Accepted under the mentorship of your idol and the world's hottest chef Gordon Ramsay, you must prove your skill and determination through competing in Hell's Kitchen- A month long cooking contest versus fifteen other fierce contestants and difficul...
First thing in the morning when my eyes open, I think about last night's deceleration from Ramsay. One of us will be switched to the blue team. I shake my head, trying to clear my mind.
It's an impossible feat. The worry that I'll be switched claws back into my head like a recurring headache. I would absolutely hate to lose any one of my team members... aside from Bella of course. That one shining glint of hope is all that propels me to have the strength to rise from bed and face whatever the boys have decided.
In the common room area, Bella relaxes on the couch with many of the blue team members– Pietro, Dave and Garrett– trying to chat them up. She's confidently recounting her accolades as a chef, mentioning more than once how much Ramsay enjoyed the flavors of her baked ziti signature dish.
Funny, I seemed to recall he thought it looked sloppy.
Trying to ignore her distinctive voice, I prepare a breakfast burrito for myself. A little scrambled eggs, cheese, ham, and spinach should do the trick. While in the process of making my burrito, Gina peers over my shoulder.
"Niiice, that looks goooood!" She eyeballs my burrito's innards, still cooking in the pan.
"Do you want me to make you one?" I ask as I stir the ingredients. Bella starts laughing loud enough to be heard over the sizzling ingredients.
"Would you?" she lights up, hopping on her toes. "I'd love that! Thank you! I've just been eating cereal all this time, hah."
"Of course, it only takes five minutes." I take a second pan and crack open another egg.
"You're awesome, thank you, (Y/N)." she beams at me before opening the fridge and pouring herself a glass of milk. "Want some?"
"Sure, just leave it in the fridge until I'm done so it doesn't get warm!" I request. Gina nods as she pours out a glass and sets it in the fridge.
After a few minutes, I serve our burritos and grab my milk from the fridge.
"This is amazing," she says between mouthfuls with her hand hiding her mouth, indicating her burrito with her fork.
"Thank you, it's one of Gordon's recipes from one of his first books," I respond as I gather spilled insides from the burrito into a corner and push it onto my fork.
"You remember his recipes by heart?" She looks at me, egg hanging off the corner of her mouth.
I nod. "Yeah, I do. I've been studying everything he's put out since I was sixteen. I asked for his cookbooks for my birthday each year." I smile sadly as the memories flood back. "Well, at least until my parents died."
She stops eating and puts her fork down slowly.
"They died? How? If you don't mind..." she gives me her rapt attention.
"Car accident. Someone hit them on their way to visit me for the first time at my new apartment. I was twenty-one when it happened."
Gina wipes the egg from her lip with the back of her arm and frowns. "(Y/N), I'm so sorry..."
I hold up a hand and shake my head. "It's alright. I am doing fine on my own," I motion to the room, "I mean, I made it here didn't I? I never gave up, and I'm certainly not going to give up now. I know they'd be proud of me."
Gina smiles sadly and nods. "Yeah, you're doing well. I hope you make it far."
"Thank you Gina, you too." I grin at her, trying to lighten the mood.
Once our burritos are finished, Gina takes the plates and puts them in the dishwasher.
After only ten minutes or so, Sous Chef Christina ascends the stairs and 'hem-hems' loudly enough for everyone's attention to turn to her.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Chef Ramsay would like everyone to gather downstairs for the swapping of team members. Come on now, you've had plenty of time to decide on who you want, right boys?" She taps her finger on her arm impatiently while looking at the men.
The blue team members nod and respond, "Yes, Chef."
"Excellent, then come on down!" She bounds down the stairs.
A few minutes later, we all make it downstairs and line up in the standard formation we'd all gotten used to at this point. Chef Ramsay looks even more handsome than usual, standing straight and tall at the front of the kitchen in his ironed head chef's jacket.
"Good morning everyone! As you well know, today is the day one of the red team members will be switching to the blue team. Now, blue team, you've come to a consensus?" he asks.
"Yes, Chef," the men respond.
"Right then, Pietro, who have you decided on bringing into the blue team's fold?" he inquires.
Pietro's eyes scan the red team. He takes a deep breath. "Chef, we spent a long time deliberating. We went over everything we could think of, and it still took a while. But eventually we all came to a conclusion." He pauses.
"Well?" Ramsay asks, tapping his foot.
"Chef, we decided on Kalyani joining our team. She's a hard worker, hasn't made many mistakes and doesn't start trouble. I think we'll really benefit from having her on our team."
All at once, the entire red team turns to look at Kalyani, who looks a bit shocked.
"Alright Kalyani, we'll get your blue jacket to you in a few minutes. Go on and join the blue team for now. Just so you know, tonight is not an elimination night so use this time to get used to working with your new team. Help them out in any way you can, and lead them to winning services." He jerks his head towards the blue team and Kalyani follows his motion.
"Excellent everyone. Now, we have prep for service tonight to get through, if you finish early wait in the dorms until I call you down." He ominously looks around the room. "Of course don't take 'no elimination' as a free pass to completely screw up everything. If you fuck up badly enough, I can kick you out at any time. I dare any one of you to test me." He locks eyes with Bella, who drops her eyes to the floor.
"Get to work then, everyone." Ramsay turns from us and heads back to his office.
The red team settles into our normal prep routine, minus Kalyani. Every once in a while I look over to the blue team to try and make eye contact with her, but she's too busy directing the men on the proper way to get their stations set up.
Too bad they hadn't exorcised the demon from our team. Bella is banging pots and pans as she moves them around in a vain attempt to express her discontent towards the blue team not picking her.
Service tonight will be Hell with one of our strongest members gone and Bella still here.
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