Not Meat
Daddy is a state of mind
It had been a busy night.
Not only had Alexei left her to run the pub but he had forgotten to tell her that there was an event going on. The kitchen had been swamped for most of the day, leaving her running around like a chicken with her head cut off. She knew when Cal had finally come to drop off Parker when she heard the squealing of the little four year old running through the kitchen and into the office to grab her colouring book and leave her backpack.
On a typical night Persi would have wandered out of the kitchen and made her way to wherever Cal was to check up. Typically she would beg him to stay for a little while longer to make sure Parker was all set to go home but this time she was just too busy to be able to do anything of the sorts. She hoped that Cal would understand and stick around anyway to make sure that Parker was taken care of. On a typical night she would make sure that they both got fed before Cal left as well but she just didn't have the chance to do anything of the sort.
Persi made sure that Parker was okay none the less and sent her out to hang out at the booths. She worked on making sure that the kitchen was clean and set up for the next day as they started winding down for the night.
The kitchen was closing regardless if the bar was open and as the head chef, Persi didn't have to do too much other than oversee the closing tasks. She went to the office and did her closing tasks, cashing out the servers that were ending up their shifts and passing over the last of the nights closing responsibilities to the head bartender. She would still have to stick around until the pub closed but at least she didn't have to stick around the kitchen for the rest of the night.
Then there was the matter of Jerry. A kind man that she had found herself growing quite fond of over the past little while. He was good with Parker, fueling her interests and entertaining her when she was at a loss. Parkers growing love of animals was far out of Persi's comfort and knowledge zone so there was little that Persi could do aside from taking her to visit the zoos and Jerry's office space. She was grateful that he was so willing to talk to the young girl, so willing to educate her, and Persi was glad that it was an educational interest at the very least.
The only reason Persephone even knew that the man was there was because of the squealing laughter she heard as Parker went ripping through the kitchen once again, excitedly going on ad on about some sort of animal that Jerry had spoken to her about, not that Persi could understand a wink of what Parker was saying. Persi just nodded along, smiling warmly as she went through her closing checklist.
Her attention turned upwards when she heard a voice, foreign to the walls of her kitchen but familiar in her ears. Jerry. Persephone pressed her clipboard to her chest and offered Jerry a kind smile, listening as he spoke.
"Oh. No. It's alright. We are closed for the night I was just making sure I didn't miss anything..." Persephone set her clipboard down in its spot, waving off what she was saying. "Doesn't matter. Thank you for sitting with her. I wasn't sure if Cal had stuck around to watch her or not. Are you hungry? I have some stuff here that I could whip up quickly if you're hungry."
♡coded by uxie♡