by Pat Amsden
“Why don’t we taste those today,” Elena said suspiciously.
“Because I like starting with desert,” Mary said laughing.
She’d noticed, Elena thought darkly. This was probably Mary matchmaking. And there wasn’t a thing she could do to stop it, she thought. She brightened momentarily. “Maybe Brad won’t show up.”
“He called this morning to make sure it was still on,” Mary said brightly. “Come on. This is going to be fun.”
She didn’t have the heart to rain on Mary’s parade.
She might not agree with her methods or her opinions concerning Brad but she had a good heart and Elena considered herself lucky to have her as a friend. She’d just have to put aside her personal feelings where Brad was concerned. It wasn’t like she didn’t have any practise at it.
He came in better looking than he had a right to, she thought resentfully. “It smells wonderful.”
“Tastes even better,” Mary said cheerfully. “Have a seat. You too Elena.”
“I’m helping you,” Elena said hastily.
“By being a taster,” Mary said firmly.
Elena sat. “Thanks for coming,” she said faintly.
He grinned. “I can think of worse assignments if the brownie I tasted the other day is any example.”
“We’re starting with the brownie. But I’m also serving three ices with it,” Mary said cheerfully.”
“Ices?”
“Frozen like ice-cream but much lighter.”She came out with the brownie on one plate with three small ices for each of them. “Let’s see. That’s raspberry, watermelon and margarita.”
“I don’t want anything alcoholic,” Elena said quickly.
“It’s got the taste,” Mary said quickly. “There’s no actual booze in it.”
“That should be OK then,” Elena said.
“Aren’t you having any?” Brad asked.
“Nope. I’ll be in the kitchen preparing the next tasting. Bon Appetite,” Mary said brightly exiting the room.
Brad smiled at her. “If I didn’t know better I’d say that was a set-up.”
Elena felt her face flush. “Don’t look at me,” she warned. “I had nothing to do with it.”
The look in his eyes wasn’t making her feel any better. “It’s just business,” he said innocently, taking a bite of the brownie and ice. “Umm,” he groaned appreciatively. “That woman can cook.”
Elena just glowered at him.
“This is what you wanted isn’t it? I mean, you did ASK me here didn’t you?” he said.
“Of course I did,” she snapped furious. “Do you have to enjoy it so much?”
“Enjoy what?” he teased as Mary entered the room.
“You like it,” she said beaming.
“How could I not?” he said smiling. “You’re an amazing cook.”
“I’ll help you in the kitchen,” Elena said.
“Not so fast,” Mary said, putting out a hand to stop her. “There’s more to taste. And I’ve got detailed questionnaires for you to fill out.”
“Questionnaires?” Elena said groaning.
“I need input on all the menu items. More than just ‘it tastes good’, Mary said sternly. “This isn’t just a chance for free food, you know. I need good input.”
“Of course,” Elena said weakly.
“And I’ve got more food for you to taste.” She headed off to the kitchen returning shortly with a three page questionnaire. “You can get started on this while I get the next group of foods together for tasting.”
“I don’t have anything else planned,” Brad said sweetly.
He looked like a Cheshire cat Elena thought resentfully. Kenny G came on in the background.
“Thoughtful of Mary to put on mood music,” Brad commented.
“It’s not going to do any good,” she retorted. “I’ve already told you all I want is a working relationship.”
“I don’t have a problem with that,” Brad said cheerfully. “It seems you do.”
“I don’t,” she said angrily.
“Good, let’s go over the questionnaire shall we?”
She could see the gleam in his eye. He was enjoying every minute of this she thought fuming. And there was nothing she could do to stop it.
“Fine,” she said primly. “Let’s start with the brownie. Is it too sweet or too tart?”
“I’d say it’s just about perfect,” he said looking her in the eyes, “with a good mouth feel.”
“What?” she said almost choking.
“Mouth feel,” he said innocently. “It’s nice and chewy with just the right amount of texture.”
“Of course,” she said faintly. This was no good. She was never going to make it through the whole menu like this. “Let’s go over the ices,” she said firmly.
“Smooth,” he said, his voice like butter. “Melts in your mouth.”
She could feel butterflies in her stomache. “You’re distracting me,” she whispered angrily.
“But I’m not doing anything,” he said.
She wanted to stamp on his foot. Or stick out her tongue. He brought out the worst in her without even trying. “We agreed,” she said heatedly.
“To what?”
“Not to let personal feelings get in the way of the job at hand.”
“I’m not,” he said pointedly. “And actually you’re the one who said that.”
“But …” she felt her breath catch in her throat. “I can’t do this. I can’t,” she said angrily.
“Can’t what?” he pressed her.
“You know,” she said angrily.
“I think you’re using your dad as an excuse.”
“What?”
“You heard me,” he said, taking a bite of brownie.
“What difference does it make?” she asked heatedly.
“What if I’m not working for him anymore?”
She felt herself choke on a sip of lemonade. “That’s your dream job.”
“I just said what if.”
“What if – you do, end of story.”
“I think you’re afraid of losing control.”
