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“What?” I looked to see a man and a woman standing there, filming themselves. “Who is that?”
“I have no idea. But they said we’re a couple and they called me your pit bitch.”
So that’s why she was so angry. “I’m sure they were joking. I don’t even know who they are so don’t let it get to you.”
“Easy for you to say. They’re not insulting you.”
I wasn’t trying to be insensitive but we didn’t have time to get worked up over this. “I wouldn’t care if they were. My food speaks for itself.” I reached out and rubbed her arms. Then I gently took the grater from her hand and set it down on the table.
Isla made a sound of impatience. “You don’t even get it. It’s your food. That’s the problem. I don’t want to be seen as your girlfriend that you allowed to help you.”
I wasn’t even sure where this was coming from. “What is it that you want me to do, Isla?”
She made a sound of exasperation but didn’t respond. She turned back to the fire.
“Do you want me to step down as executive chef?” I asked, not out of malice, but because I was genuinely curious. I didn’t know what she wanted. Other than to keep our relationship a secret.
“Of course not.”
My expertise was in the kitchen, not relationships. We all knew that. There was something she wanted and I had no damn clue what it was. I decided the best course of action was to walk away then. She had her back to me and I didn’t know what else to say. I decided to cruise past the people she had referred to and see what I could hear. Maybe that would make it more obvious why she was so upset. Maybe she wanted me to stand up for her, not let them belittle her.
It wasn’t my style nor did I have time to dick around given we were in the middle of a competition so I just went straight up to the pair and made no bones about listening. They were discussing secret sauces and making innuendos. I decided to just interrupt and introduce myself.
“OMG, hi!” the woman said. “I’m Gypsy and this is Mutt. We have our own cooking podcast.”
“That’s fantastic. Love to hear what fellow food enthusiasts have to say.”
“We were just discussing how Shelby Montrose on Shelby’s S
ecret Sauce Show and Liam Porter from Porterhouse Rocks are dating IRL.”
For a second I didn’t know what IRL meant then realized that it stood for ‘in real life.’ Which she could have just said.
“I did not realize that,” I said, which was the truth. I was less interested in celebrity chef’s dating than I was in hearing they weren’t discussing me and Isla at all. Yet Isla was so paranoid about discovery she had thought they were. “Will you be here tomorrow to taste all the food?”
“We’ll be here all night.” Mutt, who was about eighteen, pulled a badge forward. “Media passes.”
“Awesome. Be sure to stop by then and give us your opinion. You won’t be disappointed in Bone’s offerings.”
Gypsy laughed and gave me a wink. “Never.”
Yeah, that wink made me uncomfortable given I had a girlfriend and Gypsy was wearing very little clothing. Mission accomplished, time for me to get out of there.
I went back to our station and straight to Isla. “They weren’t talking about us.”
“They weren’t?” She looked ridiculously relieved.
“No. No one cares that we’re dating except for you.” They didn’t. The sooner she realized that, the better. I was not going to wait two years to tell the world about us. We were not star crossed lovers. Empires weren’t going to topple if we came clean. It was bullshit and I was over it.
“You two are dating?” Nick asked, coming up behind me.
Isla shot me a look. “Seriously? That’s just fantastic, Sean.”
“You know what? It is fantastic. Because I love you and I’m having an amazing time getting to know everything about you and I am starting to feel like us working together is an excuse.”
She bit her lip and wouldn’t look at me. “I don’t want to talk about this now. We’re in the middle of the competition.”
“You’re more important to me than any competition.” I reached out and took her hand and squeezed it. “I’ve been alone my whole adult life and now we have this connection and I don’t want to pretend that I don’t feel this. Don’t ask me to lie indefinitely.”
