Page 17 of Deep Fried Devotion
She touched his shoulder. "I thought you were going to be too uptight."
"I was uptight. You changed that too. But what happens after today?" Soren asked, voicing the question that had been hovering between them.
"I don't know," Birdie admitted. "I hadn't planned past this weekend. The food truck was supposed to prove I could make my grandmother's dream work, but I never thought about what came next."
"Maybe that's okay. Maybe some things are better when you don't plan them too carefully."
She looked at him with surprise. "That's very unlike you."
"You're changing me," he said simply. "In good ways."
The morning rush built gradually, giving them time to find their rhythm again. But it was different today—where before their collaboration had been about necessity and survival, now it felt like a choice. They worked together because they wanted to, because it made everything better.
"Order up—six bubble gum bites, four root beer floats," Birdie called, passing the items to Soren for final plating.
"Coming through with pickle caviar and cola spheres," he replied, and their movement around each other felt like a dance they'd been rehearsing for years.
"You two are something else," observed a customer, accepting her order with obvious delight. "How long have you been together?"
This time, neither rushed to correct the assumption.
"A few days," Birdie said.
"But it feels longer," Soren added, catching her eye with a smile that made her stomach flip.
Around noon, Nate Banks returned with his camera and the focused energy of someone putting together a story.
"Good afternoon," he said. "I hope you don't mind, but I'd like to get some final shots and ask a few follow-up questions for the piece."
"Of course," Birdie said, wiping down her counter nervously.
"I've been thinking about our conversation yesterday," Nate continued, setting up his camera. "The partnership angle is compelling, but I'm more interested in the personal story now. The chemistry between you two is obvious—how did it develop so quickly?"
Birdie and Soren exchanged glances. The question felt loaded with implications for their future.
"We complement each other," Soren said. "Her creativity challenges my technical approach, and my methods help her wild ideas actually work."
"And personally?" Nate pressed. "There's clearly more than just professional collaboration here."
"We're figuring that out," Birdie said, echoing what she'd told the teenager yesterday. "Some things can't be rushed."
"But some things don't need to be," Soren added, looking at her with an expression that made her forget about cameras and interviews.
"Would you mind creating a dish for the camera?" Nate asked. "Something that showcases what makes your partnership unique?"
Birdie felt inspiration strike. "Like how we turn crazy ideas into reality?"
"Sure, what do you have in mind?”
She looked at Soren, remembering all the wild concepts they'd brainstormed together. "Edible flowers that taste like childhood memories?"
Soren's face lit up with the scientific excitement she'd come to love. "We could use sugar work to create realistic flower petals, fill them with flavor compounds that trigger nostalgia..."
"Can you actually do that?" Nate asked, leaning forward with obvious fascination.
"We can try," Birdie said, looking at Soren with complete confidence.
What followed was twenty minutes of pure creative collaboration. They worked with sugar and natural extracts to create delicate flower petals that dissolved on the tongue while releasing flavors designed to evoke specific memories—vanilla for birthday cakes, cinnamon for autumn mornings, strawberry for summer picnics.
