Chapter Nine
Eloise
The next morning, Toby awoke earlier than the other three men. He sat with his phone looking at Kacie Lee’s picture for a while, then got up and showered. He wore a button-down shirt and clean faded jeans and new boots he’d bought during the road trip. As he changed, the other men stirred, and he headed out to the common room to avoid a conversation with them.
The night before, he’d noticed a modest espresso machine in one kitchen cabinet. He hooked it up and made a cup with some of the same Columbian blend Alia had served after lunch. At the table, he considered what he’d cooked the day before. It then occurred to him: he had not called Boris to let him know what was about to happen. It was too early yet, but he would definitely call in the late morning.
He heard footfalls in the hallway and looked up, posing the coffee mug to screen part of his face, to discover a good-looking woman entering. She had flowing blond hair, gorgeous bottle-green eyes, a button nose, perfect kissing lips, rolling hips. She moved with natural grace and with fast-moving, glancing eyes. She was just the kind of girl he’d struck out with in high school, who had gone for the football player instead, only she was now about twenty-eight or twenty-nine with the determined expression of a bank executive.
She walked right up to him, plunked down on the sofa perpendicular to his, met his eyes with her cornflower ones, and said, “You have any more of that coffee?”
“It’s espresso. I’ll make you a cup.”
“No. You sit. I’ll do it. I like mine just right.”
She made for the kitchen, and Toby saw that her black slacks did not disguise the perfection of her shapely ass. She had to be Eloise, he realized; he’d heard the name, and a little of her voice, while drifting in and out of sleep the night before. California, New American cuisine.
God damn, she was good looking. She was the kind of woman men stopped walking to stare at.
Toby listened to the clicks and clacks, and then the loud whoosh, of the espresso machine. He considered whether to join her. But really, a girl like that was like a painting. You could look and look, but never get close enough to touch. He woke up his phone and looked again at the picture of Kacie Lee, at the youthful brightness and hope in her face. That was the face that he’d want to see every day, the face of a person with heart and spirit.
Eloise returned with a tray and two mugs of espresso, gave him one. The mugs had the network’s logo on one side, and the other sides had the faces of two of the network’s on-camera culinary experts, called the Hammer Chefs. Toby had heard of them, watched their shows occasionally to get recipe ideas, but didn’t care much about TV cooks.
“Seems like we’re the early risers,” she said. “I hope I’m not jet-lagged. I heard your dinner was sensational last night.”
Had Kacie told her? Had they met yet?
“Alia told me you make a mean dirty rice. Want to help me with breakfast? I’m all about a healthful frittata.”
“Sure.” If they cooked, he’d be able to conduct a conversation. Getting-to-know-you talk annoyed him.
They sat. Eloise, undeterred by his silence, told him about coming up in San Diego and apprenticing for various Michelin Star chefs; about doing it without her dad’s help, while failing to mention who he was; about things to do in San Diego. Californians sure talked a lot, Toby thought, but from her story he gleaned that she was as expert as he was, her mentors even more celebrated than Boris. He also gleaned, from her tales of pushing away rivals to rise to chef de cuisine in three restaurants, that she was accustomed to competing and winning. Faced with people like that in Boris’ kitchen, he’d stayed humble and out-cooked them. Oxford was a small city, though; would that strategy really work against Eloise, who was talented, skilled, smart, and attractive?
Eventually more contestants appeared in the common room. Toby’s eyes moved to Kacie Lee, but she wasn’t even looking in his direction. Eloise announced that Toby was going to help her make breakfast, and they were going downstairs to find the warehouse-sized pantry Alia had told them about. Toby had been there, knew what it was like, but he didn’t say anything. He was nerving himself up to cross the room and invite Kacie to go down with them, but Eloise caught his arm and directed him toward the hallway with the elevator. Although a hot girl was on his arm, he felt no connection to her at all; his mind went back to the girl he liked, the cute pink visor she was wearing with the logo of her restaurant on it, and how he would like to see her toss it aside and shake out her silky black hair.
