Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
Amethyst
As soon as I got word the catering team was having issues, I kissed Annie on the cheek and promised her more pictures later. We were almost done anyway, so she wasn’t upset. She encouraged me to go, not wanting to see her brother struggle and wanting her day to go off without a hitch.
From the other side of the large reception hall, where the ceremony and pictures were being done, I hurried to the kitchen.
While I might not cook as well as most of the people staffed at Arlo’s company, I figured my help was better than nothing.
Besides, I’d had a crush on that man for as long as I could remember. While I doubt he saw me as anything but a friend, based on his little sayings, I jumped at whatever chance rose to get to see him.
After I walked into the kitchen and offered my help, he gave me that award-winning smile of his and I was a goner. I’d peel potatoes for hours if he asked. I didn’t care. Hell, I’d wash dishes if it meant I got to stay and be around him.
“Alright, we need a plan. What we can salvage, what we can create. We need at least five courses. Soup, salad, appetizer, main course, and dessert. This is what we have.” Arlo explained his ingredients.
As people threw in ideas, we planned out a menu and set to work.
I peeled veggies and prepped ingredients, working side by side with Arlo as his right-hand man.
“Thank you. I can’t say it enough. I really thought we were screwed.” Arlo said as he seasoned potatoes.
“You were. But I knew you’d save the day.
” I looked up at him, his very tall fix foot five frame towering over me.
In high school, he was two grades below Annie and I, a tall, lanky, goofy kid, but one that could always make you laugh.
His shaggy brown hair would fall in front of his eyes, him constantly pushing it away as he told his next joke.
Our senior year, he was a sophomore and ended up taking a home economics class with me, his cooking skills really starting to shine then.
I knew he’d go off and do great things and here he was, running his own catering company.
“You’re an amazing guy, Arlo. I don’t tell you this enough, but I’m proud of you. ”
Arlo stopped working and turned to face me. “Thank you. I think you’re pretty damn great, too.”
“I just teach Intro to Shakespeare lit. Nothing major.” I laughed, as we both knew how damn tough Shakespeare could be to understand.
“I still don’t get how you don’t encourage the use of cliff notes. They saved my ass.”
I chuckled. “What good of a teacher would I be if I did?”
“A pretty cool one.” Arlo said with a grin before turning back to his potatoes.
One of these days, I’d ignore everything my brain said, like would Annie freak out or does Arlo even like me like that, and I’d just kiss him. See what he tasted like and if it was as good as I imagined.
As the wedding reception got underway, some of Arlo’s staff served the first course of soup, a classic minestrone.
Time flew as dishes went out and new ones plated. At one point, I snuck out and said my rounds of hellos before helping to plate up the main dish.
“I’m going to go changed and then I thought we could eat with our family?” Arlo asked me when the main course was plated and ready to be served. “My staff will handle the cutting of the cake and dessert.”
“Sounds perfect. I just need to freshen up.” I undid the tie on the back of my apron and pulled it off.
“You did a great job today. Thank you.”
I smiled. “I just can’t believe we pulled it off.”
Arlo laughed. “Me either. And Brian just arrived.” He nodded towards the back of the kitchen where Brian walked in, soaked. The trays of food he carried were also soaked and ruined. “Not that we could use any of the food.”
“I know, it’s too bad. The rainstorm fucked everything up.”
“It sure did. But anything with you is possible.” Arlo winked and he walked away.
My heart pounded in my chest. Would Arlo finally make a move? Or should I?
But on Annie’s wedding day…
We shouldn’t take any of the spotlight away from her. She deserved it all. Yet as I walked away in search of the bathroom, I couldn’t stop seeing his smiling, winking face.
“I didn’t realize you cook so well, Am,” Annie popped a potato in her mouth and chewed thoughtfully. “Delicious.”
“I’ve had a good teacher over the years.” I locked eyes with Arlo and my stomach flipped.
Annie looked between the two of us. “You two cook together?”
Arlo shrugged. “I mean we have. It’s not a regular thing.”
The way he brushed it off made my stomach sink.
We used to spend time together in the kitchen, before he went off to college, when Annie spent nights working at a local clothing store.
But we never told Annie that and I doubt we were now, considering it was years ago, so I smiled and changed the subject.
“I like cooking. I’ve taught myself a lot over the years, just by watching videos. ”
“Oh like Arlo’s videos,” their mother injected. “He gives a lot of great tips.”
“Exactly.” I finished my dinner and kept my eyes off Arlo and focused on Annie instead.
Otherwise, I might throw myself at him. He looked so hot in his tuxedo, even better than his chef whites, and so many dirty fantasies ran through my head.
With his hair neat and trimmed, his dark thick beard with straight lines, and his handsome features, he looked like a snack.
One I had wanted for a long time and still did.
The cake was cut and served, after we watched Annie and her new husband, Jared, feed each other a piece. The cream cheese icing and the chocolate fudge cake with raspberry preserves filling tasted heavenly.
Afterwards, the music grew louder, and the DJ took over the party, starting with a dance for the bride and groom.
I watched as couples filled the dance floor, Arlo doing the same. Would he ask me to dance? What was he thinking?
Finally, he looked at me from across the table, and I felt myself flush. He had that knowing look in his eye that he wanted to ask me to dance.
With one tilt of my head, he leaned across the table. “Dance with me, Amethyst?”
“I thought you’d never ask.”