Kitchen Affairs: A Riverside Novel (The Riverside Trilogy)

by Cumberland, Brooke

  “You fascinate me. You have a sense of grace about you when you’re in the kitchen. It’s as if everything is right in the world.” He smiled as if he could see deep into my soul. Being in the kitchen was therapy for me. After Liam passed, I couldn’t handle the overwhelming sadness that overcame me, so instead I buried myself in the kitchen. After awhile, I felt I needed more of a purpose. I volunteered at a soup kitchen, where I had my first glimpse into using a commercial kitchen cooking for hundreds of people.

  “It’s my safe haven. I could get lost in here,” I said honestly. The kitchen was one place I could let my thoughts loose and just forget everything.

  “You have become my safe haven, Molly.” He turned closer to me, putting both his hands on my face as he leaned in to kiss me softly.

  “We still need to keep it cool until after graduation.” I reminded him pretending to push him away with my fingertips.

  “I know, don’t worry,” he said reassuring me. The last thing either of us wanted was to be linked publically, and my internship to be discredited.

  I finished cooking our late night breakfast, and as we sat at the breakfast bar, we made small talk, getting to know each other a little better. I still wanted to know more about him, but for now, I was content.

  The next morning, I woke up in Drake’s long legs that intertwined with mine. I could feel him breathing slowly, and knew he was still sound asleep. God, he’s beautiful. It was only eight, but I knew Stella would already be up watching her Saturday morning cartoons. I slowly rolled out of bed trying not to disturb him. I peaked under the sheets as I remembered he was only in briefs. Damn, he looks hot like that.

  “Good morning, sunshine,” I whispered, kissing Stella on the cheek as she lounged on the loveseat eating an apple.

  “Morning, mommy,” she mumbled, not even looking in my direction.

  I went into the kitchen to make coffee and breakfast, when I ran into Michael digging into the fridge. “Why are you smiling at me like that?” I glared. I know why, but I wanted to know what he knows.

  “Girl… two nights in a row, huh? Damn, you have it bad,” he teased pinching me on the ass.

  “Yeah, yeah… stop it,” I mocked smacking his hand away from me. “He’s still here, so be on your best behavior,” I warned pointing my finger at him.

  He held his hands up as if he was surrendering. “I always behave,” he grinned. Drake was beautiful to look at, and I knew Michael would appreciate his beauty, especially just waking up and walking in the kitchen shirtless.

  Well, hello…

  “Morning, baby,” he said leaning in for a kiss. He quickly noticed we weren’t alone. “Morning, Michael.” He nodded acknowledging his presence. Michael blushed as Drake said his name.

  Stella arrived in the kitchen; blanket in hand. Drake hadn’t officially met Stella yet, so I figured it would be good to do so now, especially if he was going to be around more. “Stella honey, this is mommy’s friend, Drake. Can you say hi?”

  “Hi,” she said moving her head up to meet him. “Why are you here?” she asked bluntly. Oh, such a direct little girl I have.

  “I… was just visiting your mommy,” he answered unsure. “And Michael,” he finished, hoping that would satisfy her.

  “Oh… okay.” She shrugged. That seemed to be enough for her. I grabbed a glass of orange juice, and set her up on the breakfast bar to finish eating.

  “Good save,” I said as I leaned up to kiss his lip. The first introduction was over, and he didn’t do too badly considering Stella has a three second rebound rate.

  “I’m flying to Detroit tonight for some food and wine tastings. I’ll be back Monday afternoon.” He mentioned. “Will you call and keep in touch?”

  “Of course. We need to exchange numbers first,” I reminded him.

  “Contacts are in our phones already, don’t worry babe,” he smirked as he pecked me on the cheek. Sneaky man. “I have to run and get my belongings. I fly out at noon.”

  “Okay, I’ll walk you out.” I took his hand and led him into my room to gather the rest of his clothes that were sprinkled across the floor. I was about to pick up one of his socks when he reached for me and pulled me into him closely. He planted a soft, passionate kiss on my lips. I was sad he was leaving, but I was sure I could make it a couple days.

