Chef Charming (6 page)

“Ouch!” she cried as the
knife slipped and blood appeared on the end of her ring finger
. Thankfully, it was not her left hand, which would
have greatly hampered her next few days in the studio.

Chef leapt into action, as
did Jess, who grabbed their first aid kit
.
Each station in the classroom was equipped with one, since such accidents were
quite common occurrences in beginning cooking classes. 

Marcus grabbed Rori’s hand
and thrust it under the faucet, running cold water over the cut.

“You fool,” he sputtered.
What Rori did not know was that he was speaking to himself, not to her. He
foolishly let his frustration over his feelings for this young lady put her in
danger. 

As Jess held out the bandage
for him after he dri
ed off Rori’s finger,
she asked Marcus quietly, “Do you want me to release the rest of the class?”

“Yes, please,” he nodded in
gratitude. “Have
those that I have not
evaluated leave me two pieces of quiche and a piece of paper with their email
address. I will taste them and send them feedback tonight.”

Jess turned to the class and
relayed these instructions, adding on
her
own, “Don’t worry about cleaning up, we will take care of it.” In response to
John and Calvin’s concern, she assured them that Rori was fine.

“
She’ll be okay. She’s just mad at herself and no, it’s
not her drawing hand, thank goodness.”

Aurora’s heart was beating
wildly. It wasn’
t from the pain in her
finger, she reluctantly admitted. It was from the closeness of this man. How
could someone infuriate her and fascinate her at the same time? She could smell
his aftershave and hear his breathing as he practically manhandled her in his
effort to make up for her clumsiness.

“You two unfortunately will
have to stay to help me tonight,” Marcus broke the news to them as he dried his
hands and wiped up the tiny spots of blood on Rori’s station
. Thankfully, no blood had gotten on their quiche. “As
you know part of the class is learning to evaluate and critique gourmet food,
so tonight you two will get your turn.”

“Then we’ll help clean up,”
Jess added
. “I told the class they could
go without finishing their stations. I thought it was more important to get
them out of here.”

“That’s fine, but
unnecessary,” Chef didn’t think he could stand to watch Aurora do such a
patently domestic task as cleaning up several kitchens. Watching her with the
children this afternoon
had been
difficult enough.

“It’s the least I can do,”
Rori said quietly.
Jess watched her
roommate with concern. Rori’s feelings for this man were evident to her, and
she knew that tonight’s incident had rattled her sensitive friend. Jess also
had suspicions about Marcus after watching him watch Rori each night during
class.

Chef moved to the first
station that had quiches left for evaluation.
There were two plates and two forks. Without thinking, he handed one
fork to Jess, and with the other fed a bite to Aurora and then took one
himself. The intimacy of the gesture made Jess’s eyes widen. They have no idea
that they are completely and utterly infatuated with each other, Jess realized.

Marcus walked them through
the process of evaluating the crust and uniformity of the ingredients as well
as the overall taste and texture of the quiche
. He was thankful that both Miss Johnston and Aurora were able to give
him good, insightful feedback. As a bonus, the Princess did not like John and
Calvin’s quiche at all.

Since the pair insisted on
cleaning up the food lab, Marcus provided Aurora with a glove to cover her
injury
. He busied himself at his station
and in his office. Low murmurs replaced their typically cheerful chatter. He
missed the craziness that usually surrounded the genie that haunted his life.

“Thank you, ladies,” Chef
finally dismissed them. “I will finish up
.
It is getting late. Don’t forget tomorrow’s class is early since it is
Saturday. We are doing breads, both yeast and quick, so it will take our entire
three hours.”

They collected their things
and headed for the door
. Aurora stopped
as she heard him call her name. 

“
Miss Sinclair, you are going to be all right, yes?” He
seemed to be asking and demanding at the same time.

“Yes,” Rori
answered, enigmatically as well. “I think so.”

-------------------------

Are you sure you are
okay?
The words blinked at her. His
email was already in her inbox when she arrived home less than ten minutes
later. Jess had refused to let her go to the studio.

Yes, thank you for
asking.
You were right to call me
foolish. I will try to do better and not bother you so much.

Since he had been staring at
his computer screen, willing her to respond, he receive
d her response as she sent it. He groaned, realizing
the damage he had done, not only physically, but also emotionally.

The ‘Fool’ comment
was directed
at me. I
should never have let my frustration put you in such a position. I am sorry.
~Marcus

I’m sorry I am so much
trouble ~Aurora.

If you only knew, Marcus
wanted to write. Instead, he just sent a quick,
Goodnight, Aurora.

Goodnight,
Marcus.

