by Kerry Leigh
"Now, we prepare elite chefs on both sides of the Atlantic. So, I want to ensure all potential students know we have heavy expectations. The course is an absolute meat grinder. And come hell or high water you must produce results. No matter what."
“I can handle it." My head swam with excitement.
Gosh I sound like a little schoolgirl. This course wasn’t for me. I wasn’t a good student. I shouldn’t have even applied.
Something in my gut told me to fight on and give it my all, but the more I thought it was like my mind wanted me to fail. My heart belonged in Brooklyn with Kaitlin, and there was Sharon’s. The day I receive a recommendation to work in the back would come. Eventually.
“Listen, Mrs Cline, I didn’t have a lot of experience working during college - but I do work my ass off on a daily basis. Honestly, I wouldn’t have applied if I didn’t know I could learn and become a great chef.”
Joy settled in Amara’s eyes. “So, I see. I will take another look at your folder. There's some radical, interesting stuff here.”
I looked at the window to the side, and saw that the sun had dimmed a bit, then turned my face toward Amara. "OK.”
****
Amara flipped through the catalogue, settled on a page and flipped it around so I could look at it. “Okay, then what changes would you make to improve this semifreddo?”
I looked over the I didn’t need to blink, a stream of memories floated through my mind.
“I hadn’t thought about it much. But lemon curd would create a lighter, fluffy texture. A funny discovery happened to me. After running out of butter one evening, I replaced a portion of the butter with olive oil. It strengthened the lemon’s freshness and aroma. As an autumn dessert it is delicious.”
Amara's sparkled and she brought her hands together. “Sounds like an intriguing idea. "
“I’m interested in lots of cooking. In fact, I got the idea when I flicked through news channels on one of my off-days. I caught a traditional Japanese cooking contest by accident. And I tried it out on some venison I didn't know what to do with."
The truth was that cooking to me was a road of endless self-improvement. No matter how secure you are in your skills and recipes you can try endless variations. And that’s what I found so fun growing up as a kid watching my mom bake for us kids. It was so exciting to see how the food turned out and I forgot that in college. But now, I’m here and I knew what I want to do with my life.
"Remarkable.”
Remarkable as in good, or remarkable as in bad.
“I am full of ideas. “I told her. “Because I’m the right student for this course.”
As I hoped to appear more headstrong than I felt, a slight chill ran through me. I continued.
“I have faced challenges in the kitchen. Every chef goes through hard, brutal struggles but we're stronger for it. It's like a crucible.” I don’t know if I believed it, but I suspected she wanted me to say something like that.
Honestly, there was times cooking scared me but I always returned to kitchen. Still, I would have loved to complain about my boss to Amara - and my shitty situation but the problem was simple. It’s almost taboo to complain about your job to your future employer or the person that has power over your future. Why wouldn’t you complain about them in the future?
No, Amara didn’t need to hear my complaints about work life, or my inability to make headway into the kitchen.
“The chefs we train will need a powerful resolve,” she ended her statement.
The stern tone but warm eyes she favored left me baffled. Did she still want me to fight for a place? My body felt light as a feather, honestly it felt like if a breeze could knock me over.
“If you can count on me for one thing, Amara, it’s the fact that I will never give up. If it takes someone three tries to make a perfect Entremet. Even if it takes me ten I won't stop until I'm happy.”
That earned me a light, approving chuckle.
“Tell me, what do you do free time Jess?”
What the hell, she couldn’t have started with the easy questions first.
The question made my mind do a back flip. After all the hard, soul searching questions designed to trip me up... well whatever, I tried to remain calm. She totally tried looking for ways to disqualify me, but I will pass this test.
Thousands of random thoughts streamed through my mind as I tried to think of how they would come across. However, with a heavy sigh I told her everything.
Besides, if a little white lie had consequences... I didn’t ‘want to know the consequences today.
“I watch a lot of movies and TV. Boring right?”
That’s it. I’m done. I’ve had it. I’m just going to sit here and see what happens. To my mild shock, Mrs Cline didn’t look at all disappointed.
“A movie buff huh."
“Not really. Watching other people go through drama is calming.”
Amara’s eyebrows creased and she gave a small smirk. I couldn’t make out whether she was agreeing with me or shocked at me. Had I blown the interview of my life?
At this moment my hatred of jogging doomed me.
“What’s your favorite movie?” She asked.
“Whatever Leonardo DiCaprio is in, I suppose. The Wolf of Wall Street. He can be really intense.”
“Leo is a pretentious little prick.”
“And to think he speaks so highly of you.”
