Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“ S o, what’s the deal with you and Jared?” I asked Joel once we had pulled way.
He drove a little fast for my liking through the sleepy streets of my small town where too many beach goers walked lazily through traffic without any concern for cars. The car was the most luxurious thing I’d ever been in. I didn’t have a car, and my parents drove cars made in the 2010s that required lots of finagling just to charge my phone. Joel’s was all maroon leather and high-tech screens that my fingers longed to touch.
“I could ask you the same thing,” he said, eyes straight ahead.
“Wow, that's some evading skills. Do they teach you that in fancy chef school?” I ask.
He cracked a smile. “I didn’t go to cooking school. I’m sure you think I am some fancy hot shot, but I grew up in a family kitchen too,” he said. “We aren’t that different.”
I suspected from the way Jared talked that wasn’t entirely true, but I let it slide. I’m sure that was the company line. Regardless, he and I were nothing alike, as evidenced by his suit and car.
We only drove about five minutes to the most high-scale restaurant Cape Shore had to offer. I couldn’t help but think we definitely could have walked. Joel didn’t come off as the walking type though.
Somewhere in the dark recesses of my brain, a voice reminded me that Jared had walked to my place today. It didn’t mean anything. He was my rival. Not Joel. Joel was on my side. He could be the key to that bakery being mine, where it rightfully belonged. I ignored the voice trying to make me doubt that point. I had put in my time. I knew Cape Shore. I deserved a bakery of my own way more than Jared. He was just another greedy corporate guy trying to line his pockets by cornering every available market. Even if it didn’t seem that way on the surface.
Joel pulled under the rustic portico of the most expensive restaurant in town and handed the car off to the valet. The second we stepped inside, all eyes landed on Joel. Most people knew the Wallace family from their stint in various tabloids, but a restaurant like this would be doubly excited to have him grace them with his presence. It left my skin crawling to be both the center of attention and completely invisible at the same time. Especially because I knew most of the waiters.
“This is interesting,” I said when we were seated in a booth toward the back after Joel made a point of shaking hands and snapping pictures with everyone who approached. The difference between Joel and his brother was stark. Somehow, Jared had the ability to go mostly unnoticed. He had a calm, casual vibe, while Joel leaned full into the rich, celebrity thing.
“You get used to it. I don’t love it, but it’s part of the job,” he said.
A waitress with a wide, toothy smile stepped up to us and offered a complimentary bottle of wine before lingering a little too long. I wasn’t sure if I believed Joel’s humility. He seemed to lap up the attention, but maybe he was just better at the act than Jared. Why did I keep comparing them? I was allowed to enjoy this dinner with Joel without thinking about Jared every two seconds.
“How are things going in the bakery?” he asked when the waitress finally took the hint.
“There haven’t been any new revelations since early today,” I said.
“It’s nice of you to help out my brother,” he said.
“Well, my mom wouldn’t hear otherwise. She is pretty starstruck. Her head might explode if she knew I was out to dinner with you.”
“Maybe we will have to make a stop at your restaurant so I can see that firsthand,” he said with a laugh.
“No, you definitely don’t want that,” I said, unfolding my menu and hiding behind it. I wish I hadn’t told him about my mom.
I had only ever been to the Ocean Grill three times: on my parents' twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, my grandmother's nine tieth birthday, and my eighteenth. Surprisingly, we didn’t eat out much in my family, and when we did, it tended toward fast casual. Not that we didn’t have the money for fancier places, we just weren’t the type. When I saw the prices, I worried about the awkward moment when the bill came. I would offer to pay, but would he accept or insist on dropping his credit card?
The waitress came back quickly with the same smile that only encompassed Joel. “Any questions about the menu?”
“We’ll get an order of the oysters and steamed clams to start,” he said, folding his menu and passing it to the waitress.
I could feel my cheeks warming at this unexpected awkwardness. If I worried that arguing about the check would be bad, having him order for us was terrible. All I could do was plaster on a smile and try to appreciate the nice appetizers coming my way.
“I hope you don’t mind.” He leaned close to me when he spoke as if he were telling me a secret. “I wasn’t sure if you would feel comfortable getting whatever you wanted, so I figured I would just make it happen.” His smile was warm and felt genuine and left me flustered. Somehow, I was both grateful and offended at the same time.
“How is Jared doing with all of this, do you think?” Joel asked.
“I have no idea. Jared and I don’t have the best communication,” I said.
“Sounds like Jared,” he said. “I think there are two possible outcomes here. One, Jared’s impulsivity and lack of business savvy get the best of him and the bakery crashes and burns. Two, he man ages to get this thing off the ground. In either case, I just want to help. I don’t want you caught in the crosshairs of all this.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know if either one of those options is great for you. You are young and just starting out in your career. I would hate for whatever fuck-ups are in Jared’s future to mar your resume,” he said.
