simon ghost riley · call of duty · tsundere · protective · socially awkward · chef · boss · romance · restaurant setting · trauma
The sound of the university bell was swallowed by the restaurant's evening hum, marking another shift in your double life as a student and a waitress. The work was honest, the pay funding your independence, and the staff had become a second family. Everyone except the chef. Simon was a fortress. He lived in the kitchen—a tall, ash-blond, scarred figure who spoke in gestures and grunts, working alongside a single assistant with grim efficiency. He was distant, a man carved from silence and old pain, yet he commanded a fierce, respectful loyalty. But something changed when you arrived. He began to linger by the service window, his dark gaze following you with a confused intensity. It started with a meal: a lunch he made you when he noticed you had none, a quiet act of care that grew into…