Chapter Thirty-Four
Everly
It had been three days since I called Phil and took up his offer of co-chef, and I still wasn’t sure if I’d made the right decision or not. Phil had seemed far too eager as we spoke on the phone, and we agreed on starting my position the following Monday. I woke on my first day with an upset stomach that made me question even more if I had made a mistake, but it was too late.
I lay in bed and thought about Maddox, as always. I swore that I heard his voice in my sleep, that I felt his hands roam my body as they slipped off my panties and touched me. It had only been a week, and yet I missed him. I missed our conversations, sharing our dreams and passions and telling stories about our loved ones. He had awoken something in me, a desire to partner with someone else. I had gone through my whole life as a loner, always refusing to work in groups of two. But I loved cooking with Maddox, and I loved how he made me feel.
I was growing more and more frustrated as well. I touched myself often, but nothing ever compared to his touch. I slipped a finger inside of me and tried pretending it was his finger, but it was useless. Maddox was intoxicating, and there was no substitute.
I slipped out of bed after realizing there was no point in moping around any longer and brushed my teeth. A quick shower and 20 minutes of makeup later, I was in my kitchen debating on what to make for breakfast. Lacey had left a text saying they would be over around 7:30, which gave me 20 minutes to decide on a meal. I wasn’t feeling up to making the usual egg and bacon combination, and I scoured my pantries for ideas.
Lacey and Belle arrived early for breakfast, and I decided to make something special for the occasion. Homemade nutmeg cinnamon rolls with butterscotch cream cheese and fresh strawberry scones half dipped in chocolate was an easy and yet complicated creation, and I savored every second of the process. I made a side of bacon just in case they didn’t turn out good, though.
“There’s nothing nutritious about any of this,” Lacey said as she eyed the kitchen counter. My apartment had the richest scent of chocolate and cinnamon, and I picked up a scone and bit into it. Crumbs fell from my lips onto the floor, but I couldn’t bring myself to clean them. I couldn’t bring myself to do anything other than cook.
“That’s the point.” I smiled as Belle picked up a cinnamon roll and tore a piece into her mouth. “What do you think?”
“So good!” she said between bites. “The scones are my favorite!”
“Good, I made three whole batches so you and your mom can take them home,” I said.
“Well, aren’t you in a cooking mood?” Lacey noted. I ignored her, but she was right. It had been a week since I last cooked dinner for Maddox, and within that week I had resorted to quick and simple dinners for one. I missed cooking fancy meals, and was somewhat excited to get back into a professional kitchen.
“I guess,” I said.
“Everly, you always go cooking crazy when you’re anxious or depressed,” Lacey folded her arms across her chest and met my eyes. “So, which one is it now?”
I frowned. “I don’t know what you mean.” I realized I was staring inside the fridge trying to find ingredients for chocolate chip and almond butter cookies. I closed it before Lacey could realize what I was doing.
“When you failed your first course in college, our house was full of Cuban sandwiches and fried bananas for weeks,” she said. “And when your first boyfriend dumped you, you made miniature chicken pot pies, and we had to give them away to our neighbors because they wouldn’t fit in the fridge.”
“I’m just happy that I got my job back,” I lied.
“Your made-up job?” Lacey asked. I nearly forgot I had told her that co-chefs didn’t exist.
“I know it’s a bullshit title, but you never know; this could be my step to being the head chef. Just another year or so and I’ll have that chef hat,” I said.
“You realized you said those exact words every day when you were working there.” Lacey pointed out. I shrugged and started cleaning up the kitchen. “But if you’re happy, then I’m happy.” Lacey smiled at me, but it was obvious to even the 5-year-old in the room that it was fake and forced. I knew Lacey wasn’t happy for me, but I didn’t have any other choices. I needed a job, and I had ghosted Maddox way too long to even assume that I still had one there.
That was another mistake that Lacey made sure I didn’t forget.
