“Ah.” Mebel chews her pasta slowly, considering what Adam just told her. It makes sense, she supposes, though she still thinks they’re all overreacting a little.
“Especially when it’s something as distinctive in flavor as shiitake mushrooms,” Bella says. “Can you imagine having two shiitake dishes in the menu? Awful.”
Mebel doesn’t see the big deal in having two shiitake dishes in a menu, but she wisely decides to keep her mouth shut.
Then Bella says, “Tell you what, though, their dish actually sounds really good. They’re marinating the cod with miso, orange peel, and brown sugar syrup.”
That’s when the dagger of doubt plunges deep into Mebel’s belly. Orange peel and brown sugar syrup? That’s exactly what she was planning on doing with her duck. The duck meat thatChef Clarke had ordered for her arrived two days prior, and Mebel had gotten to work on it immediately, marinating it in a spiced brine overnight before coating it with her brown sugar and orange peel syrup. Could it be a coincidence that her classmates have picked out the same ingredients as she had?
“You all right, Mebs?” Adam says.
“I am using orange peel and brown sugar syrup in my dish,” Mebel blurts out.
Adam and Bella both stare at her. “What,” Bella says, “like, exactly that combination?”
Mebel nods, not trusting herself to talk.
“Well, fuck,” Bella mutters.
“What does this mean?” Mebel says.
“You’ve got the poultry course, right?” Adam says. When Mebel nods, he says, “That means you’re right after fish. You’ve got to change your dish. It’s going to look so bad if you go right after them and your dish is exactly the same flavor profile as theirs.”
Anxiety claws at Mebel’s chest, making it close up. “But I work so hard to come up with the combination.”
“They must’ve overheard you talking about it or seen your notes or something,” Bella says.
“But why they want to copy it?” Mebel cries.
“Mebs, I told you, this is a big deal. Everyone wants to win,” Bella says. “And brown sugar syrup? That’s pretty fucking brilliant. That’ll go really well with miso and orange peel. I can see why they’d copy it.”
“Do I really have to give up on my idea?” Mebel says in a small voice. She feels so lost right now.
Adam and Bella exchange a glance before nodding sadly at her. “Sorry, Mebs,” Adam says.
“It sucks. You need to be more careful.”
Mebel can’t stomach the thought of staying through to the end of the meal. She tells them she is done and leaves the table. Outside, she walks past Bruce, who is arguing animatedly into his phone. How ironic that only minutes ago, she’d judged Bruce for getting upset over his dish, and now here she is, upset for exactly the same reason. Life really does have a way of getting you.
Mebel walks briskly down the street, hugging herself. She feels at once angry and hurt and vulnerable. Not to mention foolish, because how many times have people tried to warn her about the stakes in this competition, and she’d failed to take any of them seriously. To her, all of this has just been an amusing game, but now that her dish is being copied, everything has suddenly turned very real for her. It is only in this moment that she realizes, despite the compassion she feels for her classmates and how much they have at stake, she really, really wants to win this competition. Not so much for the position at Canard et Vin, but to prove to herself that she is capable of it. She is capable not just of doing decently well but of excelling. She is capable of being more than just a trophy wife.
But now, she is going to lose it all, and isn’t that just classic Mebel?
As she walks, she goes through a list of ingredients that she might be able to substitute for the orange peel and brown sugar syrup. Maybe instead of brown sugar, she could use Javanese sugar? It’s her favorite sugar, made out of palm instead of sugarcane, and has a caramel taste that is very distinct. No, that’s the problem with Javanese sugar, it’s too distinctive. It’ll overpower the entire dish. Perhaps wild honey? That could work, but it isn’t as exciting as brown sugar syrup though. And what about the orange peel? What can she substitute that with? Lemongrass? Maybe. But lemongrass wouldn’t go with the Peking duck–inspired dish. It’s too strong and would overpower the hoisin sauce.Argh, this is horrible!And why must Mebel go through this ordeal all by herself? It’s so unfair, especially when everyone else has a partner they can bounce ideas off.
She should storm inside Chef Clarke’s office and demand—what? What should she demand at this point? The banquet is only two weeks away. What can Chef Clarke do? He’s hardly going to call the whole thing off, and there’s no way he can get her a new partner. And anyway, Mebel doesn’t want any other partner, she wants Gemma, her first-ever friend at the school, the girl who loves cooking and secretly works overtime to shoot cooking videos for her social media account.
Mebel gasps. Foolishness! The answer was right in front of her all this time and she’d missed it. She scrambles for her phone and opens up Instagram. She’s messaged Gemma on there several times, of course, but Gemma hasn’t bothered to reply. The messages show as “Seen,” however, so she knows that Gemma is still alive, even though she has stopped posting videos since she disappeared from the school.
But now, Mebel realizes there is a ton of valuable information to be gleaned from Gemma’s IG account. She scrolls through the videos, looking for the ones she’s thinking of. Ah, here we go. Here’s one where Gemma bakes a honey cake using “locally sourced honey.” In the voice-over, Gemma says, “I am so luckyto live within walking distance to the Clover Lover Farm. Their honey is just the absolute best. Look how thick this clover honey is, and it smells heavenly. Oh, I wish you could smell it through your phone screen.”
Mebel had known that Gemma lived in the Cotswolds, but when she previously looked up the Cotswolds, she’d been surprised to find that it’s a huge area. There is no chance of Mebel finding Gemma just by driving around the entire Cotswolds.
Now, Mebel hurriedly taps the words “Clover Lover Farm” into Google, and the first hit is a farm located in an area called Northleach, which, according to Google, is a small market town located in the Cotswolds district in Gloucestershire, England.
“Aha!” Mebel says. Several passersby turn to look at her, but she ignores them. Her heart races with excitement as she keys “Northleach” into Google Maps. She’s not sure if it’s small enough for her to go door-to-door until she finds Gemma, but she sure as hell is going to try.
Mebel goes to her contacts list and taps on Alain’s name.
