Page 40 of Once Bitten, Twice Fried
“Is it because you were too excited to hang out with us?” Zoe asked playfully.
Julie wasn’t sure if Zoe knew the extent of what she was asking or not, but she nodded. “Nothing beats hanging out with my two college best friends!” She meant it.
Yasmine was beaming. “Look at us! It reminds me of that weekend we spent in the Ardennes.”
“Oh yeah! That was so fun!” Zoe said as she turned around to stack the last pancakes onto a plate.
“I don’t even know what you two did that night, but I remember that Julie had one hell of a cold the next morning. She sneezed all through breakfast.” Yasmine laughed.
Julie nervously chuckled. She glanced at Zoe and could see her cheeks colouring. Of course Zoe remembered that night she’d fallen asleep on Julie’s shoulder in the grass. When they’d probably both had feelings for each other but didn’t know about it.
“Pancakes are ready!”
Julie stood up. “I’ll get some plates.” The subject change was very welcome.
“Wait, they’re here.” Zoe stood behind her and reached for the cupboard above Julie’s head. Julie could feel Zoe’s warm breath next to her face.
“Whoops.” Zoe lost balance for a second and steadied herself by putting a hand on the small of Julie’s back. “Sorry.”
What was left of Julie’s heart slowly melted away.
There were two red spots on Zoe’s freckled cheeks. Was Julie imagining things or was Zoe just as distracted as she was?
“Will you be able to get these, shorty?” Zoe smiled and tapped on Julie’s head as she nodded towards the plates. She always made fun of Julie for being a tad shorter. But today, this light banter was charged with tension.
“Size doesn’t matter, Zoe.” Really? A sexual innuendo? Julie wanted to slap herself.
“You should show me then.” Zoe was looking straight into Julie’s eyes. She also seemed unsure of her answer.
“When you two are done flirting, we can maybe have some pancakes?” Yasmine laughed.
“We weren’t flirt-” Julie stopped herself, knowing that denying it looked even worse. They were absolutely flirting. What was going on? A clunking sound interrupted her train of thoughts.
Even for Zoe the cupboard was pretty high. This house was clearly built by and for Flemish men, Julie thought. She hurried to help Zoe carry the plates down without breaking them. Herhands had accidentally gripped Zoe’s, but she couldn’t let go before the plates were safely on the counter. Zoe’s hands were soft and warm.
Finally, all three friends sat down to their delicious vanilla-infused pancakes, another classic from Zoe.
Julie gripped her knife and fork eagerly, ready to dive in. “I can’t believe we get pancakes made by a celebrity chef!” She grinned at Zoe, until another thought occurred to her. “You don’t mind, do you Zoe? I don’t want you to feel like you’re just here to feed us, or like we’re taking advantage.”
Zoe looked a little surprised. “I mean, I am here to feed you. Yas did hire me to cater her wedding, even though I’m giving her the friends’ discount -”
“- Which Adam and I will be declining to take,” Yasmine jumped in.
“ Right, so in any case, I’m here to work.”
“And that includes vanilla pancakes for just the three of us?” Julie asked with a grin.
“It does when I want it to,” Zoe grinned back. “Really Julie, you’re sweet to worry but I love cooking for you. If cooking for people could be my entire job, I’d be the happiest person alive.”
Julie and Yasmine exchanged a look. “ Is that… not what a celebrity chef does?”
“Ha! You’d think, wouldn’t you? But these days I’m more celebrity, a lot less chef. There’s all sorts of other work involved in being on a TV show, and while the recipes are based on my own ideas, they need to be edited beyond recognition before they can get onto the show. And not much actual cooking takes place on set, of course. And that doesn’t even begin to cover the press appearances, promotion schedule, planning meetings, every other kind of meeting, photography…” Zoe looked stressed as she listed off these points, but then smiled at her friends again.“I think I’ve cooked more on this trip than I have in the last four months combined. It’s been lovely. Now, eat your pancakes!”
Julie didn’t need to be told twice. She relaxed into her chair and started eating as she looked around.
“When is everybody else arriving?”
“Zoe’s team is only coming tomorrow. The rest of the event planning team is coming this afternoon though. Adam and his family will be there the day after tomorrow.”
