Page 14 of Baking Battles

Mattias is not even nervous as he takes his seat for the final shoot of the day, having told a stressed-out Danijel… “Just kick me off. I’ll promise to bring on the tears.” …when they passed in the corridors before the afternoon coffee break. He would welcome it. The relief of not having to do this anymore and to be able to go back to his usual routine. Although he may come down and watch during the week, just to catch up with Caroline who has made it her personal quest to give him a hug whenever he tries to sneak away for a minute’s peace and quiet.

“Silence!!” Caroline shouts, making the chatter die down to an eerie silence as Danijel’s voice rings out for, “Action,” only to be replaced by Christopher’s steady calm.

“I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to have the honour of following you all through this first week of Baking Battles, I have enjoyed every minute of not only getting to know our contestants, but seeing the talent and versatility in this room. Today has seen some surprising twists on our traditional Christmas staples, and our lovely judges Isolde and Herman have had the pleasure of deciding which of our talented bakers will walk away with this week's ‘Battle Baker’ title, as well as making the agonising choice of which one of you will be leaving us at the end of today’s episode. I can tell you that the judges have not been unanimous in their decision, but have come to a very difficult truce. I wish you all the best of luck. Isolde, will you please announce this week’s Battle Baker?”

Christopher looks a little nervous as he hands the reins over to Isolde, who pulls off perfection in her sympathetic voice and looks genuinely thrilled to announce Pablo as the Battle Baker of the week. Which Pablo spares no second in celebrating, full-on word vomiting gratitude and praise, fanning himself with a spatula. It’s almost heart-warming, and Mattias fills with that calm again, the feeling that they are producing something good. He’s not even remotely nervous that they are not pulling this show off, the contestants have given them enough drama to edit the first episode into an angst-filled race against fire fuelled panic and collapsing cakes. They’ll do good. Produce something that will fill headlines and trend happily on social media. No doubt earning Danijel the threat of another headhunting to a rival network, because they are all good. This is going far too well.

“Herman, today’s heart-breaking task has fallen to you. I wish every single one of you could stay, and whoever leaves us today will be sadly missed next week. Each of our contestants has chosen a designated charity, and all their earnings from this show will be donated to their charities of choice. So, even though we will say farewell to one contestant today, we need to remember that a donation to the charities chosen is something we should be proud of.”

They cut to touch up Christopher’s makeup, making a natural space for the designated charity film to run.

“Danijel!!” Mattias hisses, as Danijel sweeps past with a pen in his mouth and his phone pressed to his ear.

He hasn’t nominated a charity and will have to blurb something all inclusive, because he can’t for his life think of a charity he would support. Maybe something like UNICEF? Maybe something that benefits day-care centres? To be honest, his brain has truly stopped functioning as he mindlessly wipes his sweaty hands on the apron they have all been dressed up in for the vote off. The eviction. Whatever they will decide to call it once it goes to editing.

“What charity are you supporting?” He whispers to Pablo, who is still fanning himself with the damn spatula.

“Queer youth, sweetie. And theFootball for Everyonecampaign. Mehmet here got me into that. I think it’s great. Fit young men running around getting sweaty in a field. I am all for it. The more the merrier. Everyone should watch football.”

“I’m not sure that is the vision behind theFootball for Everyonecampaign.” Mattias whispers. “I thought it was aimed at having an increased openness for queer football players?” Mattias scratches his head as Caroline shouts, “Silence!” And his heartbeat thunders through his chest. It will be fine. He just has to thank people and look tearful. Easy.

“It is with absolute sadness that this week, this baker will leave us. He produced a brilliant opener with his raw, spiced almond and strawberry breakfast crumble, but stumbled across the finishing line without a single pancake to his name. People, put your hands together for an incredible effort. Mehmet, I am so sorry, but you will be leaving us this week.” Herman plays apologetic and half consumed with regret, as people surround poor Mehmet who says he had honestly seen that one coming. And suddenly, Mattias’s head fills with dread of another week trying to prove he knows what he is doing with a bunch of eggs and a bag of flour. Which honestly is not very much.

“I’m going to kill my brother. Seriously.” Alima hisses in his ear. “Thank God you are here, and that you, of all people, didn't get kicked off. I need to ring work and take more time off now. My boss will rip me apart. I only took two days off, and now? I mean,DANIJEL!” She storms off in a flurry, and Mattias laughs quietly, happy it’s not him at the receiving end of Alima’s anger today. She can be frightening at the best of times, but she is always solid. Fair. Honest.

“I’m glad you are still here.” The deep voice comes from behind his back. A quick pat on his shoulder and the scent of soap that makes Mattias’s head a little cloudy.

“Yeah, me too.” Mattias replies, before he can stop himself. He doesn’t quite know why, but he is.

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