Page 3 of Once Bitten, Twice Fried
“How long before you get confirmation for this fancy secret caterer?” Julie asked, fear in her voice.
“I’m in the midst of negotiating with them. I should get an answer next week. Or maybe two weeks.” Yasmine stopped and thought. “Let’s say, three weeks tops. They’re really a hot commodity.”
None of this was more reassuring. But it wasn’t Julie getting married, and she had plenty of clients who’d thrown her far worse curveballs. She could take it in stride.
“Okay, you’ve piqued my curiosity now.”
“I think you’re going to think it’s a good surprise!”
Julie hoped it really would be the case.
Chapter 2
Zoe let out a sigh as the director stood up and shouted.
“That’s a wrap, people! See you tomorrow.”
Another episode of her show, “Cooking from A to Zoe” was done. This one had taken three days to film. On day one, an overzealous intern had broken the window right behind Zoe while moving equipment around, which had taken hours to fix. Day two, the crew couldn’t get the lighting right for some reason, and the director kept insisting the souffle looked “flat.” Thankfully, everything had gone well today and they’d finished the episode without any further issues. Zoe had expected the worst coming into the studio this morning and was just happy that there were no fires to put out - literally or figuratively. If she’d had to spend another day re-doing the same shots, she would have gone nuts. She checked her phone. It was 9:18 pm already. At least her day was over. The crew would still be here for hours clearing the set, and the production team would be working through the weekend to make up for the delays.
“That was great, Zoe!” Nicki, Zoe’s assistant, exclaimed from across the stage. She hurried towards Zoe, dodging around the crew who were now moving equipment and tidying up the fake kitchen set. “The car is parked outside and ready to go. I packed up your stuff already.” Nicki was holding a backpack, Zoe’s purse and her coat. To say Zoe was thankful for Nicki was an understatement. She was the best assistant she’d ever had, andshe’d burned through a lot. She knew the pace of her life was demanding, but Nicki never seemed to have trouble keeping up.
“You can now leave this fake kitchen behind and go home to your real kitchen.” Nicki was beaming, her almond eyes sparkling behind her trendy gold-framed glasses. She’d been working for Zoe for three years now, but somehow the novelty of being on set hadn’t worn off for her. “By the way, where’d they get that bronze tap in the sink? I want the same one for my place.”
“You can probably have this one, actually. Remind me to put in a word with production after we’re done filming next month. They’re looking at changing the whole set for next season.” Zoe rolled her eyes. “Apparently some viewers complained that the kitchen looked too industrial.”
“Industrial? With this many houseplants?” Nicki gestured at the greenery crammed into every spare inch of the otherwise-sleek black furnishings.
Zoe shrugged and nodded.
“So what, they want Zoe to be a sensible rustic housewife with lemon wallpaper behind her and a bookshelf of grandma recipes?”
“Of course they want that. I’m a woman who cooks on TV.” Zoe gritted her teeth. She loved her job, but today was just exhausting. “Sorry Nicki, I’m just very tired and ready to go home.” Zoe rubbed her dark brown eyes.
“No worries Zoe, let’s go.” Nicki handed her her coat - a beautiful plaid coat that Zoe had been gifted directly by the brand. Being on TV had its perks. She put it on and lifted her thick brown hair out of the collar, letting it settle around her shoulders.
“I’m so ready to be home.”
The two women headed out of the studio, leaving the hectic chaos of the filming day behind them.
Zoe sat in the passenger seat of Nicki’s black Fiat 500.
“Nicki, you have my permission to speed and get me home as fast as possible.”
“Then give me a raise so I can get the race car version of the Fiat. Or even better, a Ferrari.”
“I don’t even own a Ferrari. How would I buy you a Ferrari?”
Nicki chuckled as she started the car. “You’re the businesswoman, you figure it out.”
A smile lit up Zoe’s tired face. Nicki really was the best. As the car pulled into traffic, Zoe started focusing on what else she had on her plate for tonight. As much as she wanted to just curl up with a glass of wine, she knew there was a pile of catering requests in her inbox she couldn’t ignore any longer. As soon as filming for the season wrapped next month, it would be time for Zoe to start her catering business back up. It was more long hours and there was usually a lot of travelling on top of that, but Zoe didn’t mind as much - it was satisfying to have real people eat the food she was making. Usually Nicki took care of all the scheduling, but Zoe had final say on which clients she took, and she couldn’t leave them hanging any longer. And there was something else niggling at her that was happening tonight… Didn’t her fiancé, Tom, also have something planned for tonight?
“By the way, Tom called and said he wouldn’t be home tonight after all. He’s still shooting in Edinburgh.” Nicki had somehow read her mind, or at least her reaction.
Zoe sat back, relieved. It would have been fine if he was home, of course. She loved Tom. But she’d been so looking forward to coming home to a quiet, peaceful house, and the prospect of having to entertain him after the week she’d had was just too much. Surely no one could blame her for that. She and Tom had a particular kind of relationship. They’d met on the set of a movie. Tom had been playing a chef, and the productionhad hired Zoe to teach him how to look credible on-screen. His easy smile and charm were enough to win Zoe over, and they’d been together for almost three years now. But Zoe knew that if she only counted the time they’d actually spent together, they’d probably still be just shy of their first anniversary. Coordinating a relationship around one public and high-powered career was difficult; coordinating around two was nearly impossible. At first it had been almost comical how Tom’s shooting schedule abroad always seemed to coincide with Zoe’s local events and vice versa, but lately, Tom’s acting had been getting more and more attention, and filming on location was pretty much his default. Zoe never bothered to check any more if he’d be around before she booked one of her own gigs. Zoe liked it that way, though. Their lifestyles were very similar. She’d had to sacrifice so many relationships before due to her schedule. Tom not only understood, but had his own thing going on too. It took some of the pressure off.
“Alright, we have reached our destination.” Nicki stopped the car in front of an elegant brick house with crisply painted black windows.
“Thanks Nicki.” Zoe yawned. “I still need to go through my agenda and look at my emails.”
