Page 14 of Sensuous

Grabbing my bag, I head toward the door when I hear Maria call my name. I turn back to see her and Shane standing over near where they conducted the interviews.

“Kat, we’d like to talk to you. Do you have a minute?” he asks.

His voice sounds serious, even if his expression looks relaxed and happy, so immediately my mind turns to what they could want to speak to me about. I give them a smile and walk over to join them, my hands trembling from nerves.

“Sure. What’s up?” I ask as they both walk a few feet past where I sat less than an hour ago answering their questions.

They pull up chairs for themselves and Shane pulls one out from under a table for me so we’re sitting in a makeshift circle. My brain flashes back to every time teachers got rid of our desks in grade school and we ended up having to do something embarrassing in front of the entire class. God, I hope this won’t turn out like that.

Thankfully, Maria jumps right into what’s on her mind, and instantly, I feel at ease. “We heard a little of what went on between you and Alex earlier. Is everything okay with you?”

I wave away the idea that anything he could do would bother me and force a chuckle. “Oh that? That was nothing. Just two strong-willed people having a meeting of the minds. Or I guess more correctly, not having a meeting of the minds. But no worries. He and I are professionals, so I can promise you it won’t happen again.”

Resentment fills me at the knowledge that they likely didn’t stop him before he left today. Why do it with me? They probably think I’m a bitch who’s giving their star a hard time.

To my surprise, though, Shane says, “No, in fact, we had no issue with it at all, Kat. Reality TV relies on conflict, and we canassure you that we’ll be scripting a lot of it into this show. The fact that you and he have that conflict built in is perfect! We love it!”

“You do?” I ask quietly, sort of confused. Behaving the way we did would be a definite no-no at my job and I suspect Alex’s too, even if he is the head chef.

Maria leans forward and taps me gently on the knee. “I thought it was great! Don’t think you need to hold back at all either. We can cut out any curses or things like that in editing, so don’t worry. He’s a big boy. He can handle it. And if he can’t, then that’s his problem.”

I want to jump up and kiss these two people sitting in front of me for giving me carte blanche to tell the almighty Alex March exactly where to go next time. Mr. Special has no idea what he’s in for.

“Okay. Thanks! I was worried you were going to tell me you were kicking me off the show because of what happened between us.”

“Oh no! No way. As Shane said, reality TV relies on conflict. We all can agree no one will be tuning in to watch if all we do is make food. Our show is going to have a ton of drama, and you and Alex just made our lives a tiny bit easier since we won’t have to script anything for you two. Have at it. That’s what shows like this are all about.”

The way Maria talks about things, it sounds like they’re going to have Alex and me brawling for all the world to see. As much fun as that might be, I don’t know if I want to be known for the rest of my life as the woman who fought with the gorgeous chef from the most prestigious restaurant in town.

Then again, what is it they say? There’s no such thing as bad publicity? Perhaps people seeing me hold my own against him will mean job offers from better places.

“I don’t want you to think I’m being a bitch or anything. I’m sure he’s a great guy. He just rubbed me the wrong way,” I say, hoping to make them see I’m not really in for a deathmatch with Alex March.

Maria shakes her head and smiles. “We definitely don’t think you’re a bitch. We like you and Alex, but as we said, shows like this need conflict, so why not take advantage of whatever issue there is between you two? We’ll be talking to him about this too, so it won’t be like you’re some harpy and he’s the golden boy. Alex may be the one from the best restaurant in the area, but you bring good stuff to the table, so don’t forget that.”

“Oh, well, if he’s going to be in on it too, let the games begin!”

As soon as I say that, I regret it, even as Shane and Maria beam their happiness at my interest in going balls to the wall with Alex. Then again, if it means I have a better chance at winning this whole thing and taking home that million-dollar prize, I can certainly find it inside me to dish out some more saltiness to anyone who deserves it.

“That’s great!” Shane says as he stands, a clear sign our talk is over. “Thanks so much for being such a natural, Kat.”

Maria nods her agreement at his assessment that I’m a natural, but all I can wonder is what it means. What am I a natural at?

Sadie sitsin the living room eating a bowl of breakfast cereal when I walk into the apartment. Lifting it to show me, she jokes, “Dinner of champions. I guess the truth is out. When you’re not around, I eat like a seven-year-old on a Saturday morning.”

My mind still distracted by what Shane said and Maria agreed with, I nod and sit down across from her. Did Shane mean I’m a natural bitch? Or worse, was he saying I’m a natural mean girl? Jesus, I don’t want people to see me like that.

“So how was the first day? What’s the competition look like?” Sadie asks before shoveling a spoonful of chocolate puffs into her mouth.

I don’t answer her question but ask her one of my own. “Am I a bitch?”

My roommate nearly spits out her mouthful of cereal. Choking it down, she wipes the milk running down her chin and answers, “Why would you ask that?”

As I collapse back against the chair, I explain, “The producers said I was a natural after seeing me having an argument with another contestant. I think they mean I’m a natural bitch. Or maybe a shrew. That sounds more like what they were going for. Natural shrew.”

Sadie looks at me oddly. “Does anyone use that word anymore? Shrew. It sounds old. I think the only place I’ve ever heard it was in that Shakespeare play. In fact, I think you’re the first person I’ve ever heard use it outside of that play.”

I level my gaze full of disgust on her and shake my head. “You didn’t answer the question. Am I a bitch or a shrew or any other word that means a nasty woman?”

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