Chapter Eighteen #2
He got out of the car. “I think the food items on the Hollowville side need to balance with what North Hollowville is doing for Halloween. Are they sticking with pumpkins and apples or are they going full-out candy corn and chocolate? That’s important to know.
If the former, then Hollowville can use honey cake and apple cake recipes from Rosh Hashanah, add a few of them to the Sukkot arsenal. ”
“I love the way your mind works,” she said as she walked over to join him. “I’ll email the committee and tell them you’re interested. More specifically, I’ll tell them that I’ve got a professional chef who wants to consult in an advisory capacity.”
“Thank you,” he said as he took her hand in his. “I like the idea of doing more projects with you. Maybe partner somehow.”
*
Jason, who she had very complex emotional, unnamed feelings for, wanted her to partner with him.
Partner with him.
“Like brainstorm consulting on events I’m doing, as well as other events I’ve already contracted?”
She liked the feel of it on her tongue. Partnering with him. On events.
“Like the Hollowvilles festival?”
He nodded. “Exactly like the Hollowvilles festival. I could be an add-on.”
Ideas ran through her mind, brainstorms running a mile a minute like a hamster on a wheel.
But she forced herself to stop and breathe.
This was a business deal; it was important.
Things—the boundaries and obligations they were undertaking between each other on that professional level, needed to be clear on paper for this to work. “We’ll need a signed contract, you know.”
He nodded. “Of course we’ll need a contract,” he said. “This is business. I’d be one of your contractors, one of your vendors.”
There was something else in the air, an exciting something that would have been tension if it wasn’t Jason. It was almost regenerative but not.
Exhilaration.
That’s what it would be if she had to explain it to Livvy.
It wasn’t just the feeling of his hand in hers as they walked through one of Rockliffe Manor’s central business districts, onto a side street that led to the unassuming bakery that served as the cornerstone of an empire. Or rather an empress’s favorite respite.
Charlotte’s Bakery.
So unassuming that the sign on the front spelled out the Food Tycoon’s first name in FULL, unlike any of the other places she owned that only used a ‘c.’ “This is it,” she said.
Jason nodded. She wouldn’t be surprised if he’d known this place.
“Shall we?”
He nodded in response and used his free hand to open the door. The jingling of bells heralded their entrance.
A tall woman with dark black hair was behind the counter, organizing pastries, adding a few, adjusting a few. A few customers chatted, drinking tea, and the smell of coffee came from the back.
Naomi followed Jason to the counter, and she could tell the minute the person behind the counter realized they’d arrived.
It took less than that for her to recognize the woman’s profile; considering it belonged to someone who’d launched at least a thousand restaurants.
Charlotte Liu was gorgeous, even with a raised eyebrow. And on closer inspection, Charlotte was glaring.
Clearly it wasn’t at her.
“You two came all the way here?” Charlotte asked, shaking her head, grabbing two pastries and passing them over.
“You didn’t have to, you know. I know Batya told me to expect you.
She wouldn’t listen when I tried to tell her that you didn’t have to come here in person, considering many people have my number. ”
“This isn’t about me,” Jason interjected, clearly realizing that Charlotte had been directing her ire at him. “And I don’t know you well enough to ask this kind of question.”
To keep things from getting out of control, Naomi interjected. “Hi. I’m Naomi…”
“Yes,” Charlotte said, turning her attention her way, “I’ve heard about you. You make beautiful events, and also weren’t you at Abe’s party a few months ago?”
The statement was dizzying enough that the words stopped in her mouth before managing to come out. “Yes,” she said. “I…”
“Everybody in the industry knew the power behind the scenes at Ida’s wasn’t Ida anymore,” Charlotte interrupted before Naomi could finish; Naomi thought it was probably because Charlotte had interpreted her inability to follow the conversation as fear.
“She ran everything, but the only reason Ida was able to stay in business for as long as she did was because of you, your skills, and your contacts. Ida, it seems, was dust and didn’t want to face it. ”
If Naomi was creating a list of the people Ida had alienated, Charlotte had just confirmed she’d been on it.
She didn’t know how Ida had managed this one; Charlotte seemed way too focused to get those details.
As if it even mattered. But even as Naomi could logically follow the conversation, this wasn’t anything she was ready to reply to.
How could she?
Because unlike most of the other conversations she’d had involving Ida for the last few days, this wasn’t about Ida. Not really. It was about her.
