Chef Showdown_A Romance by MJ Post

Author:MJ Post [Post, MJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-06-21T16:00:00+00:00

About ten-thirty, Toby joined Nina, Derrick, and the cameraman in the town car for the return trip to the studio. They stopped off in Kitchen One and found it dark and quiet except for a custodial engineer scrubbing Maryann’s cooking station.

The outcome had already come to Madame Queen by text-message: Vegas had beaten Maryann in a battle with edible crickets, his tacos over her stir-fry.

Stuffed, tired, and increasingly drunk from four beers and six shots of bourbon, Toby took the elevator to the dorm. He felt like seeing Kacie and trying to straighten things out, or like just seeing her on any terms whatsoever, but he realized he might not talk smartly with so much beer in him.

When he got to the common-room, Eloise was sitting on the sofa, dressed in sweats, her hair down, with a cup of tea and a notebook. He walked around the sofas toward the dorms.

“Not talking to me?” Eloise asked.

Toby stopped, turned to face her. “About what? I had a frank professional conversation with you, and you used that to be a shit-stirrer.”

“Toby, I’m looking out for both of us. Give me a little credit here. Everyone on the show has some future in culinary, but I think you and I have the best future. We can rise together, if you trust me to plan a good strategy. I know you said no, but think about it again.”

“And what the fuck strategy was it to go around telling people I said you’re good-looking? So what? It’s TV, lots of people are. You made me look like a teenager, Eloise. I’m a grown-up. I…”

“You don’t even know what I said,” Eloise answered. “So step off a moment. What were you told, and who told you? Was it the Korean girl? Poor thing, she’s out of her mind with stress. She had such a frowny face, she was like a circus clown with a frown painted on. I didn’t misquote you, Toby.”

“Eloise, this isn’t high school. I don’t…”

“I know it isn’t. That’s why…”

“Let me finish. I’m not in high school, and I’m not going crazy over the head cheerleader anymore. Heard?”

Eloise looked at him long and hard. “I’m not a head cheerleader because I’m blond, Toby. Don’t be a dick.”

“Heard?” Toby repeated.

“Heard.”

Toby felt himself swaying with drunkenness as he took the three steps toward the dorm hallway. He lost his balance and hit the wall.

“Did you have a good dinner?” Eloise called.

Leaning against the wall, but without turning around, Toby said. “Yeah. I saw the Empire State Building, all lit up, and, you know what? All I wanted to do was to come back here and see the Korean girl.”

“Uh huh.” Eloise sipped her tea. “Okay. See you when you sober up.”

Toby made his way down the hallway. Both dorm rooms were dark, with the doors shut. He realized his whole conversation with Eloise, in the common room, had potentially been recorded by the cameras there. That wasn’t good, but he hadn’t been dishonest in any way.

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