Dead Plate
Sirius throws himself backwards onto the couch.
”And then you just left? You can't just leave, Siri. That’s not how jobs work!” James exclaims from the kitchen where he is roaming around.
He is apparently surprised by Sirius’ actions. If it comes to Sirius, it should not really be that surprising. Sirius has quit jobs on a whim constantly the past year. He does not stay in the same place for more than two months. It has become a joke among their friends. This job, as a sous-chef in a smaller restaurant, is no exception.
“I don’t know. The head chef was an asshole, Jamie,” Sirius pathetically tries to defend himself from his position on the couch.
Sirius knows it is a bad excuse. He also knows it is a big issue that he can not hold a job for longer than a month. It really should not be this hard to keep a job. He is a professional chef after all, with an expensive piece of paper from an expensive culinary school to prove it. Still, since Sirius finished his education last year, he has not managed to keep a proper job. It is not that he doesn’t want to, he does. Sirius is just incredibly stubborn, which is an issue because almost every person in the industry is too. It’s no surprise that it can often get heated in the kitchen. And it is also no surprise that it ends with Sirius quitting on the spot.
“What are you going to do?” James asks him and appears in the corner of Sirius’ eye. His tone is much more concerned now.
As Sirius turns his head he can see the wrinkles of concern forming on James’ forehead.
“I’ll be fine. Where’s your laptop? I can find a new job,” Sirius says and sits up.
He’s being unreasonably optimistic. Sirius knows this. He needs to pay for rent, food, heat, water and whatever else at the end of the month.
While Sirius has never had better mental health, especially after leaving Grimmauld Place behind, he has never been worse off financially. Leaving was hard but also simultaneously the best decision he has
ever made. That, and deciding to follow his dream of having his own restaurant. A dream not looking very feasible at the moment.
James shakes his head.
“Just try, please, Siri. Just give it a chance,” He says, looking very defeated. Sirius knows James means well. They’ve been friends as long as he can remember, and while James is always up for fun and games, he also tends to worry for Sirius.
If James wasn’t worrying about Sirius’ relationship with his family, he would worry about Sirius’ romantic relationship, and if he did not worry about those two things he would worry about Sirius’ job - or rather lack thereof. Sirius loves James, in a platonic brotherly way of course, but he does wish he would stop fretting so much.
It is just because James has a stable job, a girlfriend who loves him unconditionally, and a nice flat in a nice neighbourhood, that he also has to worry about Sirius’ life decisions. And Sirius is not jealous of James at all, thank you very much. Sure, he would like a stable job, and maybe a boyfriend instead of mindless one-night stands, and a nice place in a quiet neighbourhood, but really Sirius is doing just fine. Restaurants are always looking for kitchen personnel and he does have a bed to sleep in at the end of the day, and he no longer has contact with his father and mother - so really he is doing fine.
“Promise me, you’ll give the next job a fair chance,“ James says, and hoovers over him, trying to look intimidating with his arms crossed. It would work if Sirius hadn’t known James his whole life, and knows James could never hurt a fly.
“I will. I will. I promise I’ll try to stay with my next job for more than two months,” Sirius says instantly, just to please his friend.
“Promise me you won’t try to fight your boss”
“I promise!”
“And promise me you won’t sleep with your boss”
“James…” Sirius says annoyed and glares at him. Sometimes James treats him like a child. ”That only happened once!”
“Still. Promise me,” James says insistently. He glares back at Sirius just as annoyed.
“Fine, I promise,” Sirius finally says, when he knows he can not win the glaring contest they have started.
The front door opens and closes loudly. A few seconds later, Sirius can see dishevelled, red hair appear in the corner of his eyes. He’s too stubborn to break eye contact with James though. “Hey boys! What’s going on?” Lily says rather confused while removing her scarf and coat.
“Lils, save me. James is bullying me!” Sirius whines, and falls sideways onto the couch looking up at her. Lily looks to James for answers.
“Sirius quit his job. Again.” James explains flatly.
Lily rolls her eyes. “Not surprised,” She says.
“Hey. Can you be a little more upset? I’m trying to teach Siri to be an adult,” James scolds her but does approach her slowly. His frown disappears as he gets closer. Of course, Lily would not be surprised. She saw this coming from miles away.
Lily says, “Sirius is an adult. He can very much take care of himself. Plus-” Sirius lets out a noise of agreement. She continues now very smugly, “-it leaves him with plenty of time to cook for us!”
