Part 3

[b]Part 3[/b]

The night progressed as it usually did with Dennis barking orders to his staff and churning out incredible food. It wasn't until one of the waitresses motioned for Dennis' attention that things really took a turn.

The young brunette had a terrified, ghostly expression on her face. Dennis rounded the counter and stomped towards her.

"What?" He grunted.

"S-sir," She stuttered, "Th-there's a p-patron that wants to send his filet back for being overcooked."

Dennis threw his towel to the floor and bee-lined for the door. What insignificant little cretin DARED to say his food was no good? He burst the door open with a crash and stomped into the dining room. Two waiters and a hostess were standing around the man's table near the entrance. He sat back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest.

Dennis' presence was immediately felt in the room. The unhappy patron glanced over and stiffened as he found Dennis' stare of death. There was no doubt he knew about Dennis' reputation of arguing and throwing out customers at a moments notice. There was no shortage of patrons willing to pay exorbitant prices for a table and Dennis acted like it. He could see the man was already buckling under his gaze and knew he would probably fold without much issue.

But, as Dennis approached the table, a horrible pain suddenly gnawed in his gut. He groaned in surprise, clutched at the pain and stopped walking. He winced and doubled over before deciding to turn and make a break for the restroom in a panic. He felt like he was about to explode! He burst through the door to the men's restroom and was relieved that it appeared to be unoccupied. The pleasant, sweet smell hit his nose and worked to calm his nerves. Dennis figured he would solve his sudden bowel problem first then go deal with the customer.

He tore his pants down and plopped onto the toilet with the expectation that he would shit his brains out only for his pain to immediately subside. Dennis stared into the dark door of the stall in confusion. Just a second prior he had endured some of the worst pain of his life and it was somehow gone in an instant. How was that even possible? The tight confines of the stall gave Dennis a second to reflect on the situation. He was worried about his stomach but was happy the pain had subsided. He'd have to seriously consider going to see his doctor the following day.

Dennis pulled up his pants and stopped. He looked down to see his waist had gotten...smaller? The unfortunate gut he had gained over the last few years had all but disappeared. A surge of youthful energy invigorated Dennis as he opened the stall door. He must have been imagining things! As he stepped out of the stall, however, he stopped once again. The expensive wood floors he expected to see looked different. They were still nice but the wood was lighter and cheaper looking. The tiled walls he had paid an arm and a leg for were replaced with solid stone containing a bright pattern. He rushed to the sink to see the expensive Tibetan bowls he had installed were boring and normal!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1f9ORefpER8fIgVd7bjj6pewW0rqDZi3O/view?usp=drive_link

What he hell was going on!?

Dennis stared at himself in the mirror and gasped. He looked like he was at least a decade younger. Gone was the salt and pepper coloring in his dark hair which was now noticeably longer and lighter.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1O7G5SOKEf02Y4N4Gco8Kz1EEnhyXAJKq/view?usp=drive_link

His body had slimmed down almost everywhere. There was no denying it- this was not his imagination! His body was still very masculine but definitely thinner overall. His muscles were hard, he was still quite tall and his shoulders were broad. With his masculine features he couldn't help but admire himself. He certainly wasn't gay, but he knew he was an attractive man. In fact, he was the pinnacle of masculinity!

Dennis couldn't even begin to explain what happened, and he was still pretty pissed off about the cheapening of his elegant bathroom, but he would take restored youth in exchange for Tibetan bowls any day of the week.

He opened the door to the dining room with a youthful spring in his step, having almost completely forgotten about the angry customer. Dennis' mouth fell open as he glanced around the room with wide eyes. The whole restaurant had changed! The windows surrounding the dining room were still present, but they now appeared to be on the ground level. Dennis noticed tiny changes all over the place that cheapened the overall experience. The sterling silver cutlery had clearly been replaced by normal silverware. The tables were no longer expensive mahogany and looked like wood of a lesser quality. Dennis was in a daze as his mind raced to figure out what had happened. He noticed the young waiter he had taught a lesson to earlier in the night was standing beside the angry patron. There was something off about the waiter and it appeared he was no longer wearing the standard uniform. He had on a damn [i]apron[/i] like they were in some run-of-the-mill, everyday, peasant restaurant. This was the final straw, the amateur needed to get fired!

Dennis approached and noticed the customer was wearing a button up shirt without a jacket or tie! In fact, every patron's formal attire seemed to have been abandoned at almost every table. There was only one or two suit jackets in the entire restaurant!

Dennis slicked back his longer hair and made his way to the table with confused determination. He first had to deal with this customer first, then he could figure out what the FUCK had happened to his beloved restaurant.

As he approached, the junior waiter introduced Dennis with a gesture, "Sir, this is Dennis Foxworthey, part owner and executive chef at 'Le Maison'."

PART OWNER?

'Le' Maison??

The 'Le' made the restaurant sound so much worse! It was amateur hour adding the 'Le'! It wasn't even grammatically correct! Dennis decided he needed to fire the waiter in extraordinary fashion...but not in front of the customers. He may have had a reputation for being a disciplinarian, but he had to keep some semblance of professionalism during the dinner service. And 'part owner'? How had the stupid kid come to that ridiculous conclusion?

"Sir, what is the issue you're having tonight?" Dennis asked professionally.

The man pointed towards his food and sat up in his chair, "Well, look at this filet. I mean, It's medium, maybe even medium-well when I clearly asked for medium-rare."

Dennis bent down over the table and saw that the man was right! The filet was clearly overcooked for what he had ordered. This was perhaps the most shocking discrepancy Dennis had experienced so far. How could his kitchen have made such a grave error?

Dennis collected the plate from the man while stating, "I apologize, sir. I assure you this error will be dealt with swiftly. I will get you a properly cooked filet."

The man nodded in approval and Dennis turned back towards the kitchen. The young waiter followed close behind.

Dennis shoved the plate with the bad filet into the waiter's chest and issued him an order, "Have the sommelier give that table a glass of wine on the house. Also, where the fuck is your uniform?"

"The...what?" The waiter responded while he looked down at his outfit in utter confusion.

Dennis stopped and shook his head, "The fucking sommelier! The guy that sells wine. The guy that I pay a ridiculous amount of money!"

The waiter turned his head slightly to the side in confusion, "Mr. Foxworthy, we don't have a sommelier."

Dennis shooed the waiter away, "Useless! Get out of my sight!"

As the young man scurried away, a pit formed in Dennis' stomach. The waiter may have been an idiot, but he wasn't a liar. Why didn't he have a sommelier anymore?

Dennis glanced over to another member of the wait staff, the same brunette that had gotten him from the kitchen just minutes prior. He saw she was in the same uniform as the young male waiter, complete with an apron, tie and short sleeve shirt.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Dj_ZqwbYevnyOHW-G9mMS-ImpxXh1j5f/view?usp=drive_link

How had everything about his restaurant gotten worse? The pit in his stomach turned quickly to outright panic. It was like a terrible nightmare that he couldn't wake up from! He just had to finish the service and figure everything out afterwards. At least he had gained some youth and energy. It was almost as if he'd gone back in time to a younger age where he worked in a cheaper restaurant. Dennis pressed into the kitchen and released a sigh of relief seeing that everything in the kitchen was more-or-less the same.

Hopefully that was the end of the nightmare!

*****