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...
When I get back into the dining room of Hell's Kitchen, I see the other chefs putting the finishing touches on prep before dinner service. Taylor looks up from her cutting board and waves to me with a smile. She puts her knife down and wipes her hands on a towel before exiting the kitchen in the direction of the dorms.
I head through the red kitchen and Bella touches my arm as I pass by.
"Thank you for choosing me as your sous chef, girl. You know I got your back."
"I'm glad I picked you, Bella. You're really starting to shine."
She grins then turns back to working on organizing her station.
I take the stairs to the dorms. Taylor is sitting on the couch waiting for me.
"Here are some prep list instructions I thought you might wanna have before dinner service. Do your best!" She cheerfully claps me on the back when she stands up from the couch, but I make out a deeper emotion etched on her face. She seems genuinely worried.
I glance at the note as she descends the stairs. It isn't a prep list.
In the dorms, a box is waiting for me on the bed. I rush over to it and pull off the lid. Inside lays a pure white head chef jacket with black buttons– it seems I'm the first Hell's Kitchen contestant to pass black jackets and slip straight into a head chef coat, even if only for one day. I run my fingers over the front and awe rushes over me. There's a card stuck in the front lapel.
'The head chef of Hell's Kitchen should look the part! Congrats on your win. – Gordon'
The elation I feel at seeing the jacket is marred by the note Taylor had left me. I scoop up the jacket and hide the necklace box in its folds. I then head into the bathrooms, close the stall door behind me, and sit on the toilet lid.
I take a deep breath and unfold the paper with trembling fingers.
'I overheard Pietro telling Kalyani that he suspects there's something going on between you and Chef Ramsay. They were whispering in the hallway next to the pantry and I stumbled into them. I don't think Kalyani believes it, but be careful. They weren't being loud enough to be picked up on the mics I don't think, but in case they were you need to be extra guarded during interviews.'
I crumple up the note and squeeze it tightly in my fist. I had a feeling winning would be the breaking point for Pietro. He'd held onto his suspicions so long that I'd started to believe he might try to use them to blackmail me. Thank goodness he didn't, but telling Kalyani isn't much better. At least Kalyani has never had a reason to be upset with me.
The sound of the toilet flushing away Taylor's note fills the stall.
I get dressed into my new head chef jacket and stow my necklace in the box before wrapping it up in my clothing and exiting the stall. I stash my clothes and the necklace in my dresser drawer and straighten out the jacket.
No matter what's going on, I have to do this and I've got to do it right.
I make my way downstairs and into the kitchens, passing through the red kitchen on my way to the front.
"Nice coat, babe!" Gina shouts at me, eliciting a giggle from Red.
A smile flits across my face. At least my red team is with me. As I come to the head, I notice Chefs Scott and Christina are in the blue and red kitchen respectively. I suppose they'll be taking over the stations that Bella and Abel would have been on. My two chosen sous chefs are standing at either side of the pass. Both the red and the blue team chefs look up at me expectantly. At the very center, Gordon waits for me with his arms crossed and a smile tugging at his lips.
"You were born to wear that jacket, darling," he compliments me as he steps to the side and opens one arm towards the pass.
"They're waiting on you. Go on and assign stations for everyone, yeah?" he suggests, raising his eyebrows.
I step up to the head of the kitchens and look out into the faces of each of the chefs under my command.
"Taylor, I want you on fish."
She nods and heads towards her station. I remember how well she and I did while paired together on the fish station and I hope that she works the same magic for me tonight.
"Red on meats, please!"
Red scurries over to the meat station and gives a thumbs up.
"Gina, would you handle appetizers?"
Gina bounces into action and slides in behind the app station, grinning.
"Christina, I know I can trust you on the garnish tonight." I smile at her.
"You know it, Chef." Christina was already standing near garnish, so she crosses her arms as she waits for the blue team to be assigned. I know that Christina will be stellar no matter where I put her, but I want to give my red team girls a chance to shine on the more difficult stations.
I wonder what Gordon thinks of my station leader selection. He's standing with his elbow in his hand and his finger curled across his lips speculatively. He doesn't want to influence my decisions, it seems.
Choosing which station to give to the blue team members proves to be more of a challenge since I haven't worked with any of them but Kalyani– and that feels like eons ago. After a moment of thought, I lean towards Abel. He leans down to me while keeping his eyes on the blue team and his arms crossed.
"Abel, I don't know the blue team very well. Would you help me with their assignments?" I ask into his ear.
He nods, then speaks up.
"Pietro on meat, Dave on garnish, Scott on fish, and Kalyani on appetizers," he recites his directions as if he had been planning the stations long before I'd asked for his help. It's that sort of foresight that makes me both nervous and in awe of his proficiency in the kitchen.
"All stations in order?" Gordon's voice sounds from beside me.
"Yes, Chef."
"Then why don't you do the honors of opening Hell's Kitchen?" he requests.
Me, opening Hell's Kitchen! I feel giddy as I lean over the pass.
"JP!" I shout out into the dining room. JP looks up at me from behind the bar where he'd been polishing the wine glasses.
"Please open Hell's Kitchen!"
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