The savory scents of sizzling meats and well-seasoned sauces swirled, filling the smallish kitchen of Chella's Italian Bistro and Ristorante. Reductions simmered and spoons clattered against metal cookware as an endless tide of gourmet meals were prepared and summarily served up.

The frenzied scraping of metal against ceramic joined the cacophony as Kaitlyn worked on her side of things. Plate after plate gave up its remaining contents to the trash, only to then disappear beneath the brownish suds of the sink water. Despite its two lone occupants, the sheer amount of work and activity they each undertook made it feel as bustling as a far larger restaurant.

A pang of annoyance shot through her as she upended an almost entirely full bowl of spaghetti carbonara into the garbage. Seriously? They couldn't even take this in a to-go box? I know how good this stuff is, there's absolutely no reason to waste it like this…

With a long exhale, she put the sight out of her mind. It wasn't like she'd take it home herself, so there was really no point in worrying about it. Besides, it really was their loss.

"Oi! Kaitlyn!"

The deep bellow of Scarra, the restaurant's chef, broke her out of her musings. Kaitlyn looked over her shoulder, now elbow-deep in dirty sink water. "Yes, chef!"

The burly and rather rotund man didn't look up from the stove. "Need some more veggies cut when you're done over there!"

"Will do!"

It only took a few minutes for Kaitlyn to finish scrubbing the dishes. With mechanical efficiency, they plopped into the central rinsing sink one at a time. A quick stop to clean off her hands and arms saw her standing at a prep table, knife in hand.

Wow. It really is going to be weird leaving this behind.

The thought struck her as she sliced and diced the vegetables that Scarra had left for her. Working at the restaurant had been a constant in practically all of the loops she'd been through. Not only was it a good way for her to make money from the get-go, but it also afforded her great opportunities to learn from Scarra.

I mean, seriously. Kate's Kitchen never would have gotten off the ground if not for this place. She glanced up at the chef. He spun around the kitchen like a man possessed, flipping and stirring and tasting dishes everywhere he turned. I could cook before, yeah, but nothing like I can now. There's no way I'd be able to feed so many people without everything he's taught me. And they practically funded my equipment at the start.

That wasn't the only reason she stayed, of course. There were plenty of reasons to like Chella's. The free food she'd occasionally receive, for example, and the fact that the people here were just plain pleasant to be around. But as time went on, Kaitlyn's situation had changed. It was harder and harder to rationalize sticking around.

I'm not learning nearly as much as I was. Not to say that I'm as good as Scarra, obviously. But… I think there's only so much more I can learn from him. I've gotta start paving my own paths from here on. Just like I am with the desserts.

Kaitlyn checked on the status of the kitchen from the corner of her eye. With a gentle push, a bowl of neatly diced tomatoes slid across the table toward Scarra. "Tomatoes up!"

He grunted, reaching over to grab them. A handful of the little red cubes soon appeared atop a pair of freshly plated pasta dishes. Kaitlyn smiled at the timing.

Her plateauing skills weren't the only reason she had to consider leaving, though. If and when she managed to land a software job, it would quickly render this one moot. The pay for a software engineer was simply incomparable.

It just doesn't make sense to keep on like this. Once I land a software job, I'll have to leave.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

It hadn't happened yet, but it was only a matter of time. Whether this loop or next, Kaitlyn would be ready.

The door to the kitchen swung open just as she finished preparing vegetables. A dark-haired boy about her age stepped quickly through, a short apron wrapped about his waist. Despite the countless opportunities for spills and other mishaps afforded in a restaurant like this, his formal vest and dress shirt combo was as spotless as ever.

"Order in. Fettuccine alfredo and veal shank, medium rare."

Philip pinned the latest order ticket to the end of the line as his gaze took in the room. Seemingly satisfied with the state of things, he quickly turned to one of the prep tables and began preparing some more bread baskets.

Kaitlyn stepped up next to him. "Here. I'll get the butter ready."

Philip's gray eyes flicked up to meet hers. "Alright. Thank you."

Without another word, they began working alongside each other. Philip quickly tucked paper liners into the wire baskets that held their bread, and Kaitlyn followed each up with an artful dollop of butter piped into a small dish on the side. A bit of creative stacking ensured that the prepared baskets didn't take up too much space without disturbing their preparations.

Kaitlyn glanced behind her. "Running low on bread. How many tables we have out there?"

"Seven. Four are past bread, three might ask for a refill soon. I'd expect a couple more to show up soon." Philip didn't even look up from his work.

With a click of her tongue, Kaitlyn called over to Scarra. "Chef! Mind if I cut some more bread for baskets?"

"Hrmph. Do you even know which ones to use? I've got a specific—"

"The ones in the back first, cut a row at a time, skip over any imperfect loaves so you can use them for other stuff. Half inch slices, cut at a thirty degree angle. Don't let the bread sit cut for longer than a couple hours. If it does, put it in the stale pile."

Scarra went silent for a moment. She didn't have to look over to feel his scowl. "Fine, fine. You made your point. Go ahead." In a much lower voice, she heard him grumble to himself as he cooked. "Damn kid, actually remembering what I tell her…"

Kaitlyn had to suppress a smile at that.

In moments, she and Philip had filled up the remaining breadbaskets. With a nod of thanks in her direction, the severe-faced waiter headed back out to the restaurant's main room with two in hand, ready to address the needs of their hungry customers.

As he walked away, Kaitlyn allowed herself a brief moment to simply stare after him. Even after everything they'd been through together, she'd somehow found herself able to return to a place of normalcy when interacting with the guy. True, it was simply as coworkers, and she didn't go out of her way to talk with him outside of the restaurant. But still. The fact that she could talk to him like this, day after day, without any lingering sentiments poisoning the interactions… it still surprised her every once in a while.

Then again, that was the whole point, wasn't it? I know now that the guys I know are gone after the romance endings. Gone, but still changed for the better. So there's no reason I should feel guilty.

It had taken a while to really settle in, but the rationalization was one of the few things keeping her sane. It made her feel like she was making progress, even more so than the endings she received, while also giving those relationships additional meaning. It made her feel like there was a permanence to them. Like some part of what they'd shared would actually stick around, however small it may be. Even if they lost their memories.

With that in mind… if I can talk to Philip like this, why wouldn't it work with Alex?

The thought of Rachel's invitation made her frown. It had continued to pop up over and over in her musings over the past few days. Some small part of her still hesitated to really consider it, but that part kept shrinking and shrinking as reason slowly began to win out.

If anything, I should be less worried about Alex. I've had way more time to cope with that whole thing, at least.

Kaitlyn began working on dishes again, the rhythmic scraping and scrubbing allowing her to fall into an almost meditative state as she thought. It was worth a try. She did miss her friends in cross country, and running with the team sounded like it could be more fun than running alone.

Not to mention I can always back out if things really go sour. I don't have much to lose, but a whole lot to gain. She smiled wryly at her reflection in a metal saucepan. Well… nothing to lose but my sanity. But I've gotten that back plenty of times before.

Chuckling at her own joke, Kaitlyn finished off the last of the dishes. That settled it. She'd go see Coach about joining the team on Monday. It would just be to try things out, see if she actually did enjoy it for a few weeks. Then, she'd reevaluate and step back if needed.

Maybe I'm changing up too much at once. Then again, maybe I haven't been changing enough lately.

"Need any more prep done, Chef?"

"Do I need more— What, do you think people just stopped eatin' out there?" Scarra called back. "If you've got nothin' better to do, get over here and get to work on sauces!"

With a wide grin, she stepped over to do just that.