Page 66 of The Chef's Kiss
“Welcome to the Orchard Hill Bistro. I’m so glad you came to join us tonight.” I swept up to the secluded booth, where the last guests of the night were just seated. One of the waitresses had pulled me out of the bar area, where I was taking stock of how much liquor we’d sold tonight. The bar was closed, and the dining room had dwindled down to those enjoying the last of their wine and desserts.
I was ready to do some winding down myself. My feet ached, and I was hungry enough to hoover down a whole cheesecake by myself. I was not in the mood for more schmoozing.
“Jorge!” my best friend and roommate squealed, standing from her seat at the booth to give me a hug. “You’ve done such an amazing job. And that chef! You didn’t tell me he was so gorgeous; I just caught a quick glimpse of him before he scampered back into the kitchen.”
“Cara?” My gaze traveled to the man seated across from her. Jeff. “Wh-what are you two doing here?”
“I was just telling Jeff yesterday about your big opening tonight, and we decided at the last minute to come see what you’ve been up to.” Cara beamed at me, her giant diamond engagement ring sparkling in the lamp light of their small table. A reminder of the mess we were in. The mess I still hadn’t found the right words to explain.
“We thought we’d check in on you.” Jeff stared at my stomach, letting his gaze drift to my face, as if I couldn’t tell exactly what he was here to check in on.
“Good, good.” I nodded, not hearing anything Cara was chattering on about. “Um, order whatever you want on me. I’ll be back, um, in a little while to check on you. Lots to do, you know.” I stumbled and ran into the safety of the kitchen, my eyes burning with the threat of tears. I would not cry over that jerk.
I wouldn’t.
Except, I was. I scrubbed the tears from my eyes with the palm of my hand and scurried past sparkling clean prep stations and the general chaos of a kitchen preparing to close down for the evening.
“Jorgina, what should we do with the salad dressings?” one of the servers asked as I dodged past the salad station and the cook line, ignoring half a dozen questions I couldn’t focus on.
“Why is he here?” I half-sobbed as I reached the small office in the back, desperate for a quiet corner where I could think.
“Why is who here?” Hudson turned in the desk chair, where he was going over the preliminary numbers for the evening.
“No one.” I started to leave, but he grabbed my hand, pulling me closer to the desk.
“Something has you rattled, Jorgina.” His forehead creased with concern. “And nothing ever rattles you. Is it those people who showed up claiming they’re your friends? If they weren’t invited, we can send them away. We’ve had a hugely successful night.”
“It’s nothing. Just stress.” But my eyes were still burning, and the tears were coming. The room was the size of a closet, and there was nowhere to hide.
“Jorgie.” His voice lowered, and he squeezed my hand. “You do realize you’re crying, right?”
I nodded. “That was Cara. My best friend.” I sniffed, scrubbing at my tears.
Without a word, Hudson handed me a linen napkin, and I dabbed at my eyes.
“And her date?”
“You mean her fiancé?” I gave another sniff. “I just met him recently. Right before he popped the question.”
“I see.” Hudson’s jaw clenched. “I take it Cara was also your roommate?”
“Yep. You got it.” I wiped my face with the napkin, hoping the tears would stop this time.
“So, she’s the one engaged to the amazing Mr. Douchebag and doesn’t know her best friend is pregnant with said douchebag’s baby.”
“The very one.” Just hearing it out loud made it sound even more awful than it was. I let my hand drift down over my midsection as if to protect my child from hearing the unfortunate circumstances that brought about its existence.I’m sorry, little one. It might not be the best of beginnings, but I’ll make it up to you someday.
“Jorge?” someone whispered behind me. A voice I knew as well as my own.
“Cara?” I turned, hoping she hadn’t heard the whole conversation. But I could tell by the horrified look on her face she had.
“Is it true? You’re pregnant?” Tears shone in her eyes, and she took several steps back from the doorway.
I nodded. “I’m so sorry, Cara.” I took a step after her. “I thought I was seeing such a great guy. I thought that we’d finally found two decent guys that would treat us right and everything was going to be great.”
“But it was just Jeff. The whole time?” Cara shook her head, glancing down at her ring. “I can’t believe this.” She whirled around and marched down the hall toward the dining room.
“Cara, wait!” I rushed after her, trying to think of the right thing to say. “I never would have … I didn’t know until it was too late!” I burst out of the kitchen into the dining room just in time to see her jerk the ring off her finger.