And how did you respond to someone who put the nail on the central issue Ida had with her, and with life?
Each of the other conversations had hinted at the fact people thought Naomi was the hidden power behind Ida’s throne; Charlotte had just said it outright.
“Uh…”
“Yes,” Charlotte continued. “Ida traded off of your name and what you could do when she sold her business to potential clients, then took the credit for as long as she could before she let you go and closed said business, rather than admit she couldn’t hack it by giving it to you. And I’m sorry.”
That she could reply to. “Thank you,” she said. “I very much appreciate it.”
“Not a problem.” Charlotte paused, even as Jason seemed to be…hiding? That, she’d deal with later.
Charlotte continued, “And now that you’ve come all the way here from…Manhattan? Queens?”
“Manhattan,” Naomi replied.
“Good God. That traffic must have been horrible.” She glared at Jason, probably blaming him. “Anyway, more importantly, what do you need?”
Naomi sighed. “A cake.”
“That’s fine,” Charlotte said as if it was nothing. Which considering who Charlotte was, nothing was the least of the ways to describe how easy it would be. “I can do that. I assume it’s for your cousin?”
Naomi nodded. “Yes.”
“Oh good,” Charlotte replied gleefully as she rubbed her hands together. “Judith saved my husband’s life and Jacob loves her beyond that, which means she’s organized as hell. You probably have her original wants down to a tee, I assume?”
Naomi nodded. Original wants before Ida came in and forced Naomi to sanitize them all. She handed Charlotte the pages from the binder that Leah had given her, the same ones she’d shown Batya the night before. “Here they are.”
Charlotte took the pages and scanned them briefly. “Got it. Well. It seems I’ve got work on my hands, but that’s okay. That’s why I do this.”
“Thank you,” Naomi said. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this.”
“It’s not a problem. And don’t even try to pay me. But, I will sign whatever contract you have, and we’ll talk about working together in the future.”
“I’d love to,” she said, appreciating the commitment for what it really was. “Thank you.”
And then she watched as Charlotte turned to Jason, the business Charlotte had with her clearly concluded.
“Now. If you want to help me out, and appease my mood, Jason, the hamantaschen recipe is out. My usual hamantaschen baker is out of town, so I’ve been needing them. Have Naomi help you fold pastries. Hopefully you won’t get as covered in sugar and flour as my usual guy does.”
And when the instructions sounded like she was scolding or ordering him, Naomi figured Jason would be smart enough to listen to them. “Will do,” he said. And then he turned to her. “Shall we?”
Naomi nodded and took her hand in his. “We shall.”
And she followed Jason behind the counter, through the door and into the small kitchen where the recipe was waiting.
*
Thankfully Naomi wasn’t annoyed with him for not giving her Charlotte’s number to begin with.
“I don’t know her well enough to ask her for something,” he said by way of explanation as he started to look at the recipe Charlotte had left for him.
“I trust you,” she said. “I trust you and your understanding of your contact list. I also suspect that if she was someone you knew well enough to talk to about things, she would have been involved in your trip planning stages.”
Jason nodded as he rinsed his hands. “Yep. Exactly. And I probably would have popped into one of her places if we were on that level.”
She nodded. “It’s important to know who’s in your contact list and what kind of things you can ask them for.”
“Speaking of asking things,” he said, not holding back his amused laughter at the rabbit hole he’d just gone into as he continued to put the dough together. “I’m betting your cousin’s boss is responsible for most of the hamantaschen she sells here.”
“I would not be surprised,” Naomi returned. “The clues were very clear; how her usual baker was out of town and that he usually covered himself in flour.”
“I heard about that,” he said. “I don’t know how I heard that story, about how he left the bakery looking like a snowman, but I did. Unfortunately for all of us, my strength isn’t pastry dough, so it’s going to be fun.”
She laughed. “I’ve made emergency cake fixes but I’m not a good enough baker to actually do something. It’ll definitely be fun to try.”
“You trust me?”
She nodded. “Absolutely.” She paused and he wondered what was going through her mind. “I might be getting closer to…defining what feelings I have for you.”
“I won’t rush you,” he said, knowing how important those words were as he continued to make the dough. “I’m here for you.”
“I appreciate that.”
And then, because he didn’t want to push the situation, he looked down at the recipe. “She said she has filling waiting in the fridge for me, so can you grab it?”