The hurt I feel will take a while to fade, but for now, I have to refocus. I’ve endured one act of sabotage after the other. The best revenge would be to win Can You Take The Heat?. And tonight, I intend to give it all I’ve got.
47
Fall seven times and stand up eight.
Japanese Proverb
Piper:
Three hours later, we’re lined up in the boardroom of Yelp’s Manhattan office. In true reality-TV fashion, Maisie’s assembled the friends and family of each chef in the audience. In my corner, I have Owen and Wyatt, Gabby, Dominic, Carter and Noah, Wendy, Daniel, and Sebastian.
“Bailey sends her love from Argentina,” Daniel tells me when I give him a questioning look.
Sebastian grins. “And she told us we had to be here.”
I chuckle. “You know Maisie Hayes is going to gush over you? It isn’t every day we have a two-Michelin star chef in our presence.”
“Will you knock that off?” Sebastian says, aggrieved. “In any case, you appear well on your way to your first star.” He gives Wyatt and Owen a dry look. “Feel free to thank me when that happens, you two.”
Wyatt snorts. “Don’t hold your breath.”
We’re just chatting to ease the strain. The crew is setting up the stage. Each of the chefs will have a long table in front of them, with each dish they made during the forty-five minute time frame. Right now, a couple of guys in black t-shirts are arguing over lighting. Tell me who won, I want to scream. Just get the suspense over with.
Of course, if they did that, they wouldn’t have much of a show. Maisie has some pretty sharp showbiz instincts. I’m willing to bet that in six months, she’s going to have her own show on TV.
“Alright,” Maisie calls out after about ten minutes. “Chef Jackson, Chef Garcia, Chef Nakamura, will you please get in position? We’re ready to get going.”
My heart beats faster. It’s only a silly contest, Piper, I tell myself, trying to calm down. You’re with Wyatt and Owen. You’ve already won.
But I’m lying. I have professional pride, and I definitely want to win.
* * *
Forty minutes later, I’m ready to hit Maisie on the head with a piece of battered fish. She’s drawing out the tension, building up the suspense, and I’m ready to scream. So far, she’s made each of us introduce ourselves and our dishes. Then the judges have pretended to taste each dish, even though the food is cold by now, and even though they already did their real tasting earlier. “It’s for TV,” the producer explains when we gets restive.
Finally, the judges are ready to make their decision. George Nicolson steps forward. “This was a hard choice,” he says solemnly. “We have to choose between three exceptionally talented chefs today.”
“Chef Nakamura,” he turns to the Japanese man. “Every meal I’ve eaten at Katsura has been impeccable. The presentation is beautiful, and the food, superb.”
My heart hammers in my chest. I’m so nervous I can’t breathe.
“Chef Garcia.” Anita Tucker addresses the head chef of Cava. “What can I say? Throughout the contest, we’ve come to identify Cava with bold, innovative cuisine, and today, you knocked it out of the park.”
My palms are sweaty. I try to wipe them discreetly on my chef’s whites. My knees quake. What are they going to say about me?
“Chef Jackson.” Maisie Hayes smiles at me. “Piper’s was our dark horse entry. We knew the other restaurants in the contest, but you came out of nowhere with your modern take on Southern food.”
I’m not sure if Maisie’s praising me or damning me. I paste a fake smile on my face. My stomach churns.
“Three very deserving restaurants,” she says to all of us. “And if we could award three winners, we would. Unfortunately, we’re forced to choose.”
“George, Anita, and I have conferred and we’ve made our choice,” she continues. “Our winner demonstrated, week after week, that they had what it takes to succeed in a very competitive field. They dealt with one obstacle after the other, and they kept going in the face of adversity. And never once did they take their focus off the food.”
I want to throw up.
The lights in the studio dim, and a drum-roll begins to play. A wide smile breaks out on Maisie’s face. “Piper Jackson, you’re the winner! Congratulations!”
