Cooking Up Passion

by Kiana Lee

  “This is not supposed to happen,” he said through clenched teeth. He had focused all his time and energy trying to get Caitlin up to speed with the three recipes, the same ones that the director had sworn would be in the exam. But now that was all changed.

  He punched in her number and held the phone tightly against his ear. Unfortunately, the call went straight to messaging.

  “Aloha, Caitlin,” he said. “It’s Jason. Call me back. It’s urgent.”

  Jason ended the call and stared blindly at his kitchen wall. Either Caitlin had forgotten her phone at home, or she had switched it off. Unable to stop it, a sense of dread filled him. Even if he managed to tell her about the new recipes, it was already too late.

  Chapter 18

  Caitlin opened her eyes and saw that dawn had yet to break. The clock at the side of her bed read 4:00 a.m. She remained in bed though, hoping she’d fall back to sleep, but everything conspired to keep her awake. Outside her window, she could hear the fierce shriek of a cat in heat, and then there was the siren of an ambulance in the distance...

  Somehow she managed to fall asleep again, and when she awoke it was 6:30 a.m. The knots that plagued her earlier tightened around her gut, but a sensible part of her recognized that she had studied as much as she could. Besides practicing with Jason, she had reviewed several other recipes on her own, and she was as ready as she could ever be.

  When she arrived at the school two hours later she saw that her classmates waited outside the examination room. Caitlin spied Jane in the crowd and went to her.

  “Are you ready?” she asked.

  “Not really.” Jane’s normally cheerful face was strained, and there were shadows under her eyes. “I reviewed the recipes the teachers suggested, but things didn’t go so well. I just can’t seem to remember more than three recipes. As soon as I tried to add another one to the mix, the first set of instructions seemed to disappear into the vast abyss that’s my brain.” Worry settled in her eyes. “I have to pass this exam otherwise all the money I spent on tuition will go down the tube.”

  “I’m sure you’ll pass,” Caitlin said, putting as much reassurance into her voice as she could manage. “After all, you practiced these recipes before.”

  “I hope you’re right.” Jane glanced down at her watch. “They should open the doors anytime now. Where’s your boyfriend?”

  “Jason’s not my boyfriend,” Caitlin said blushing, although the idea of it was no longer objectionable.

  More students arrived and crowded in the hallway. Some of them had their notebooks opened, trying to cram in the last bits of information in their heads. Meanwhile, others bragged about the items they mastered.

  “I forgot to study those,” Caitlin whispered to Jane as she felt her chest constrict. In fact, many things she overheard were parts she dismissed as insignificant. What if she was wrong? She opened her backpack and with cold hands, and took out her notebook.

  “Ask me about how to cook greens,” she said.

  When Jane posed the question, Caitlin rattled off the steps.

  “Okay, your turn,” Caitlin said, “Tell me how to make a basic béchamel sauce.”

  “I should know this,” Jane moaned. She closed her eyes, trying hard to retrieve the information from her memory bank. Finally she opened her eyes, and listed the process.

  “You got it partially right,” she told her friend. “You forgot to mention that the butter should be melted over medium heat before you stir in the flour. Then when it’s a light, golden brown, you then slowly whisk in the milk to make the roux.”

  Jane let out a mild curse. “And then you turn down the heat to medium-low and simmer the mixture until the flour is soft and smooth. When that’s done, you season the roux with salt and nutmeg.”

  “That’s right,” she nodded.

  “Ah, this is too much,” Jane groaned. “It’s a basic mother sauce, and I can only remember half the steps to make it!” She took in a deep breath and slowly released it. Her expression was once again laced with fear and worry. “I can’t fail these exams, Caitlin.”

  “Just relax. If anything, questions about the mother sauce will be on the written exam. That portion shouldn’t be too hard,” she said. “It’s the final practical that we need to concentrate on.” She had reviewed the more complex recipes, but she also looked at the simple ones as well.

  Finally, just before 9:00 a.m. the instructors opened the doors and the students piled in the exam room. As Caitlin took her seat, she found that the test papers were faced down on the desk. She looked around to see where Jason sat, but she frowned when he was nowhere to be found. Where was he? He made such a great deal about needing the certificate, so it was strange if he didn’t show up for the finals. But a few minutes later, he rushed through the door. He quickly scanned the room, his gaze stopping when he spotted her.

  “Good luck,” she mouthed to him. He nodded and took his seat. For some reason, he seemed agitated, but she shrugged it off. Everyone was nervous and stressed.

  “All right students, flip over your exam papers. You have one hour to complete the test. And you may start. Now.”

  When Caitlin turned the papers over, she scanned through the pages and was relieved to see that she knew most of the answers. She breezed through the multiple choice and true and false questions. But when she saw the next series of questions, she hesitated. They asked for detailed explanations of the methods and processes of four recipes they learned in class. Trying to recall the assembly of each item took effort and she wrote down as much as she could.

  “Time!” the instructor said, his voice ricocheting across the room. “Put down your pens and turn over your papers, people. The next part of the exam will be your practicals. Come to the front of the room to find your scheduled times. Your marks will be taped on the exam door in the morning, five days from now. Don’t call, or badger your instructors until then. You are dismissed!”

