CHAPTER ONE
Arlo
“Today’s the big day,guys! Annie’s wedding!” I said after pressing the record button on my phone. “I’ll post a few of the videos I made while prepping the food. It’s all set to go.” I panned the camera to my refrigerator and opened the doors, showing the rows and rows of dishes. “As long as the delivery goes smooth and the weather cooperates, we should be golden. I’ll post an update tomorrow. Later, folks.” I hit the end button and started editing the video, saving it to my drafts when finished.
Recently, my social media page where I posted cooking videos, had blown up as one of my videos went viral. I showed how I prep my chicken thighs, using my own house made marinade, and the one ingredient people always complained about, butter. But it kept the chicken juicy, and the last thing you wanted was dry chicken.
I posted more often and my videos continued going viral, as I shared my tips and tricks to running my own catering business. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in culinary arts, Iworked my ass off in the city as a prep chef. I worked my way up the ladder until I had enough saved to quit my job and pursue my dream of owning my own catering company.
At only twenty-six years old, I now ran the company for a couple of years and since going viral, I was booked solid. But my sister’s wedding had been on my calendar for a year, and I pushed everything aside this week to make sure her event was damn near perfect.
And it was showtime.
I opened my contacts on my phone and hit the name Eddie. My assistant answered the phone on the first ring. “Morning Arlo! The van will arrive no later than eleven to ensure proper delivery and setup.”
“Perfect. You’re the best. Thanks, man.”
“You got it. See you this afternoon.”
I clicked the phone off, tucked it into my pocket, and headed upstairs for a shower. I rented a tux for later, after dinner was served and I could join my family in the celebration, but for now I’d wear my chef whites with my company logo on it.
I needed to be at the reception location, a beautiful club set at the top of Appleridge mountain where many special events were often located, to unload the food and set it up for later. Unfortunately, I’d miss the ceremony, as a lot of the food required cooking and finishing, but my sister was having it recorded by the professional photographer she hired.
We perfectly planned every detail out. I doubted anything could go wrong.
But life loved to throw curveballs.
I should’ve known better.
“What do you mean,the van broke down? I just had it serviced last week!” I paced the kitchen of the banquet hall, sweat trickling down my back as panic took over.
I checked my watch for the hundredth time, the minutes slipping away faster than I’d like. It was already quarter of twelve, the food forty-five minutes late, and it didn’t look like it was arriving anytime soon.
“I don’t know, boss. There’s smoke coming out from under the hood and the engine won’t turn over. The sky isn’t looking good either.”
“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath. “I’m coming to you.” I shoved my phone in my pocket and let my staff know what was going on, Brian agreeing to follow behind me and help grab the trays of food.
As we made our way back down the mountain, thunder cracked in the sky. “Shit,” I muttered. The last thing I need was rain. It would cause mud and other problems I didn’t have time for.
I drove as quickly as I could, finding the van off a dirt road at last. We transferred half the food trays into my truck and the other half into Brian’s. Just as we made our way back up the mountain, the sky opened up and raining poured down.
“Can anything else going wrong?” I shouted to myself. The day was supposed to be perfect, and it was literally falling apart in front of my eyes.
As the rain came down harder, I lost sight of Brian behind me and when I tried to dial him, my phone beeped at me-no service!
Shit, this kept getting better and better.
At last, my truck steered into the parking lot of the reception hall. I pulled to the front as there wasn’t a back entrance for deliveries, but immediately a valet employee walked over to me. “Sorry, sir, but you can’t park here.”
“I just need to bring in some food. I’ll move right after.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t allow it.”
“I have no other way to get the food inside. If I park and walk, it’ll get soaked.”
“I hope you have an umbrella then.” He said before walking away.
“Wow, what a jerk,” I muttered to myself as I drove off in search of the closest available parking spot.
