by Kris Bryant
“Thanks for driving, Jess,” I say. Both Lynn and Sam chime in thanking her, too.
In a surprising turn of events, Jessie didn’t hit on a single woman today. We arrive at the apartment complex, and all of us say our good-byes and scatter.
I have just enough energy to put away the remaining food before crawling into bed. Sophia greets me warmly and refuses to let me sleep. I snuggle with her and wonder what Taryn is doing. I’m still in shock over the fact that she is a lesbian. I can’t tell if this is a test for me. I decide I want to be in a serious relationship with a mature woman and all of a sudden we have a new instructor at the academy who is beautiful, whose cooking makes me want to weep with joy, and is a lesbian. Is she a gift or a punishment? How serious is her relationship with Mallory? I can’t imagine it being fantastic if Mallory is so protective of Taryn. I’m not a threat to them. At least I don’t think so.
Chapter Seven
“So you thicken the sauce with crushed up ginger cookies?” I’m standing in front of a German booth at the Ethnic Food Festival eating a tiny piece of sauerbraten, a pressure cooked braised beef in thick, rich gravy. I’m in love with all of the wonderful flavors. The lady running the booth, Sonja, whose last name I couldn’t remember or pronounce if I tried, is telling me her recipe.
“Yes. Add them when you are boiling the broth,” she says. I’m not too familiar with German cuisine so every little bit of advice helps, and her version of this dish is delicious.
“Thank you so much. This is very good.” She answers me with a smile and nod. I’d love to sit and talk to her more, but other people want samples and I’ve already had two so I reluctantly leave her booth. I know Scott’s family is around here somewhere.
“We do have German food on the syllabus.” Somebody says near me right before I feel somebody else grab me. I look down in surprise to see Olivia’s hands hugging my waist. I turn to see Taryn behind me, Olivia nestled between us.
“Hi, ladies. What a nice surprise.” I mean it. My smile is larger than it should be for just a chance meeting so I try to tone it down.
“German food is basically proteins and starches. The good stuff is in the sauces,” Taryn says.
“Isn’t that true with most foods?” I say. She winks at me. I melt and swallow hard. To distract myself from her, I squat down so that I’m even with Olivia.
“Are you tasting everything here?” I ask her. She crinkles her nose at me.
“No. Just the sweet stuff.”
“Olivia isn’t much of a taster. If I think she’ll like it, she will at least try it.”
“It smells funny in here,” she says. Taryn and I both laugh.
“I couldn’t agree more, Olivia.” Too many different types of food packed into a convention hall. Spicy, sweet, sour, pungent, mild. Unless you know what you’re smelling, it isn’t entirely pleasant when mixed together.
“At least they have something mild at most of the booths,” I say. This festival is a family affair and to keep the kids happy, most booths have a cookie or sweet item that is relatively bland for the kids to try. It still introduces them to a new food, just on more kid-friendly terms.
“Like she needs any more sugar. She’s had enough this weekend to last her a month.”
“We should have sugar at every meal,” Olivia says.
“Then you wouldn’t be healthy and would weigh a thousand pounds,” I say.
“Okay, but a little bit of sugar?” She holds up her tiny forefinger and thumb with about an inch gap between them. I reach over and pinch her fingers closer together, closing the gap by half. She giggles and agrees.
“Have you seen Scott’s booth?” I ask. I don’t want to talk about yesterday. It’s hard to keep eye contact with her today because I know about her now. I’m afraid I will read too much into any look she gives me, or any small touch she places on my skin. I need to keep this casual and fun.
“No, but since we are in Europe over here, he should be close,” she says. We end up walking together, tasting foods and discussing ingredients and what we like, love, and could live without. Her palate is remarkable. I try not to watch as she tastes the samples, but everything about her mouth is so arousing that it’s hard for me to look away. I wonder what it’s like to kiss such perfection. I want to touch her lips, run my fingertips over their softness, taste the smoothness against my rough tongue, scrape them against my teeth. My thoughts must be visible because she stops chewing and stares at me. It’s a curious look mixed with surprise. I turn away and focus on Olivia.