The spotlight shines down on me, and confetti rains from the ceiling. I barely notice. I’m looking at Wyatt and Owen. A huge smile breaks out on Wyatt’s face; Owen pumps his fist in the air.
I’m sure there’s something I’m supposed to do right now for the TV show, but I don’t care. I run toward them and throw my arms around them. “You did it,” Wyatt says, and there’s so much pride in his voice that tears prick at my eyelids.
My friends are jumping up and down, cheering. Gabby’s hugging Noah. Daniel and Sebastian high-five each other. Wendy dances a little jig, laughing with happiness. Josef looks shocked while the rest of my team, Kevin, Salim, Gina, Sasha, and Petra, beam with joy. Scenes of celebration are all around me.
I feel a momentary pang that my parents aren’t among the audience, then I dismiss it. They made their choice. I’ve made mine. In time, the rift between the three of us might heal, but their many acts of sabotage are too fresh in my mind.
“You’re wrong,” I tell Wyatt. “We did it.”
48
Every battle is won before it’s ever fought.
Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Wyatt:
I’m still grinning when I show up the next morning to see my father, Owen and Piper at my side. “Funny,” Owen remarks dryly. “I thought you’d be angrier about this meeting.”
Piper puts her arm around me affectionately. “Leave him be,” she tells Owen, a smile in her voice. “This is a much better reaction than I expected.”
I look down at her. “Well, thanks to you, my little lawbreaker, I hold all the cards. Why shouldn’t I be in a good mood?”
I feel strangely at peace. A huge weight has been lifted off me. My entire life, I’ve been ashamed of my mother’s hoarding. For as long as I can remember, my parents have been a source of tension, not comfort. Today marks an end to that.
Both Piper and Owen have, in their own way, learned to leave their past behind in the last few days. After they tried to destroy her restaurant, Piper’s realized the futility of trying to please her parents, and doesn’t want anything to do with them anymore.
For seventeen years, Owen has kept the wound of his family’s deaths alive. By telling Mendez he never wants to hear from him again, Owen has finally accepted that it’s time to heal.
And I’m ready to tell my dad to fuck off.
As before, my father shows up promptly, a security guard at his side. “Well?” he demands, as soon as he sees me. “Do you have my money?”
My father would make a good poker player. The photos have been stolen; the negatives are gone. He has no leverage on me anymore, but he hides it well. I guess he’s hoping he can bluster his way through this meeting.
I don’t want a long conversation with Jack Lawless. There will be no negotiation.
“No.” I give him a cold look. “The photos are gone, aren’t they? You’ve lost your only weapon.” I stand up. Though I try, I can’t conceal the sadness. “All you had to do was say you were sorry once, and I would have given you everything. All you had to do was take responsibility for abandoning a thirteen year old child, but you didn’t care about me. You never did. It was always about Jack Lawless and nobody else.”
My father opens his mouth to say something, but I shake my head. I’m done listening. Nothing he can say can change anything. “You don’t have any power over me anymore,” I tell him. “If you show up here, you’ll be asked to leave. You can get drunk and follow me around; I don't care. All your power came from the fact that I gave a damn.” I look down on him. “No more.”
Owen rises to his feet as well. “The security guard will escort you out.”
As I watch Jack La
wless leave, I take a deep breath. Piper and Owen are at my side.
The past doesn’t weigh me down anymore, and the future is bright.
Epilogue
Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.
Søren Kierkegaard
Piper:
Thanksgiving Day...
Piper’s is officially shut for the holiday, but you wouldn’t know it from the number of people at my restaurant. For the first time in my life, I’ve decided not to go to New Orleans for the weekend. Instead, I’m hosting a celebratory party, and I’ve invited all my friends.
The three people that know how to cook — Sebastian, Owen, and me - have spent all morning in the kitchen cooking a feast for the people we love. The tables are loaded with food. The roasted turkey jostles for room with the vegetarian pumpkin lasagna. There’s stuffing and gravy, my macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, green beans, steamed broccoli, and cranberry sauce. In addition, Gabby’s brought sandwiches, because it wouldn’t be a party without them.