  “I’ll miss you,” he whispered into my mouth.

  “I’ll miss you, too.” I patted him on the ass, hurrying him along so he wouldn’t run behind. And I’ll miss that ass.

  After Drake left and the kitchen was clean, Michael and I decided to take Stella to one of the best Children’s Museum that Chicago had to offer. Being an only child, she needed socialization time outside of school. And it was fun watching her with the other kids.

  “Mommy, this way!” Stella screamed pulling my hand along in hers. “I want to go in the Safari room!” I followed her remembering just how much energy a four-year-old maintained.

  “Okay, honey, slow down. Uncle Michael will lose us,” I called.

  “Whoa, you two are sure in a hurry!” Michael breathed, chasing after us.

  I laughed watching Michael try and play keep up with us. He was a muscular man, but he did not play sports and was not the athletic type. “There ya are slowpoke,” I nudged him in the ribs teasing his ability to keep up with us.

  Michael and I had a blast chasing after Stella watching her make new friends. I decided to quickly run outside and check my cell phone messages. I was hoping Drake called me, so I knew he landed safely.

  “Well, hello there,” a voice echoed behind me. I felt goose bumps on the back of my neck as I recognized that voice. I turn around and saw Travis standing there watching me.

  Holy shit…

  “Travis, hi,” I said slipping my phone back into my pocket. I was hoping he wouldn’t bring up the fact that I gave him the wrong number. “What a surprise seeing you here.” I faked a smile.

  “Same to you,” he said inching closer to me. “I brought my son, Jacob here. He’s five,” he answered reading my mind.

  “Oh awesome. I brought my daughter, Stella. She’s four. She loves dragging my roommate, Michael around,” I said chuckling, hoping to keep the conversation light.

  This is so awkward.

  “Yeah, Jacob and my sister could spend all day in there,” he chuckled continuing the conversation. I smiled at him letting him know I was slightly uninterested. “So, I’m glad I ran into you. It seems the number you gave me doesn’t work.” He frowned.

  “Really? I must have pressed the wrong digits,” I lied.

  “Yeah, some old woman, Beverly, answered. She said I sounded cute,” he snickered as he obviously remembered the conversation.

  “I’m sorry about that. But actually…” my phone rang, cutting me off. “Sorry, just one moment.” I held up my finger.

  “Hello?” It was Drake. Oh, thank god!

  “Oh good, I’m glad you made it!” I smiled. His voice was so soothing and reassuring. He told me he was thinking of me as he saw the huge tub in his hotel room. “Michael and I took Stella to the museum, but I will call you later tonight.” I smiled as we hung up with Travis watching my every move.

  “Boyfriend?” he asked melancholy.

  “Umm, kind of. Yeah, I guess.” I didn’t know how to answer that, but I wanted him to know I wasn’t interested in giving him my real number or going to dinner with him.

  “Is it serious?” he asked being quite nosey.

  Ummm, serious? Is he seriously asking me this?

  “I don’t know. I mean, it’s kind of new still,” I answered honestly. I didn’t even know this man. What is with men asking such personal questions right away?

  “I guess I can still take you for dinner then.” He saw my surprised expression. “To apologize for damaging your phone,” he reassured me. Yeah, right.

  “That’s really not necessary, Travis. It wasn’t your fault,” I shot back hoping he’d get the point. “I’m sorry, but I should go back and
check on Stella.” I tried to walk past him, but he stood in my way.

  “I insist, Molly. Give me your number and I will make sure you have a wonderful evening,” he pursued.

  I was dumbfounded at how direct he was and how he wasn’t getting my cues. Why are men so persistent? “Look, Travis. I don’t give my number out to strange men. I appreciate the gesture, but it’s not necessary,” I replied as I pushed pass him.

  I caught up with Stella and Michael hoping Travis wouldn’t follow me. We left and went back to our apartment. Stella was worn out from our busy day that she fell asleep on the couch after dinner. Michael was heading out for the night to meet up with his flavor of the week, so I decided to call Drake and see how he was doing.

  “Hello?” I asked confused. Loud music surrounded my ear, and I could barely hear him speak.

