Happy Ever After

Chapter 3

Mozart filled the air as Alana put the finishing touches on her centerpiece, the 'Tree of Life', constructed from dark and white chocolate with candy shaped fruit hanging from the branches. The wedding cake, a frothy concoction of fondant in pink and white and decorated with cherubs, had already been transported to its platform in the reception hall. The individual desserts, rich chocolate mousse with orange zest and miniature field berry tarts topped with liquored cream, were cooling in the walk-in refrigerator.

When she had accepted the commission, she had known it would be a challenge creating an eight-tier wedding cake, an artistic centerpiece, and two individual desserts for five hundred guests. She had four assistants to help her with the execution, but the design and the strategy had been her responsibility. By arriving early to the Comte De Villiers' countryside estate, she had had time to organize her pantry and her staff, making sure she got only the best of both.

She was pleased to be reunited with old friends from her Paris days, who had been commissioned by the Comte to provide a feast worthy of a princess for his only daughter. The past week had gone by in a blur of menu prep, ordering supplies, baking, and staying up late reminiscing. It had been as if they'd never been apart.

The executive chef, Jean-Philipe, had been a rival in culinary school, and Alana was amused to see the conceited Frenchman trying to out cook her. He was welcome to his job and she couldn't understand why he would feel the need to compete. But then he had always been competitive, and she ignored him for the most part. He had tasted her mousse and told her it needed more zest. She had picked up her paring knife and told him to keep his greedy fingers out of her section of the kitchen. He had eyed the knife and kept a polite distance ever since.

Alana used a gentle flame to melt the sugar, moving quickly as timing was everything in the delicate design. Next she glued a chocolate leaf to the branch, giving it a few seconds to catch on. She took a pastry brush and applied melted white chocolate to the tips of the leaves. That done, she took a thin paint brush and touched up the red color on the fruit and waited for it to dry. Lastly, she took the canister of liquid nitrogen and sprayed the trunk and branches.

Satisfied, she stepped back and surveyed her creation one last time. She took out her phone and took some pictures to email Mimi later. She arched her back, rolled her shoulders and stretched her fingers. The world around her came into focus and she realized that it was so silent she could have heard a pin drop. She turned around and everyone in the kitchen was staring amazed at the three-foot high tree.

Jean-Phillipe took off his chef's hat and bowed to his knees before blowing her a kiss. Alana half bowed in acknowledgement and laughed. Her feet hurt, her fingers were cramped, and she was thirsty as a camel. But just then, none of it mattered. She watched her assistants reverently take the centerpiece away and folded her legs to sit on the floor, opening the water bottle someone handed her. In a while she would need to change her clothes and make an appearance in the reception hall, but for now, she was happy right where she was.

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Alana was back in control when she entered the reception hall. It was a beautiful space with high ceilings. The bride's colors were reflected in everything from the place settings to the flowers to the ribbons arching above the dance floor. The head table was laid out banquet-style, the bride and groom center of attention on their day. She spotted a government minister, an aging rock star, the world's reigning tennis player, an Oscar winning director, and the ruler of a small but rich principality in the Middle East. There were black ties, tiaras, jeans and gowns. It was an eclectic mix of people and the blending of old and new money. Her amethyst gown and the diamond necklace Mimi had given her on graduating from Cordon Bleu melded nicely with the ambiance.