The place is packed. Bailey’s flown up from Argentina for the holiday weekend. Apart from Sebastian and Daniel, she’s brought Daniel’s mother and sister. “Thank you for inviting us,” Daniel says to me as he walks in. He winks at his mother and lowers his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “You saved me from my mother’s cooking.”
Bailey chuckles as Daniel’s mother digs an elbow into her son’s side.
Gabby’s men, Carter and Dominic show up. “Where’s Noah?” I ask them. I like that little kid.
“With his father,” Carter replies. I know from listening to Gabby that Carter and Noah’s dad have a rocky relationship, but Carter seems pretty calm at the moment.
“We’ve got a room in the city,” Gabby confesses with a grin. “We’re going to make the kid-free night count.”
Six months ago, I would have blushed. Now, I just chuckle and look around to make sure Katie’s twins aren’t listening to this conversation. They aren’t. They’re at the table holding the pies, and they’re eyeing them like they haven’t been fed in weeks.
Katie and Adam are talking to Miki, who I haven’t seen in months. She’s here without her husband, which is an ominous sign. I pull Wendy aside to ask her about it. “Where’s Aaron? How come he’s not here?”
She grimaces. “I think Miki’s leaving him,” she says. “She walked in on his secretary blowing him in the office.”
“What?” I gape at Wendy. “I’m going to kill him.”
“Get in line,” she replies. “Miki almost sounded relieved. I think things have been rocky for a while.”
“Why didn’t she say anything?”
Wendy shrugs. “You know Miki,” she says. “She doesn’t really say much at the best of times.”
“She’s not the only one.” I give Wendy a questioning look. I haven’t seen much of you either. What’s going on?”
She doesn’t meet my eyes. “Work,” she says vaguely. “You know how it is.”
Wyatt walks up to the two of us carrying a couple of flutes of champagne. “Ladies,” he says gallantly. “You need drinks.”
I smile and take the offered glass. Wendy hesitates for an instant before reaching for the champagne. “Aren’t the two of you friends yet?” I ask them. Wyatt and Owen have told me about Wendy threatening to hurt them if they broke my heart, but given that I’m deliriously happy, everyone should be getting along just fine.
Wendy grins. “Of course we are.” She punches Wyatt lightly on his arm. “Unless you hurt Piper…”
“At which point you’ll chop my balls off and use them in a stir-fry,” Wyatt quips. “Don’t worry,” he winks at me. “I take very good care of Piper.”
My face heats. “Stop that,” I mutter, embarrassed, but he just chuckles.
Just then, Owen taps his fork against his glass. “It’s time for thanks,” he says quietly. “And I have many things to be thankful for.” He lifts his glass in my direction. “Let’s drink. To laughter, to love, and happily ever after.”
I take a sip of my champagne, and turn to Wendy to continue our conversation, when I notice she’s not drinking. Her glass is untouched. I open my mouth to ask her why, then I realize that Wendy might not talk with Wyatt nearby. “Excuse us,” I tell him, clamping my fingers around my friend’s wrist. “Wendy and I need to go to the bathroom.”
I drag her through the kitchen doors. “This isn’t the washroom,” Wendy jokes.
I’m not distracted. “You’re not drinking,” I tell her. “What’s going on?”
She takes a deep breath. “I was going to tell everyone on Monday,” she confesses. “Almost two months ago, the day before my birthday, I decided to have a one night stand with two men.” Her mouth twists. “It was just one night, no strings attached. What could possibly go wrong?”
I know what’s coming, but I wait for her to speak the words.
“Except the condom failed. I was in a ménage, and there were two of them, and now I’m pregnant.” She gives me a bleak look. “And I don’t know which one of them is the father.”
