Unbreak My Heart

4.Sharp Knives

After my initial shock wore off, finding Mr. Latte here of all places, especially because I didn’t see him during orientation. I was determined not to let our previous encounter ruin my chances of making a good first impression. I wanted to make a name for myself and prove that I deserved to be here.

“Class, this is Chef Jacob Adams. He is your cuisine chef instructor this term.”

His name didn’t sound familiar, but then again, the culinary world was big—with new names popping everyday. I bit my cheek to hide a smile playing on my lips as I tested his name on tongue. For his part, despite the smile he greeted me with earlier, he acted as if we never met for the remainder of his lesson. I was not sure how I felt about it.

This went on for the next few days that followed, Chef Jake pretending like he didn’t know me and I decided it was for the best. Maybe he was a twin? But why would he smile at me, if he wasn’t Mr. Latte? I told myself it wasn’t worth losing sleep over and followed his lead.

Thursday morning, I awoke  eager to get started on the day and got ready for school. Currently, we were focusing on fish filleting, and professional knife skills— which proved to come in handy as there was a lot I didn’t know. On more than one occasion I almost cut myself with a knife.

Today we have to attend theory classes and those are the absolute worst for me, as I'll be expected to sit still for two hours, but I was looking forward to the demonstration class, hosted by the Chef instructors.

"If you are up this early it must mean you are looking forward to today," said Sophia, sitting next to me at the kitchen island.

"I am always early," I reply, in between bites of fruit salad.

"Of course!" She said, but the tone of sarcasm in her voice was strong. 

"Please eat up so we can go." I requested, taking my bowl to the sink, rinsing it before going to the bathroom to brush my teeth.

On the ride to school, our faces were glued to our phones, with me replying to mum and my old colleague Cara’s messages. She was checking up on me and complaining about being overworked by Ms.Ellen—who hasn’t hired my replacement. 

When the bus came to a stop I poked SophIe to let her know that we had arrived at campus and followed me and other students out.

"Didn't sleep well last night?" I asked, walking alongside her.

"Not really. My mother kept me up till midnight, going on and on about how much my brother is a tool," She said, yawning.

"A tool? What did he do" I asked with a laugh.

"Don't know," she shrugged. 

"I'm sure she told me, but I lost interest after the first five minutes of her rambling." 

For the first two hours we focused on the importance of food safety and sanitation. As much as I loved cooking, I wished being a trained chef didn't include long hour classes sitting my ass down. I used to think all culinary school required was mastering the art of cooking and presentation.

I opened my bag as we entered the lecture hall to take out a chocolate energy bar and handed it to Soph. "Here, I don't want you falling asleep." 

"You are the best, Ara." She smiled, tearing into the bar immediately. 

"Settle down everyone," Said the sanitation lecturer.

For the next two hours We listened to her drone on and on, answering any questions students had concerning sanitation, specifically, how our cleaning habits affect food preparation.. She went as far as kicking out one of the students who had painted her nails to prove a point.