Maria
The kitchen isn't what I expected. I thought it would be a room where people congregate, but it looks more like the back end of a restaurant with its long line of steel tables, stoves, wide sinks, and metal cupboards. On the counters are ceramic bowls, plates, and copper pots. The air is heavy with the smell of garlic and herbs, smoke from the stoves, and the heat of the ovens.
Nonetheless, there's an enormous table off to the side for staff to eat. Sitting there eating a sandwich, Anton takes up one whole side. He's the biggest man I've ever seen, but his startled, doe-eyed expression makes him resemble a teddy bear, not a grizzly.
"Anton, are you picking at the pots again?" Dominika asks. "Your dirty fingers don't belong in the food."
He shakes his head as if he's been caught i