Oh dear. I stare back at her, totally lost for words. “I’m going to be a mother,” she continues, her voice a mere whisper. “And Piper, I’m terrified.”
* * *
The Playing for Love series continues with Wagering On Wendy. Coming August, 2016!
Sign up for my mailing list to stay in the loop on new releases, sales and much more! (I don’t spam, I promise.)
A Note from Tara
Dear readers,
I hope you enjoyed reading Playing With Piper.
Would you help me out by leaving a review? Reviews are hugely important in helping readers decide on their next book. Please take a moment to tell me what you thought — I’d really, really appreciate it.
If you’d like to be stay informed about what I’m working on, and get notified when my books go on sale or when I publish a new book, please do sign up to my mailing list. As a special bonus, you also get a free story for subscribing.
You can also follow me on Amazon. Click here to get to my author page, and on the left hand side, there’s a yellow Follow button (right below the author picture).
You won’t receive sale notifications that way (I think), but you will find out about new releases.
Cheers and happy reading!
Tara
About Tara Crescent
Get a free story from Tara when you sign up to Tara's mailing list.
Tara Crescent is a writer of steamy romantic fiction. She believes in sassy submissives, firm Dominants, completely consensual relationships and happily-ever-afters! Her favorite kind of romance stories are ones that are somewhat believable.
In her spare time, Tara reads, gardens, cooks, and procrastinates about cleaning. From time to time, Tara blogs about what she's working on (and anything else that she finds interesting) at http://www.taracrescent.com. She lives in Toronto.
She is somewhat active on Facebook and Twitter, especially when the writing is going poorly.
Tara also writes sci-fi romance as Lili Zander. Check her books out at http://www.lilizander.com
Find Tara on:
@TaraCrescent
tara.crescent
www.taracrescent.com
[email protected]
Also by Tara Crescent
The Playing for Love Series (Contemporary Ménage MFM Romance):
Betting on Bailey
Gambling with Gabriella
Playing with Piper
Wagering on Wendy - coming Summer 2016!
Messing with Miki - coming Fall 2016!
The Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Series (Contemporary/BDSM Romance, Romantic Comedy)
A Touch of Blackmail
A Very Paisley Christmas
Boyfriend by the Hour
The Assassin’s Revenge Series (Romantic Suspense)
Assassin’s Revenge - The Complete Series
Found (Book 1)
Bought (Book 2)
Claimed (Book 4)
The Storm Series (Contemporary/BDSM Romance):
Storm Boxed Set (Episodes 1-5)
Which includes…
Storm: The Hottest Guy in Hollywood - A BDSM Romance (Storm Episode 1)
Storm: Kinky Valentine - A BDSM Romance (Storm Episode 2)
Storm: A Road to Forgiveness – A BDSM Romance (Storm Episode 3)
Storm: Tabloid Trouble – A BDSM Romance (Storm Episode 4)
Storm: Home is Where the Vibrator is (Storm Episode 5)
Nights in Venice Series (BDSM Romance):
A Thief in Venice (Nights in Venice Book 1)
An Heiress in Venice (Nights in Venice Book 2)
A Starlet in Venice (Nights in Venice Book 3)
Standalone BDSM Romance:
Teaching Maya
The House of Pain
The Professor’s Pet & follow-up short The Professor’s Girlfriend
The Audition
The Watcher
The Doctor Dom Series (BDSM & Medical Play):
Triage (Doctor Dom Volume 1)
Observation (Doctor Dom Volume 2)
Diagnosis (Doctor Dom Volume 3)
Relapse (Doctor Dom Volume 4)
Recovery (Doctor Dom Volume 5)
Or, buy the collections for a discount…
Doctor Dom Series Sequence One (Triage | Observation | Diagnosis)
Doctor Dom Series Sequence Two (Relapse | Recovery)
You can also keep track of my new releases by signing up for my mailing list!
Playing with Piper (Menage MfM Romance Novel) (Playing for Love Book 3) Page 23