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I set the knife down and stared at the camera lens. “I found that. I found it in you, Harvey. I should never have picked Blake, but what you don’t know is that I broke it off with him several days ago, and today when the show airs, the entire world will know that I chose wrong. I should have gone with my heart and not my head. I should have chosen you, Harvey. I should have told you that I wanted the next dance with you, and the one after that, and the one after that, and the one that lasts forever.”
I hesitated for a few seconds. “I hope you see this. I hope that whoever sees this will put your ass in a chair and make you watch it. I want what we started on that dance floor. I want what we shared last night so briefly. I want you.”
The back door opened, and I quickly glanced at the camera and whispered, “There is only one more thing for me to say. I want you to come to me, and I want you to ask me for the next dance, Harvey. Can you do that? Will you do that?”
I shifted away as Malick called out my name and said good morning.
“Hey, Malick, how are you this morning?”
He pointed at the ceiling. “Those went up pretty fast.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, they went up last night.”
“How late were you here?” he asked as he came around the counter. “What are we making this morning?”
“Three, and I thought I would do a quiche. Do we have any leftover ham? We could add some of that.”
“Yes, we do, on it, Chef!” he said. With that, I forgot about Harvey, the cameras tucked into every nook and cranny, dancing and the show, and focused on what mattered right now: cooking breakfast and taking care of my kitchen.
* * *
Dinner wasin full swing when David popped his head into the kitchen. “Ali, you’re on television!”
I glanced at the clock, well, I guess it was on. Too bad I wasn’t going to be able to see it. I’d have to wait until I got home and watch the recording that I had set up earlier this week.
“Um, David, how do you know that I’m on television? Did you get one back in the scrub room?”
“Nah, I just got a text from my girlfriend. She said she’s watching it.”
“Alright, well, put your phone away and get back to work. You can see the rerun later.”
“You going to tell us which guy you picked?” Melinda asked. Because of our contracts, Blake and I had kept our relationship quiet from all our friends, except Charlie. She was the only one that knew. Everyone I worked with just knew that I was dating someone, and I would announce it when I could.
I pondered that question for a moment. “Let’s just say that I followed my head and not my heart, and I probably shouldn’t trust my head when it comes to romance.”
Melinda chuckled. “I saw the previews of it; was it the short brown-haired guy, the dark-haired guy, or the blonde that you did choose?”
I sighed. “I chose Blake, the blonde.”
“Oh, he was an attractive guy,” Melinda stated, and Wallace frowned at her.
“Hey, Wallace, you do know that we are allowed to look at other men, just like you are allowed to look at other women, right? You just can’t touch,” I said, and a few people laughed. Sadly, the comment out of my own mouth reminded me of last night and what Harvey must have thought of me.
“See?” Melinda glanced at her boyfriend, who rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, right, like that will happen. You just knocked me upside the head the other day for checking a woman out.”
“You were drooling over her, Wallace. There is a difference between checking someone out and saying they are attractive and undressing someone with your eyes.”
More laughter skittered around the room. “Okay, guys, can we get back to our jobs and leave the romance in the alley for a little while longer? We are really close to getting behind, and we can’t afford that right now, not with everything else going on.”
“Yes, Chef.” A few people commented, and then the conversation was back to what was up, what was new, who needed what, why were the capers not where they were supposed to be, and so on.
Ricardo took my station a few times, as I hit the restaurant floor, speaking to patrons, checking things, and dealing with an inventory issue. By the end of the night, I was whipped, and I didn’t even bother to update reports.
After my lack of sleep last night, I needed to hit the sack early, and I could come in tomorrow morning and catch up. I barely made it back to my place before I couldn’t keep my eyes open, but once I was inside and climbing into bed, my gaze drifted over my television, and I remembered the show.
Yes, I had seen the dances, but I hadn’t seen during practices or before and after the dances. I grabbed the remote, fluffed up my pillow, and hit play. There would be no way to sleep knowing it was there on my recorder, not now. Not until I saw every moment I could of Harvey.
