Page 46 of How My Fake Alien Boyfriend Learned to Cook and Saved the Family Business

I picked up the notebook and held it in my hands, then instinctively turned to the back pages. They were full of recipes Grandma and I had developed together. My first love was cooking new things, and Grandma Gladys was the first to encourage me. In the evenings after customers left, she would invite me into Southern Charm’s kitchen so we could experiment with flavors and techniques. None of the recipes in her notebook ever made the cut for the restaurant, but they were probably some of my most creative ideas.

I paused. When had I stopped getting creative with food? And why?

This used to bring me so much joy until the reality of working in kitchens outside of Southern Charm kicked in.

I used to love this part of cooking—being creative. Developing new menu items, new combinations. I hated doing things by rote. Wasn’t that one reason I had burned out so hard in my career? If I loved it once, surely I could love it again.

My chest tightened at the implication, though. Changing Southern Charm’s menu also meant losing one of the most important things Grandma created. It was her. Could I really do that and still honor her legacy? Could I do that without losing a part of her?

I closed my eyes again.

I used to love cooking; I will again. Change is okay, as long as you stay true to what you believe in. Do or do not. There is no try.

About an hour later, I was having second thoughts. Two hours later, I was having third, fourth, and fifth thoughts. My wrist was killing me. Customers were only trickling in—a bad sign for a Saturday—and when they did come, I kept messing up their orders.

And just when I thought I was getting back on track, the call came in.

“We’ve had a bit of a scheduling conflict,” chirped the voice on the other end. She then introduced herself as Eileen Watley, senior coordinator for the Greatest Restaurants of the Great Smoky Mountains Contest, at your service.

I didn’t know how to respond since she called me. I let the line sit silent.

“As I was saying, we’ve had a bit of a scheduling conflict. Our panel of judges was supposed to visit the participating Roswell Falls restaurants the Friday after next, but…”

Eileen Watley, senior coordinator for the Greatest Restaurants of the Great Smoky Mountains Contest, at my service, stretched out the but for so long that I thought my phone was glitching.

Eileen Watley, senior coordinator, finally finished her but with a hard T that sounded like a hiss. “Someone accidentally put the wrong date down.”

Eileen Watley said it in a way that let me know Eileen Watley was probably the one responsible for the case of the mistaken calendar fiasco.

“So you’ll have the privilege of hosting our panel of judges this coming Friday,” she added.

“What?” I nearly dropped the phone. Surely she’d gotten the dates wrong. “This coming Friday?” I asked. “Like…today is Saturday, and then there’s Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, then Friday. That Friday?”

“Yes, exactly!” said Eileen Watley, my new worst enemy. “You’re very good with your days of the week.”

Well, one of us has to be, I wanted to shout. And it’s certainly not you.

“Anyway, have to dash! I’ve got about a dozen other calls to make!”

Eileen Watley hung up.

Kal

I was doing everything wrong.

Last night I was caught outside of my hu-suit. I fraternized with a human. I gave Xaerean secrets away.

But I didn’t care. I didn’t care because it was Lola. I trusted her, and I cared about her. I cared for her, but I didn’t know what that meant. I had never experienced feelings like this before, and all I could think about was that kiss.

In my human studies, I had briefly learned about how humans showed affection, but it was probably the section we spent the least amount of time on. I didn’t remember much about it at all. But when Lola demonstrated the kiss…

Who knew something as strange as touching lips could feel like that? I was simultaneously on fire and doused in water. If that’s what it felt like to kiss while in the suit, I wondered what it would be like with nothing else between us. I wanted to find out.

I wanted so many things that I was afraid I couldn’t have. Most of all, I just wanted more. More kisses. More Lola. More time.

Then I thought about the things I hadn’t said last night. How I’d come here by accident, because that was who I was. How I wouldn’t be here much longer if my Xaerean peers were capable of finding me—and I knew they were.

“Ow, ow, ouch!”