Page 23 of Mistaken Impression

“Just put down what you need to cook it all once, and we’ll work it out.”

I nod my head, although I wish she’d answered my question. It would have been interesting, and useful, to know how many times I’ll be expected to cook these dishes in the next few days. Still, I expect I’ll find out, eventually.

The door opens again within moments, and several people come in, talking among themselves. I recognize some of them from this morning’s meetings, although I can’t remember their names, or what they do. They all settle around the table, exceptone of the men, who goes straight back out again, returning a few moments later with a couple more chairs. One of the women goes into the side room, bringing back several cups of coffee, which she dumps in the middle of the table. A few people take one, and a silence descends.

“Thanks for coming, everyone,” Ruby says. “Ella’s got our menu ready, and as we’re short of time, I thought we’d make a start.”

“So, what’s cooking?” One of the men says and Ruby smiles at him in such a way, I can’t help wondering if he might be her husband, Gavin.

I go to open my mouth, but Ruby holds up her hand. “You carry on with what you’re doing. I can explain.” I nod my head and get back to writing my list, which is getting ever longer, while Ruby gives them a very brief outline of what I described earlier… not that it needs much explanation. It’s very simple.

“Is that it?” A female voice speaks out, and I look up, unable to tell who spoke.

“I’m sorry?” I don’t give Ruby time to respond, and a young woman who’s sitting at the other end of the table leans forward.

“I said, is that it?”

“What were you expecting? Crepes Suzette? It’s a roast dinner.”

There’s a ripple of laughter and two dots of red appear on the woman’s cheeks as she narrows her eyes at me. “Is that a reason to make it boring? Surely you can teach people to cook roast lamb and still keep it interesting, can’t you?”

Who does this woman think she is? “You’ve never tasted my food, but I guarantee it’ll be interesting.”

She shakes her head as Ruby leans forward. “I’m sure it’ll be lovely, and in any case, we don’t have time to argue about it.”

The woman doesn’t seem convinced, and as I look back down at my ingredients list, assessing the spices I was addingbefore I was interrupted, I can’t help wondering if she’s going to be trouble. She’s very pretty, and not a lot older than me, I’d have said, with blonde hair and blue eyes. They’re not a warm blue, like Blake’s, though. Hers are a steely blue… as cold as ice.

“Are you ready yet, Ella?” Ruby’s words interrupt my train of thought.

“Just about.”

I check over the ingredients list one last time and tear off the sheet of paper, handing it across to her.

“Thanks.” She doesn’t even look down at it, but puts it on the table in front of her and glances around, before her eyes settle on the man who asked what was cooking, her lips twisting into a smile again. “I think it would make sense if you came and sat beside Ella, don’t you, Gavin?”

He smiles back and stands, bringing his chair with him. The woman beside me gets up, shifting a little further away, and Gavin sits beside me, holding out his hand.

“We haven’t been formally introduced, but I’m Gavin.”

“Ella.”

He nods his head and we shake hands, before we both look back at Ruby. “We’re gonna take the premise of your plan and fire ideas around the table. Gavin will make notes that will eventually become the script. I want you to jump in whenever you feel like it, Ella… especially if we’re getting something wrong.”

“Okay.”

That all sounds very chaotic to me, but I assume they know what they’re doing, and I take a sip of cool coffee as they all pitch in.

“Obviously, there needs to be an introduction piece.” A man further down the table leans forward, trying to get Gavin’s attention.

“That goes without saying. I can write that later… maybe with Blake’s input.”

It strikes me as odd that Blake’s taking so long with Kennedy, and that we’re not waiting for him. This is supposed to be his show, after all…

***

Mac

I make my way along the corridor, wondering what Kennedy can want with me, while trying not to beat myself up too much over what just happened with Ella.

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