Page 5 of Blade

“Yes. Follow me, so we can get started.” She turns and leads us to a table in the corner. “So, tell me what you think of the place?” she asks.

I look around, smiling and nodding my head. “It’s absolutely beautiful. My favorites are the cupids,” I say, pointing up at the ceiling.

“That was my sister Cara’s idea. Normally, she would be here helping with interviews, but there’s a stomach bug going around her house and she has a set of triplets and a newborn baby.”

“Oh my God, I have a set of triplets. I couldn’t imagine having more kids after my daughters,” I tell her. I mean it, too. Right now, more kids are definitely a no-go for me.

“Yeah, I can understand that. Now, let’s take a look at your resume.” I hand her my resume and she looks it over. My palms sweat the entire time. She looks impressed with what she’s seeing, nodding her head, and humming. Finally, after a few minutes, she looks up with a smile. “What position are you applying for?”

“The head cook, ma’am.”

“Oh, please, call me Sara. Now, if you want a head cook position, I’ll need to see what you can do. This is an authentic Italian restaurant. The kitchen is fully stocked. You have one hour to make me a dish. It can be an appetizer, main course, or dessert. You choose. Let me take you to the kitchen and I’ll be back in an hour.”

I follow her to the kitchen and it's huge. She gives me a tour, showing me where everything is before starting the timer. As soon as the timer starts, I get to work. I’m going to make an appetizer and a main course dish. I only have an hour, so I have to get a move on. I make bruschetta for the appetizer and a Lasagna al Forno as the main dish.

As I start plating the food, I look at the timer and see I only have eight minutes left. That’s more than enough time to plate the food and make it look pretty. This is what I love to do. Ever since I was a kid, I loved to cook. While most kids were watching cartoons, I was watching theFood Network. The timer goes off and Sara comes into the kitchen.

“It smells so good in here. Oh, you made an appetizer and a main dish. Well, let me gives these a try.” Sara takes a bite of the bruschetta and lets out a satisfied groan. I smile, feeling giddy inside. This moment could change everything for me. Sara moves on to the main dish and ends up eating most of it instead of just sampling it.

I think this is going really well, but she’s not giving much away, only her groans and moans when she takes a bite. She puts the fork down and tells me to follow her. We go back to the table and Sara smiles at me as soon as we’re seated. “I’m going to be honest with you. My father is Italian, so I grew up on Italian cooking and I have never tasted a bruschetta that good.”

Tears fill my eyes, and I have no clue why. I’m so damn happy right now. Her praise means everything. “Now, we have three head cook positions and we’ve already filled up two.” My heart sinks. Is this where she tells me I can only be a line cook?

“Now, don’t get discouraged. I’m not finished. Today, you were my last interview, and you blew the other candidates out of the water. I want to offer you the last head cook position.” Tears fall down my face. This is everything I have ever worked for. Sara sets her hand on top of mine, giving me a bright smile. She writes something on a piece of paper and slides it to me.

“This will be your salary. Is that number okay with you?”

I look down and my eyes bug out. That can’t be right. She had to have mistakenly added another zero to this. “Sara, I think you added an extra zero by mistake,” I say, showing her the paper.

She just laughs, shaking her head. “No, that’s the right amount.”

I sit there, speechless. This will change my life. I can finally move my girls and my mom out of that crappy neighborhood we live in, upgrade my car, catch up on my bills, but most importantly, I can afford to pay off Mom’s surgery and not struggle.

“So, will you take the job?” she asks.

“Yes! I definitely want the job! Thank you so much!” I get up and bring her into a big hug. I instantly step back, realizing this is my boss and I need to be professional. Sara waves me off with a laugh, letting me know it was fine, and I sigh in relief. We finish working out my schedule and Sara lets me know when the grand opening is. I told her I was a single mom and I would only be able to attend if I had a babysitter. She was completely understanding about it.

Yeah, I think I’m going to like working here so much more than Juliana’s. I head home and collect my girls. Three-year-olds really don’t understand all the excitement about better jobs. When I told the girls, they looked so confused but still told me good luck.

When I finally get into bed, I can’t contain my excitement. I’m starting a new chapter and now things are finally looking up.

* * *

It’smy first day at my new job and I pull in with a huge smile plastered on my face. I didn’t get to make the grand opening last night, but Sara assured me it was fine as long as I showed up for my shift today. The day after Sara gave me the job, I went into Juliana’s and slammed my two weeks’ notice on Robert’s desk with a triumphant smile.

Robert begged and pleaded with me not to leave, saying he would put me back next to Alan on the line, but that wasn’t good enough. Sara is offering me way more money and a better position. I walked out of that office with my head held high. On my last day, Alan, Bryan, and Kelly had a cake with a goodbye banner hanging in the backroom. It was an emotional goodbye.

Walking through the doors, I see everyone is sitting at the tables. “What’s going on?” I ask the girl next to me.

“The bosses told everyone to wait here. They had some stuff to go over before we go to the kitchen. I’m Jessica, by the way.”

She holds out her hand and I shake it. “Bianca,” I tell her.

“Oh, you’re one of the head cooks, right?” she asks. I nod with a smile. I never thought I would get to say that. Just as I’m about to reply, Sara walks in with another woman. She’s short with brown hair and caramel skin. I’m going to assume this is Cara. Sara told me a little bit about her at the interview, and I know they run the restaurant together.

When they reach the front of the group, Cara removes her sunglasses and I almost faint. I suck in a huge breath because my eyes have got to be playing tricks on me. Cara has the same eyes as my daughters, the same eyes as their… father.

No!

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