did not want to see which, for anyone unfamiliar with the chiseled features and roguish stubble, was easier said than done under the red scrawls of derogatory sketches over the photo.
Blake Moffatt had been Gloria’s long term boyfriend in college and they had shared a like minded ambition to develop a restaurant franchise to rule the eatery district together.
Sadly though Blake had other ideas and, just before graduation, tossed Gloria to the side as his own greed and ambition outgrew his romance.
That emotional kicking only motivated Gloria to make her own way in the world though and, despite her extra romantic weight, was well on the way to succeed if not for the latest espionage attempt against her.
Opting to flip Blake’s photo over having seen enough of her former flame’s face for one day, Gloria moved to her third pile which wrenched an equally disgusted groan from the dark haired entrepreneur’s lips
“Lacey Lacey Lacey...”
That was a bitch that could do some damage.
Lacey Truman was, unlike the rest of the people on Gloria’s desk, less of a restaurateur and more of an independent baker.
British born and a dab hand in the kitchen, Lacey was just as sweet as the mountains of confections she produced every day for an avid customer base who worshipped the ground the Lindy Bop styled chick walked on.
Very few knew how much of a charade the cutesy style and sickly sweet attitude was though as a wickedly savage business woman hid beneath who was rumoured to be running a labour intensive ‘apprentice scheme’ that was more demoralising than beneficial for the young girls she took on.
Lacey certainly controlled her audience though with the product she was selling, not to mention her body positive spin she had taken on since packing on some pounds herself forming a fluffy hourglass figure over time.
Feeling her anger starting build as she stared into that sickening chubby smile painted across the brunette’s face behind an outstretched tray of muffins, Gloria moved onto her next suspect who was something of a curveball.
Grant McCray was not the ruthless businessman the others were and certainly no Gloria for that matter.
Rather, Grant had his own little corner of the foodee empire that catered to a friendly audience that just wanted to eat and enjoy some good food,
He was good at what he did and certainly fit the stereotype advising against skinny chefs but there was little form to suggest he would have a reason to directly strike out against Gloria.
That said Gloria, and most everybody on the desk before her, were well aware of Grant’s...preferences...towards larger women and a larger client base could play into that...
Gloria was not entirely convinced though.
This brought Gloria to her final, and thickest, pile of papers.
Whilst Gina Bianchi was new on the scene, the business and family was at least familiar to Gloria.
The fifth individual however was a complete dark horse.
“Natalie Greenway?” muttered Gloria under her breath as she flicked through the papers which were, admittedly, mostly screen grabs from various social media pages showing a dark haired girl at college with blazing shoulder and thigh tattoos glimmering outside bits of clothing.
As she continued to flick through photos Gloria began to recognise details, namely the arrival of a club that she vaguely remembered as well as a stream of job adverts asking for chefs and waiting staff fo said club.
Amongst the photos a few faces began to pop out to Gloria too, including a motherly figured blonde with glasses, a pair of bottom heavy red headed twins and a very athletic black girl with a stern look.
“What a strange group...” thought Gloria as she came to the end of the pages, making a mental note that Natalie did appear to slowly thicken up across the board as the dates raced closer to the present.
Although she’d never heard of this ‘Nat’ before, Gloria could sense ambition and that was dangerous for business.
With another audible sigh, Gloria leant back in her chair as she began to ponder the situation.
“Five suspects...but who’s out to get me?”
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