Three Sisters Series: Ringside

by LaVerne Thompson

  “Tim! Come back!” It was Kate chasing after him. But it was too late. Some customers ran to the window, Atlanta already had a clear view of the parking lot. They watched as Tim jumped into a blue Explorer and drove off.

  “Aaarrgh!!” Kate stomped back to the kitchen.

  Wow! Drama. Atlanta grinned. For once it had nothing to do with her. Turning back to her booth, she grabbed her purse. She headed toward Hank’s office, thinking she’d wait for him there, and ran into Joe. “Hey, what was going on out there?” she asked.

  “Oh that.” He frowned. “The monthly break up. In fact, they’re over due by two weeks.”

  “Oh wow.”

  “Oh wow is right. We don’t have a head cook now. I’m tired of this, and I know Hank must be too. And we need to get ready for the lunch rush. It’s Sunday and people are coming in from late service.”

  “What are we going to do?” Kate walked over with a spatula in her hand. “I don’t know how to make his special chili. He has the recipe locked up in that pea brain of his.”

  Joe blew out a breath. “So not good.”

  “Wait, he was making chili?” Atlanta asked.

  “Yeah, it’s the talk of the town. And Tim is the one that makes it. No one else can duplicate it.” Joe just shook his head along with Kate.

  “Hmm. Tell you what. I can whip up some chili. It won’t be his, but I bet it can stand up to it just as well, if not blow it out of the water.”

  “Really?” they both said looking hopeful.

  “Yeah, let me freshen up and you can put me to work.

  “Oh, no. We couldn’t ask you to do that. You’re a guest here and a friend of Hank’s,” Kate said.

  “Sure she can. All the more reason. Hank will appreciate it,” Joe said pushing her in the direction of the restroom. “You can drop your purse off in Hank’s office. We’ll have a hairnet, gloves and smock ready for you in the kitchen. Come on Kate, before she changes her mind.” He grabbed Kate by the wrists and ran to the kitchen.

  After Atlanta finished, she made her way to the kitchen. It was just buzzing with excitement.

  “Thank God!” One of the kitchen helpers shouted.

  “Okay you guys, where’s the beef?” Atlanta asked.

  The kitchen staff broke out in laughter and pointed to the large commercial fridge.

  “We have just enough for the lunch crowd,” Joe said. “That’s what Hank went to the vendor for; we need it for dinner also. But this is more than enough for now.”

  “Okay then, let’s get busy. Where do you keep all your spices?”

  “Over there,” one of the cooks said, pointing to the pantry.

  Atlanta went over and pulled out almost every seasoning known to man. “Okay, I need onions, bell peppers, garlic…” She continued rattling off items as the cooks brought her what she needed. “Now, do you put beans in your chili?”

  “We make one batch with and one without,” Kate said. “It looks like you have everything under control, girlfriend. We’ll get the rest of the menu together. Holla if you need anything.”

  “Will do.”

  She organized the staff to help with the cutting while she mixed and stirred the ingredients. After two and a half hours, she was finished and the entire kitchen was looking at two huge vats of chili.

  “Well here you go.” Atlanta grabbed some small bowls and dipped chili out and handed it to the crew. “Tell me what you think.”

  Everyone dug in. Silence. Then the whole kitchen erupted.

  “This is fantastic!” shouted one cook.

  “This is better than fantastic. It’s out of this world!” yelled another.

  “My God! This is great!” Kate said. “Is this a family recipe?”

  “It’s my own special concoction,” Atlanta smiled proudly.

  “You need to market this,” Joe said.

  “So, is this better than Tim’s?” Atlanta asked.

  “Tim who?” someone shouted. Everyone broke out in laughter again.

  “You deserve a break. Why don’t you go into Hank’s office and put your feet up,” Kate suggested.

  “Good idea and we’ll bring you anything off the menu,” Joe said.

  “Thanks, but I’m still stuffed from breakfast. But I can use some down time.”

  The kitchen began applauding and thanking her as she left.