Kneading the dough with a
bandaged finger was not an easy task
. At
least she could be grateful that Marcus was avoiding her today. The only time
she recalled seeing him look at her was when she and John accidently created a
cloud of flour that engulfed the two of them. Jess had permission to miss this
class due to work and her standing in the culinary department, so Aurora had
joined John and Calvin’s group. Her tan, lightly freckled skin seemed magically
and immediately to attract the flour. John spent several minutes wiping it from
her eyes, cheeks, and forehead. Of course, the three of them found the whole
event hilarious. If his dark looks thrown their way were any indication, Marcus
did not appear to find it funny in the least. She shrugged his bad mood off.
Someone must have hacked his computer she thought. This man is nothing like the
person I talk to each night.

The yeast breads were set
aside to rise and the class turned to the tasks of quick breads
. Chef had invited them to bring in a favorite recipe
if they had one, and Aurora had brought two. The pantry
was
well stocked
, so Chef was sure all the possible ingredients would be
available. Rori let Calvin and John pick which one to make and they chose
pumpkin bread.

“
Reminds me of the holidays,” John said, “and since I
live in Hawaii, this weather is perfect Christmas weather.” He and Calvin had
also narrowed down their choices for their presentation to the Philippines or
Japan, but were secretly hoping Chef would let them actually do Hawaiian food
instead. They had made the case that the food of the islands was indeed
distinct enough from ‘normal’ American food, so Marcus agreed that he could
rightly classify it as a separate world region.

Within an
hour, the smells in the classroom did indeed invoke
memories of the holidays. Aurora always wondered why Americans picked the most
hectic time of the year to add to their chores baking which was so labor
intensive. She knew it was the sense of family that shared meals and shared
treats brought. She missed her family and could hardly wait until next weekend.
Her parents and sister were coming in on Saturday morning for the art show that
evening and graduation on Sunday afternoon.

She was doubly excited to
see her sister, who had just finished her
senior
year at the state university in their hometown. Gwen was a history major and
they had tickets for a three week European trip, leaving just a little less
than a month after graduation. The trip was part of the reason Rori was so excited
about this class. Before she had been just planning to haunt the art history
sites and spend hours in museums. Now at least she felt a little more
knowledgeable about the local cuisines.

The rest of c
lass was uneventful, for once.

“I think it’s really you
that bugs Chef Charming
,” Rori teased
Jess later that night. “With you not there, he completely ignored me today. I
must have finally done something right.” She did not realize how disappointed
she sounded.

“You know my thoughts on the
matter, girlie,” Jess
reminded her. She
had told Rori that she thought Chef Marcus acted that way because he was
actually attracted to her. Rori had found the idea almost as ludicrous as
Pastor Sam’s suggestion that she was attracted to Marcus. Rori let Jess know
she found her hypothesis hilarious and told her roommate so in
no uncertain
words. 

“Methinks the girl doth
protest too much,” Jess laughed.

“Whatever,” Rori rolled her
eyes and tossed a pillow at her roommate, sounding more like a teenager than
the almost twenty-three year old she was.

She headed back to the
studio after lun
ch and immersed herself
in her paintings. She did not remember to break for dinner until almost nine
o’clock when her stomach growled in protest.

The only other student in
the studio called out, “Wow, Rori, do you have a lion in your cabinet or are
you just that hungry?”

“Lion,” she quipped back.
“But he’s hungry so I’m going to run out for a burger, do you want one?”

“No, I’m good,” the senior
art student replied, as she was cleaning up her
paintbrushes. “I’m done for the evening. You promise you’ll call
security to follow you home if you stay much later, right?”

“Will do!”
Rori said as she grabbed her wallet and headed for
the exit. The night sky was clear and beautiful. Wishing she could just stretch
out on the ground and drink in the beauty, Rori paused. Her stomach growled
again and she laughed to herself. It would be my luck anyway that if I did,
Chef Charming would probably choose that very moment to walk out the door.

The object of her ponderings
was in fact watching her from his office window as she returned with her dinner
. Marcus was working late in his office on the very
idea he had brought up to Dr. Smith and was preparing a handout for the
students. She’s out much too late for my comfort he thought. The art department
needs to have better security if these young ladies are coming and going from
the building at all hours of the night.

His computer was already on
and so switching to
his email account
took no thought.

-------------------------

Dear Aurora:  I saw
you leave the studio late this evening. I can’t help but be concerned for the
safety of the art students at such late hours. I must insist that you take
better precautions. ~Marcus

Rori did not get his message
until much, much later
. He would be
appalled if he knew how late I actually stayed tonight, she thought. She had
forgotten that he would see the time stamp on her email when he read it in the
morning. 

Already not happy with Rori
when he saw the time, her message really infuriated him.