  Caitlin stared down at her test. Relief and anxiety mixed together, swirling around in her gut. She had completed the written part of the assessment, and she felt she did well on it. However, the final practical made up a greater portion of her grades. She just prayed that she was ready for whatever they threw at her.

  She lined up at the front of the room to get her exam time.

  “It looks like you and I will be doing our practicals in the next hour,” Jane said beside her. Her face was pinched. “I was hoping I’d get a few more hours to prepare.”

  Caitlin looked enviously at the students scheduled to do their practicals the following day. They were all smiles. “Well,” she said, trying to shrug off her envy. “At least our work will be judged, and we can be done with it. Maybe tonight I can finally get a good night’s sleep.”

  They walked back to the locker room to retrieve their equipment and knife sets.

  “I’m going to slip out for a bit,” she said to Jane.

  “Okay,” she looked at her in surprise.

  But Caitlin took off before her friend decided that she wanted to join her. Being in the school was stifling, and she needed fresh air. She walked over to the koi pond and she sat on the grass.

  After she graduated, it was unlikely that she would return to the campus. She’d spent numerous hours in the classroom and learned much more than she ever thought possible. She acquired new techniques and became confident in her cooking skills. Jason helped her a lot over the past few weeks as well. And when she reviewed all her in-class grades, she was surprised to discover that she performed better than expected. If she aced these exams, she had a fighting chance at winning the job placement. Perhaps Jason was right. Determination had gotten her this far, but she also needed to believe in herself and her abilities.

  Forty-five minutes later she went back inside, making her way to the kitchen lab where the practical exam was held.

  “I was looking all over for you,” Jason said, pushing himself away from the wall.

  “I needed to get away for a while,” she said. �
�The nervous energy from everyone was starting to rub off on me.”

  “Those three recipes we practiced won’t be on the exam,” he said, abruptly changing the topic. His powerful physique appeared rigid, and he didn’t look happy.

  “You sound so certain. How do you know this?” she asked.

  “Yeah, how do you know this?” Jane asked, joining them. “We were taught more than sixty dishes.” She hit her book to emphasize her point. “Any of them could be on the exams. Let’s just hope my old brain can remember the ones that matter.”

  “I practiced a lot of those recipes on my own,” Caitlin admitted. “Some of them I did twice.”

  “You did?” Jane asked, her eyes widening in astonishment.

  “I did, so I think I have a pretty clear idea how to approach many of the dishes. I just hope they’ll choose the more simple ones for us to make.”

  Jason started to say something, but then he closed his mouth. “You’re right,” he said, giving them a tight smile. “You never can tell which ones they’ll use in the assessment. Good luck to you both.”

  Caitlin, Jane, and two other students entered the kitchen lab. Normally the kitchen was jammed with students, but with only four of them present, the room appeared spacious and empty.

  The supervising instructor stood at the front of the room and announced, “Today you’ll be making eggs florentine; fish fillet with white wine sauce; and crème caramel. You have two and half hours to complete your preparations.” He looked over at the clock on the wall. “And the time starts now!”

  Caitlin ran to claim her workstation. All the while her heart soared. She knew these recipes. The first item required her to poach the eggs over cooked spinach, which she would then cover in a rich creamy cheese sauce. She would then finish the plate by broiling it in the oven. The next recipe required her to use her knife skills. She had chopped, minced, and diced so many things over the past five weeks that she could now handled a knife with confidence. She was also quite comfortable filleting fish, so she was positive she would execute that plate with ease. And finally, the last item would be fairly easy to make as well. In fact just the other night, Maya had requested that she make crème caramel for dessert.

  With her focus razor-sharp, Caitlin completed the three dishes with ten minutes to spare. After she was done, a kitchen assistant whisked the items away to be judged by the supervising chef.

  The plates were spread out on the table like in a four-star restaurant. She stood at attention, watching the chef as he took samples of her work.

  “These are nice,” he said.

  Her heart swelled at the comment. This particular chef was stingy with praise, and she was assured that the comment he made was genuine. She resisted the urge to pump her fist in the air and left the kitchen in high spirits.

  ***

  Wednesday rolled around fairly quickly. Caitlin went to school early to avoid the crowd. But when she got to the door of the exam room, she discovered that many of her classmates had the same idea.

  A couple of students looked over at her with a strange look on their faces. Shrinking back, she was no longer as eager to review her final marks. Her heart started to thud loudly in her chest. Was she wrong to think she did well on the exams?

  A movement caught the corner of her eye, and she saw Jane weaving to the front of the group. Caitlin grabbed her friend’s arm before she passed. “Can you look to see what I got?” she asked.

  Jane studied her face for a moment, and then said, “Sure.”

  Caitlin faded to the side as the other students pushed their way forward. She lifted a trembling hand and covered her eyes. What would she do if she failed? Of course, her friends would be sympathetic toward her, and her grandparents would no doubt lend her their emotional support, but she would be out ten grand. She would also have no job to show for all the blood and sweat that she’d put into this course.