James lets out a laugh and kisses her. It’s sweet, it really is. And Sirius is totally not jealous of his friends, and how they get to come home to each other every day. As James continues to kiss Lily’s cold cheeks from the cold outside, Sirius makes vomit noises and pretends to throw up on the carpet.
He’s happy for them. It is just in situations like this, that he realises just how single he is. Not that it is bad. Sirius enjoys his alone time and sporadic flings. Lily is right though. He is an adult, and he needs to get his life together. Sirius stands up and stretches his hands above his head.
“You would not be able to afford my rate. Also, I’ve never been a personal chef before, but it sure would be expensive for you,” Sirius replies to Lily’s comment, although he doubts she is paying attention.
When neither Lily nor James responds, but continues to be sickly in love instead, so Sirius takes the bait. “Alright, I guess it’s my cue to leave,” He exclaims. Before he can even make it out of the living room, Lily stops him.
She steps away from James and looks at Sirius very pointedly, “Actually, I think I might have a job for you.”
“Lily, my dear” Sirius says, not buying it. “No offence. But I’m not gonna take a job like yours and clean houses for rich pricks like you do” Lily only looks mildly offended, which Sirius realises is very fair. Despite being broke and an outcast, he still sometimes has a hard time shaking off the posh attitude that his mother gave him.
“First of all. They’re not all pricks,” She states as a matter-of-factly. Sirius is not sure she is right about this, but he also does not want to challenge her on that.
Lily works for a company that cleans houses for some of the richest bastards living in London. They live in houses with nice views and big gardens and probably have rooms the size of Sirius’ entire flat. While Lily seems happy about it, as they offer flexible hours and pay well, Sirius can not imagine working for the rich like that. He used to be one of the rich bastards, so really, he of all people should know how it is. All her clients are probably rich, posh idiots who inherited their fortune from daddy’s business. At least that would be Sirius if he had not cut ties with his family. Lily may be happy cleaning up after them and tidying houses, but working for people like that is not for Sirius. It reminds him too much of his years at home.
“Second of all,” She continues, completely unbothered by Sirius, “one of my clients is looking for a private chef. I reckon you would fill that position”
While Sirius does not have any experience working as a private chef, and very much would not like to work for rich assholes, this does pique his interest. His main issue in restaurants has been that he has a hard time mindlessly following directions from chefs. They always think they know better, or just want things done their way because that’s how we have always done things here.
Working as a private chef means working alone.
“Okay… I’m listening,” Sirius says reluctantly. Lily looks all too pleased with herself.
“Well, I can’t say much about it. I just heard one of my client’s managers mention it. I’ll put her in touch with you if you’re interested?” Lily says, or rather asks him. As a cleaner, she hears just about everything that happens in her client’s houses. Too bad she had to sign an NDA with her contract. The stories and scandals she could probably tell. She will never budge though. Sirius has tried many times, even after a few drinks, but she is steadfast and honours her contract.
“C’mon, Siri. It’ll be an easy job. Besides you probably don’t have to take orders from anyone else,” James says, when Sirius is taking a little too long to reply.
He specifically highlights how Sirius will probably work alone, which is what Sirius struggles with the most. James knows him all too well. It is not that Sirius wants to work alone. He just has issues with authorities, and mindlessly following directions when things can be done so much better.
“Well, I can’t tell you who it’s for, but I will tell you, it’s one of my favourite people,” Lily says as she sits down in the chair across from Sirius. She wiggles her eyebrows to tempt him, “He’s a sweetheart, and I think you would get along.”
Sirius rolls his eyes and with a loud, dramatic sigh he says, “Fine! You can give them my number”
James hollers, like it is a football match and raises his fist in the air. Lily looks pleased with herself. They are both acting like this is a huge win for them, even though Sirius hasn't even got the job yet - or an interview for that matter.
“You’ll be perfect for the job, Siri. I’ll put you in touch with Marlene,” She says.
Exactly why Lily has so much faith in this job and Sirius’ ability to do this, is beyond him. It is nice though, Sirius will admit as much. It’s nice that he can spend his late afternoon with two of his closest friends, and he can feel them care for each other and him. Helping and supporting him when he needs it. Listen to him complain about his boss - or rather his old boss, because apparently, Sirius is about to get a new one.