Episode 94
EPISODE 94
DEVEIN INTERVENTION
Ariel
I have to stop my jaw from dropping at Misty’s question.
Evangeline doesn’t reply, so Misty asks again, of course.
“ Hello , Evie?” Misty stomps her foot. “What happens if both people on the winning team want a private date with the same person?”
Evangeline glances at Misty, annoyance obvious on her tired-looking face. “You and Emily are the only team consisting of two women, so if you win the cook-off and you both choose the same man for your date, I’ll allow it. One of you will just have to wait a night.”
Misty harrumphs and turns back to whatever she’s cooking on the stove.
I’m feeling a little embarrassed around Sebastian after our fuckfest this morning. He didn’t seem to mind, though. In fact, he sauntered toward me when Evangeline said we were paired up and whispered in my ear, “Maybe we’ll be making strawberries and cream.”
Far from it.
We’re making a hot pepper shrimp appetizer with a jerk coleslaw garnish—about as different from strawberries and cream as we could get.
We’re working with Marc, a gorgeous sous chef who I’m pretty sure I saw hanging around Sienna before she left. He’s dark-haired and blue-eyed and looks scrumptious in his black chef’s coat.
“I hope you two like shrimp,” he says to Sebastian and me.
“Could eat it at every meal.” Sebastian smiles.
“I love it too,” I say.
“Good. Then we’ll begin deveining our shrimp. These are fresh out of the water, just caught today.”
“Uh…deveining?” I ask.
“Yeah. It’s pretty easy once you get the hang of it.” He points to a bowl full of gray-looking gelatin sitting on a bed of ice.
“What in the world is that?” I ask.
Marc laughs. “That’s the shrimp.”
What? You mean shrimp doesn’t come all pretty and pink with a side of cocktail sauce? That’s what it looks like when I see it in the store. I can’t afford to eat it often, but when I buy it, it’s a delicious luxury. Even better if I have a date and we go to Red Lobster on shrimp night. I love the deep-fried coconut shrimp. We’re on a tropical island. Aren’t coconuts tropical? Where’s the coconut shrimp?
“That doesn’t look like any shrimp I’ve seen,” I finally say.
Sebastian lets out a laugh. “It’s raw, Ariel.”
Warmth creeps into my cheeks. They’re laughing at me. Laughing at the little hayseed from Alabama who’s never seen raw shrimp before. I force a smile. “Okay. Let’s get to the”—I clear my throat—“deveining, then.”
Marc picks up one of the shrimps. “We’ll start by gently pulling off the shell, starting at the head.”
I slide on the thin rubber gloves Marc handed me earlier, gather my courage, and grab a shrimp from the bowl. Even in my gloved hands, the texture seems slimy. The shrimp’s beady black eyes are staring at me as if it’s some kind of alien life form.
“Having trouble, sugar?” Sebastian asks me.
I force another smile. “Of course not.”
“Good. For a minute you looked like you were about to toss your cookies.”
“Don’t be silly.” I rip the entire shell off the shrimp, but it ends up a gooey mess in my hands.
“That’s why I said gently.” Marc takes the shrimp from me and disposes of it. “Start at the head, as I did, but stop at the tail. We leave that on for both flavor and presentation.”
Sebastian peels four shrimps by the time I complete one. I manage one more before he and Marc have them all done.
“Good.” Marc picks up a small knife. “To devein, we’re going to make a shallow cut along the back of the shrimp, from the head end to the tail just deep enough to expose the dark vein, which is actually the shrimp's digestive tract.”
Seriously? I’m feeling faint again, but I desperately try not to show it.
Sebastian nudges me. “I bet you never thought you’d be knee-deep in shrimp shit on this island.”
His jovial mood lightens me up a little, and I bravely pick up a knife. I grab a shrimp and follow Marc’s lead, cutting along the back until I see the shit…er…vein. I slice down to the tail.
“Good, Ariel.” Marc smiles. “Now lift out the vein with the tip of your knife, or you can use your fingers. If the vein breaks, simply find where it snapped and continue removing it.”
