Scottlander

by Samantha Liddell

  It was 3pm once I got home from a nice easy day in the kitchen. The team had completed all the prep for today’s cooking the day before while I had been on set, so all there was to do was put everything together and cook it. The menu was very like the last menu. ‘Oh, well. At least there will be the fudge from the fudge challenge to eat and enjoy,’ I thought. Duncan and I had both ended up washing the dishes. I felt bad delegating, so decided to pull my sleeves up and help. We were a team after all.

  I found the girls and Sophie in the kitchen ready to get their bake on. They were excited, Sophie more so for the fact that she was going to be helping make fudge for famous Scottish actors. “Will they really be eating the fudge that I'm making with my very own bare hands?” she asked. “Do you think ‘Jamie’ has even heard of fudge before?”

  “Well,” I assured her. “He probably hasn’t, but I'm pretty sure the actor playing him has.” Looks like Sophie is having difficulty separating the two again, but who was I to judge?

  The four of us, and even Mrs. Wilson, who had come down to join in for a bit of the fun, made fudge all afternoon. We used a recipe that is actually my mum’s world famous fudge. She had made it for me throughout my childhood, and I knew it off by heart. I stored that recipe safe and sound in my memory forever.

  The kids enjoyed getting to lick the bowl at the end, while Sophie, Mrs. Wilson and I admired our fudge making skills. Trays of it sat in the fridge, ready to be taken to the Fudge Challenge tomorrow morning.

  My phone beeped, it was Scott.

  Your new mate told me to tell you ‘Don’t be too sure about that lassie. My fudge is sitting in the fridge setting and it looks like one of my best batches to date.’

  I replied to Scott,

  Please inform him that this Fudge Challenge is on. May the best man win.

  Scott replied,

  Should I just give him your phone number?

  If you must.

  I will pick you up at 5am tomorrow morning. We are in a new location tomorrow, in Glasgow.

  Copy that, see you then.

  The rest of the evening went well, the girls and I chilled at home playing the many board games that Mrs. Wilson had left on the book shelf. I had extended our stay at the cottage for an extra few weeks while working at Scottlander’s.

  That evening Sophie also went out on her first date with James, without the kids. He took her to the movies and out to dinner. ‘Oh, young love!’ I thought. ‘To be young again, those were the days.’ After we finished playing the board game Candyland and finished our pieces of fudge – we did have to taste test it, after all! – I called it a night as it was 8pm. Sophie was still not back. ‘Must be having a great date,’ I thought. I put the kids to bed, put another log on the fire and went off to bed as well. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out like a light.

  I awoke at 4.30am to my bagpipes again, it felt like I was in the movie Groundhog Day! I got up, got ready, checked on the girls who were still fast asleep and checked to make sure Sophie had returned home last night. I could see she had by the blanket moving up and down as she took each breath. I slowly backed out of her room but before I had fully escaped, she woke up and said, “May the best fudge win.”

  I replied, “Oh crap! That’s right, the fudge! I’d better not forget that.”

  Luckily I had packed it all up last night and it was in containers ready to go.

  As I walked up the path – or should I say the ‘overthinking path?’ – I was starting to get anxious about Scott. Would it be awkward, or will everything be fine? What does he think we are now? Does he think I’m his girlfriend or was it just a one-off, ‘heat of the moment, amazing ‘bolt the door action’ in the back of his van,’ sort of thing? So many questions were floating around inside this already overthinking brain of mine.

  Well, so it happens, all my questions will soon be answered, as at that very moment, there he was waiting in his van at the top of the path. And here I was holding containers of fudge. I didn’t know what to say to him when I first got in to the van, so I just said, “Morning. Fancy some of the world’s best fudge for breakfast?”

  “Don’t mind if I do,” he replied, and proceeded to reach into a container to grab a bit. He put it into his mouth and I watched him sink his oh, so perfect teeth into my oh, so perfect fudge. It was an oh, so perfect moment.