“You should really try this,” I tell her. The Cornish meat stuffed pastry from the England booth is not really kid friendly, but I need to focus on something else. Olivia smells it and shakes her head no.
“Too much meat for her. She’s not really a fan. Plus it’s kind of spicy and she’s not ready for spicy yet.”
“What is her favorite thing to eat?” I’m glad we have Olivia as our buffer when things get uncomfortable. She’s a safe and fun topic.
“She likes cheese pizza, macaroni and cheese; a lot of the food found on most children’s menus,” Taryn says.
“Do you ever cook her food from South Africa?” I ask.
“Some. It’s a bit spicy and she’s not a fan of curry really. She will eat chicken and peanut stew, milk tarts, and a few other things. I’m afraid my mother spoiled her with American food when she started eating solids.” I find out that Taryn’s mom is from Connecticut and her father is from South Africa.
“So why did you move here to the United States?” I ask.
“More opportunity here for me and for Olivia. Better healthcare, better schools, better restaurants. I learned so much when I arrived.”
“Do you see your family a lot?” I ask.
“My parents helped me get set up in my new place a few months ago. Mum is supposed to be here again in a few weeks. As far as us going to visit them, we might see them on our summer holiday, but it depends on the academy’s schedule. They miss us, but they understand this is what’s best for the two of us. Mum promises me that they will retire in the United States. She wants to be involved in Olivia’s life while she grows up. I guess I need to figure out if I want to stay here or move.” That surprises me.
“You would move? I mean, teaching at the school is fantastic, right? We’ve learned so much from you already.” I hear the panic in my voice and settle down.
“Well, although I do enjoy teaching a lot, I really want to be an Executive Chef again or even own my own restaurant. This schedule works best for me because of Olivia. When I worked at Rally’s, I never saw her. I worked from three until eleven and she was already asleep by the time I got home. I would only get a few hours of sleep before I had to get up and take care of her. Now, even though she’s at school and in Adventure Club after school, we are on a normal schedule. It’s just the two of us and I can’t rely on my neighbor to take care of Olivia all the time.”
“I understand completely. She’s a great little girl.” We fall silent and continue walking down the aisle. Taryn has already sacrificed so much to have a life with Olivia. My admiration for her has just jumped a level.
“Taryn! Taryn!” We both see Scott waving at us. I love how he’s ignoring me.
“Hello, Scott,” she says. He smiles at her, the charm elevated. I smile because I know it’s wasted energy on his part.
“Hi, Scott,” I say with a bit more sarcasm than pleasantry. He smiles at me, but it’s not the same kind of smile.
“Come here, Mom. Meet my teacher,” he says. A sweet, round lady comes over to us.
“It’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard many great things about you.” She’s very nice and I wonder if she knows her son is an ass.
“You have quite the chef on your hands,” Taryn says. I walk away from the exchange. It’s obvious Scott isn’t going to introduce us and I don’t really care. My attention is on the food they’ve cooked for the event. It smells great. I reach for a small portion of Colcannon, a dish of
mashed potatoes and cabbage. It’s a simple dish, but seasoned very well. The Irish stew is even better.
“Ki, Ki. Will I like that?” Olivia looks at the stew.
“Want a bite?” She opens her mouth so I feed her a small bite of the mashed potatoes.
“How do you know Taryn’s daughter so well?” Scott asks. He comes up out of nowhere.
“Mum and Ki are friends,” Olivia answers for me. I don’t know what he’s trying to get at, but I make sure he knows she’s not playing favorites between us.
“I’ve seen them at the farmer’s market a few times,” I say. “I just ran into them over in England.” I point to the other aisle and do my best to look bored. He looks at me skeptically. I change the subject. “How’s the traffic been? Are you getting a lot of visitors?”
“It was steady yesterday. Today is more hit or miss.”
