6. Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Spencer
I listen with half an ear as Vic goes over the broad outline of the next few months. Wedding season has started and Blue Vista is booked solid. Every Saturday—starting the one coming up until the middle of September—is booked for a wedding. I know all this. I booked the fucking things.
Still. I need to be here with the team. If she needs me to step in to explain some detail, I need to be ready. But my focus is split between what Vic is saying and the rainbow-haired beauty sitting across from me. I keep myself from looking at her, mostly staring at the folder in front of me as Vic goes over things. I don’t really see what I’m looking at, every cell in my body pulled in Lis’ direction.
“That’s it,” Vic says. “Any questions?”
“When can I meet the kitchen staff?” Lis asks.
“I’ve asked them to come in for a couple hours this afternoon,” Adalie says. “They’ll be here around one.”
Lis turns toward me and I hold my breath.
“Can we set up a meeting to discuss the events in more detail?” she asks.
“Whatever you need.”
She turns away again, and it hurts. I thought we could have had something. But she wants the job more than me.
Don’t be a dick, Spencer. You’ve known the woman for less than forty-eight hours. You can’t expect her to choose you over a job that she’s been dreaming about for who knows how long.
“I guess that’s it then. Come on. I’ll take you for a tour.” Vic stands to lead Lis out of the conference room, but I stand as well.
“I’ll do it,” I say. “You’ve probably got a lot to do. After I show Lis around, we can have that meeting about the schedule.”
I’m being an idiot. I should let Vic take Lis on the tour. I should give her some space, like she asked. But we’re colleagues now. There’s no reason I can’t give her the tour. I know the building better than Vic does, anyway.
Vic lifts one black eyebrow at me, but nods. “Fine. Start with Adalie’s office. She has your contract for you. Read it over and hand it in before you leave today.”
“Absolutely,” Lis responds and then I lead her out of the conference room and we’re alone in the halls for just a few minutes.
I want to say a million things. I want to beg for a chance. Instead, I take her to the storage room first, which is right next to Adalie’s office. I shove my hands in my pockets as we walk around the space.
“We’ll give Adalie a minute to get everything sorted.” I say. “This is our storage room. Elevator to the upper floor is there. It’s staff only, unless there’s a special request and then the person is accompanied by staff.”
“Is there anything I need in here?”
I consider her question for a moment. “I think a few of those warming tray things are in here somewhere. Our last chef, Mark, had things where he liked them. But you can move them if you find a spot that suits you better.”
“You can make decisions like that?”
“Vic won’t mind. But if it worries you, just let her know what you’re doing.”
“You know Vic really well, then?” she asks.
I turn to her, the exaggerated nonchalance in her tone making me wonder if there’s something more behind that question.
“We’ve been friends since we were five.”
“That’s a really long time to be friends with someone.”
I nod. “Twenty five years.”
Lis doesn’t look at me when she says, “You live with her. Work with her. Known her for over twenty years. That’s quite a relationship.”
I watch her carefully in the darkness. I hadn’t bothered to turn on the lights. Is she jealous? Or is she worried about something? Though why would she be worried if we’re not going to be anything more than colleagues?
“I’m not with Vic. Our parents always hoped we’d get together, but by the time either of us were interested in dating people we already felt more like siblings.”
She finally looks at me. “But you’re not.”
“Look. People don’t always get me and Vic right away. They assume because we have all this history and she’s a woman and I’m a man, there must be something between us. But there has never been anything. Not even in high school when our hormones were going crazy. She’s always felt like my sister.”
“How did you two get to be so close?”
It’s my turn to look away. I don’t want to talk about my past. “That is a long story and not all of it is mine. Come on. Let’s go see Adalie.”
We stop in and Adalie hands her the paperwork that will make her a full employee for the next five months. A sort of probationary period to make sure she meshes well with the team and gives Vic the guarantee of a head chef for the duration of wedding season. We stop by Derek’s office and then Vic’s. Last is mine, which I just gesture to since it’s empty right now. I show her the staff lounge on the far side of the conference room and the bathrooms that are on this level, usually only used by staff, but guests can use them if they come for meetings. There are a couple of rooms where the wedding party can get ready if they need the space, usually only if the ceremony is happening here as well as the reception.
Finally, I take her to the kitchen and watch as she lights up. It’s spectacular. She wanders through the space, touching a counter, the stove, the sink. She opens the fridge and peers inside. I have no idea what she’s looking for, but she turns to me with a look of pure excitement on her face and I am officially jealous of a kitchen. I’m insane.
We spend a long time wandering around her domain, which takes up a large portion of the ground floor of the building.
“Most event venues don’t have their own chef,” Lis remarks as we make it to her office. “Unless it’s a hotel.”
“True. But when we came up with the business plan for this place, we wanted to have exclusive contracts with high-end companies as a sort of draw for the clients. Mark was a big name in the cooking world.”
“But I’m not.”
“You will be.”
As we leave the kitchen, Lis asks, “You and Vic came up with the business plan for Blue Vista together?”
I nod. “Along with Derek and Adalie.”
I take her upstairs to the venue space and show her where the elevator lets out. She can bring food up that way and we usually set up buffet tables close to the elevator to limit the distance she’ll need to bring the food.
We end the tour on the roof—the whole reason the business is called Blue Vista.
“This is gorgeous,” Lis breathes as she stares out at English Bay.
“It brings in the money.” But the sight that holds my attention is the rainbow-haired firecracker who watches the waves.
“You removed your nail polish,” I blurt, wondering why it felt so important to bring it up. But my eyes had strayed to her fingers all day and I miss the bright flash of red I remembered.
She looks down at her hands as though she’d forgotten about them. “I said I was going to. Besides, I can’t wear nail polish in the kitchen. If it chips while I’m working, it would get in the food.”
“But you’re not cooking today.”
She searches my eyes and I know she’s confused. Shit, so am I. Why does it matter if she’s wearing nail polish or not?
She shrugs. “I figured it wouldn’t make a good impression coming in with chipped nail polish on my first day. And I wasn’t going to reapply it since I’d have to take it off for tomorrow.”
“Yeah. That makes sense.” I say, feeling a little off-kilter, like my whole world has been thrown off its axis and I’m trying to remember how to navigate. I need some time to think. “Hey, the tour took a bit longer than I thought. You want to take a break before we get to the meeting?”
“Sure. How long?”
“We usually take an hour for lunch.”
“Okay. I’m going to head out. I’ll meet you in your office in an hour, then?”
“Great,” I say. Then watch her leave, taking a piece of me with her.