“Control of what?” she gasped.
“Your emotions,” he said looking at her straight on.
“You’re impossible,” she said. “What gives you the right?”
He leaned forward cupping her face in his, bringing her lips up to his. She could feel her heart beginning to explode. His lips explored hers firmly, yet gently.
Her lips opened. His tongue gently touched hers, tentatively, exploring, dancing. A small moan escaped from her lips.
Dimly she was aware of Mary standing above them. “I’ll take some of that,” she was saying lightly.
They broke apart slowly. Brad grinned at Mary. “Sorry, it’s not on the menu.” He glanced at his watch. “I’m sorry. I’m going to have to reschedule. Another time. OK.”
The kiss left her shaken and trembling. What did he mean by that? Was it just her dad? Of course it was! That and business. She’d made it clear from the beginning that that was all she was interested in. At least until Elena’s was up and running. And then?
It didn’t matter. He did work for her dad. In his dream job. End of story.
She looked up to see Mary watching and blushed to the tip of her toes. “I’m sorry Mary. I’m afraid we messed up the tasting.”
“I don’t know. Looked pretty good to me,” Mary said pulling up a chair and a cup of coffee.
“Mary!”
“Don’t Oh Mary me! I’ve been in love too you know.”
“I’m not in love,” she said alarmed.
“Mm-hmm.”
“It’s not love,” she insisted. “It’s, it’s – I don’t know! He’s being impossible.”
“Uh-huh. In the meantime, what about the menu?”
“Oh Mary, everything you’ve done is wonderful. I trust you.”
“Meaning you’re on your own girl.”
“That’s not it at all. I never meant
this to happen.” She gave Mary a rueful smile. “We could try for another time.”
“I don’t think so,” Mary said, rolling her eyes. “Just don’t get upset with me if there’s a lumberman’s special on the menu.”
“A – what?”
“You heard me.”
“I’ll take my chances,” Elena said.
“So what are you going to do about Brad?”
“He knows it’s just business.”
“I think he’s changing the rules,” Mary said laughing.
“Well, he can’t,” Elena said firmly. “At least not until Elena’s is up and running.”
“Have you talked to Grant lately?”
“What’s that got to do with anything?”
“In case you haven’t noticed you’re not that far from opening.”
“July,” Elena said. “Wait a minute. It’s June 10th now,” she said wonderingly. “I think I’ll go talk to Brad and see how construction’s going. Two weeks. I’ve got a million things to do.”
“Go ahead. I’ll be back here cleaning up.”
“You don’t have to do that. I’ll be back in half an hour.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve got some free time anyway,” Mary said wryly.
Elena gave Grant a quick call. “Hi Grant, I’m just on my way over to see how it’s going. Can I bring some coffee? Brownies? These are honestly the best brownies you’ve ever tasted!”
“I’ll take your word on that. This isn’t the best time.”
“Oh – why not?”
“Just had a pipe burst. No biggie. I’ll call you later.”
“Oh, but we’re on track time-wise?”
“Pretty much. Look, I’ve got to go, he said disconnecting.
“Looks like I’m free to help clean up anyway,” she said to Mary wondering what kind of pipe disaster they were having over at Elena’s.
“I can handle this on my own,” Mary said firmly. “You need to take a look at your time-line and see where you are. With and without Brad,” she said meaningfully.
She ignored the Brad part. She still needed a full-time manager. And a web page. And … “you’re sure you don’t want to be the manager?”
Mary shook her head firmly. “It’d just be on an interim basis until you got up and running. And you’ve got the financing now. You might as well hire someone from the start. Have you talked to Brad about setting up interviews yet?”
“I’d better. In fact I’d better start organizing an opening if we’re going to be up and running in two weeks. How are we going to cook all this stuff without a full kitchen?”
“I’ve talked to Grant about that already,” Mary said easily. “You’ll have a stripped down kitchen. But you’re right. Most of it will have to done off premises. I’ve already talked to a baker in town and he’s willing to do it for you. If that works?”
“It’s perfect,” Elena said enthusiastically.
“You can do the wraps up in advance and salads. Same thing with the breakfast burritos and sandwiches. Then you just nuke them.”
“What about the fruit kebabs,” Elena said doubtfully.
“That’s where it gets good,” Mary said excitedly. “You can set it up the same way you do a yogurt or ice-cream bar in the mall with an assortment of fruits for customers to make their own.”
“Sounds like fun,” Elena said.
“And I’ve got a state of the art ice-maker ordered through Grant. You’ll have it set up at the counter and the people will be able to get the ices of the day on demand. It’s beautiful.”
“You’ve put a lot of thought into this,” Elena exclaimed touched.
“You’re my friend,” Mary said simply. “I want this to work for you.”
“It’s coming together, isn’t it,” Elena said.
Mary nodded.
And somewhere in all of this was Brad. She touched her lips remembering. Just thinking about him made her heart speed up.
She was not going to be distracted from the business she thought firmly. Her heart skipped another beat realizing just how little time there was until Elena’s was up and running. And then what? She’d worry about that later, she told herself.