Mortified at my frankness I apologized. “I’m so sorry. I-”
“It’s perfectly fine, Ms Cline. Only a little stress test. The ideal student has a touch of pride and must motivate themselves.”
“So that means I’m accepted?”
Amara leaned forward and pressed her lips into a fine line. “We have more candidates coming over. I mean we set ourselves up on an entire floor to find exceptional people. Once I've processed all the paper work, I will let you know.”
I sighed in exhaustion, the interview ended, and we’d barely talked about the course.
Ugh, shoot me now.
“Thank you for your time Ms. Anders.”
“It was a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Cline.”
I stepped out of the room and smiled brightly at her. “I hope we can get in touch.”
Shoulders tense, I brushed my body out of the door frame, as my face felt like it was reddening - I prayed he didn’t see it. I had hoped, and even believed I could stand a chance but the dread surrounds my stomach weighed me down.
3
LOGAN
As the elevator stopped at my apartment building's lobby floor, the soothing lift music felt like a battering ram against my ears.
The summer air felt warm against my skin as I waved my hand to my neighbors, a married couple that didn’t quite know what to make of me. I reckoned the husband had been fascinated by my nightly exploits. His wife - not so much.
I texted my best friend, Alex, to meet me at my Arthur’s on fifth street. I needed some calories in me, plus an explanation about last night wouldn’t hurt.
I greeted him and we sat down at a table. “Alex, I need your help, dude. I’m completely fucked.”
A flush spread up Alex's face, and he focused his gaze on my face.
Since I hired him as my operations manager, we had been friends for the past five or six years. At first, he was stiff and prone to grumbling. But, his kind heartedness, and straight forward attitude made him sparkle in any situation that needed his attention. Alex had only been a couple years out of college but I found a way to loosen him up: parties, women and alcohol.
Alex scratched the back of his head and looked around the room until his eyes finally settled on me.
“Okay, what’s up. What happened now?”
“Do you remember anything about last night? Specifically seeing me after 2 AM?”
Alex’s pale blue eyes shone as he nibbled bled his lower lip, wracking through his memories. He gave an exasperated sigh and shrugged his shoulders.
“Nope. Sorry, after that last sh
ot I was pretty out of it. I remember you leaving though, a crazy hot blond wrapped in your arms.”
“Right that fits into my time line. But it's not enough.”
I was something of a party boy sure, but I have never been out of control. I had a reputation to preserve. Having my exploits splashed over the newspapers, was the last thing on my mind.
Alex tutted, “I told you to lay off the tequila. It’s not a good match for you. Hell, you remember what I’m like when I drink whiskey.”
“My relationship with tequila is over.” I said and brought my phone out my pocket. And slid it over the table onto Alex’s side. “I hope I'm not going to hell for this.”
Holding the phone, Alex frowned with attention and he went over the damned email.
“Your dad is coming to New York? So, what's with that frown, sunshine?”
I gritted my teeth. “He’s coming because he wants to celebrate my engagement.”
Alex's mouth made an O in surprise, and then he whistled. “Fuck me… looks like you've been leading two lives all this time.”
I turned my irritated face and laced my hands together on my desk.
“What?" Obviously, I'm not getting married.” I tapped on the table and took back my phone
“It’s alright, all you need to know is I need your help. I've got to pull off my greatest trick.”
He rubbed his forehead in growing confusion. “Pull what off?”
“I need to scheme and fool my dad into believing I’ve got a fiancée I’ve been hiding all this time.”
Alex shrugged his shoulders. “Logan, you're my friend. But I don't want to get into this shit between you and your parents. What if your dad puts in a call and I'm stuck on the no-fly list or something?”
“Relax that would never happen... probably.” I smirked. “I swear nothing bad will happen, it probably won’t get back to you. This is all on me I know it I just need to fix it before it blows all over.”
Alex exasperated, “Lots of guys have sent a drunk text to our parents and lovers. Hell, a drunk text is practically a rite of passage.” His polite tone had a soothing touch, yet he didn’t know how these circles worked.
I almost laughed tell him the truth you say.
“Oh, hi Dad, yeah it’s me your only living son and heir. Listen sorry about that email last night. I was fucked up on a lot of alcohol and decided to hustle you out of your real estate empire. Embarrassing right? Great." I gave Alex a sarcastic thumbs up.
"I’ll get back to running my side of the business. Give mother my love and I may see you at Thanksgiving.”
Alex gave me a withering look as he watched my melodramatic freak out.
“You get real fucking creative when you’re nervous has no one ever told you that.”
