Page 17 of The Suite Life
I pop the first bite into my mouth, ready to be wowed, but something isn’t right.
The taste registers, and it’s unmistakably seafood – the one thing I can’t stand. Panic sets in; it’s like I’m frozen in time, my tongue rejecting the unwelcome flavour. Across the table, Roscoe gazes at me expectantly, waiting for the positive reaction he’s expecting. Oh boy, he’s going to be waiting a long time.
I always feel silly, admitting to other grown adults that I don’t like any seafood because it makes me seem like a kid that doesn’t want to eat their vegetables but something about it just gives me the ick. Which, yep, sounds childish, so there’s no way I can admit it now – definitely not to a chef, and especially not to the chef who just prepared it for me.
With no idea what else to do, I knock over my glass of water, to create a distraction.
‘Don’t worry, I’ll grab something,’ Roscoe says, ever the gentleman.
I smile, trying to disguise the fact that the food is still in my mouth.
The second he is out of the room I open my handbag and, no, I can’t just spit it in there, can I? Before I have to make the tough call, I notice the answer to my prayers: poo bags. Living with my parents means that I take Ted for lots of walks, and I always seem to have poo bags in every bag, coat and trouser pocket I own. I’ve never been more grateful.
I spit my food into one and then scrape the rest of the food from the plate into there too. I drop it in my handbag and return to a normal, neutral-looking position just as Roscoe arrives back with paper towels.
‘Sorry,’ I tell him. ‘I think I just got overexcited about the food.’
‘I can see that,’ he says happily. ‘You cleared your plate – wow, you even ate the garnish.’
‘What can I say, I’m a hungry girl,’ I reply.
‘You enjoyed it then?’ he checks.
‘Oh, I loved it,’ I lie. ‘It was really impressive. The flavour, honestly, I’m speechless.’
Roscoe smiles, genuinely flattered, encouraged by my enthusiasm for his food.
‘What could you taste?’ he asks curiously.
The sea. Nothing but the sea.
‘Ah, well, I was going to ask you that,’ I bullshit further. ‘Am I detecting a secret ingredient? What is it?’
Is it the sea?
‘Ah, now that would be telling,’ he says with a wink. ‘But, between you and me, I put extra passion into my cuisine, when I’m preparing it for someone special.’
‘You know, they say the way to someone’s heart is through their stomach,’ I say with a smile, settling down a little, now that the fish dish is out of the way.
‘Well, I know other shortcuts to the heart,’ he tells me, narrowing his eyes, his mouth lightly curling into a smile. ‘But, for now, we can focus on the food. I wasn’t expecting to be preparing lunch for a beautiful woman today. It’s a nice distraction, I’m hardly even thinking about how terrified I am, about the opening this week.’
‘A beautiful woman?’ I repeat back to him, flattered. ‘Flattery will get you everywhere. So will food – you’re a double threat.’
‘In that case, let me fetch your next course,’ he says, dashing back through the glass doors, clearly keen to impress.
My gosh, I dodged a bullet there. Whatever Roscoe brings out next is going to be all the better for not being whatever that was. I should have known it was out of my comfort zone when I realised I couldn’t identify what it was.
I could weep with relief when he brings me my next dish – a miniature version of a full English breakfast.
‘Oh, wow, I’ve never seen such a beautiful full English before,’ I say, studying the delicate and colourful arrangement – it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before. ‘And somehow it doesn’t look bad for you at all!’
Roscoe grins, clearly pleased with my reaction.
‘That’s the beauty of Mare Segreto,’ he explains. ‘The theme automatically makes all the dishes healthier.’
‘How so?’ I ask curiously because, whatever witchcraft it is, I need it in my life. Unless, of course, he’s the same as my mum, who claims everything is healthy if she cooks it in the air fryer. Somehow I doubt that, though.
‘Seafood is generally considered a healthier option,’ he explains. ‘So, by incorporating it into various dishes, we add that touch of healthiness to every creation.’
