Personal Chef

Chapter 54

My life got turned upside down when my restaurant opened full time. I couldn't complain, though. I was doing what I loved and it was wonderful.

Most days I was at the restaurant for pretty much every waking hour. I knew it would be like this at first, so I sucked it up and dealt with the long days. My goal was to hire someone to manage the place midday so that I could occasionally have a break. Paige decided to stay on in the mornings. She'd work, go to classes, and then come back for the dinner rush, though 'rush' was a bit of an overstatement. I paid her a manager's wage since she was so competent. The additional manager would have to wait until the place turned a bigger profit.

My new staff worked out great. They were trained by the existing employees, who I adored. I think that because we'd opened the place up together, they were all very invested.

My parents had gone back to Vancouver, but I wouldn't have had much time for them anyway. We talked almost every night. They sent me tons of pics of Johnson, who had to be the cutest baby ever. I was on amazon.com at least once a week ordering something for my nephew.

Shawn's first single dropped. It was a slow sentimental love song that I'd never heard. He did tons of promotional interviews, many were done remotely or over the phone. It turned out he was true to his word. When he was asked about me, he stated that our relationship didn't start until after he'd broken up with Kat and that no one should view me in a negative light. He'd always go on to say that the two of us had remained friends. This was true; we were definitely friends.

Unsurprisingly, he was always asked about his relationship with Kat. He wasn't so straightforward with his answer to that question. He'd usually say something like how of course they had a relationship since they were having a baby together. He wouldn't specify the nature of the relationship, though.

I'd seen many pictures of them together, and my gut told me there was something going on. Rumor had it that he'd moved into her apartment, which was backed up by the photos the paparazzi took. She was at the end of her pregnancy, so it did make sense that he'd want to be around all the time in case she went into labor. I knew Kat Adams, though. If Shawn was sleeping in her home, she'd be doing everything possible to lure him into her bed.

In the middle of January, I was talking to my barista about some latte flavor ideas late one afternoon when a courier approached me.

"I have a delivery for Chelsea Price. It has to be signed for after I check the ID of the recipient," he said.

"Oh. I'm Chelsea. Wait here, please. I'll get my purse," I responded, thoroughly perplexed.

I returned a minute later and showed him my drivers license before signing in three different places. He then handed me a small box. Business was slow at this time of day, so I took my mystery package to a table in back and sat down. I opened it and saw that there was a note in Shawn's handwriting and a CD.

Hi Chels-

I wanted you to get this before anyone else since you were part of the team that made it possible.

I smiled when I thought of team Mendes.

This is yours to listen to all you want, but I trust you not to share it with anyone else until after the release next week.

You and I already talked about the first single. It makes me so happy that you love it. I want to know what you think of the rest of the album. Text me after you listen and maybe we can set up a time to talk.

I'm glad your bistro is doing so well. Zubin told me he brought his family in for dinner and that the food was amazing. Not that anything you created could be anything else.

This made me smile, too. Several people I knew through Shawn had come by, including his parents and sister. In fact, the Mendes family had been in for both lunch and dinner.

I'll keep you posted about the other big debut.

-S

I picked up the CD and looked at it. The cover art was a black and white photo of Shawn playing guitar as he sat on some concrete steps. He had on a white short-sleeved button down that was unbuttoned to show chest hair, and his standard uniform of black skinny jeans and boots. He looked stunning, but when didn't he? The album was titled Lately. It was simple but I loved it.

I flipped the CD over to look at the track listing. I knew at least half of the songs. The rest must have been recorded after we broke up. The omission of one song jumped out at me.

My song, The Price of Love, was not on the album at all.

I put the CD in my purse and returned it to my locker at the back of the kitchen before getting back to work.

That night, I sat in my car listening to the entire CD as snow fell around me, blanketing the windshield. I didn't have a CD player in my apartment, but it was somehow calming to listen to it this way. I understood why Shawn wouldn't want to send me something like that electronically. It was too risky.

It was extraordinarily beautiful. I cried several times at some of the more emotional ballads. There was something about the way Shawn's voice would get raw when singing about heartache that just got to me. I'd heard that voice at The Woodshed last year and had fallen in love with it. To me it was far more pure than the more polished sound that he employed in the pop songs.

It was clear which songs were bound to be hits. There was one called Destiny that talked about reuniting with the person you were meant to be with. It was a new song, and I was sure it was about Kat. Maybe her getting pregnant was fate's way of saying that they were meant to be together. It bothered me that Kat could be his destiny, but he'd always seen something in her that no one else seemed to. Maybe he brought out the best in her. Or maybe being pregnant had helped her evolve into a better person.

I was sad thinking about the fact that my song had been replaced with a song about Kat. What did I expect, though? Shawn and I were broken up. Yes, we were friends, and I liked that, but we'd both moved on.

After Christmas I'd actually started to heal. I'd decided to look at the whole thing very philosophically. Some people never found the type of love that Shawn and I had. It had been the kind of love that everyone dreams of experiencing. Maybe it didn't last, but at least I had it for a little while. If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing.

Actually, scratch that. If I had to do it all over again I would have talked to Shawn after we'd hooked up in Malibu. If we'd had an open conversation, we could have started our relationship then. He never would have gotten back with Kat, and she wouldn't have gotten pregnant. But that's not how it happened and I couldn't dwell on 'what ifs."

It was so special to me that Shawn had been my first sexual encounter since he'd been my first love. I still had no desire to jump into another relationship. Maybe this was partly because I had no time for one. I knew now that when the day came, I could open up to another man. It was probably best that enough time passed that I didn't make comparisons. I believed Shawn was the best out there, but what did I know? He was all I'd experienced. Maybe there were lots of men with that level of skill in bed. My gut told me no, though.

I texted Shawn later that night and told him I loved it, and that I'd jot down some thoughts about the album and talk to him soon with a detailed analysis. He replied right away that he couldn't wait to hear what I had to say.

It took me a few days to get back to him. I sent a message that said he could call me any time after eleven my time, since I was usually home by then. I was surprised when I didn't get a reply. I found out why the next day when I opened Instagram in bed before getting up to shower for work.

I followed E!News. Their most recent post was at the top of my feed. It was a picture of Shawn and Kat that must have been taken recently since she was hugely pregnant (and a bit chubby, to be honest, though I'd never shame a woman for pregnancy weight). The caption made my heart drop into my stomach.

Enews Model Kat Adams and music sensation Shawn Mendes welcomed a bouncing baby boy early this morning. Congrats to the couple!