Chapter 5 Emilia
EMILIA
Yeah, I was thrilled that I booked Kristen and Carter and their three-ring circus of a wedding, but I was still coming to terms with how much I was going to play a role in their reality show.
Carter’s show usually focused on his daily life as a fitness guru and personal trainer to the stars, but apparently the producers had decided that the wedding deserved a special multi-episode arc all of its own and that meant they were recording a lot of footage. A lot of which included me.
And him. Unfortunately.
I glanced across the stainless steel prep table to where Drew was standing next to his head chef, looking smoking hot and typically grumpy despite the fact that there were a dozen perfectly plated appetizers in front of him.
I mean, how could you be in a bad mood when your hotel’s restaurant turned out treasures like ceviche diver scallops, escargot in garlic butter, and a caramelized onion tarte with herb crusted goat cheese?
But no, he had his arms crossed and a scowl on his face, like he was surveying the contents of the kitchen’s garbage can.
His poor colleagues had to deal with his attitude every day.
How the hell did he keep staff with such bad vibes?
Maybe they were able to ignore the scowl by focusing on the rest of him instead?
There was a lot to appreciate. Drew Ashford was the kind of hot that could make people stop in their tracks.
The height was a little intimidating, in the best possible way—like he was a guy who could wrap up every bit of you in his arms and make the rest of the world disappear.
He looked strong, too. Not musclehead strong, like Carter, but “fuck you up against the wall” strong. The fun kind of strong.
And okay, this was starting to turn me on, which was not appropriate for the time and place. Time to focus back on that face and use the scowl as a makeshift cold shower. But no, that wasn’t really working, because now I couldn’t help noticing that his strong profile looked downright regal.
And he had to get facials, because it wouldn’t be fair for him to have such flawless skin naturally.
Then there were the eyes … I felt a little chill go up my spine any time he locked onto me, because the combined effect of his glare and the intense blue color was almost spooky, like he could peer into my soul.
I jumped as he looked up from the table and directly at me. Whoops, had I been staring at him?
I busied myself with my notepad, pretending that I had something important to write down when all I wanted to do was find an excuse to not be looking at him.
The chef directed our couple of the hour to start sampling the options and the cameras swooped in even closer.
Carter rubbed his hands together. “I doubled up on my workout this morning so outta my way people, I’m going in! I earned this cheat day.”
Kristen giggled, picked up the tarte and took a bite so tiny I doubted she could taste anything.
“Mmm,” she said, eyes wide. “I love it.”
Carter speared a scallop, popped it in his mouth and nodded as he chewed. “Oh wow, this is fantastic. Hell yeah, brother. Hell yeah. I definitely want these on the menu.”
The chef beamed but Drew remained stony faced. For fuck’s sake, they were complimenting his food, the least he could do would be to crack a smile.
Carter and Kristen both moved on to the escargot, or attempted to.
It had the wow factor, but it could be a major pain to actually eat the things.
Snails were just too damn slippery, which is why I usually tried to steer couples away from the idea.
But Drew had insisted we offer it in the tasting since it was one of the restaurant’s signature dishes.
I had a feeling that including it was less for the couple and more for the camera.
“Uh, what the hell do I do with this?” Carter laughed as he held up a shell. “Throw it back like a Jell-o shot?”
Kristen giggled.
“It’s such a unique dish, isn’t it?” I said, shooting a glance at Drew. “You secure the shell using the snail tongs then use the tiny fork to pull out the meat.”
“Hold up, folks.” Dorian the producer moved closer to the table. I’d quickly figured out that he was the sort of person who could disappear into the background or suck the air out of a room, depending on his mood. “Let’s savor this moment, okay? Have some fun with it. It’s cute, ya know?”
Ah yes, the stage direction that I was learning was a big part of ‘reality’ TV. “Savoring the moment.” Ugh.
Dorian had a very clear vision for the show, and he wasn’t afraid to pause the action to manipulate it in the direction he wanted.
He clearly had willing subjects in the couple, because Carter pretended to catch Kristen’s nose in the snail tong and they laughed harder than necessary about it.
I’m sure the show’s editing and background music would make the moment feel funnier than it actually was.
Kristen held up the tong and fork. “Okay, I’m lost. What do we do?”
I opened my mouth to answer but Drew started talking before I could.
