Beautifully Decadent (Beautifully Damaged Book 3) (17 page)

Arriving an hour early for my first day of work, I felt like a little kid on Christmas morning. I had set my alarm for six, but I was up at four—excitement and nerves keeping me from sleep. I showered and dressed and still I had time to kill so I baked some cupcakes and left them for Rafe when I collected Loki for our walk. I balanced my checkbook and even re-arranged the furniture in the living room before I finally headed off to work. Setting up my tools, I reminded myself of an operating room nurse, organizing the instruments in the exact manner the doctor preferred. After my workstation was set up, I checked the refrigerator and pantry three times to ensure all the ingredients for the night’s offerings had been purchased. Chef arrived shortly after me, a knowing grin on his face when he stepped into the kitchen.

“Couldn’t sleep?”

“No.”

“First days are both exciting and terrifying. You’ve got this, Avery. Tina and Lee are our new interns who I’ve assigned to you. Both have impressive resumes and strong recommendations. I’ll let them introduce themselves. The ovens run a little cool, which I believe you picked up on during your interview, so plan accordingly. Good luck. I look forward to tasting your creations.”

“Thank you.” But Francois had already started back to the other side of the kitchen. Tina and Lee arrived shortly after Chef, both looked to be fresh out of college, eager and ready. Tina had a shock of red hair, freckles and big hazel eyes. Lee had dark mocha skin but the palest blue eyes. I didn’t know what he had in his gene pool, but he had definitely gotten all the best ones.

“Why don’t we start off with you sharing a little about yourselves?”

Tina answered first, not surprising since she definitely was the hare to Lee’s tortoise. “I’m Tina. I just graduated from NYU with a degree in Culinary Arts, my focus pastries. I’m so excited to be working with you.”

Tina was practically bouncing off the walls; her enthusiasm was awesome if not a bit exhausting. Her hair was pulled back in a bun, smart, but with how her head bobbled on her neck, I was surprised it stayed in place. Her hands were in front of her, her fingers twisting around each other, an indication that her bubbly personality stemmed, in some part, from nerves.

“Have you ever worked in a professional kitchen, Tina?”

“No.”

“Me either.”

Her mouth opened to respond but nothing came out. It took her a minute before she said, “Really? This is your first time too?”

“Yep. We’ll learn together.”

“Cool.”

“In your studies is there anything in particular you really enjoyed, or would like to learn more about?”

“Tempering chocolate, I haven’t quite gotten the hang of it.”

“We can work on that. And you, Lee?”

“I studied at C.I.A., like you. I like bold flavors, the contrast of spicy and sweet. I haven’t gotten the handle on preparing phyllo dough.”

“That’s tricky, phyllo, most don’t bother with making it and have reliable vendors. Here we’ll be making it. I’ve a few tips. So for tonight, to complement Chef’s offerings, we’re making a pear/almond cheesecake, tart cherry torte with hazelnut brittle and a vanilla bean cake with a mango/kumquat filling and a whipped cream icing. I have the recipes here. Each of us will take one. I’m going to watch your technique to make sure we get the desired end product. Select the dessert you want, here’s the ingredients list for each. Once we’ve perfected the process, we’ll get started on producing them in bulk. Sound good?”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s get started and guys, first day jitters aside, let’s have fun.”

“You got it.” Lee said, Tina agreed by bobbing her head and then they were gone, darting off to the pantry.

Unlike in a home kitchen, everything was on the large side, the mixer, the bags of flour and sugar. The butter came in sixty-eight-pound blocks. For baking, it was imperative to get the measurements correct. Tina, Lee and I measured and brought to room temperature our ingredients and then the fun part started. Both were very hard working, the ease in which they worked the recipes had most of my nervous energy fading. The test desserts turned out perfectly and that’s when the real work started. Instead of making one cake, we made trays of cakes that baked in the walk-in ovens, layered countless cakes with vats of mango/kumquat filling, baked up mounds of hazelnut brittle, and plated countless desserts being careful that regardless of who plated the dish, all looked uniform. What I found the hardest, something you aren’t prepared for until you’re in the middle of it, the turnaround, even for desserts, was like getting whiplash. And standing for nine hours was hard as hell on the back. And still I loved every second.

Kyle appeared in the middle of shift, carrying a tray with four glasses of champagne. After handing one to each of us, he lifted his. “To your first day.”

Tina giggled and it didn’t take a genius to know that Kyle was the reason for it. Lee drank the champagne in one long swallow, before getting back to work.

“Thanks, Kyle.” Taking a sip, I nearly moaned in pleasure. “The good stuff.”

“Cristal.”

I almost dropped the glass. “Cristal? Would it be unseemly for me to lick the glass?”

“There’s more out front. I’ll bring it back.”

“Are you going to get in trouble? That’s an expensive bottle.”

“Trace was the one who suggested I bring you some libation and in what form.”

Happiness settled over me with that insight. “I really like Trace.”

Kyle laughed and turned to leave. “I’ll bring the bottle back.”

“And I’ll be sure to drink it.”

“Good girl.” He stopped at the door. “Seriously, from what I’ve been hearing, you killed it tonight. Congrats.”

Trying to adequately express what Kyle’s words meant to me just wasn’t happening and so instead I settled for a heartfelt, “Thank you.”

The night was settling down, Tina and Lee looked like I felt, exhausted but proud of the work we’d done. “How are you both feeling?”