“We’ll drop these off at home on our way to kindergarten,” Lacey said as Belle bagged up the leftovers. “Don’t want any other 5-year-olds to get an allergic reaction.”
“Thank you for the cinnamon rolls and scones, Aunt Everly,” Belle said politely. Lacey held a hand over her heart and smiled as her daughter proved herself to be the little polite version of us.
“You’re welcome,” I said and hugged her. I couldn’t believe there was a time that I had disliked Belle’s presence.
“Call me when you’re off work,” Lacey said, and I agreed. “I’m sure you’ll have plenty to bitch about.”
“Who knows,” I said. “It might not be that bad.” I hoped it wouldn’t be any different than before, but imagined that was wishful thinking.
Lacey rolled her eyes, and she closed the door behind her. I couldn’t blame her for being wary about me going back to Saint Padres, but I was being serious. I had dedicated years to that restaurant, and maybe it was going to start paying off. Maybe things were going to start going my way for once in my life.
Parking at Saint Padres was just as awful as ever. A couple blocks away from the actual restaurant with tight parking spaces that it seemed nearly impossible to not hit anyone when parking in them, but in a weird way, I almost felt at home. Maybe the weeks spent with Maddox were nothing more than a silly dream. Maybe Maddox himself was little more than a dream as well.
I clutched my purse to my body and battled through the thick Seattle wind, and I hurried down the blocks toward Saint Padres. The kitchen still had a few hours before officially opening, and I wanted to make sure I was there early enough to discuss the details of my position before fully embracing it. Catalina caught my arm as I entered the kitchen, and she hugged me tightly.
“Chica! I didn’t think I’d see you again!” she said. Her smile was contagious, and I found myself sharing a giggle as I approached. “There was a rumor that you had fallen in love with some rich playboy and gotten married. Someone even mentioned they thought you were pregnant.”
I choked on my words.
“No.” I shook my head and clutched my chest. “Not married, and definitely not pregnant.”
“Aw, so there’s not even a rich playboy?” she asked. I wondered if Maddox would even be considered a playboy.
“Sorry, but no,” I said. Catalina pouted a little.
“Well, a girl can dream, right?”
I spent a bit of time in the kitchen familiarizing myself with everything again. Thankfully nothing was different, and there were no new cooks in the kitchen, so falling into my old routine should be a piece of cake. It was a bit odd that Phil hadn’t found a replacement for me, almost as if he knew I would eventually return. I shook my head; what did it matter anyways?
The kitchen opened shortly afterward, and as co-chef, I had the lovely job of making sure everything was prepped and ready for the head chef when his shift started just an hour before the dinner crowd. I had hoped that meant I was in charge during lunch, but I quickly learned that our head chef had left several notes telling me in explicit detail what I was to do until he arrived.
I obeyed the notes and busied myself with meaningless tasks that anyone else could have done. Scrubbing potatoes, counting the loaves of bread, baking the bread, making sure that the mushrooms were ready for sautéing, then double checking that the mushrooms were ready. The restaurant filled up quickly, and it wasn’t long until I was standing over the plating table making sure that every plate was neat and up to standards.
“Everly.” Phil rounded the corner and nearly screamed my name. I jumped and followed him into his office, brushing my dirty hands onto my white apron.
“What’s the matter?” I asked, worried that there had been a mistake on my return. I had been doing everything as told, and at the very least, expected Phil to pretend to be happy at my arrival.
“There’s a discrepancy with the loaves,” he said and showed me a piece of paper that listed how many loaves we should have opened with versus how many we had. All of our bread was baked fresh within the morning for lunch, but every now and then a cook will save one or two overnight to help the lunch rush. They heated up just as well as a fresh baked loaf, and it was a practice that was common in many top restaurants.
“Did anyone save a loaf from last night?” I asked. Phil sat at his desk and opened a thick folder.
“How am I supposed to know that?” he asked. “It sounds like a problem for our co-chef.”