“I’d be happy to show you how to enjoy our Escargots à la Bourguignonne. Allow me.”
Of course his French accent was impeccable. I imagined myself doing an eyeroll so my disdain wouldn’t be caught on camera, but it wasn’t the same.
Drew gracefully demonstrated how to grasp the shell with the tool and spear the meat out. He held the tiny fork up in the air.
“Voila,” he said with a smile that almost looked natural.
“Me first,” Kristen said as she moved closer to Drew.
She opened her mouth and looked up at him like she wanted him to feed her, which…um, what? Sure, it would be cute if it was the guy she was marrying, but she wasn’t even looking Carter’s way. The energy between her and Drew seemed familiar, almost intimate, and it didn’t make sense to me.
Drew opted to hand her the fork, and she popped it in her mouth with a flourish. Kristen covered her mouth with her hand as she chewed, all the better to show off her huge ring. “Oh my. Huh. Different!”
“Lemme try,” Carter said. He wasn’t quite as smooth as Drew but he managed to get the bit of snail meat out without too much drama or garlic butter spatter. “Wow. I love it. Garlic-city,” he said as he chewed.
Damn it, I was going to have to be a killjoy. Diplomatically. “You’re right,” I agreed. “It’s an aromatic selection for sure, and it’s the resort’s specialty. But for your event, I have to be honest with you that from a planning perspective it presents some challenges.”
Drew cleared his throat. “It’s a unique dish that people love.
It received a Gault & Millau award for culinary excellence, which is rare for an American restaurant.
I was told that you want a one-of-a-kind event, and this appetizer will show your guests that they are in for a celebration unlike anything they’ve experienced. ”
“Sold,” Carter slapped the counter. “I want our wedding to be super different. We’re going to blow people’s minds.”
“But …” Kristen held up the tongs. “This thing is sort of hard to navigate. And if we’re doing passed apps it’ll be even tougher for guests.”
“That’s the issue exactly,” I said quickly relieved that one of them understood.
“We should consider what our couple prefers and let them make the decision,” Drew said in a stern voice, narrowing his eyes at me to signal that I needed to shut the hell up.
Did he forget that I didn’t work for him? “Oh, I am,” I smiled sweetly at him. “It sounds to me like Kristen wants to provide their guests with selections that are easy to navigate when they’re holding an appetizer plate and a drink.”
“That’s right,” she nodded and glanced between us.
“But babe,” Carter whined. “We said we want to disrupt the wedding industrial complex.”
The camera pushed a little closer to the pair.
“With snails, though?” Kristen asked, frowning at him.
“It’s not just a question of what you’d be comfortable with but what your guests can handle.
Do you have an aunt who’d be horrified if she got butter on her dress?
A great uncle with arthritis who might struggle with the tongs?
” I said, trying to make it sound more official than just ‘escargot is messy and weird.’
“Nothing’s off limits for my baby,” Carter declared.
He leaned in close to kiss her. When they pulled apart Kristen was wearing a tiny furrow that no one else seemed to notice but me.
“That’s really sweet,” I said. I forced myself to smile when I felt the camera swing to me. “But let’s not rush into any decisions. We have so many more dishes to consider so why don’t we table this one for a bit?”
“No, I think we should hash it out right now,” Drew said smoothly. “Each appetizer choice impacts the rest of the meal. We’re creating a unified experience from start to finish. For example, if they select a scallop appetizer then we obviously can’t consider our scallop entrée.”
“Of course, understood,” I said through gritted teeth.
“But should they really decide that before even tasting the scallop entrée? What if they decide they like that better than the appetizer? Or what if they find out the maid of honor is allergic to shellfish? We don’t have to make the call right this second. ”
Drew moved closer to me. “The timeline for this event is quick, and our escargot is wild caught and hand harvested in France. We need lead time to make that happen.”
“Oh damn. That’s so baller,” Carter laughed. “I’m into it!”
I glanced at Kristen and she was now fully frowning and not trying to hide it. I didn’t want to go head-to-head with the groom but Drew I could handle. I resolutely pushed away thoughts of which parts of him I’d like to handle and focused on the issue in front of us.
“It sounds like a complicated way to plan,” I said. I felt like I needed to be a human shield in front of Kristen, so I took a few steps closer to Drew. “And a little inflexible, I think.”