“Happily tired.” That came from Tina.

“Hungry,” Lee responded.

“In a few weeks, we’ll start staff meetings. Ideas are encouraged though I will be testing all suggestions, tweaking etc. Great job tonight. I think considering it’s the first time we’ve worked together, we did an outstanding job.”

“Agreed. If there are leftovers, I want to try that cheesecake.” Lee really wasn’t kidding about being hungry.

“You’ll get some, I worked in a ten percent surplus when I planned out the quantities for the raw ingredients.”

“Sweet.”

Toward the end of the evening, Trace appeared. I knew he was in the dining area, thanks to his generous gift, but I didn’t know if he was dining or mingling with the guests. Even dressed in an elegant suit, there was no denying the hard edge of the man.

“How was your first day?”

“I’m going to need better shoes, but it was...I really don’t have words. And thank you.” I gestured to the bottle of Cristal that I kicked. “That was delicious.”

“You earned it. I had the cherry torte. Ember had the vanilla cake. Now
they
were delicious.”

He was here to eat; he didn’t seem the type to mingle with guests.

Gesturing across the counter I said, “I couldn’t have done it without Tina and Lee.”

“Nice work.” Trace said to my interns; Tina thanked Trace profusely while Lee nodded his head and replied with a quiet thank you.

And then Trace’s attention was back on me. “There’s a staff meeting on Friday at ten am.”

“I’ll be there.”

“How are you getting home?”

“My car is out back.”

“Good. See you tomorrow.”

Trace stopped to say a few words to Chef before disappearing through the swing door. Chef turned, his eyes found mine. “Nice work tonight.”

Chef Moree just complimented my work, incredible. “Thank you.”

After shift, I stepped out back and took a moment to enjoy the cool night air on my overheated skin, so I didn’t immediately see Rafe. And when he did come into focus, I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He was dressed in a beautiful black suit, the pale green shirt opened at the collar, his hair back in a ponytail. He was exquisite and he was leaning against my dirty car.

“You’re going to get dirty.”

In reply, his brow arched.

And then my brain caught up and my heart squeezed because Rafe had dined at Clover for my first night.

“The cheesecake was incredible.”

“You came for my first night?”

His smile was his only answer and in that moment he claimed a little piece of my heart.

“So tell me all about your first day?” Mom asked as I lay in bed the following morning. It had been a fabulous first day, made even more so seeing Rafe waiting for me. He had never mentioned that he was coming which made the gesture so much sweeter. Especially since no one in my family could make it, I hadn’t anyone to share the momentous occasion with until I stepped out that door and saw Rafe. Sure I’d been engaging in harmless lusting after my landlord, but after last night I could admit my feelings went a bit deeper. I wanted to share Rafe’s gesture with Mom, but her good-natured meddling would start and I wasn’t prepared to deal with that just yet.

“It was incredible. I have a team dedicated to me; they’re quick studies. It didn’t take long at all before we found a rhythm. The oven, you walk into it. Oh, and Trace and Francois both loved the desserts.”

“A success, I’m not surprised.”

“I’ve already met Chef Moree’s sous chef, Terry, and we discussed the upcoming week’s menu in detail so I can prepare desserts that will complement Chef’s offerings. Each night I supply the list to the runners who are responsible for supplying the raw ingredients. I think I’ll join them occasionally because I really want to check out the markets, but it’s getting up at four to get there by five so we can get to the market when it opens at 5:30am that will keep my visits to just occasional.”

“That is early, but I imagine it’s wonderful. All the scents and sights.”

“So where are you now, Virginia Beach?”

“Just left, we’re on our way to the Outer Banks.”

“What’s it like just the two of you in that large tin can?”

“You know I wasn’t really thrilled with the idea of the RV, but I have got to tell you Avery, I adore being cooped up with Harold. It’s a testament to our relationship that we don’t grate on the other’s nerves. I really did score the second time around.”

“You sure did. Speaking of second time around, I saw Dolly in town last week.”

“Trollop.”

“Mom!”

“She is and you know she is. She cut your father’s hair for Christ’s sake and now he’s married to her, living above his means and talking about starting another—”

“Another what? He wants kids with the wicked stepmom?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to blurt it out like that.”

I couldn’t lie, that news hurt. “How do you know?”

“Your father called me. I talk more to the man now that I’m no longer married to him. He wanted to know what I thought. Can you believe it? He’s asking me advice on family planning. Honestly, I don’t see Dolly lasting. She’ll grow tired of your father and move on to a younger, richer man. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that though. I did mention that he should discuss it with you and Nat. That suggestion completely took him by surprise.”

“Of course it did. I think he forgets he has kids.”

“He loves you both, he’s just very self-absorbed, which is not a good trait for a parent. Did you speak with Dolly?”

The idea that my dad was looking to have another kid when he sucked the first time around had hurt morphing into bitterness. As if he’d be a better father now. Moving on from that subject, since I could definitely wallow, I said, “It was a typical Dolly conversation, twenty questions and disbelief in the answers.”

“I don’t understand why she acts so high and mighty when she knows we know where she comes from.”

“Social climbers forget their roots, or so I’ve been told.”

“Are you okay about your father’s family planning?”

“It’s a shock and not a good one, but Dolly’s young so the idea that she might want a family has occurred to me. Hearing he’s actually thinking about it though, that hurts.”

“I’m so sorry, Avery.”