  All of a sudden a loud squeal sounded from the crowd. A second later, Jane barreled through the students.

  “My god, you did it!” she said. “You got the top rank. It says right there that you’re the number-one student!”

  Caitlin stared at her friend. “Top rank?” she repeated, a little dazed. She pushed her way to the door where the results were posted. And there was her name in the number-one position. Right beside it, in parenthesis, was her overall grade for the course. Just then the reality of what that meant hit her with full force.

  “I got the job!” she shrieked. In excitement, she ran to find Jane. Grabbing her by the forearms, she started jumping like a lunatic. Jane laughed and joined in her crazy jig. Some classmates came to clap her on the back and congratulate her.

  “I told you that you’d get the job,” a voice said behind her.

  She turned around. “Jason!” Breaking out of her dance with Jane, she threw her arms around him. “All that hard work paid off. I still can’t believe I did it!”

  “You deserve it,” he said, hugging her tightly against his hard frame.

  Caitlin felt as if she floated among the clouds, and maybe she did because she couldn’t recall how she got to the locker room. Most of the students had dispersed once they received their grades, but Caitlin was too wired to go home. Using the excess energy, she decided to clear out her small compartment. It was finally sinking in that the thing she desired most was about to become a reality.

  Slamming the locker door shut, she slung her knapsack over her shoulders and walked out of the change room. In her excitement earlier, she’d forgotten to take a picture of the posted results. She needed to get a shot of that list before she went home. After all, this was a highlight that she wanted to remember for the rest of her life.

  She was just about to round the corner when she heard Jason’s deep voice conversing with the school director. Their serious tone made her steps falter, and for some reason, she didn’t want to make herself known. She moved to the side of the wall, flattening her back against it.

  “Well, it wasn’t easy, you know. I found a way to make your little friend the top student, although I doubt your father will be happy about this.”

  “You can let me worry about that,” Jason said.

  “So did you do what you promised?”

  “Yeah, it’s all set up. His secretary will call you on Monday. I’m sure you’ll have your TV show in no time.”

  They must have moved away from the exam room because their voices faded. Despite that, their exchange replayed loudly in her head. No doubt she was Jason’s “little friend.” Caitlin believed she’d won the position on her own, that she had talent and skill. She believed she was good enough to beat out the competition. But it was all a cruel joke. Likely Jason and the director were laughing at her expense.

  Just then a new thought occurred to her. All the time that she’d known Jason, she never questioned his identity. Wekiu was a common surname in Hawaii, yet she never made the connection that Phil Wekiu, the owner of Signatures, was also Jason’s father. The clues were all there though: rich boy, fast car, exceptional talent in the kitchen… She felt a large lump forming at the base of her throat and she felt like crying. How could she have been so stupid?

  ***

  Jason pulled his keys from his pocket and tossed them in the air as he whistled a jaunty tune. Everything had worked out far better than he planned. Now he needed to go to his father and explain to him that the top placement at the school had gone to someone else. But Jason wasn’t worried about that. Over the past few weeks, he had time to go over his options, and he now had a plan he wanted to execute. Once he spoke with his old man, he was going to tell Caitlin about the idea. Out of all people, he knew she’d be happy for him.

  Just as he approached his car, the girl that occupied his mind stood waiting for him. Caitlin was stunning and sexy as hell. He decided then that he was going to make her forget about the nonsense of being just friends. She was going to be his girlfriend.

  “I thought you’d already left,” he said, his mouth curving
into a smile.

  But his smile wavered when she didn’t return his greeting. There was a wild look to her, and she appeared as if she wanted to punch someone. “What’s wrong?”

  “You know, you ruined the best day of my life,” she said, her voice shaking with anger and pain. Tears glinted in her eyes. “I enrolled in his course so I could prove to myself that I was good at something — that I could succeed despite the odds, that I could win that job on my own. But you took that away from me. You showed me that I can only succeed if I take handouts.”

  “But —”

  “I thought you believed in me, Jason. But I should’ve known you’re a liar! All along you never cared for me.”

  The recipes he told her to practice weren’t on the exam. She achieved her marks entirely from her own efforts.

  “Are you done yet?” he asked, getting annoyed at hearing the false accusations. He really did care for her. In fact he loved her and only wanted the best for her.

  “That right. I’m completely done with you.”

  He stared at her in shock. But before he could recover from the blow, she stalked off.

  Chapter 19

  Jason pulled his car into the driveway of his father’s mansion. He stalled the engine, although he didn’t particularly want to get out of his vehicle. Over the past several hours, he’d rehearsed the meeting in his mind even knowing that his father’s reaction was unpredictable.

  A few droplets of rain splattered on his windshield and he sighed. The storm clouds were moving in. Either he left his car now or risked getting soaked. A part of him wanted to turn his engine back on and get the hell back to his beachfront condo. The argument he had with Caitlin crushed him, and he didn’t feel like interacting with anyone, least of all his father. But eventually he knew he had to face his old man. At least if he confronted him now, he would do it on his own terms. Deciding to finally make his move, he dashed to the front entrance and banged his fist on the oak panel.