The thought makes my heart race along with the furiously quick strokes of the toothbrush across my tongue.
Oops! Too far. I just gagged. I hate it when that happens.Slow down, Emma.
That’s going to be my mantra because I tend to work a little too quickly which can lead to mistakes (or the odd tiny grease fire). But not anymore. Head chef Emma Banks will slow down just enough to cook everything to perfection.
I wonder which restaurant Harrison is going to give me? I’m secretly hoping it’s the Brazilian steakhouse. I absolutelyadoreserving meat on swords. There’s an element of danger to it that I find quite alluring. But, now that I think of it, Junior Gonzalez has been the head chef there for over fifteen years and I don’t think he’s ready to retire yet. Damn.
Oh! Maybe Harrison is going to let me run the main buffet. It seats two hundred people and features over forty-eight different dishes with the menu changing each weeknight. It’s easily considered the most difficult kitchen at the resort to manage, and Harrisondidtext that he had a ‘special challenge’ for me when I got back. He also said I’d be quite pleased with my new assignment and that he was sure I’d be up for it. Squeee! I cannot wait!
I grin at myself in the mirror while I brush out my chestnut brown hair and put it up in a high pony.
A toilet flushes and Tina Jones comes out of one of the stalls. She gives me a slight nod. “You’re still here? I thought you’d be in the Caribbean by now, taking your brother’s handouts.”
I don’t like Tina very much.
I pick up my things and spin toward the door, calling back. “Just leaving now. Good luck with…being you.”
She’s wrong about me taking handouts. Well, technically, Harrison did finish raising me, and he paid my way through culinary school so I could graduate without debt, so, yeah, I guess a totally jealous bee-otch might call it handouts, but I’m going todevote my entire lifeto paying him back, so I call it being part of a family.
Oh God, what if I’m not up for the challenge? What if I totally mess things up like I did last year when I had to drop out because I was going to fail Sauces 201 and needed to start my entire semester over? What if, instead of finally paying Harrison back, I end up making his life much, much worse because I actually suck at running a kitchen and he has to fire me or—and this thought is even more terrifying—he keeps me on but everybody knows I’m just there because my family owns the resort and the rest of the staff start to hate me because I’m the worst head chef of all time?
I break out in a cold sweat while my mind takes off without my permission.Okay. It’s okay, Emma. You got this.
Everything is going to be just fine. I graduated third in the entire class. Plus, I practically grew up in a restaurant kitchen. I can totally do this. In fact—and here’s a little secret between you and me–I’m going to put Paradise Bay Resort on the map as the world’s greatest culinary destination. I haven’t told anyone else yet, but for months now, I’ve been scribbling down what I think will be absolutely genius Caribbean fusion recipes that will melt on the tongue, thrill even the most delicate palette, and earn me more Michelin stars than Joël Robuchon (who holds the world record of 31).
Someday, in the not-so-distant future, there is going to be an entire movement of Caribbean fusion restaurants everywhere, and I’ll be the mother of it all. My name will be among all the top dogs: Gordon Ramsay, Wolfgang Puck, Emma Banks. Of course, I’ll have to publish a series of cookbooks so people around the globe won’t be afraid to ‘try this at home,’ but for the most part, they won’t be able to capture the flavours that will be found at the resort because their dishes won’t be bursting with the freshness of fruits picked that morning at the height of ripeness. So, they’ll come to Santa Valentina Island in hopes of catching a glimpse of the famed, young chef extraordinaire and havingtheauthentic Caribbean fusion experience, right where it all began.
And please don’t think me conceited because I haven’t accomplished any of this yet. But I will. Because once I set my mind to something, Inevergive up. Just ask Harrison what it was like for our mum to get me to stop sucking my thumb when I was two.
Anyway, the point is, I’m not going to simply pay Harrison back for everything he’s done for me over the years. I’m going to make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. I’m going to be the heroine my family and all the staff at the resort have been waiting for all these years. No more struggling to make ends meet, no more panicking about what will happen if another hurricane comes along and we have to shut down for a few months. Fear not, Paradise Bay staff! Emma is about to change everything!
But, not if I miss my flight.
I rush back into our dorm room, only to find my luggage zipped up and standing by the door, my bed stripped, and the concrete wall above my bed barren where it used to hold a collage of family photos. “Wow. It looks so…final.”
Priya nods at me, her eyes filling with tears, even though we’ve promised each other not to get all sappy about parting ways. Clearing her throat, she says, “Everything’s packed up, and your pics are in an envelope in your laptop bag. I couldn’t fit your sleeping bag in, so it’s either going to be making the trip in a garbage bag or you’ll have to leave it.”
“Leave it. Maybe someone will need it next semester.”
“Do you have your passport?”
“In my purse,” I say, shoving my toiletries kit into my laptop bag and zipping it shut.
“That’s it, then.”
A lump forms in my throat. “Thank you so much, Priya. For helping me this morning and for…” My voice cracks and I cut the sentiment short.
“You too,” she says, her face crumpling.
We both burst into loud sobs, hugging each other while we cry and laugh at ourselves and say things like, “I don’t know what I’m going to do without you,” and “You’re the best friend I’ve ever had,” and “We’ll Skype every day.”
And before I’m really ready, I find myself alone in an Uber on the way to the airport, silent tears running down my cheeks. A sense of melancholy sets in at the thought of finishing such a wildly fun and, in many ways, carefree chapter of my life. But as I watch the buildings zip by, I start to feel a tiny flicker of excitement for the incredible life that lays ahead.
2
Revolving Nannies and Soft Launch Guinea Pigs
Pierce Davenport - Valcourt, Avonia (A Picturesque City in the Fairy Tale Kingdom Just to the East of England and Slightly North of Belgium)