"Alex this is serious."
My phone starting buzzing loudly in my hand and I suddenly jumped. My body a frozen statue of horror and my face blanched when the caller id displayed in big bold words: Dad.
Shit do I answer it?
Bruce lifted an uncertain eyebrow.
How the hell should I know but don’t answer if you don’t have a plan…
However, my fingers had already unlocked my home screen automatically to accept the call. But this time, it was already too late so I made some preparations and summoned a dour, commanding voice, the one I used to command attention at work.
The best I could summon through this terrible hangover. “Hello, this is Logan Clayton.”
Dad’s voice boomed through the phone, nearly overwhelmed by the sound of - was that helicopter blades? He was probably at the top of his penthouse tower, waiting for a helicopter ride to the airport all to take a look at my fiancée.
“Hello Son, did you get my message?”
My eyes lidded over and I rubbed my scalp, "Yes hi Dad I received your message."
"Then why didn't you reply in sufficient time?"
" Between running a business and... taking care of my loved ones. I was figuring out my reply when you rang."
“Very well. Your mother will attend on a function on Thursday. Which means I will be there to support her. And we get on the first flight available Friday evening. Sorry kid, but it’s the earliest we could manage. It's not an inconvenience for you" he said. His forward tone had a trace of suspicion laced in.
“No, it sounds like you've got everything in order Dad.” I turned my back toward Alex and found him staring at me as if he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
“To be honest I can’t believe you’ve got time to care about something like this. I know you run Clayton Holdings like a well-oiled machine but you don't need to do this now. we could come in the holidays. And you can get to know your future daughter in law.”
It was the longest of shots but for this moment I wished lady luck was on my side.
“What good am I as a father in law if I don’t see my new daughter. This isn't some conjugal visit Logan. This is what families do. This is the expectations of a family man. We make things work. No matter the cost. So, I will discuss the future of our family and the business in person.” He declared.
I ran my hand through my hair and scrunched up my mouth. "Sure thing."
“Your mother would go absolutely livid if we had to wait before the wedding preparations to meet this new fiancée.” Brent said, raising his voice over the helicopter. "Apart from a couple meetings I will take advantage of, you’ve got my full attention time for the rest of our visit."
Alex tried to urge me on, pleading with me as he mouthed: do it now tell him the truth, get it out there - or else.
I waved my hand at him a couple times, shooing him away. "That’s a great plan dad. I’ll arrange things with the staff at the mansion and prepare for your arrival."
“No, you’ve got a lot of work to do. I’ll just call Deacons and he’ll sort it out. This is something like a holiday for you as well as for us. I’ll tell the manager at the New York branch that your responsibilities are relieved until this trip is over.”
I felt like my mind was doing a back flip. As far as I was concerned the more people who knew the reason Brent Clayton was traveling to New York the harder it would be to maintain the con. I suppose the stuff liked me, even respected me but I can’t lie to myself, there are loathsome creatures who would some would love to put their foot on my neck.
“Dad, my staff will never be under the illusion I make my decisions on a whim.”
“It's not a whim, it's a goddamn family vacation.”
“You aren’t here for the day to day operations, are you? The staff would think I’m a joke. Having my dear old dad come in and take me under his wing. All so I can hang out and enjoy myself while they're direction less? No. I won't abide it.”
My dad didn’t have a strong sense of humor, nor did I really see him passionate about anything unless it was my mom, golf or his bottom line.
“Yes, that’s a good point son - you know your people well.”
“I’ve trained most of them and they believe in me. So, I'll never let them down.”
“Then have it. Your mother is overcome with joy. She hopes to spend a lot of time with her daughter in law. She's not a big fan of the hustle and bustle of New York. And she'll be gutted if you’re solving problems on your phone while everyone is catching up.”
"Now, don't you think that's a bit rich coming from you?" I inquired.
"When I say I'm done, I'll be ready to hang it all up and retire. But until that day comes - well, we are animals of habit.
“I’ll see you on Saturday morning.”
“Oh, and Logan what’s your fiancée like? what do you love about her. What’s her name…” before my mind started screaming the battery putted out of life and the call cut off.
I leaned back in my seat and smiled.
“Well that was a gimme if I ever saw one.” Alex said.
4
JESS
When I opened the door to my small apartment, Kaitlin shocked me as she gave me a tender smile an
d put glass of red wine into my free hand.
I guess having a roommate that brings you wine after work wasn’t a bad idea. Not at all.
“Wine for your thoughts?" She said, looking me up and done, questions on her mind.