  I couldn’t take my eyes off this amazing, adorable, fantastic guy as he chewed and swallowed. I could see the outline of his defined jaw, and the fact that he was eating my fudge gave him extra hotness points.

  He said, with his mouth still full, “Wow Letticia, this is actually really good! And I’m not just saying that, it really is. I think your opponent should be extremely worried. If his fudge is better than this then it will be a fudge miracle, but I can’t see how it could be.” And with that, I could not hold back any longer, I leaned over and kissed him. I even got to sample a little bit of my own fudge in doing so. I said, as I was kissing him, in a mumbling kind of way, “Mmmmm, you are right. It tastes good, even better in your mouth.” “God, I’ve missed you,” he replied.

  “Really? It’s only been a day.”

  “A day too long.”

  He got his hand behind my neck, pulled me further into his face, and kissed me for a bit longer before saying, “We’d better get going.” And so, with that, we drove off towards Glasgow with my fudge in hand, and Scott sitting next to me.

  Filming was based in the centre of Glasgow today, just a one-day shoot, and Scott told me they have had to shut down a few streets around the set.

  I asked, “Where are we located for today’s catering?”

  “We are based in another community hall, just around the corner from the film set. We are going to have to set everything up from scratch this morning, and there will be no dinner service, as filming will be wrapping up around 4pm,” he explained. “It will look pretty much the same as how we had it on the last set.

  There was no filming scheduled tomorrow, so Scott gets a day off from being on set. The kitchen will still be running though, but I’ll get that day off, so won’t be needed until the following day. I was very much looking forward to having a whole day off with my kids.

  Today Sophie and the kids, and no doubt James, were heading off to the local library for story-telling hour. I never did get a chance to ask Sophie how her date went last night. I will be asking tonight though, I’m eager to find out all the details.

  We arrived in Glasgow to another cold and wet day. It had only taken about one hour. My main concern, however, was to get my fudge somewhere dry and safe. I think Scott had more important concerns, like setting up on time.

  We had the tables and chairs all set up and the catering hot plates were turned on and starting to heat up. We spread the tablecloths out on each table and added that extra special touch, the thistle and vase. If I had not remembered the hour-long drive to Glasgow I had just taken, I would have thought we were back on the last set. Scott was very good at making a statement with food and design.

  We started to bring trays of food out for the breakfast service. It was about to become a mad rush, so we had to be on the ball and ready to go when the first cast and crew members came in for their breakfast. I had no idea what time my favourite actors were due on set, or when Alistair and Tammy would arrive but when they do, the Fudge Challenge would be on. Not that I’m even sure how it will work, just as long as I win, that’s all that matters. Scott had already promised me his vote without even trying Alistair’s fudge, so that’s one point to me already.

  The breakfast service was in full swing by the time Alistair showed his face.

  “Well, well, well. Look who has returned to set, the world-famous fudge making Aussie. So she calls herself anyway.”

  “Yip, that’s me, at your service. So, where is your fudge?” I asked.

  “Oh, it’s in a mate’s trailer, I’m using his fridge. It’s looking divine. One of the best batches I’ve made to date.”

  “
Yes, Scott did pass on your text messages to me.”

  Alistair gave a little ‘thumbs up’ to Scott who was down the other end of the bench, and yelled out, “Thanks mate!”

  Scott did the thumbs up back to him with a huge smile on his face, I knew what he was thinking – ‘He just called me mate, wahoo!’ Scott now liked Alistair, now that he knew he has a girlfriend and is no threat. Men, really.

  “Talking about Scott, I heard you had a bit of ‘bolt the door’ action the other day,” Alistair said to me.

  My face went completely red. How could he possibly know about our little ‘bolt the door’ episode? Unless Scott told him about it on set yesterday.

  “How on earth could you know that, were you spying?”