“Everything I’ve tried at your booth has been very good. Kudos to you and your family.” Flattery will hopefully get his mind off of why I’m close to Taryn and Olivia.
“I can tell my parents are getting bored. They are used to hustling in the kitchen every day, not sitting down at a booth. This will hopefully get more business to their restaurant.”
“Well, it’s a good restaurant. Maybe we should have a school field trip there. You should talk to Taryn about it,” I say.
“Good idea! I might do that,” he says. I slowly let out a sigh. He’s moved on from us and back to him.
“Okay, see you tomorrow.” He dismisses me and returns to Taryn. I need to leave so that it doesn’t appear we are at this function together. Neither of us needs that grief. I head over to where everybody is standing.
“It was nice to meet everybody and taste your wonderful food, but I need to go,” I say. I pretend to be in a hurry so I give Olivia a quick hug and kind of shrug at Taryn when she gives me a look. “Bye.” It sucks that I have to miss the aisle where foods from Russia and China are, but leaving is more important for all of us involved.
*
I’m sitting on my balcony with Sophia, both of us enjoying the last of the day’s sunshine. My feet are up on the railing and she is sprawled out on the other chair. My phone buzzes, drawing my attention away from the book I’m reading.
Why did you leave so quickly?
My stomach does a flip-flop and I hold my phone for a few moments, excited that Taryn has texted me again. I decide to tell her the truth just in case it comes up later. Scott asked how I know Olivia so well. I didn’t want him to think we spend a lot of time outside of the classroom together.
There is a pause before I get her response. That was considerate. Thank you.
I know she’s not being sarcastic, I’m just surprised she doesn’t ask me anything. He can be a jerk.
This I know already. Really, thank you.
I know I should stop texting her, but I want to keep this connection with her. I wanted to stay though. Okay, so maybe that was a bit too raw right off the bat. I quickly send another text. I like hanging out with you girls. I can’t hit send quick enough and actually hit the button several times. I stare at my phone and wait. Again, a long pause.
Olivia says hi. She wants to know who I’m talking to.
I breathe a sigh of relief. I didn’t scare her off. Hi, stinky. What are you doing?
I laugh. I better qualify that statement. I mean Olivia, not you.
Lol. I figured as much.
I can tell that I have this goofy grin on my face, but nobody can see me so I don’t care. Taryn’s next text is a photo of Olivia’s smiling face. She’s so damn cute! I decide to send her a photo of Sophia sunning next to me. Sophia looks up at me when she hears the camera snap. Bored with me after only two seconds, she yawns and settles down.
Olivia loves your cat. She said she can’t wait to have a kitty.
I got lucky with Sophia. She’s the easiest cat around. I’d have a dozen cats if that didn’t make me look a little crazy. Plus my apartment lease only allows me to have two cats at a time. Sophia is perfectly happy being single. Me, not so much.
Park time, bath time, story time, and then bed time. Olivia says good night.
Have fun and tell her to sleep well. See you tomorrow.
I don’t get another text so I put my phone down and pick my book back up. I read the same sentence over and over before I finally give up. I feel like I have something here with Taryn. Something that could be more than friendship.
Chapter Eight
Maybe it’s my imagination, but I think Taryn is early to class so that we have some time together before the other students show up. I’m almost always the first student in, but today she is already here. I refrain from skipping to class even though the desire is great. She looks up and smiles at me. My heart swells with excitement and slight fear. What if I’m reading too much into this, whatever this is?
“Hi.” I slow my pace as I walk through the door. She looks fantastic. Her hair is down and pulled over one shoulder as she takes notes from something she is reading on her computer. I’ve noticed lately that she is wearing a little more makeup and she waits to put on her chef’s jacket. All the signs are there. If I didn’t know about Mallory, I would say she’s interested. Or maybe she just likes the attention I give her. Either way, I’ll take it. I like this relationship we have in secret.
“Hi, yourself,” she says. Her voice is warm and I just want to melt into her.
