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10
Cece
I hate to say this, and I mean it in the nicest way possible, but … Stephanie was right. Winston is a geek.
Okay, geek might be too strong of a word, but he’s definitely not the industrious business apprentice that I thought he was. On the contrary, he hates that he’s going to school for business and wishes he could do something else but doesn’t know what that could be.
He seemed to have fun at the club, and there’s absolutely no attraction to him in a romantic way, but I don’t think that bothers him. I think he’s just happy to have a friend. Two, actually, though I don’t know that Stephanie would call him a friend yet. That’s why I asked if I could invite him to the restaurant with us as Stephanie records a new video for her channel. She’s taking advantage of it by having Winston film it so I can be in the video, too.
Stephanie made friends with a brand-new executive chef in the Pacific Palisades who just made the “top twenty under twenty” watch list on Hollywood Gossip. Her name’s Rose, and some people in the food industry are calling her a food prodigy. All I know is she made us three appetizers before Stephanie started filming. They’re the most fantastic things I’ve ever tasted.
“Where should we set this up?” Rose asks Stephanie, who adjusts some settings on her camera.
“Right here is good, if that’s okay with you,” Stephanie replies.
Stephanie looks over at Winston with a slight look of trepidation, then her eyes bounce to me. I know she thinks he’s helpless, especially since I explained to her what he told me. I didn’t want to make him sound like a baby who did everything his father told him, but there’s really no good way to say he chased after me because his father told him to.
Still, after Winston’s truth bomb, and hanging out a little longer at the club, I know there’s more to Winston. There has to be. He seems like he wants to figure out what that is. Stephanie, however, is still viewing him as a dweeb.
“I’ll start the camera, and all you have to do is film us, okay?” she tells Winston, but her tone is almost like she’s giving instructions to a three-year-old.
Winston picks up on it. “Oh, man! You mean I get to take pictures like a big boy? Oh golly, this is going to be so cool. Like riding the swings at recess.” It’s the first time I’ve ever seen Winston stand up for himself, and I have to hold back a laugh. Stephanie scowls. “I’ve worked a camera before, Stephanie.”
“Are you sure?” she spits back, curling a lip.
“Steph?” I hiss under my breath.
While she looks over at me with an annoyed expression, I see Rose through the corner of my eye. She’s staring at all of us, completely flabbergasted.
“Whatever,” Stephanie says, flipping her auburn hair. Reaching for the camera, she adjusts a few more settings on it and then examines the screen. I see the small red light on the camera turn on, and she hands it back to Winston. “Film us from just above our ribs. When she talks about the food, point that camera there.”
“Did you want me to zoom in? I can—”
“No, don’t touch any settings,” she snaps. Winston rolls his eyes. “Just film.”
“Sorry,” I mouth to Winston, who shrugs. Stephanie either doesn’t see me or ignores me and stands next to Rose.
“Hey, everyone,” she says, waving at her camera. “Today, we’ve got the inside look at one of Southern California’s hottest chefs on the scene.” Putting a hand to her mouth, she leans closer to the camera like she’s telling the audience a secret. “And she makes a mean Tropical Sunrise if I do say so myself.” Turning back to Rose, she embraces her in a hug. “Rose, thank you so much for letting me come back and record this with you.”
“Of course. Should we get right to it?” Rose asks, even though I know they’ve already gone over what Rose is cooking. “I thought I’d make fajitas with serrano chilies and a green sauce. I hope you like spicy food.”
“Love it,” Stephanie replies, then looks over at me. “Oh, and you guys know my bestie, Cece. She’s making her monthly appearance.”
I give a wave to the camera.
Through the filming, Rose goes over her process. It’s like one of those shows on a cooking channel, where the interviewee describes their ingredients, why they’re using it, and the process of making the food. Rose covers a popular dish the restaurant serves with fajita steaks, and then starts to talk about a dish her restaurant is known for right now, chicken tacos.
As she talks about the spices she uses when marinating the protein, Winston steps closer, filming the food on the prep table. Stephanie looks over at me, confused and a little annoyed since he’s obviously not following her instructions.
I shake off her expression, and as Rose warms up her tortillas over the stove, Winston asks, “How do you make your tortillas so soft? Mine come out a little more tough and brittle. I can’t get the ratios right.”
All three of us stare at him. Stephanie looks upset, but both Rose and I are caught off guard.
“Oh, sorry,” he says, pulling the camera back up to continue filming.
“Winston, you cook?” I ask.
“Uh, yeah. A little bit. Our chef at home cooks for us, but I go down to the kitchen and mess around with stuff he shows me. It’s sort of a hobby.”
