me is dissolving at a rapid rate. “Are you going to make me kill a lobster again?”
He sighs and shakes his head. “I don’t give a damn about the lobster. I care about those who come to my class and work for the reward. There are plenty of other cooking schools you can go to, pay, never show up for class, and then still walk off with a trophy in the end. Not here. That certificate is equivalent to college credit, and I take pride in that. All of my students should too.”
“But I did show up for every class. I was here.”
He shakes his head. “No, you weren’t, Maggie. You’ve always been somewhere else, two steps from disappearing completely. Before any of us know it, you’ll be heading back to LA like you were never here to begin with.”
I don’t know why, but this conversation suddenly feels incredibly intrusive. I feel my body begin to shake, and my chest heats with emotion. Desmond has no clue where I came from or why I’m here. He can make all the assumptions he wants, but he’ll never see me, not the real me.
“You know nothing about me and my decisions. How dare you assume anything other than what I tell you. You don’t know me, Desmond Blake.”
He shrugs. “You’re right. I don’t. But you’re as transparent as that makeup you wear. You think it conceals what’s underneath? Well, you’re wrong. I may not know you, but I see you. You may be able to fake your way through life, but you won’t get away with that shit in my class.”
My throat tightens at his words, and I’m suddenly reminded of all the reasons I hate Desmond. This conversation now tops the list.
I step back before he can see the tears brimming in my eyes. “I can see through you too. And you know what? You don’t care about anything or anyone but yourself.”
With that, I jog back down the stairs and fly through the door of the bar. “I’ll have another one of these,” I say to the bartender while sliding my empty glass toward him. I ignore Monica and Zach’s intense stares.
“I’m going to head back to my place,” Zach whispers to Monica. “I’ll see you tomorrow at the game?”
“Okay,” she says, and they kiss for a full minute before he finally gets up and squeezes my shoulder. “Bye, Mags. Will I see you at the game too?”
I shake my head, wishing people would stop trying to fold me into their lives like I’ll fit in. I never will, not when it comes to football or cooking or Coach Reynolds. “No, but have a great game.” I fist-bump him, and he’s gone before I can blink again.
Monica leans in and rests her head on my shoulder. “If it makes you feel any better, you look really hot today.”
And then I laugh because only my sister can find a way to lighten the mood when I’m wallowing in my own despair.
Production
Desmond
After Maggie leaves, I’m in no mood to continue messing around in my storage room. Instead, I grab a folded towel from the bathroom and wipe myself down with it.
I’m walking into the main kitchen when the front door opens again. “Dear Lord,” I mutter with exasperation. “What now?” I swear I locked the door after Faye left. But then the mystery is solved when, a moment later, I’m faced with Zach. “Shit.” Surely he’s here because he’s caught wind of the war waging between Maggie and me. This isn’t going to be pretty.
Zach’s eyes are dead set on me as the door shuts behind him. Then his hands move to his hips, and he narrows his eyes. “I don’t even want to know what you’ve just been doing.”
“Ya sure? Because I’m saving us thousands in handyman fees by remodeling the storage closet myself.”
His face twists in confusion. Zach never has to handle the minor details since I’m always here managing the day-to-day operations.
“Whatever. We’ll get back to the storage closet. What’s the deal with Maggie? Would it kill you to be just a little bit nicer to my girlfriend’s sister?”
“Have you met her? Yeah. Yeah, it would.”
Zach sighs his frustration. “I swear to God, dude, your issues with the female species are beyond my comprehension.”
I shrug and take a seat on the couch near the entrance, gesturing for him to sit with me. I have a feeling this talk won’t be a short one. “It doesn’t matter anyway. She was