  “Nooooo, not at all. You just told me now, I actually had no idea if there was any ‘bolt the door’ action or not. But it was bound to happen, you and Scott are great together.”

  “Nicely played, and thank you. I must say, it was a very good ‘bolt the door’ moment. Might need to ‘bolt the door’ again very soon,” I said.

  “Okay, that’s more than enough information for now! On another note, I’m due on set in, oh fudge, like now. Looks like I have fudge on the mind,” he said, looking at his watch.

  He walked off as he called, “The fudge showdown here at 11am. Spread the word we need taste testers to judge, I will spread the word on set. You are so going down Aussie girl!”

  “Keep dreaming!” I yelled back.

  Word had started to spread. Cast and crew members were coming up to get their food throughout the morning and were asking me what time the Fudge Challenge starts and could they be involved. Even my idol was looking forward to being in on the action and tasting my fudge.

  I told everyone, “Only if I have your vote, then you can be involved! And it starts at 11am.”

  It was now 10.45am and people were starting to rock up. We pushed all the tables together: one side was going to be my fudge tasting side and the other side Alistair’s, however, our taste testers were not to know whose fudge was who’s. Scott would play the fudge referee and would also serve the fudge out to each person. Paper and pens were provided for each taste tester to write either 1 or 2, depending on which fudge they enjoyed the most. Scott would collect all the voting papers and count who scored the most and then the winner would be announced.

  Alistair arrived with Tammy at 10.55am and handed his fudge container to Scott. Scott placed each contestant’s fudge on trays and started to hand them out down each side of the row of tables.

  He announced in a boxing announcer kind of voice.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen, let the Fudge Challenge begin! Down the left-hand side of the tables you have fudge number one, down the right-hand side, you have fudge number two. Once you have tried both entries, please leave the table and allow another taste tester to take your seat. Once all the fudge is gone, Tammy and I will count up the votes and we shall have a winner!”

  Alistair and I sat on two chairs next to each other at the end of the tables. We were not allowed to move until the judging was completed, so we would not influence anyone’s vote to go our way. Gee, this challenge was very professional and well thought out; so many rules. I turned to Alistair and asked, “Do you do these sorts of challenges a lot in your life?”

  “Oh, no, this is the first one. To be honest, nobody has ever challenged me before, until you came along, that is.”

  “Well, whatever way it goes, it has been a fun challenge anyway,” I said.

  “Oh aye, that it has,” he replied.

  I watched as everyone tasted both our fudges. I could see by the look on some faces that they enjoyed mine the most, there was no question about it. I could tell which was mine by the size of the pieces.

  A few minutes later I heard a cow bell ring. I looked around to see Scott ringing it hard, he then announced.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen. The Fudge Challenge has been completed, thank you to all our taste testers. We will have a winner very soon!”

  Tammy and Scott went off to count the voting papers. It didn’t take too long; it was only a few minutes before that cow bell started ringing again.

  ‘Good God Scott, overdoing the cow bell just a tad,’ I thought. Give a man a bell to ring and the power goes straight to his head. He then announced in a very loud and deep boxing announcer voice.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen we have a winner! It was close, only one vote in it. The 2018 Fudge Champion goes to…… drum roll please….”

  People started hitting the tables with their hands to make a drum roll sound. You could tell we were surrounded by actors and actresses, everything was so dramatic and over the top.

  “And the winner is…. Letticia Little!”

  I jumped out of my seat yelling, “Yes! yes! Yes! yes!” and doing air fist pumps, then my victory dance kicked in. Alistair rose from his chair and put his hand out to shake mine.

  “Congratulations! I must go and try the last bit of your fudge for myself,” he said, and went over to taste it. I was still doing my victory dance when he returned, “Wow, Letticia. This is really good. Here, try mine if you like.”

  “Oh yes, I would love to.”

  I took a bite, “Mmmm, wow, this is really good too. They are actually both as good as each other,” I said.

