Chapter 39
Elise hurried back inside as soon as Andreas’s speech was over. People’s cheers and applause outside still rang in her ears as she made her way to the kitchen, Voula moving much slower behind her.
Elise would have never chosen to leave the kitchen unmanned even for a second, not after what she’d heard at Perdika from those two halfwits. But, Andreas had called them over on the microphone, wanting to present his staff to the crowd. At least, his introduction of Elise and Voula had taken two minutes tops.
Andreas’s speech had ended immediately after that. A reporter, microphone in hand, and a cameraman from a local TV station accosted him at once, Stefan being invited to join for a short interview. Elise had hurried to leave before they could ask her to join, too.
Coming into the kitchen, she froze. Her biggest nightmare had just materialised. Takis. She caught him just as he hurried to leave through the back door.
‘Hey! Takis! What are you doing here?’ In a flash, she had come to stand before him as he spun around at the exit. He looked breathless. Guilty.
What has he done? With the corner of her eye, she saw Voula come into the kitchen. She went straight to the oven to check on whatever was cooking.
Takis gave a tight smile. ‘Nothing… ah… I just thought I’d stop by and… say congratulations to Stefan for the opening.’
Elise narrowed her eyes and leaned closer to say, ‘Stefan is not in the kitchen. Surely, you could hear his father’s speech on the microphone all this time, even from Perdika! Everyone’s out there. So, why did you come back here?’
He raised his hands. ‘Hey! Lighten up, sweet cheeks! I wanted to catch him on his own, privately, that’s all. I wasn’t going to crash your party.’ He made air quotes with his fingers. ‘I am the competition , after all.’ He gave a cunning smile, and from the way his eyes glinted with humour, Elise guessed he thought he was so clever. Granted, this excuse would have made sense to anyone else. But not to her. She had her angelic abilities to thank for that. She had his number.
‘Oh, yeah? And, why were you leaving in such a hurry?’
‘Ah… well, I’ve been waiting here for a while, away from my duties in Perdika. Thought Aleka will be looking for me by now. I will come back again a little later, of course, to see Stefan.’
‘Hm.’ She put a hand on his arm and pushed gently. ‘Okay, then. Don’t let me keep you…’
‘You are one bossy, missy…’ he said with a lecherous look in his eyes as he shook a playful finger at her. ‘I like that.’
She scoffed. ‘And you are an engaged man, last time I heard.’
He shrugged a shoulder. ‘So, what? Men are predators. Natural hunters. Always on the prowl. Not really meant to be monogamous. What can I say? I am just following my nature.’
‘Oh, is that right? I tell you what, Mr Predator … Keep telling yourself that. It sounds almost cute coming from a man your age. But wait till you get to fifty-plus. Wait till you get that bald patch on your head and a pair of milk-bottle glasses. Then, you’ll discover the pitfalls of your convictions and the merits of monogamy… no doubt, a little too late.’
He scoffed. ‘I do confess. I hadn’t pegged you down as being such a prude.’
‘Oh, trust me. I had pegged you down from the start for what you are!’
‘I guess this means a kiss is out of the question, gorgeous?’
Scrunching her lips together as if she’d just smelt something unholy, she was about to flick her wrist at him and turn around when the most blood-curling scream sounded from inside.
She whipped her head around to face the door and listened. More yelling, interspersed with soft whimpering, now echoed from inside. It was Voula. No doubt about that.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Takis bolt. Stunned, she watched him run until he vanished through Perdika’s back door. Oh my God! He didn’t!
She hurried inside and rushed to Voula’s side. ‘Voula! What is it? Are you okay?’
Voula was standing before a big cauldron on the oven top, her hands on her head, one of them holding a wooden ladle. She was still whimpering, eyes focusing far, seemingly unable to hear her.
‘What is it? Tell me!’ That’s when Elise noticed a tiny open bottle on the counter beside the oven top. The cap lay on its side a little further away, the space between them strewn with a few droplets of coloured liquid.
Voula pointed to the bottle. ‘Someone ruined my bouillabaisse !’
Elise gave a gasp. ‘Your French fish soup?’
‘Yes! I just tried it and it’s not edible. You could fuel a rocket with this soup! What am I going to serve now?’
Voula had proposed to Andreas to let her make this signature dish of hers as a starter for all the guests tonight. She had made some the previous day and he had been impressed. They all had, having a small plate to taste.
Elise picked up the tiny bottle to inspect it. The red label on it read ‘Tabasco.’ She flinched and said, ‘Is this even our bottle?’
‘No! Ours is here.’ Voula opened a cupboard and showed her a larger bottle of Tabasco. ‘Someone used this tiny bottle to ruin my soup. It’s not ours. And they probably left it here on purpose. Maybe, to gloat? But, what kind of sicko would do that?’
Elise pressed her lips together and shook her head forlornly. ‘No, they didn’t leave it here on purpose. They heard us coming, panicked and left in a hurry. And they forgot their bottle because they’re halfwits !’ She said the last word with feeling, her ire rising by the second.
Voula blinked a few times, then asked, ‘Are you saying you know who did this?’
‘Hm. You bet I do.’
‘Who was it?’
‘Never mind that, Voula. I’ll take care of them. Just tell me, is there a way you can fix this soup?’
Voula looked at the cauldron shaking her head forlornly. ‘That’s impossible… And I’m supposed to serve this immediately! But, there is no time to make another...’
‘Call Chloe. She’ll be able to help.’