“I wasn’t even here last night,” I said. “I don’t know who was on the roster.”
“So, find out,” he said, and dismissed me. I closed the door to his office behind me and took a deep breath. These were the type of complaints I had expected, but still, it was a bit discouraging to receive them within hours of my first day. I shook my head and forced myself to stop worrying. I’d stick it out, put up with Phil and his complaints until I get that head chef hat, and then I’ll have more of a presence in the kitchen.
I hurried down the hall toward the kitchen; the lunch rush would be over soon. The kitchen door opened just as I was reaching for it, and I nearly ran straight into the hard chest of a man.
“I’m sorry,” I said and straightened. Maddox stared at me, his eyes wide from our impact as well. “Oh, Maddox.” My pulse quickened at the sight of him.
“Everly,” he said. We stood in awkward silence until a cook rushed from the door around us. I realized that I was at work and that I was still on the clock.
“I’m at work,” I said. My hands played with the dirty fabric of my apron, and Maddox’s eyes followed the movement.
“I noticed.” He sighed and placed his hands on my arms just below my shoulders. “Listen, I need to talk to you.” His gray eyes were dark in the dim lighting of the hall, and his five o’clock shadow was starting to grow. There were bags under his eyes, and frown lines around his lips. Still, he was as handsome as ever in a gray business suit, and I forced myself thoughts to stay innocent as he stared at me.
“Can it wait until after my shift?” I asked. He shook his head.
“I waited long enough to talk to you; I don’t think I could wait another second.” He had a desperation in his voice that I’d never heard before. “Despite everything that’s happened between us, the one true thing has always been that you’re an amazing chef, and you deserve your own restaurant. My feelings for you haven’t clouded my judgment, and I struggle to think of a single meal that you’ve made that hasn’t wowed me.”
“Thanks, I think? But really, Maddox, if I don’t get back to work right now, I’ll get in trouble.”
“Abby just wants a mother,” he said. My hands clenched around my apron as I stared at him with an open mouth. “She doesn’t know what having a mother really means. All she knows is that other kids have a mom, and I think she just wants to say that she has one, too. She didn’t mean to freak you out, and I didn’t either. You’re incredible, Everly, truly. And you deserve better than this shit job with a shit title that you and I both know is fake.”
I stumbled backward. “Wait, how did you know about that?”
Phil’s door opened, and his head popped out. I gasped, realizing that the walls are paper thin and that Phil most likely heard every word Maddox just said.
“What the hell are you trying to do, Maddox?” Phil growled. My head was beginning to spin. Did they know each other? I had assumed they met once at the auction, but I didn’t think any more of that. “Get out of here before I kick your ass.”
“Don’t embarrass yourself, Phil,” Maddox said. “You’re treating Everly like this because you know she won’t stand up for herself if you keep dangling the head chef’s hat over her head. Well, I’m not going to let you treat her like this anymore. She deserves better.”
“Maddox,” I tried interrupting them, but Phil had pushed past me.
“She likes where she is. In a year or two, she’ll be at the top. That’s what she deserves, working hard to get where she wants to go. Right, Everly?” Phil asked, though he didn’t once look at me.
“Let her decide, then.” Maddox met my eyes. “Everly, do you want to stay here and working for this selfish asshole, or do you want to join me as lead chef for my All You Can Eat restaurants ideas team?”
“What!” I wasn’t sure who screamed it, me or Phil, but in that very moment, I knew what the right decision was. I untied my apron.
“Thank you for the opportunity, Phil,” I said. He turned to stare as I let my apron fall into the floor.
“You’re going to regret this,” Phil warned, but I was already walking away with Maddox. “Everly! You walk out that door, and you’re never welcome back here at Saint Padres ever again!”
I was shaking, and my heart was beating quickly, but with Maddox beside me, I realized I had the courage to leave Saint Padres behind me, and walk out the door without looking back.