Page 95 of Tasty Cherry

That too. My lower back is starting to complain.

Or is it from the bathroom incident?

Either way, I’m thrilled to follow Jessie and Suze out of the office a half-hour later to set up the staff room.

The proctor from the tests is long gone, and the tables have been shifted back to their usual configuration against the walls.

One young man in jeans and a T-shirt sits in the front row of chairs.

“We have an early bird!” Suze says. “We’ll have coffee and water in a minute.”

The man nods politely.

Suze turns to me. “Mila, why don’t you check in with the kitchen staff to make sure they’re bringing drinks to the meeting room?”

“Anyone I should ask for?”

“Not Monique, or she’ll growl at you. She’ll have the tallest chef hat. Filo will be good. He’s the food manager. He’s a big guy, also dressed in chef whites. Most of the regular workers will have short caps.”

“Got it. Just water and coffee?”

“I think I ordered some cookies, too.”

“I’ll ask.”

“Thank you.” Suze heads over to where Jessie is spreading paperwork out on a side table.

I haven’t had time to explore the kitchens, so when I turn down the tiny hall that cuts from the big service hall to the food prep area, I’m not prepared for the heat and the noise.

“Desserts up for Banquet 2!” A tall woman with a shock of black hair firmly encased in two tight balls below her high chef hat waves her arms at a half-dozen servers carrying trays of chocolate cake on white plates. “We do not have extras. Do not have any mishaps in the halls!”

The line of servers files past me for the service corridor. Another one pushes a cart carrying three additional shelves of cake plates. It must be a big gathering. The main ballroom was shut tight when I passed it earlier, so they must be at the smaller one on the western side of the castle.

The tall woman looks at me. “Who are you, and why are you in my kitchen?”

I have a bad feeling this is Monique, the very person Suze told me to avoid. “Suze wanted me to check on the water and coffee for the orientation?”

“I am a chef, not a delivery service.” She walks off.

Ooookay.

I stand there a moment, trying to spot the man Suze mentioned. Large. Also, a tall hat.

Everyone is moving swiftly, mostly people in white caps rushing around with bins of vegetables or stock pots.

Monique leans over a pair of women stirring huge vats on a long stove. “That smells too much like fennel. Fix it!”

I slip quietly along the wall with the staff offices, hoping to spot Filo.

Kennedy, the red-haired woman from room service we spotted kissing Maverick in the hall, glances up. She sits in front of a phone console with two screens.

Does she remember me from last week? Does she know I’m friends with Brooklyn?

I can’t worry about it.

“Do you know where Filo is?” I ask.

“Three doors down. If he’s not in his office, check the bakery. They messed up the dessert numbers, and he’s probably trying to figure out whose fault it is.”

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