Nevertheless, he went with Eloise. Vegas, a Hispanic man of Toby’s height with a sharp nose and cornrows on the sides of his head, followed on his own initiative.
Three floors down was the TKN pantry, a huge warehouse room with more coolers than a grocery store. The pantry was the signature feature of shows on the network, appearing on multiple programs as a set, and also used for its own show, Pantry Confidential, which spotlighted unusual ingredients. It was stocked far beyond what the network could actually use, with excess food being donated to City Harvest and other charities. Rows of shelves were tall enough to require wheeled stepladders, and two twenty-year-old staffers stood by sipping green tea and Snap-chatting their college friends.
As soon as they arrived, Vegas took off to explore the pantry on his own. Eloise gave Toby a cloth basket to carry and went shopping. Eggs, peppers, fresh herbs, whole-grain breads, fresh berries, low-sodium sliced cheeses were soon his to carry. She sent him to find tomatillos for homemade ketchup. He saw in the vegetable and fruit bins foods some of which he had never gotten to handle or work with before, and others the names of which were entirely unfamiliar to him. He made a mental note of things he wanted to work with but said as little as possible.
When Eloise was satisfied, she led Toby toward the elevator. Vegas emerged from between two towering shelves to join them. The elevator doors opened to reveal Herschel Singer in a gray business suit. “Just headed up to see you all. I found some guests.”
Behind him were Lillian; Kacie Lee’s cousin, the clownish kid; and a man he recognized from TV. It was TKN’s billionaire CEO, Alois “Lou” Morton.
All emerged on the dorm floor. Back at the common room, Toby scanned for Kacie, but didn’t see her. He passed the heavy basket to Eloise and exchanged cheek-pecks with his sister.
“Who’s the blond?” whispered Lillian.
“Eloise, from California.”
“Did you fall for her, too?”
“She’s boring.”
Their conversation was interrupted when whatsisname introduced himself as Jinwoo.
Herschel called the group to attention. “Hey, guys, listen. I’ll be around if you need me, but officially this is the handoff. You’ll be reporting to Shaun Kerr, our showrunner, and Shelley Drake, our director. They’ll be up later to brief you. So before I go, let me introduce to you the man who needs no introduction, my boss, Lou Morton.”
Morton nodded and patted him on the back. Ruddy, gray-haired, in a dark suit, he had a warm smile that belied his impeccable corporate outfit. His voice was deep and rich. “I want to thank all of you for coming on board to help us launch our new series. I’m told you’ve already begun getting to know each other and cooking together. There’s nothing more inspiring than that. Our business is competitive, but it’s also about joy. So, cook well, compete hard, and come out the way all of us at TKN do. Come out as a family. Hello.”
Kacie Lee had just emerged mid-speech from the dorms. Morton walked over and offered his hand. “I loved your kimchi.”
This mark of favor escaped no one in the room. Morton hadn’t directly acknowledged anyone else in the room. Eloise, visibly startled, set down the basket on the top step of the dining room. Buster breathed hard.
Kacie accepted the handshake. “Thanks. After the show, please consider Koryo Burger for your catering needs.”
Lou Morton gave her a sunny grin. “You know I will.” They had a private conversation that lasted a minute or so. Then he broke from her and headed for the elevator, waving once over his shoulder. “So long, everyone.”
Lillian whispered in Toby’s ear. “She has got some spunk, Dark. Just exquisite.”
Herschel announced that within the hour their electronic devices would be collected. “Lockdown starts then, so make whatever calls you need to make. And with that, I’ll just head out and let Madame Queen know you’re as ready for her as you’re going to get. Bye, team.”
Toby hadn’t called Boris yet. When Eloise signaled him to come to the kitchen to help her, he waved his hands no and headed for the hallway.
He got voice mail. “Boris, I should have called before. I’m in New York. I’m doing a cooking show, and Nina is the judge. I’ll do everything I can to make you proud. You know how Nina is, but… Anyway, they’re taking my phone soon. I’ll call you again if I get a chance. Thanks for believing in me all these years.”
He hung up. That would have to do.