“Sure thing.” I slide the tip of my knife under the vein and move meticulously until?—
“Oh my God!” I hold the intact vein up to Marc. “I did it!”
He laughs. “You sure did! Excellent. Now we only have to do about fifty more.”
I feel oddly lighthearted, even though my next attempt isn’t nearly as successful. My vein breaks twice, but I continue on. If only Mama could see me now. She’s always trying to get me to learn to cook.
By the time I devein several more ice-cold shrimp, my hands are freezing, even with the gloves on. I rub them together to ease the chill.
“You okay, sugar?” Sebastian asks.
“My hands are cold.”
“Here.” He peels off my gloves and his own. “Let me help you.”
He takes both my hands in his large—and very warm—ones. His touch not only eases the biting chill but also makes me feel kind of giddy.
“Is that better?” He smiles down at me.
I simply nod.
“You’re something,” he says.
“Is that good or bad?”
“You’re adorable, Ariel.”
His words warm me, though I can’t help asking, “Even though I was grossed out by raw shrimp?”
“Especially because of that. You’re just you , and you don’t try to be someone you’re not. It’s refreshing, and I like it. I like it a lot, Ariel.”
You don’t try to be someone you’re not.
An interesting thought from Sebastian. I took a chance with him this morning. After making a fool of myself with both Brett and Alex—basically begging them for sex—I approached Sebastian differently and I ended up getting what I wanted.
I got strawberries and cream and so much more.
“When you become successful,” Sebastian continues, “people stop being themselves around you. They put on airs, try to impress you with every move they make. Even some of the women here are doing that, but not you, my little Tweety Bird. Not you.”
From anyone else, that term of endearment from my tattoo would sound condescending, but not from Sebastian. He makes it sound sweet. Sexy even, in that raspy low voice that has made him famous.
“I hate to break up this little love fest,” Marc chides, “but these shrimps aren’t going to cook themselves.”
Sebastian rubs my hands once more before letting them go. “What’s next, el capitan ?”
“We’re going to chop some garlic and scotch bonnet pepper and add some seasonings. Then we’ll mix it with lime juice and let the shrimp marinate for about fifteen minutes while we prepare the coleslaw garnish.” He hands a bulb of garlic to Sebastian. “You know how to break this into cloves and mince them?”
Sebastian takes the head of garlic. “I think I can manage, if Ariel here helps me.”
“I’ve got something else for her to do.” Marc winks at me. “How are you at jerking?”
Warmth—and redness, no doubt—rush to my cheeks at his inuendo. “What?”
“Jerk seasoning, of course,” he laughs, nudging my arm. “It’s a mixture of peppers, garlic, cloves, and other spices. But I’ve already combined them. What I need you to do, pretty lady, is whisk the spices with some mayonnaise and cider vinegar. I’ve premeasured the ingredients for you. While Sebastian finishes up the marinade for the shrimp, I’ll thinly slice this cabbage for our slaw.”
I smile as I whisk up the dressing in a glass bowl. My cheeks are still warm from Marc’s teasing, and Sebastian stands next to me, glancing my way quite a bit.
Shrimp poop aside, this is the most fun I’ve had in a long time. I feel joyful—like the feeling I used to get when Jazz and I would go out to catch lightning bugs on a hot July night. I had the best time chasing those little flits of glitter, watching as the trail of light lingered long after they flew away. It seemed like magic, but the real magic was that life was simple and uncomplicated.
I melt into the feeling, moving closer to Sebastian so our elbows bump as we cook.
Is Alex watching us? Is June? Is Emily?
I don’t care, and it’s so freeing to let go of the jealousy. I won’t let anyone ruin whatever I’ve got going with Sebastian. It may be nothing…or it may be everything.
More likely, it’s something in between. All I know for sure is that it’s now.
And it’s good.
I’m good.
Sebastian is good.
And who knows?
Maybe we’ll be good together.