Part 4

[b]Part 4[/b]

Dennis entered the kitchen warily. He relaxed when he saw the usual fervor of his staff. Pots and pans, ovens and chopping boards were all singing a sweetly familiar song. He joined the chorus and lost himself for a time in his craft. It was a welcome distraction to prevent him from thinking about what had happened in the dining room. His youthful vigor spurned him to work faster and with more energy. Despite the distraction, the wait staff entering the kitchen in their new, [i]apron[/i] included uniforms kept dragging him back to reality. He knew he would have to go out and face the situation at some point.

Dennis found his mind consistently wandering. What was he going to do? Why had his restaurant gotten worse? How had he gotten younger? A familiar chill crawled up his spine...that woman in the bathroom...was she..?

Dennis was slicing up mushrooms with his mind lost in thought, when the knife suddenly slipped and nearly removed his finger. He dropped the knife with a *clang* and felt a surge of anxiety. He did a quick once over of his hand. His fingers they were-

They were different!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IC7DMQf3YrpZjDYAoVi9SMhMun4ZsLK3/view?usp=drive_link

His hands were thinner and daintier than before! His calloused, masculine hands had been replaced. Dennis even found that his nails were longer! But, the changes didn't stop there as his forearm looked suspiciously thin. The rest of his body was covered by his chefs jacket, but Dennis felt his breathing intensify as he glanced around wide eyed. What the fuck was happening!?

The chefs around Dennis were watching him with concern. Did the room look...larger? Dennis turned his attention to one of his most experienced chefs, Michael. Michael was somehow taller than Dennis.

He had never been taller than Dennis!

"Are you okay, Dennis?" Michael asked.

Michael had never called Dennis...Dennis! How disrespectful! He was the owner and head chef for goodness sake!

"What did you-" Dennis started before stopping and grabbing at his throat. His voice had come out like a youthful squeak. He sounded like a teenager going through puberty!

Dennis cleared his throat and continued in his higher pitch, "What did you call me, Michael?"

Michael put his hands on his hips and several of the kitchen staff stopped working to watch.

Michael pointed his finger at Dennis, "Look, kid, I'm sorry you fucked up your knife work, but don't disrespect me in MY kitchen, okay? You're a goddamn sous chef and you'll refer to me properly as 'Chef'. I'll admit you've got some promise, but you're still a long way off."

Dennis' vision became blurry and it felt like the walls were closing in. The room was spinning.

"What- what is-" Dennis sputtered while sucking down breath, "What is- happening right now?"

Michael shook his head, "Right now you're about to start prepping the fish tacos."

Dennis braced himself against the prep table, "F-fish tacos? We don't serve fish tacos at [i]La Maison[/i]."

Michael chuckled, "Either you're daydreaming or you fell and hit your head, Kid. You're a fucking sous chef at '[i]The Cozy Cabin Eatery[/i]'! It ain't Michelin Star quality like [i]La Maison[/i], but we get by just fine."

Dennis staggered past Michael towards the dining room while stuttering, "I-I need s-some air!"

He swung open the dining room door and wondered why it felt so heavy. Dennis flipped his chin length hair from his eyes and momentarily stopped. He made the decision to ignore his lengthened hair for the moment as he had more serious issues to address.

Dennis was met with a completely different restaurant!

The cheaper wooden floor from the last iteration was replaced with some sort of faux wood paneling. There were booths- [i]BOOTHS[/i] on the walls that made the dining room look like some terrible family style restaurant. Tables were set with silverware [i]rolled up in napkins[/i] like a cheap burger shack! The decor stuck out to Dennis as boring and pedestrian. It stood in stark contrast from the classy, world renowned ascetic he had paid well known artists to craft. The windows on the far wall showed that the building appeared to be on some random street corner. Dennis watched a customer in a [i]collared shirt[/i] walk by. Were there no standards anymore!?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cEucLGRqlW4eYdmU2c9Xjz-12J__dWwB/view?usp=drive_link

Dennis was approached by the same female staff member that had brought him to the customer with the bad filet. She was holding a stack of menus and looked strangely taller. Dennis somehow suddenly knew her name was Jennifer. At least Jennifer had on a bow tie and had lost the amateur-hour apron. But, as Dennis examined her most closely, he saw Jennifer's outfit was thin and cheap. It was short sleeved and made of cotton or some other low quality material. It was a cheap knock off of the high quality uniforms at [i]La Maison[/i]. She also had her hair in a ponytail which was strictly prohibited! Female staff had to keep their hair in a professional bun!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Vr7F2o6HrOch1pyuzvcASm-ZQjnzHe3P/view?usp=drive_link

Jennifer stared at Dennis and raised her eyebrows expectantly, "Uh, excuse me."

Dennis realized he had been standing directly in the kitchen door, dumbstruck by the changes to his restaurant.

Dennis cleared his throat, "You will refer to me with some respect, Jennifer. I'm the owner and executive chef, don't forget."

Jennifer shook her head annoyed, "I don't have time for jokes, Dennis, I have a six top booth begging for their entrees. Take these menus to the front, will you?"

Jennifer stepped forward with the stack of menus and dropped them into Dennis' hands. She then pushed past him into the kitchen.

Dennis grumbled at the embarrassing task of carting around menus. He opened a menu curiously and his jaw nearly hit the floor. There were PICTURES of food in the menu! He would never allow his menu to stoop so low as to put [i]pictures[/i] in it. There were so many items and the prices were dirt cheap! The logo for [i]'The Cozy Cabin Eatery'[/i] stuck to the front of the menu like an insult. Dennis continued his grumbling as he made his way to the front of the restaurant. Nearly every fixture he passed looked cheap and pedestrian. The chairs, the tables, the silverware, the plates, the uniforms, the wallpaper, everything had a cheapness to it that he found extremely distasteful.

When Dennis made it to the hostess he strangely knew her name was Madison. He handed her the embarrassing menus and she accepted them with a smile. Her formal black dress was gone and replaced with one that was a bit shorter and showed quite a lot more skin. Her dark hair was even worn loose! Dennis had always allowed his hostesses more wiggle room than other front end staff, but this was ridiculous!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fjexhH1G7SI9GG2TwMhKlsbWTDdxVPuw/view?usp=drive_link

Dennis opened his mouth to scold her, but was interrupted when Madison turned her attention to customers walking in and spoke, "Hi! Welcome to [i]'The Cozy Cabin Eatery[/i]' how many are in your party?"

She was taking walk-ins!? Dennis shook his head, everything was wrong! They had a waiting list stretching several weeks! He flicked his long hair out of his face once again. It suddenly dawned on him that he had almost forgotten about his body! He dashed to the men's room with a thumping in his chest.

Hopefully nothing beneath his chefs jacket had changed!