Delectable • cth

Chapter 3

"The pigeon is on the porch." a waiter said as he entered the kitchen from the large swinging door. Only there for just over a week, Aliyah didn't know what that meant and just continued to finish up the dish that she had been working on. That day was the first day that Calum completely let her off the leash, seeing how she responded to the chaos that was the kitchen. He was impressed and trusted her to ask for help when she needed it.

As she glanced over the next order, she smiled confidently and got to work right away. The girl loved cooking, pouring her heart into every single dish she made and watching it go through the same door the waiter had walked through just moments earlier. The kitchen seemed to be a bit more chaotic for the next half hour or so than she was used to, yet Calum was nowhere to be found.

"What's the pigeon eating?" Ashton started asking around, hoping to find the perfect wine pairing for the meal. "Who has got– Aliyah?"

At the sound of her name, the brunette glanced over her shoulder with her eyes slightly wide. "What's up, Ashton?"

"What're you making right now?" He asked from a few feet away, pushing onto his toes in an attempt to make out what the dish was. "Is that fish?"

The girl nodded, brows furrowed before glancing back at the dish. "It's bouillabaisse, it's almost ready to go out."

Ashton just nodded before going off to grab the wine he needed, weaving between different kitchen staff and keeping an eye out for Calum. Everyone continued working, seemingly harder than prior days, but Aliyah shook it off. She focused on what she did best– cooking.

"Where the hell is Calum?" Luke glanced around, eyes landing on Aliyah, then on the dish she was making. He knew what was happening, and he figured it'd be best if the girl didn't know until she finished. "How's it going, Aliyah? Need any help? Want me to find Cal?"

"I'm fine," she laughed softly, shaking her head. "I could probably make this dish with my eyes closed."

"Well– don't." Luke laughed, shaking his head. "Just let me know if you need anything, I don't know where Cal is but I've helped him make it before."

Aliyah nodded, glancing to her left at him, then back at the dish as she continued. Everyone was acting weird, and she couldn't for the life of her figure out why. She was just there to cook and send delicious food out to paying customers. It wasn't much longer before she was putting the finishing touches on it.

"Bouillabaisse is ready to go out." she mentioned to the waiter waiting around anxiously, watching as the dish made its way through the door, Ashton following close behind with what looked to be a white wine. She made a mental note to ask what wine he'd pair with it so she could get some for home.

"Go take a little break, Aliyah." Michael made his way over to the girl, smiling proudly. "That dish looked perfect by the way, I bet it'll be one of the best reviews we get."

The color drained from her face, staring at the blonde man in front of her. "Reviews? You mean– oh my god, that's what the waiter meant."

"Way to go, Mike." Luke rolled his eyes, linking arms with Aliyah and pulling her to the fresh produce fridge. "You did great, don't stress. Michael is right, the dish looked great and I'm sure it tastes even better."

"I probably could have done so much better, why didn't anyone tell me that it was for a food critic?" The brunette took a sharp breath, shaking her head as Luke rested his arms on either side of her shoulders. "I could have done better."

Luke just chuckled, shaking his head. "Everyone thinks they'd do better their first time around if they knew, I promise you it only makes it harder to do what you do best." He paused, letting her digest the information a bit more. "You're fine, it's over now."