When Dreams Come to Life (23 page)

“She will! You’re a great chef and your skills have nothing to do with the mess that happened yesterday. That will all go away and nobody will give it a second thought.”

“You’re right. The thing I worry most about is Eoin’s reaction to all of this. When I spoke to him about it, he sounded mad. It crushes me. He also didn’t say that he forgives me. It’s going to be a long 12 days ‘til I see him again and know for sure what he thinks.”
Breathe, Lea. Breathe. No tears today, remember?

“I understand, but Eoin is a good man. He knows Trent is a dick and I’m sure he loved that you hit that guy’s sorry ass.” I laugh.

I sit down at the breakfast bar and tuck into my food.

“He
did
tell Vicki he was glad…” I say, trailing off as I chew thoughtfully. I shake my head from side to side, trying to get into work mode. “Okay, no more talking about that crap. I’ve got to get out of here and head to work.”

“Okay,” Crystal agrees with a nod. She walks over to me and gives me a sideways-hug. “I love you. I’m going off the radar for a few days but I’ll make sure to text you.”
Oh!

“Away? Away where, missy?”

“Chris has got to go out of town and he asked if I wanted to come. I’ve got the time… and Lea, I really like him,” she says, a small, shy smile spreading across her face. I stand up and hug her.

“That’s great! I’m so glad Derik hooked you two up.”

“Me, too. I told Derik I was last night and he’s so stoked. Plus, the feelings I’m picking up from Chris… I think he feels the same way. Hopefully, we’ll talk about it this weekend,” Crystal says with a small smile.

             
“Of course he does! You’re the best,” I reply, giving her another hug. “Have a great time! I’ll let you know how the interview goes. Oh, and what goes down with this Trent stuff.”

“You better!”

              “I love you. Have fun,” I call, watching Crystal make her way down the hallway to start packing.

“Love you, too. Talk soon.”

              I put my plate in the dishwasher and turn in on, then head off. As I open my door, I’m stopped in my tracks by Scott.
Phew! I thought he was Trent for a minute.

“Good morning, Ms. McKenzie. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“No worries. I forgot you were taking me this morning,” I reply after my heart starts beating again.

Scott turns and brings up the elevator, holding the door open for me. I make sure my door is locked securely and then hurry after him.

ä

Jessie is already at the restaurant when I get there and he’s even got all the fresh ingredients for the day out. This man is definitely due for some time off after all the hours he’s been putting in.

“You’re on fire, Jessie,” I say, putting away my bag. “Everything looks great. What have you chosen for the lunch and dinner specials?”

“Hello to you, too, chef.” I laugh and join him in prepping. “Nice hook, by the way. Oh, and welcome back.”

“Thanks, Jessie. Specials?”

“I’ve got a marinated steak salad with a roasted garlic balsamic dressing for lunch. Dinner is a roast hen on top of a root vegetable melody of parsnip, fingerling potatoes and beets with a port reduction sauce.”
Wow, that sounds great! He’s becoming the great chef I knew he would.

“Amazing choices,” I say, with a huge smile. “I’m giving you the rest of the week and this weekend off with pay. You’ve done a phenomenal job, Jessie. I’m impressed.” I outstretch my hand and he grasps it, giving me a firm handshake.

“Wow, thank you, chef. My wife will be pleased to hear that I’ve got 5 days off. Thank you,” he says again, a shy smile on his face.

“No, thank you. You deserve this.
5280
will be here this afternoon to do the interview, by the way, and I want you to wear this.” I walk into my office, retrieving the new sous chef coat I bought for him recently, his name embroidered on the front.

I walk back to the kitchen and toss it to him.

“I’ve asked for them to include photos of you in the article, too, so make sure you wear that.” Jessie’s shy smile has turned into a full-blown grin. “Go change into it before you make me feel awkward,” I say, indicating to his new coat.

He hurries into the staff bathroom and emerges a few moments later, the grin still on his face.

“Looks sharp. It’s a nice fit, too, thank goodness. I was worried about that. Now, back to work,” I bark with a wink.

“Thank you again, chef,” Jessie replies, before heading back to the prep area. I go back into my office to look over some emails and pay a few bills before I’ve got to head back out to help get the line set up.

One of the emails is from the magazine. I reluctantly open it.

October 27, 2013 at 9:56pm

From: Delores Smith

To:
              [email protected]

Subject:              Interview

Good morning Ms. McKenzie,

I thought I should email you and let you know that we are still very interested in doing the interview, despite your mishap yesterday.

I will be at Conrad
’
s around noon. We have a makeup artist coming with us as we need to do a few photos for the spread.

I look forward to speaking with you again.

Regards,

Delores Smith

5280 Senior Journalist

Phew! Well, my day just got a whole lot better.

I head to the kitchen and begin to get food ready for today’s lunch service. At 11:30am, a van pulls up to the delivery entrance and a small mob of people pile out.

Panic sets in until I see the bags that are unloaded. This must be the magazine. Thank goodness it’s not more paparazzi.

Customers are beginning to drift in as well, which I’m glad to see. My friends were right - I feel like a million pounds has been lifted off my shoulders. Delores gets out of the van last and I walk towards her.
Show time.

“Hi, Delores. Would you and the crew like to have lunch before we start? It’s on the house.” She smiles and nods.

“That sounds great but do you think we would be able to do it after the interview?”

“Of course you can. Where would you like to do this?” She walks around, perusing for the best location. She notices the chef table in the back and heads that way.