  “Heeeeeeeeeey! Who’s this?” a female’s voice asked. Who the fuck is this? She sounded drunk.

  “Ummm… it’s Molly. Is Drake there?” I said annoyed.

  “I don’t know, sweetie. He’s… busy,” she said laughing. I quickly hung up, pissed off. I shut my phone off for the night and crawled into bed. I knew Drake and I hadn’t even talked about being exclusive, but he was just with me this morning and for the past two nights. I was feeling jealous when I realized I still barely knew this man. He did have a reputation after all, its not like I didn’t know, but I hoped after getting to know him this past week that his reputation was falsified.

  I couldn’t sleep and kept tossing and turning thinking about Drake. I pictured him laughing and drinking with skanky bar chicks that would give it up to him in a second. The thought made me sick. I decided to get up and snuggle on the loveseat next to the Chicago view.

  I woke up the next day with Stella’s cartoons on the television. She was eating string cheese and olives. “Honey, let me make you some breakfast,” I said, annoyed with her ability to eat whatever she could get her little hands on.

  She glanced at me not noticing the dark circles around my eyes. I had hardly slept at all. I made coffee and whipped up some French toast. Michael dragged his ass into the kitchen looking like shit.

  “You look awful,” I teased pouring orange juice into my cup.

  “So do you,” he scowled. He was right. I knew I looked awful. Don’t fucking care.

  I shrugged, not wanting to tell him what happened. “What are your plans today?” I asked, hoping to lighten the mood and change the subject.

  “I have clients to meet today for the fashion blog. We’re doing brunch.” He poured himself a cup of coffee and headed out to the living room by Stella.

  It was late afternoon before I decided to turn my phone back on. I had three voicemails, all from Drake’s phone. I didn’t feel like listening to them, I was still too pissed off.

  He knew I was going to be calling him last night, so why would he allow some drunken slut to answer his phone?

  I decided to take Stella shopping for some retail therapy. She enjoyed walking up and down the Chicago stores, oohing and ahhing at the expensive items. I felt like someone was watching me, so I quickly turned around and saw him standing there with his son.

  Travis.

  Already in a raged mood, I marched over to him. “Wow, you are just everywhere!”

  He looked surprised to see me talking to him. “I guess I am,” he chuckled. “Jacob wanted to check out the Disney store. So here we are.”

  “Yeah, Stella did too,” I said calming down. I was pissed at Drake and even though we weren’t officially a couple; I was still raged with anger. “So, I’m sorry about yesterday. I didn’t mean to come off rude. Give me your phone,” I demanded. He was caught off guard, and reached into his pocket and handed me his phone.

  I scrolled down to my name and fixed the last digit that I pressed wrong. “Here, now you have my real number,” I smiled. I handed him his phone back, and I could tell he was a little confused.

  “Thanks. I’ll call you, and we can set something up,” he smiled excited that he finally was getting his way.

  Stella and I stopped for dinner at a cute little bistro café down the block from the apartment. Once we arrived home, she took a bath and went to bed. She needed at least ten hours of solid sleep to be functional the next day.

  I slipped into the bathtub after she fell asleep and drowned myself with bubbles listening to soft music in the background. I still hadn’t listened to my voicemails from Drake, so after my bath, I grabbed a glass of wine, and grabbed my phone out of my purse.

  “Molly… its Drake. I’m so sorry. Please call me.” I hit delete and continued to the next message. “Molly, its me again. Listen, it’s not what you think. Please. Call me.” I rolled my eyes, deleted the message, and went to the next one again. “Molly, please, I know you are mad, but just hear me. I went to meet up with some clients at a club, and some chick grabbed my phone when you called me. She answered it and ran with her girlfriends. I was in a booth with some other guys and couldn’t get to my phone fast enough to tell them to give it back. Please understand. I don’t even know who she was. She was drunk, and I cursed her out once I was able to get my phone back. Please, Molly… call me…” my voicemail cut him off.

  Part of me felt bad for ignoring him, but I was still pissed. I decided to call him back, but my phone rang before I could dial. Assuming it was Drake, I answered it. “Hello?”

