The Last One Standing by Audrey Rush

Author:Audrey Rush [Rush, Audrey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781707698950
Published: 2019-11-29T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 13

Mallory

Jazz music soothed its way out of the speakers. A movie with fast cars and bald, brooding men played on the hanging televisions. Mallory sipped her champagne and looked down at her feet, surrounded by purple goopy gel beads.

“So are we going?” Jimmy asked. He wiggled in his massage chair. “I am dying for some home-cooked meals. You know what I mean?”

“You don’t like my kitchenette experiments?” Mallory smirked. More like microwave experiments, she thought.

“There are only so many ways you can doctor up a bowl of top ramen in a microwave. They must have designed it that way, you know? Torture the competing chefs by keeping them captive in hotel rooms with only a mini-fridge and a microwave. Because that’s all a chef really needs to survive.”

“They told us we can use that kitchen as long as we’re out by—”

“Who wants to go make a meal and eat before four p.m.?” he asked.

“What color?” the nail technician asked.

Jimmy glanced at Mallory’s technician’s stand. “What color are you getting?”

“Red,” Mallory said.

He eyed the maroon bottle on the stand. “I’ll do that too,” he said. Jimmy opened his mouth to say something, but when Mallory’s rattling phone interrupted his thoughts, he put up his hands. Mr. Holloway flashed on the screen.

“All hail the Holloways,” he said.

“Where are you?” Mr. Holloway demanded.

“I’m—”

“The man you left in charge failed to order the Chateau Lafite Rothschild,” he interrupted.

Damn it, Luke, Mallory thought. She had written the ordering schedule for the wines and included it in the guide. She even knew what page it was on, which was page—

Wait. What page was it?

“I had to go with a Vinebox Vintage,” Mr. Holloway said.

Poor little rich man, Mallory thought. “I’ll take care of it when I get back,” Mallory said.

“Now, Mallory,” Mr. Holloway said. Then he hung up.

Mallory sighed and shoved the phone back into her purse. She had to go back to Seattle eventually, but right now, her mind wasn’t as stuck in everything-Herb-Crest-related as it usually was, or she would have reminded the sous chef to order the damn wine. Instead, Mallory had her mind on LCS. On her strange temporary existence in Las Vegas. On Greg.

“I’m surprised you’re not packing your bag already,” Jimmy said. “You know, I think the show has been good for you. Maybe a certain someone has been good for you. You know, a certain someone whose grandma can apparently cook a mean turkey.”

What was Jimmy getting at? She couldn’t focus on what he was saying. She was consumed with deep-seated anxiety that she had left Seattle, that she had left the restaurant, without telling the owners, her parents. They would find out she had been gone for weeks. It was only a matter of time.

“I should go back,” she said. “At least for a couple of days. Do some damage control.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Mals. This is stupid. Luke can handle it. And Daddy Holloway is throwing one of his many manly temper tantrums and will disappear into another investment opportunity by morning,” Jimmy said.

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