  Atlanta entered Hank’s office and sat down in his chair. She reached for her purse on the desk. She figured she’d get in some reading. As she tried getting her book out of the bag, she knocked something over onto the floor. She looked down and saw an organizer.

  Picking it up, she absently flipped through it trying to get it to the current date, when an entry caught her eye. Morrison Publishing was written in red. Now why did that sound so familiar? She reached for her book and turned to the front page. Morrison Publishing stood out big as day.

  She scrunched her face up, trying to figure out why Hank would have that in his organizer. She flipped through more pages. There were more entries for Morrison Publishing meetings. A few had meeting dates with an Elliott Wright.

  She got to today’s page, and saw a note for a conference call with this Elliott from Morrison. She tried wrapping her head around what it meant, but couldn’t come up with anything. Then it occurred to her. Hank did say he knew Ms. Grimes. But how well?

  Okay, he said she came in here regularly and he was good friends with her. But that didn’t mean he was good friends with the publisher. Why would he be chummy with the publisher? Maybe he was asking for a favor of some sort. Something didn’t gel. But right now she was too tired to think.

  She went over to his couch, kicked off her shoes and laid down. She’d talk to him when he got back.

  Hank took longer than usual, but it couldn’t be helped.

  He walked in the restaurant as the last of the breakfast crowd was leaving and looked for Atlanta, but didn’t see her. She must have gotten tired of waiting and went back to the resort. He headed for the kitchen.

  “Sorry I took so long guys. Everything going okay?”

  “Well Tim and Sally split,” Joe said.

  “Really?” Hank checked his watch. “They are about two weeks over due. Where is he?”

  “He left a few hours ago,” Kate said with a bowl of something in her hand.

  “What? This is our busiest time! You see that…”

  “Calm down,” she said putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “It’s been taken care of. Here, taste this.” She handed him the small bowl and a spoon.

  “Wow! This is delicious! But this isn’t Tim’s chili.”

  “Nope, it’s Atlanta’s.”

  “Atla…what?”

  “When Tim flew out of here, he was about to start the chili for the lunch crowd. Atlanta told Kate that she could make chili and volunteered to help. This is her stuff.”

  “This is way better than Tim’s. Of course the crowd out there will notice. Hmm. Tell you what. I’m going to go in the office and make up a flyer announcing this new chili. We’ll bill it as a special and see what the people think. But I have to call Atlanta first…”

  “She’s in your office taking a nap,” Joe said smiling.

  “Okay, then.” He clapped his hands together. “Let’s get this show on the road. We’ve got a hungry crowd.”

  Atlanta was full of surprises. That chili was gourmet caliber. But the poor thing had to be tired. He was going to ask her if he could announce the new chili and call it Chili from Atlanta. Then ask for the recipe. He doubted if he would get the latter, but it was worth a shot.

  He arrived at his office and opened the door. There she was, sound asleep on his couch. As quietly as he could, he sat on the edge and stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. Her skin was so soft, he got a knot in his stomach. He had to tell her about those books.

  Just when things were looking good, hard realities came calling.

  Chapter Ten

  Hank busied himself catching up on his mail while
Atlanta slept. Lunch would be in full swing soon and things would get hectic. He’d also checked his voicemail to see if his editor called. Nothing. He emailed him instead. Hank stopped in mid-type when he heard Atlanta stir on the couch.

  She opened one eye, and smiled. “Hello.”

  “Hey, baby. I hear you did some damage in the kitchen.”

  “Oh. I hope you don’t mind,” she said sitting up quickly and straightening herself out.

  “Mind? Are you kidding? That’s the best tasting chili I ever had.”

  “So you liked it?” She looked at him hopefully.

  “Loved it. And that’s what I would like to talk to you about.”

  “Oh?”

  He closed his laptop and went over to the couch. Sitting next to her, he put his arms around her and kissed her fully on the mouth. It was a long kiss. A kiss, that to him meant something more than affection. It could be a kiss goodbye. Because he knew he would have to fess up sooner or later, and he could lose her. But he needed to choose the time and place. This was neither the time nor the place.