  “Molly? It’s Travis.” Oh shit…

  “Travis? Hi,” I answered confused why he was calling me so late.

  “Sorry to call you so late, I just needed to hear your voice.”

  “Oh. It’s okay.” No, it’s not. “Actually, Travis, I’m glad you called. I need to tell you that I can’t have dinner with you. In fact, I shouldn’t have given you my number in the first place. I’m sorry.”

  “Oh…” he sounded disappointed.

  “Sorry, it’s just that, I’m seeing someone right now, and it’s new, and I’d like to see where it goes,” I interrupted. I didn’t want him to feel rejected, he was a decent looking guy, but I just wasn’t interested.

  “I understand, Molly. You have my number now, so if anything changes, feel free to call.” He hung up and I felt sad that I had hurt his feelings. I decided to call Drake and see if he’d actually answer this time.

  “Molly?” he said picking up my call.

  “Yeah… hi,” I responded softly.

  “I’m so glad you called. I’m so sorry, Molly. I was dying inside not hearing from you,” he said sounding desperate and relieved at the same time.

  “Sorry, Drake. I was pissed and didn’t listen to your messages until a few minutes ago. I shouldn’t have turned my phone off.”

  “No, it’s alright baby. I understand. I just wanted you to know that it wasn’t what it looked like.”

  “I know that now. Let’s not worry about it anymore.” I smiled hoping he’d sense my lightened mood.

  “Sounds good. How was your day baby?” he asked sincerely. I filled him in on what I had been up to since he left the day before. He told me he’d been in meetings, doing various food and wine tastings for the restaurant, and was flying back tomorrow morning. We hung up and I finally went to bed… smiling.

  CHAPTER SIX

  “Who can tell me the magic ratio of oil to vinegar for perfecting salad dressing?” Mr. Cooper asked. A few hands flew up in front of me. “Yes? You there in the back.”

  “The magic ratio of oil to vinegar is 3 to 1,” a man’s voice from behind me answered.

  “Excellent. Thank you…” Mr. Cooper urged on.

  “Travis.” I swung around to see Travis standing there. Shit. What was he doing here? He smiled at me and nodded. I smiled back with big eyes, shocked to see him.

  Today we were going to be learning how to make salad dressings from scratch. We divided into our groups when Mr. Cooper approached us.

  “Travis is a new addition to the internship program. He’s going to be added to your group,” Mr. Cooper announced to us. I faked a sm
ile at Mr. Cooper and Travis and hustled back to work.

  “Are you stalking me?” I teased Travis. I accused Drake of the same thing, only I wanted him to be stalking me in a non-creepy way.

  “Ha, no, actually I got into the program late. But fortunately, they still accepted me, and here I am. With you, apparently,” he smirked.

  “Isn’t that convenient,” I joked. “Well, let’s get started.”

  The group and I worked for several hours, trying to master recipes and get the ratios just right. I kept my distance from Travis, not wanting to give him the wrong impression.

  “Here, let me help you,” Travis chimed in behind me while I reached on my tiptoes for the top shelf. I backed up and let him in front of me. His long arms had no problem reaching as he gracefully handed me the bowl I was searching for.

  “Thank you.” I nodded trying to keep a small distance between us.

  “No problem. Hey, the others were talking about getting a drink after. Do you want to go with us?” he asked as I walked back to my station.

  “Sorry I can’t. I have to grab Stella after this and get her in for the night,” I responded hoping that was enough.

  “Oh okay, maybe another time then,” he smiled and walked the other way.

  Blakely approached me shortly after with a wide grin on her face. “Where the hell did that hottie come from?” She fanned her face as if she was hot.

  “Oh, Travis. We met a couple times before,” I answered quietly hoping he wouldn’t overhear Blakely and I talking about him.

  “Oh, please tell!” She sounded like an excited child.

  “We first met at a coffee house when we ran into one another and the screen on my phone busted. Then we ran into each other at the children’s museum over the weekend. He has a five year old son.” I was hoping she wouldn’t further the interrogation, so I slowly started to walk to the sink placing my bowls in.