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...
Taylor casts a hugely apologetic look as she steps up next to me while the red team filters outside to carry our first load indoors.
"Everyone, I'm so, so sorry! I know this was my fault. I won't screw up again like that!" She bites her lower lip to keep it from trembling and sniffles.
Bella glares, huffing before turning away. Red waves her hand in a 'no-big-deal' fashion. Gina continues tromping down the stairs, either not hearing or not bothering to respond to Tay.
I shrug, trying to not betray my fears that she might have gotten herself a one-way ticket to the chopping block. "I mean, it happens. You can't beat yourself up about it too much about it, I just hope everyone else doesn't try to use it against you to get you out of here– you have to do perfectly on service tonight, alright?" I say as I step down the stairs in front of Hell's Kitchen and approach the delivery truck.
Taylor nods fiercely. "I won't let you and the team down. I'll pull extra weight today so everyone knows I accept that I screwed up."
Gina signs the delivery form while Red opens the back of the truck. It's comical watching Red lift the roll-up door while being so short. She has to jump to get it to finish sliding all the way open.
Inside of the truck, there are boxes upon boxes and in the very middle, resting on a bed of ice, is our huge tuna.
"That thing is bigger than my dog!" Gina exclaims, her hands on her hips as she eyeballs the hulking fish.
Just then, the doors to Hell's Kitchen open and the blue team comes filtering outside, happily bounding down the steps.
"Have a great time, ladies! Don't touch my new blender upstairs!" Garrett calls out as he approaches the Hell's Kitchen SUV.
Gina turns to Garrett with a smirk. "Don't be surprised if it smells like blended tuna when you get back, asshole!"
"Ooh! Ouch!" Garrett flicks his hand quickly through the air, feigning having been burned. He hops into the SUV and blows a kiss out the window. Gina responds by 'catching' said kiss and throwing it to the ground, grinding it into the asphalt with the heel of her shoe.
Taylor and I step into the truck and try to take hold of the fish. It's slippery and unwieldy, there isn't much of anything to hold on to.
Bella stands outside of the delivery truck and stares at us while we work.
"Are you going to help, Bella?" I ask, strain in my voice as I lift the huge fish.
"Yeah, well, I have a hangover, I might throw up if I try to do too much," Bella whines.
Gina– who had been attempting to lift a box– tosses a glare over her shoulder.
"I have a hangover too, and yet I'm still helping. Get your lazy ass in here and do something useful."
Bella huffs and cradles her stomach for a moment longer before she steps into the truck and begins shuffling boxes around towards the front.
Taylor and I finally lift the tuna and begin to carry it off the truck.
"Bella, can you hold the middle?" I ask.
"Ugh, fine." She glowers before moving to lift the midsection of the colossal fish.
We carry it inside and lay it on the end table of the red kitchen. I lean over and put my hands on my knees, taking deep breaths. Gina stretches and cracks her back.
"This shit sucks," Gina complains before we head back outside.
In stark contrast with Taylor– who is moving boxes in record time– Bella helps as little as humanly possible. She scoots boxes from the back of the truck to the front and only helps to carry things inside if someone directly asks her to.
In-between deliveries, I try to work on filleting the giant tuna. Honestly, it doesn't feel like work to me. It's fun, in fact. Bella disappears from the kitchens and lazes around upstairs until the horn sounds for more deliveries to be brought inside.
Sous Chef Christina oversees our kitchen prep and lets us know where to put the deliveries as they arrive. Four delivery trucks come and go before the horns stop blaring. The clock shows 5pm. The blue team will be back soon.
We've almost finished prepping the kitchens. Bella is attempting to help, but she's so slow it's painful to watch. Gina has recovered from her hangover and is helping to set up the stations, so I know Bella's hangover should have been gone by now. She's still playing it up though, clutching her stomach and dry heaving occasionally when Christina tries to push her to work harder.
The men and Kalyani come back to the kitchens when there are a few minutes left until service is expected to begin. Each of them carries a goodie bag with delicious confectioners chocolates inside.
The men happily head past us to get changed into their jackets, while Kalyani stays behind in the kitchens with us.
"I never knew so much went into making chocolates," Kalyani begins while standing in the doorway from the kitchens to the hallway that leads to the dorms. "It was really informative. I wouldn't mind telling you guys about what I learned later if you like."
Red nods her head. "Yes please, anything you learned, even if it doesn't help out in Hell's Kitchen, I'm sure will help us out some time! Plus, we miss you over here on the red team," Red pouts.
Kalyani smiles. "I'll be sure to share everything I learned with you guys later. I'm going to go get dressed for service now! Good luck, girls."
Kalyani happily makes her way down the hallway back to the dorms while I put the finishing touches on the blue kitchen's meat station.
Hopefully, Taylor can kill it on tonight's service. She's hanging by a thread after that dismal score on the mystery ingredients challenge and I really, really don't want anyone to have an excuse to try and eliminate her.
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