  “That they are,” he replied, “But on the day, the best fudge won the challenge and it was yours, so enjoy the victory.”

  “Oh, I will. All day long!” I said with a giggle and a wink.

  Scott came over and congratulated us. Alistair said, “Nice announcing, you have some talent there.”

  “Oh, thanks Mate. That means a lot, coming from you.” Well, I think Scott might have a bit of a man crush here.

  Ewan, I mean Alistair, and Tammy then invited Scott and I out for drinks in Edinburgh with some of the other cast and crew that night after filming.

  “It’s your prize for winning,” he said. “My shout.” And before I could even say, ‘Yes, we would love to,’ Scott got in before me.

  “That would be great. Sounds like a plan, we will be there.”

  “Well, filming wraps at 4pm and we are due to film back in Edinburgh again tomorrow, so we’ll all be heading back that way for the night. Everyone is meeting at the Dragonfly Bar there. It’s a great bar, and they will also reserve us some private tables to keep crazy fans like you guys away!” Alistair laughed.

  “Well, I wouldn’t call us crazy fans,” I said, laughing along, thinking to myself I can't even get his real name right in my head.

  Scott added, “Not me anyway, but Letticia on the other hand!” I looked at Scott, who then gave me a little nudge and a wink.

  “Watch it Scott.” I told him I gave Sophie a quick text.

  Might be home a bit later tonight, Scott and I are off for drinks with famous people. Hope you had no plans better that this?

  I had a reply twenty minutes later.

  OMG Letticia! You are so lucky; how did you manage that?

  I replied, Because our fudge won, that’s how!

  She texted straight back.

  Wahoo! I knew it would. And yes, no worries. I have no plans tonight; James has rugby training anyway.

  Thanks, heaps. I want to hear all about your date last night when I get home too.

  Ok boss, only if you tell me all about your drinks with all your new famous friends. You are moving up in the world.

  Deal, I replied.

  Scott and I drove to Edinburgh like silly little school girls, giggling and singing at the top of our lungs along with any song that came onto the radio that we knew the words to. Ironically, the Queen song, ‘We are the Champions’, came on. We changed the words around a bit though, to ‘We are the Fudge Champions of the Year.’ As we approached Edinburgh, with dry throats after too much singing, I decided I needed to get out of these clothes and into something a tad more… well let’s face it, anything would be better than wearing this uniform out for my victory drinks.

  I
didn’t want to go home and get changed because it would be hard on me and the girls to have to turn around and go back out again. We decided to go to some shops and buy some clothes for our night out. If we hurried, we would make it before the shops closed. It was getting late so we would no doubt end up being some of those annoying customers that turn up right on closing time and ask a million questions or try on outfit after outfit. Oh, well, it’s not every day you get to go out for drinks with famous actors, hopefully including my idol.

  We arrived at a shop called Whistles down George Street. It closes at 6pm, so we have thirty minutes to find an outfit. Scott and I ran like we were on a reality TV fashion show with a time limit, and we had to find the best outfit and out dress all the other contestants.

  I ran to the female section as Scott ran to the male section. We grabbed items of clothing from left and right. I had dresses, skirts, trousers and shirts piled high, I could hardly find my way to the changing room. Scott arrived at the dressing room with what looked like two outfits to try on. ‘He was one of those shoppers,’ I thought, ‘In and out, knows what he wants. Me, on the other hand, not so much.’

  We tried our outfits on and did a little fashion parade for one another. Obviously, Scott’s fashion parade ended before mine, and he had chosen the first outfit out of the two. He then took a seat in the fashion show crowd to continue watching me until I finally found the outfit of all outfits. I decided to be a little daring in my choice, after all, this is the new Letticia. I was learning to love myself again, and work on my self-confidence.

  I ended up choosing some tight, green tartan jeans and a black woollen top with a silver zip that zipped up on the back, and of course, my black knee-high boots. It was a cold night out, must have been around three degrees.