  “Wow! What a kiss. If I can get that from you for just making chili, I wonder what I’ll get for making pheasant!” She giggled that cute sexy giggle he loved so much.

  “Well, I’ll tell you. I was wondering if you mind us putting your chili as something regular on the lunch menu. We billed it as a special today.” He saw excitement in her eyes. “And we’ll call it Chili from Atlanta.”

  “Chili from Atlanta,” she said wistfully. “I like that.”

  “Great, so we can use it?”

  “Sure.”

  “Fantastic!” He clapped his hands together and returned to his desk. He used the intercom on the phone. “Hey Joe, could you come into the office?”

  “Sure.”

  Hank turned back to her and said, “I’ll need you to write down the recipe for me.”

  “Not a problem.”

  Joe walked in, in less than a minute. “Need something boss?”

  “Make some flyers real quick and stuff them into the menus before lunch. This is what I want you to say. Announcing a new discovery: Chili From Atlanta. Take a picture of a nice full bowl, put it on the flyer and we’ll see what happens. Oh, we’ll charge fifteen ninety-five a bowl.” He winked at Joe.

  Joe chuckled. “Will do boss.” He left the room.

  “I saw that wink. You can’t possibly be charging that much,” Atlanta said coming to his desk.

  “No, we’ll charge the regular price. Folks around here have better sense than to spend that much on a bowl of chili.”

  She grinned. “I can’t wait to see the response.”

  “Hey, if it’s anything like that response I gave when I tasted your concoction, we’ll be in business.”

  She kissed him on the cheek.

  He took her hand and sat her on his lap. “Say, if you don’t mind I would like you to stick around for the dinner hour.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah, you got any more recipes in that cute little head of yours?”

  “Why, Hank. I think you just want me for my cooking prowess.”

  They both laughed. “And other things. You don’t mind? Do you?”

  “Of course not. But I don’t know what I could add to the menu. It just so happened that you needed a chili maker.”

  “I know, but what I thought was maybe you can look over the dinner menu with me. I think it could use some revamping. If you see something you think we can add or change up and you can cook it, it would be great.”

  “Gee, you’re serious.”

  “Very much so. I’m tired of Tim and his blow-ups and his same old recipes. Besides, my crew loves you.”

  “How about the crew’s boss?”

  How about the crew’s boss? Damn. He fell for her the first time he laid eyes on her. And it’d has been going down hill ever since. She was so sexy and at the same time so vulnerable. He just wanted to protect her. To tell her he’d traveled down the same path.

  Did he love her? Yes. Should he tell her? He mentally sighed to himself. Why was life so difficult?

  “I love everything about you. Your spirit, your sense of adventure and the whole package it’s wrapped up in.”

  “Hmm.” She placed her finger on her chin in a mocking manner. “I guess that will do.”

  “Now, care to see the other side of the restaurant business?”

  “Sure.”

  “Okay, then let’s get to it.” He patted her on the side of her butt and she hopped off his lap. “Stay here, I’ll be right back.” He headed for the kitchen.

  The crew was busy going in and out serving the lunch crowd. He walked past one of the vats of chili and noticed it was empty. “Hey Kate.” He waved her over. “This is selling already?”

  “People want to try it and look over there.” Kate pointed to the “Take Out” counter. “They want to take some to go.”

  “Fantastic! By the way, Atlanta agreed to give us her chili recipe and use her name, and she’s staying for the dinner crowd.”

  “You guys are really hitting it off,” Kate said crossing her arms.

  “I know what you’re thinking. I said I’ll tell her. I’m taking her out to dinner then back to my place. More intimate that way.”

  “And less embarrassing if she causes a scene, which I wouldn’t blame her.”

  “I’ll try to explain as much as possible. She seems like a reasonable person. I think she’ll understand once I explain the reason behind the deception.”

  “Deception, being the operative word,” Joe quipped from behind.