“What’s on the agenda today?” I casually walk over to my desk to drop my bag, then make my way over to her.
“Tenderizing meat and four ways to do it,” she says, wagging her eyebrows at me. “We’ll figure out what method works best for different proteins.”
“Should be fun. Do we each get a protein and method, or will this be a group project?”
“What do you think?” She’s actually asking my opinion.
“It might be faster if we group up. I mean, we can do more in less time if we are in groups.”
“Good idea. What proteins should we work on?” I’m surprised she is involving me this much. I like it. We chat about meats for a few minutes before Scott and a few others arrive, breaking our tranquil closeness. Taryn sighs when the students walk in and I take a step away from her feeling guilty without reason. I head to my station and clean it up, trying my best not to seem affected by our short time together. I can feel Scott staring at me so I decide to chat with him and throw him off a bit. I head his way with a casual smile on my face.
“How did the rest of the festival go?” I sound genuine even to myself. I see his shoulders relax.
“It was good. There was a rush not long after you left. Thank God there wasn’t a lot to clean up. I think we’ll get more traffic at the restaurant now.”
“I really liked the stew. Your parents have a great recipe there. Let me guess. It’s a family secret.”
He laughs. “Something like that.” The rest of the class starts filing in so I head back to my station, glad to be away from him. Taryn starts class and I find myself instantly captivated by her. I like watching her work. She’s so delicate, yet works quickly and efficiently. I have so much respect for her after knowing that she gave everything up to raise her daughter. She was Executive Chef at the nicest restaurant in town and chose to walk away from it to be there for Olivia.
“Marinades are a great way to tenderize a protein.”
Even though I’m listening to her instruction, I’m focused on her. Not what she’s saying, but her. I’m watching her mouth, fixated on her smooth and red lips. She chews on her bottom lip while concentrating on showing us a technique. She looks up quickly and makes eye contact with me. For a second or two, she freezes. I try to pretend that she’s just my teacher and I’m just a student, but I think I’m past that. I think she must be past that, too. Something flickers in her eyes. It’s a mixture of surprise and desire. I don’t look away. Not this time. Not after everything the past few weeks. She stutters for a moment, but recovers quickly.
“Okay, we
ll let’s get into teams of four and decide on a protein and a way to tenderize it.” She clears her throat and completely avoids eye contact with the class. Scott and I automatically pair up with other students, knowing that it doesn’t make sense for us to be on the same team since we are in competition with one another. Mary is on the third team. Even though she is still technically in the running for the scholarship, she knows she is too far behind us to win. Nobody talks about it, but we all know.
My team decides on steak. Since we don’t have six to eight hours to allow the meat to properly marinade and tenderize, we decide on beating it. It’s a quick way to get the meat tender and I can get out my frustrations on a piece of meat.
Class flies by, but I still can’t get out of there fast enough. Not only did our team come in last, but Taryn managed to ignore me the rest of the afternoon. Not a single word spoken to me. I know the fact that I was staring at her probably threw her off, but I know I’m not the only one who has ever been caught. I clean my station, grab my bag, and get the hell out of there. The farther I get from the academy, the easier I can breathe, but the heavier my heart feels. I still have almost two months to go and I have to find some sort of peace with Taryn. I can’t lose the possibility of the scholarship all because of a crush. I need to figure out how to squelch my desire for her and keep it on a friendship level. I snort at myself, knowing that’s going to be next to impossible.
*
“Want to go out for an ice cream or something?” Jess is on the phone trying to get me out of my funk. We met downstairs in the foyer when I got home and she must have picked up on my melancholy mood.
“No thanks. I’m cuddling with Sophia tonight.” Sophia is sitting on my chest staring at me while I rub her chin.
“Want to just veg and watch the game?” I know she’s trying, and it’s not as if I’m going to be doing anything special tonight, so I cave and invite her up. She opens my door in five minutes, holding cold beer and popcorn.