Dear Lord (or is it
Laird?) Marcus: (
He still reminded
her of a Scottish Highland lord, and
s
he thought Officer Marcus too formal)

It will please you to
know that I arrived at my dorm safe and sound, as I do every time I stay late
at the studio
. Please be assured I am old
enough to not need parental supervision. Despite how I may act in your eyes, I
am in fact an adult. ~ Delinquent Sinclair

PS Security follows me
home.
She
added a smiley face, hoping childishly that it irritated Marcus

‘Lord
Marcus’?!
He was furious. Her
tone was that of a two year old. That’s it. I’m done. It will serve her right
if she
gets
kidnapped by some lunatic one evening,
Marcus’s thoughts were not conducive for a worshipful Sunday morning service, but
he had promised Jake that he would meet him for the nine o’clock morning
service.

-------------------------

Sporting a fresh Superhero
bandage on her damaged finger, Rori gathered her children’s Bible study lesson
and headed to church. Jess was waiting patiently by her car.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,”
Rori called
. “I didn’t realize what a
pain this finger would still be after two days,” she explained her tardiness.
“Even though I’m left-handed, there’s a lot I never realized I used my right
hand for!”

“Did you send Chef
MacRae another email this morning?” Jess questioned
her as they drove the short distance to church. Normally they would walk, but
the weather had decided to turn unseasonably warm. Plus, it would save Rori
time getting back into the studio this afternoon.

“I know you thought your
latest contribution to the literary field running between you two was
hilarious; I can assure you there is a good possibility he will not find it
funny at all.”

Jess had caught Rori
replying to one of Chef’s emails a couple days earlier and demanded all the
details, as well as the right to see any future correspondence. 

Rori had been reluctant when
her roommate
quite pointedly asked, “What
are you trying to hide?” She felt obligated and strangely comforted by the
accountability. Rori knew that her sense of humor and quirky view of life did
not always translate well into other people’s language.
Especially
tall, handsome Scottish ones.

“Yes, I did, right before we
left,” Rori assured her
. “He probably
won’t get it until after church.” Of course, what she didn’t tell Jessica was
that her curt email simply said, ‘
Sorry,’
in response to the childish one she
had sent earlier. No telling how he’ll take that one, Rori thought.

Sitting on the opposite side
of the sanctuary, Rori was unaware that Marcus had come to church with
the Hamptons. He, on the other hand, had been
diligently watching the doorway for her arrival. Now that he knew she was
safely as far away from him as possible, he was relieved. At least he told
himself he was relieved, but he didn’t remember relief ever feeling like
desolation before.

As the song portion of
worship ended, the pastor dismissed the children for their separate
Bible study time. Rori made her way across the front
of the church gathering a following of four and five-years-olds like a pied
piper.
As the pastor announced a time of greeting for the
adults, Rori and her entourage headed down an aisle just as Marcus stepped into
it.
He had moved aside to allow Zoe to join the throng. Turning to rein
in one of the excited youngsters, Rori accidently plowed into Marcus.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” she
spoke to the person she had
bumped into,
bending down to pick up her craft and lesson plans that had dropped in the
process. “I was trying to keep Jimmy from running, and wasn’t watching where I
was going.”

A familiar hand reached down
and pulled her to her feet
. Marcus then
bent and scooped up her supplies and handed them to her quickly. As he did, he
saw her brightly colored bandage and froze. It seemed to mock him and his
treatment of her and brought to mind the derisive email he read this morning.
An email he remembered
had been sent
at two in the
morning.

He retreated once again
behind the curtain of aloofness that had become his only defense around this young
creature.

“Your bounty, Princess,” he
said, his tone cold, aloof, and slightly sarcastic.

He was mocking
her!
At church!

“Thank you, Chef,” she
bowed, adding a
n ironic ‘
Charming’
to the end of his name in her mind.

-------------------------

One last try, he promised
himself. Hoping she was at her computer so she would respond right away, he
quickly typed a message.

Dear
Aurora:  I hope you made it to your children’s
class without any further mishaps. I apologize for my part in the catastrophe.
I couldn’t help but notice the bandage on your finger. Is it healing well?

Confusion ruled her
thoughts. She was sure she had not mistaken his tone
of voice when he helped her to her feet. Well, if he
wants to play make believe, I’ll join right in. She thought.

Dear Marcus:  Yes,
thank you
. I apologize for almost plowing
you down.

He smiled at her quick
response and opened up the instant conversation menu on the email program.

I also noted the unusual
choice of superhero bandage. Why the famous green guy? ~Marcus

Yes,
the green guy.
We are strangely similar creatures. Great bursts
of emotion turn us into other worldly beings. That’s why people avoid making
him angry. ~Aurora.

And
you?
~Marcus

Yes, I would avoid making
him angry too
.
I’ve got
to go now. ~Aurora.

Jake’s words, “She has a
wicked sense of humor,” strangely came to mind. I am in way over my head,
Marcus thought. But I’m enjoying every minute of it.