Voula’s brow etched. ‘You mean the little girl? That Chloe?’
‘Yes. She is little, but…. uh… savvy. More than you think. If someone can find a solution and fast… that’s her. Trust me.’ She pointed to the bubbling cauldron. ‘This is fixable. But those who did this will pay, regardless.’
‘What are you going to do to them?’
‘Don’t you worry about that. You just go and get Chloe, okay?’ Elise threw a glance towards the front of the property. Andreas was still giving an interview out there, the camera light making his face glow white, Stefan and Anja glowing just as bright beside him. The live music had resumed too, and the people seemed to be having fun. Some were even dancing in the middle space. Thank goodness for the noise out there. They didn’t hear the screaming . She turned and made for the back door in a rush.
‘Where are you going?’ Voula asked her. She still held the ladle in her hand, looking stunned.
Elise stood at the door and turned to her to say, ‘Give me a few minutes, okay? If anyone asks, tell them I’m in the ladies’ room. I won’t be long, I promise! You just hurry and get Chloe!’
###
Elise couldn’t let Voula see as she vanished into thin air, so she rushed outside, ran to the back of the warehouse next door, and dove behind a stack of rotting wooden crates to take on her fully ethereal form.
As soon as she turned invisible, she sent a mental report to Chloe, telling her about Takis and the soup. The girl responded immediately, saying Laranon had just spoken in her mind. He was going to fix the soup.
With that lump of worry gone, Elise felt a little better, ready to focus on her revenge. In a split second, she transferred herself to Perdika.
Dumb and Dumber were cheering in a corner of the interior seating space, out of earshot of the cook, who was doing dishes in the kitchen. The place seemed quiet, no music playing, no dishes ready to serve on the counter, nothing cooking on the grill.
Without having to check things out front, Elise could tell this was a slow night for them. She guessed whoever had planned to eat out tonight had gone somewhere else, and mostly to Trata, drawn by its festive decorations and live music.
‘So, you did it? You put the content of the whole bottle inside, like we agreed?’ Aleka asked Takis.
Chest puffed out, he tipped his chin. ‘Yes, I found a fish soup to put it in. It is now ruined, I can assure you.’
‘Show me the bottle! I want to see!’
‘What? You don’t believe me?’
‘No, I just want to confirm it’s empty.’
‘You don’t trust me?’
She tilted her head to the side and eyed him sideways. ‘I don’t know, maybe you chickened out in the last minute, and you’re just trying to appease me.’
‘Aleka, this hurts.’
‘Oh, come on, humour me! Show me the bottle!’
‘Erm… uh…’ he mumbled, looking away, toward the road outside.
‘I knew it! You chickened out!’
‘No, I didn’t! I did put it in. Nearly the whole bottle! It’s just that…’
‘What?’
‘I heard footsteps and had to leave in a hurry.’
‘And?’
‘I sort of… left the bottle on the counter.’
‘What?’
‘Oh come on, who cares? What matters is we’ve ruined the soup, right?’
‘Yes, but…’ Aleka turned away from him to face the front windows. She put a flat palm over her mouth, squinting her eyes. ‘Yes, I guess, worst case scenario they will suspect it’s us, but they’ll never know for sure, will they?’ She whipped her head around to face him squarely. ‘Nobody saw you leave?’
‘No! Of course no one saw me!’ he lied.
‘Good!’ She rubbed her hands together, a maniacal look on her face.
That was all Elise needed to hear. Her heart full of rage, a very uncomfortable feeling for an angel, she moved to the kitchen, to get away from the two and think properly. She wasn’t going to leave without punishing them for this, and she had to think of a fair way to do it.
###
Chloe had just ended her extrasensory communication with Elise. Before that, Laranon’s heavenly smell had hit her nostrils, confirming he was with her. And now, Voula was rushing out of the building, looking around the tables frantically. Chloe stood from her seat. Voula noticed her and hurried toward her.
Andreas and Emilia were sitting beside Chloe. As soon as Voula approached, Andreas spoke first.
‘Everything okay, Voula?’
‘Yes, yes, Andreas. Everything is fine…’ She’d sounded out of breath, her eyes wandering, not really looking at anyone in particular for more than a second. Knowing what had just happened in there, Chloe wasn’t surprised to see her in this frantic state.
‘Can you please tell Elise to start serving the soup? Stefan is just seeing the TV station people off. He won’t be long, then he will join you ladies so you can serve quickly.’
Voula had frozen, mouth half-open, as she looked from Chloe to Andreas, then back to Chloe.
Andreas’s brow furrowed. ‘Are you sure everything is all right Voula? You’re scaring me.’
Voula’s eyes saucered as she waved one frantic hand. ‘No, no! Everything is okay. I just wanted to ask Chloe to come inside.’
Andreas cocked his eye at her and asked, ‘Why?’
Chloe patted Andreas’s arm. ‘I asked her! That’s why.’ She turned to Voula. ‘Thank you for remembering!’ She went to stand beside Voula and turned to Andreas to add, ‘I wanted to help serve the bouillabaisse , that’s all!’
Lena, who sat at the same table, having been invited by Andreas, stood up. ‘Oh! Can I help too?’
‘Sure…’ said Chloe. It didn’t matter. Laranon was going to give her instructions in her mind.
Satisfied by this explanation, Andreas turned to Emilia and resumed their earlier chat.
Voula took Chloe and Lena by the hand. Like a clucking mother hen gathering her chickens to flee from danger, she hurried them both inside.