  Hank turned slowly around. “Maybe I should bring you two along.”

  “Bye,” Joe said fleeing the scene.

  “Gotta go tend to table five,” Kate said rushing behind him.

  Cowards. But he couldn’t blame them. He wasn’t exactly jumping for joy.

  After he looked over the kitchen and made sure everything was ready to go, he went out on the floor and did the usual mingling with his patrons. After half an hour of walking once around the room, he snatched up a menu and headed back to his office.

  “Sorry I took so long.” He saw Atlanta looking over more of his boxing memorabilia. “You really enjoy looking at that stuff, huh?”

  “I find it fascinating,” she said.

  “Two testosterone hyped men beating each other to a pulp, fascinating?”

  “Well, I find it fascinating that someone with your looks would go in the ring.”

  “One of my moments, I’m afraid. I’ll tell you all about it at dinner, which I’m hoping you’ll accept my invitation.”

  “I’d love to. You know I love the food here.”

  “Nah, I wanna take you some place quiet and romantic. Not a joint like this,” he said tinting his head toward the door.

  She chuckled, “I see. Well, I trust your judgment.”

  “Great. Come over here and have a seat.” He pointed to the guest chair in front of his desk and he took his seat. “Here is the usual menu. Hasn’t changed much in the past three years I’m afraid.” He made a face.

  “So what would you like me to do?” Atlanta leaned over the desk turning the menu right side up so she could see it better.

  “See if you can find something we can take off the menu, or if you have any dishes you can add.”

  “I see something that you’re missing right off the bat.”

  “What?”

  “Chicken n’ Dumplins.”

  “You know how to make that?”

  “Know how to make it? I was born with the recipe clinched in my fist.”

  They laughed, and continued looking over the menu, exchanging ideas until dinner. There was no chili left to even serve to the early dinner crowd. But that was okay. The regulars had their usual and new comers were just happy to try something from the menu.

  By closing time, everyone was exhausted. Hank guided Atlanta back to his office and they plopped down on the couch. “Whew!” Atlanta, said wiping her forehead. �
��I never realized the work you guys do.” She’d helped prep dinner.

  “Too much?” he asked, turning toward her and putting his arms around her shoulders.

  “No, not at all. In fact, I find it invigorating. But to be honest, I could use a good soak in the tub.”

  “Fair enough. We’ll go out tomorrow night. Joe can take over the dinner crowd. Let’s get out of here.”

  “I’ll help you lock up.” Atlanta got up and began helping him straighten out his desk, just as his cell phone rang.

  “Hello.”

  “Hey Hank, it’s Elliott.”

  “Uhh…yeah…look. Can I call you back? Say in about an hour?”

  “You made it sound like an emergency. After the call and the email…”

  “Yeah, I know, but I really can’t talk now.”

  “Okay, an hour. I’ll be waiting. If I don’t hear from you, the cell goes off.”

  “All right, all right.”

  He disconnected.

  “Was that call important?” Atlanta asked as she stacked papers on his desk.

  “Uh…no, nothing really. Just an old acquaintance. I’ll call him when I get home. Right now I want to hurry up and get outta here. Between the vendor this morning and Tim running out, I could use a soak too.”

  “Well I’m glad I could be of some help.”

  Hank put the cookbooks away they had been looking at earlier and went over to her. Taking her in his arms, he kissed her passionately on the mouth. “You are more than a help. You’re a Godsend.”

  Chapter Eleven

  It was close to ten before Hank and Atlanta waved goodnight to everyone. It took so long because each member of the crew came over to Atlanta in the parking lot, thanking her for a job well done and saving their asses.

  They stood there until everyone left. “Okay, I need to sit,” Atlanta said rubbing her thigh.

  “Restaurant biz is a little too much huh?”

  “Not really. I loved it. Just not used to it.”

  “How would you like to come back to my place and take a nice hot bath to loosen those muscles?”

  She looked at him with a bit of hesitation in her eyes.

  “We’ll take your car. You trust me enough to drive for you?”