“Here’s good, if that isn’t going to get in the way.”

“Perfect. People normally only request that table for dinner. I’ll be in the kitchen. Let me know when you’re ready for me.” Delores nods and starts to tell her staff where she wants everything; I head in to the kitchen help Jessie.

Half an hour flies by and at first, I don’t notice Delores calling me from the service doors.

“We’re ready for you, Lea,” she repeats once she gets my attention.

“Okay,” I reply, wiping my hands on a towel and rubbing a quick pump of antibacterial wash into them. “You good here, Jessie?”

“Yes, chef.” I follow Delores into my office, where her crew have set up a makeshift dressing room. One of the leggy blonde assistants sits me down and gets to work on my makeup while another fusses with my hair.

“I thought we could start with a picture of you cooking, Lea,” Delores says. “My editor really wanted us to capture you in your element.”

“Perfect!” I reply.
Wait, remember to remind her about Jessie!
“Oh, and is it still okay to have my sous chef in one of the pictures?” Delores nods in agreement, her cell pressed to her ear.

The photographer’s assistants bring their lights into the kitchen and whiz around, moving a few things here and there. 

The photographer flounces in and gets straight down to business, snapping pictures of my whole staff hard at work. They then arrange us in a typical ‘restaurant staff’ pose, me with my arms crossed in the front and my staff arranged in a semi-circle behind me.

Of course, it’s hard for us to stay serious and we all start joking around, pulling silly faces, but the photographer keeps snapping away. Those will be some great candid shots!

              “Can I have some of those?” I ask. They would be great for staff promotional photos.

“Of course,” Delores replies.

Jessie and I get our shot together, too, and I hope Delores keeps her promise to use it for the article. 

We must be done with photos for now because Delores says, “Now, let’s get the interview out of the way so we can enjoy some of this amazing food.”

We relocate to the chef table where there are yet
more
photos taken. Then Delores drops a bombshell on me.

“Oh, and we’re going to need a photo of Lea out the front, too,” she throws over her shoulder to one of the photographer’s assistants.

“Why is that?” I ask.

“Well, Lea,” she replies with a smile, “you’re going to be on the front cover of this month’s issue.”
Wait, the cover
?

“I’m going to be on the cover?” I ask, disbelief clear in my voice. Someone needs to pick my jaw up off the floor!

“Yes, of course! We’ve got Denver PD on standby, too, just in case the paparazzi decide to show their ugly heads. Although, those would be some pretty great shots of you for them to get, if I do say so myself.” My face flushes and I smile.

Delores starts firing off questions, asking how hard it was for me to become a great chef in the professional food industry and if there was anyone tried to get in the way of that, namely men. I laugh and think about that. It really was extremely hard to get to this point.

One chef in particular comes to mind so I tell her about him and then about my journey to where I am now. The obstacles I’ve had to overcome were almost impossible but I did it.

The next line of questioning is about my family and why I chose to name my restaurant after my late father. This is a hard one to talk about but I manage to keep a smile on my face, thinking about a few days ago, when Eoin named a star after my father.

Delores loves that I named my restaurant after him and I even bring tears to her eyes when I give her the reasoning behind it.

We talk about my sister and my perfect niece as well as my mom and brother and how I did this for all of them, not just myself. 

“This is really great, Lea. You’ve got a great story to tell here. Who inspired you to become a chef? When did you know you wanted to go down this path, a path that has turned you into a culinary genius?”

Wow, what a question.
Upon reflection, I realize there were several.

“Well, there were quite a few but my number one inspiration would have to be Gordon Ramsay,” I say with a laugh. Delores joins me. “I even went as far as applying to appear on his TV show but I never got picked.”

Well, it was worth a shot. But at least I can say I earned this on my own. That’s a greater accomplishment, in my opinion.

Delores stares at me intently as I tell her why I chose to be a chef. She jots down a few notes, which I assume are about my facial expressions and body language.

I prattle on for another ten minutes or so before Delores asks the doozy.

“Can we talk about your newfound relationship with the dashing Eoin Skye?” She must notice my change in posture because she adds, “We don’t have to. I’d just love to hear about how it happened and if it looks like it’s going anywhere.”

I decide that I’ll wait and see what kind of questions she’s going to ask me before I give my okay for the details to be published.

“Sure. If I don’t feel like answering a question, is it okay to skip it?”

“Yes, of course,” Delores replies, trying to contain her obvious excitement. “Okay, so first things first, how did you two meet?”

“I got to attend one of the conventions that are held for his show and I caught his eye while I was in line, waiting for my autograph from him. I honestly haven’t got a clue how or why he was drawn to me but he was,” I say with a laugh as I think back. That look he was giving me… How it made me breathless to think he had eyes for me…

“Well, you’re a beautiful woman, Lea. What’s not to like?” Delores replies. I feel the heat rush to my cheeks.

“Thank you, Delores. I guess the attraction for me in the beginning was not only is he famous, but he’s drop dead gorgeous, too.” I shrug my shoulders nonchalantly, trying to play my answer off.

“What is he like? What are some of your favorite traits of his?”

“Well, he’s kind and very caring, for one. His passion for anything he’s focused and or working on is admirable. Eoin wants to please every person he comes in contact with and of course, he does it well. The love he has for his fans is immense. I really love that about him,” I finish, knowing I’m grinning like an idiot.

“Yes, yes, I know there’s nothing not to love about him but you have to have a few favorite things.”