In the meantime she was left to wonder just what was going on at Elena’s. Grant said it was no biggie but he certainly wasn’t calling back in a hurry. It always seemed as if something was happening when she talked to Grant. But he never seemed to think it was too serious. If a bomb dropped on him he’d probably pick himself up, dust himself off and say he was going to be busy for a little but they were still on track.
“I wonder if Grant can have it done by Canada Day, July 1st?”
“Ask him,” Mary said.
After he’d solved the pipe emergency. In the meantime she needed to arrange interviews for the manager. Which meant she couldn’t avoid Brad. But she also couldn’t stop thinking about what he said, how good it felt to kiss him.
It was there while they set up the interviews. “So we’ve got two people from Malaspina and one person with, WOW! She’s got tons of experience! She was a barista at Starbucks for three years and then managed a family style restaurant.”
“She’s got a track record but sometimes that’s a drawback if you don’t agree on how things should be run.”
“So you think hiring someone with experience is a mistake?”
“I didn’t say that. I said don’t decide until you’ve met the person.”
“You think it can work with someone who has no experience?”
“The Malaspina grads have good training. And everyone starts somewhere.”
“Who would you hire,” she said.
“Uh-uh,” he said shaking his head. “That’s something you’ve got to decide for yourself. And a lot of it depends on the interview.”
“OK, I’ve written down some questions. Have you got any?”
“If I’ve got any questions I’ll ask them,” he said easily. He looked over her list. “You might want to scale these back a bit. It’s going to take all day for each interview.”
“I just don’t want to miss anything.”
“Definitely not going to do that,” he said and she could see a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “But we probably don’t need to know where they were born.”
“I just thought for an ice-breaker,” she said.
“I find hello works well.”
She wanted to punch him. “OK, point taken. The first one’s going to be here in ten minutes. I’m just going to get ready.”
“I’ll be here waiting,” he said grinning lazily and she felt her heart skip a beat. He acted as if this was something he did everyday. And she was painfully aware he had a lot more experience than she did. In business. And… She was getting hot just thinking about it. Concentrate, she told herself. This was the first time she’d given an interview instead of being on the other side. She looked in the mirror.
The woman who stared back at her looked self-confident. So why didn’t she feel the same way? She ran a quick comb through her hair, sprayed Listerine in her mouth and ran a hand over her dress smoothing out unseen wrinkles.
Ready or not her first interview would be arriving momentarily. She gave Brad a copy of the resume and looked over it closely herself. She wished they could have held the interviews in Elena’s. But it was a construction zone at present. Instead they were holding them in Mary’s kitchen.
Randy O’Neil, 23, freshly graduated from hotel management with five years experience in the food industry was the first. She came through the door and Elena liked her instantly. She had a friendly smile and a good attitude.
“Have you ever supervised staff before?” Brad asked
“In our training program,” Randi said. “We have to run the kitchen for a week and we have to run the front of the house the next week alternating for the last three months of the program.”
“And how did that go?”
“It went well.”
“Still you were managing fellow stud
ents. It’s not quite the same as managing strangers off the street is it?”
“Well, no but …”
“Have you any experience ordering?”
“Through the college.”
“I see.”
Elena was pretty sure of what he saw and called him on it once Randi left. “I thought you said experience doesn’t matter.”
“I said it wasn’t the only thing that matters. But it’s part of the whole package. We’re trying to find the best fit overall.”
That made sense she agreed. By the time they’d finished interviewing though Elena had lost track of who was who.
She still liked Randi but Katherine had way more experience. Tara had experience in managing a coffee shop and Lynne had never worked a day in her life but she’d owned three restaurants and knew what it took. She just looked at Brad. “How am I ever going to make a decision?”
He just laughed. “Who didn’t you like?”
“For what reason?”
“Any reason.”
“Oh.” She thought about it for a minute. “Katherine, Lynne and I don’t think Tara would work.”
“OK, they’re gone.”
“But Katherine’s got a ton of experience.”
“You don’t feel comfortable with her. You need a manager you can work with.”
That left Randi, Carol and Sandi.
“Call them back for a separate interview each. What is it you liked about each what were the drawbacks?”
“OK, Randi. I love her. She’s so enthusiastic. But she’s never managed anything outside the college.”
“You might want to talk to the program head. I doubt he’s going to say anything bad though when he hand-picked her in the first place.”
“Really? That says something right there.”
He smiled at her and she felt her heart speed up. “You’re catching on.”
“Carol came from Jobs.com”
“So she’s internet savvy.”
“Along with half the known universe. She’s got one year running a Serious Coffee and two years working as a barista. Along with a degree from Emily Carr for art. That’s impressive.”
“How’d you feel about her as a person?”
“I don’t know. I barely remember her. She’s got dark hair I think.”
“And Sandi?”
“Wild card. She’s got a really strong arts background and seems to have worked in the restaurant industry on and off since she was sixteen. She opened her own coffee bar a few years ago but now she wants to work for someone else.”