“But if he gets it off the ground, that wouldn’t hurt my reputation,” I said.
Joel laughed. “It would if it was a disorganized, poorly run, shit show.”
Before I could respond, the appetizers were placed in front of us. They smelled delicious, and after I had the first bite, I could admit that I was happy he had ordered them.
“Where do you want to go after this?” Joel asked.
“After dinner?” I asked.
Joel laughed again. It didn’t feel like he was making fun of me, but instead like he was genuinely tickled by the things that came out of my mouth.
“After the bakery, after Cape Shores,” he said.
“I don’t know,” I said, feeling like my answer of nothing wasn’t good enough.
“Do you think you will stick with cooking?”
“It’s all I know,” I said, ducking my head to sip my drink so I wouldn’t have to meet his eyes.
“Maybe you need to travel the world,” he said. “What’s your favorite kind of food?”
I blinked at the unexpected turn of the conversation. “My favorite food? ” I asked. “That should probably be an easier answer than it is.”
Joel laughed. “It’s the hardest question in the world for a chef. All the options.”
“I guess my favorite is cupcakes?”
“Then you should go to France! Get the best cupcakes you’ve ever tasted,” he said.
“With all my money,” I said.
“I’ll take you. When all this nonsense with the bakery is done, I will take you to France to taste the best cupcakes the world has to offer.”
I couldn’t help but smile. It was all so absurd.
“I’m gonna hold you to that,” I said.
“You better,” he said.
“So what’s your favorite food?”
“Evil,” he said with a wink. “I can’t possibly answer that.”
“Oh, I see how it is. You make me answer the hard questions and then bail when it’s your turn,” I said.
“Alright, I guess my favorite food is foie gras.”
“Fancy.” I couldn’t tell if it was a pretentious answer or if that was just how cultured people viewed the world.
“Ever had it?”
“No.”
“I’ll make it for you. Tomorrow. I’ll stop by the bakery. Hopefully, Jared has a real cooktop installed by then,” he said.
I had managed to make it five whole minutes without thinking of Jared. Now, I felt the inkling to defend him. “Do you think it’s a good idea for the two of you to be in the same space at the same time?” I asked. “So far you two don’t have a great track record.”
“It’s fine. We’ve been working together for years. It’s been a while since we cooked together, but I guess if you are the consultant, you can kick him out of the kitchen, right?”
“I don’t think it works that way.”
“You have to use a firm hand with Jared. You don’t want him taking advantage of you or steamrolling your ideas,” he said. “You have the menu ready?
“Getting there,” I said.
I realized with an icy chill that Joel didn’t know anything about the deal. He really thought I was just the consultant. Should I keep it a secret? How would he feel about Jared making me part owner if I were to win? Would he let it happen? With his daddy’s money as he so crassly put it? I didn’t have high hopes. For the first time, I wondered if Jared was right. That Joel and I weren’t really on the same side.
“I’d love to take a look when it’s ready. I trust your knowledge of the area, but I don’t trust Jared’s ability or willingness to create cohesion across the brand. Before he showed up here, we had no plans of expanding to Cape Shore, let alone opening a bakery,” he said.
“You don’t have much faith in him.”.
Joel sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. “My warning to you would be to keep as much distance from him as you can. Maybe you can even convince him to bail on the idea altogether before he gets in too deep.”
I snorted a laugh at that. If it was that easy, I already would have done it , although in truth, I hadn’t really tried all that hard yet.
The rest of dinner went smoothly with Joel making a point of managing the conversation. He told me about his recent visit to England and a terrible Shepherd’s Pie that he had at a local pub. He told me about his favorite spots on the East Coast and an interview he did recently with The Times.
He was easy to listen to, and unlike some of the other guys I had gone to dinner with in the past, his stories were interesting. Although, when I thought about it, he didn’t really ask much about me at all. Yet, his tales made me wonder if I should find a way to travel the globe. But then again, any money I spent traveling was money I didn’t have for my bakery.
Listening to his stories and imagining myself traveling, I realized how easily influenced I could be to adopt other people’s dreams. I didn’t really want to travel the world. Yet here I was, thinking that without it, I would be less of a person. I had to find a way to hold firm to myself, so I didn’t come apart at the edges. It was an interesting contrast between Joel and Jared. I wondered if either of them did it on purpose or if it was a personality thing, that one pushed his own agenda and the other seemed content to let me have my own. Not that I was finding positive things to say about Jared or anything.