First Class Menu (5 page)

Several of his family members had encouraged him to try to
make a living at selling his work. Right after college, Matt, already quite
successful in the real estate industry, had offered to let him use some retail
space to show his work, but he’d quickly declined. His mother always showed any
guests in her home the pieces he’d given to her. She had several. Some were
sketches of family members, and in the dining room was a big oil painting of
the beach. When he was little, his parents would take the family to a house
they rented in the Hamptons for long weekends in the summer. When he painted the
scene, he hadn’t been there for years but the memories were etched in his
brain. Maureen had cried when he’d given it to her for Mother’s Day.

David pulled a recent sketch from the pile. It was one he’d
done last year after they returned home from their Caribbean cruise. It was of
his parents sitting in deck chairs on the boat holding hands. He’d hidden their
faces with sunglasses and hats but the image of two people completely
comfortable and at ease with other was very apparent.

“That could work,” he muttered to himself as he took it from
the stack and placed it carefully on the desk.

He continued to flip through the sheets of paper and
abruptly stopped. He hadn’t realized he still had this one. It must be over
fifteen years old and he hadn’t seen it in years. He slowly pulled it from the
stack and put the other papers down on the floor. Leaning back in the chair he
held up the pencil drawing to better see it in the overhead light.

She was sitting on the bleachers in the football stadium.
She would have been sixteen years old and he had captured her innocence well.
Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she wore an oversized sweater. He’d
met her in third grade and had stayed friends all the way ‘til their junior
year of high school…until she’d died.

Laura was the youngest of three girls, the baby of the
family. When she’d realized she was gay, David was the only one she’d told.
Growing up Catholic, like the Lathem’s, it was difficult for her to ‘come out’
to her family. The church, as did many, frowned on homosexuality as a sin, and
she was convinced that her family would disown her once they found out. But
Laura never found out what her parents would do if she told them because she’d
died; the fear so real and so overwhelming that she’d taken her own life rather
than risk her parents’ disapproval or disappointment.

All the memories flooded back to him now as he looked at his
picture. Andrew, David’s older brother, had already come out to his family. It
took a little bit of getting used to but they all still loved Andrew just as
they had before he had divulged his sexual orientation. David didn’t understand
Laura’s anxiety. Of course her parents would still love her. Of course they
wouldn’t throw her out of the house. But none of his encouragement would
convince her to tell them and one day she didn’t show up to school. She had
taken her mom’s sleeping pills and gone to sleep, never waking up.

David carefully placed the drawing back into the leather
portfolio and closed it. He hadn’t thought about her in a long time. He cleared
off his desk and pulled a clean crisp piece of paper from the drawer and pulled
some charcoal from the box and his hand began moving quickly over the paper,
creating the images he now saw in his mind. He needed to get them out of his
head or he would never be able to sleep.

Chef Lindsey Dardin sat in the empty dining room of the
restaurant, the table covered in ordering forms and menus and employee
schedules. She chewed mindlessly on the end of her pencil, not hearing Aaron walk
in behind her. She jumped when she heard the chair move next to her.

“Where were you?” Aaron chuckled as he sat down opposite
her.

Lindsey shook her head and waved at the paperwork in front
of her. “I guess I’m not in the mood for this,” she frowned.

“Everything okay?”

Lindsey nodded. “Food costs at The Bourbon are spot on. But
here? Something’s going on and I just can’t seem to figure out what. But I’ll
get it.”

“I have no doubt!” grinned Aaron. “You’re a pitbull when it
comes to puzzles. I just stopped by to tell you that David Lathem has asked
that we cater his gallery opening at The Atherton on Friday. Apparently, Audrey
Atherton was supposed to take care of securing the food and she
forgot
.”
Aaron used air quotes around the word.

“David called?”

“Yeah…do you know the Lathems?”

“Well, no, not really. Although I did meet many of them at
the wedding reception in January.”

Aaron pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. “This is what
we’ve decided on. It’s really just cocktail food…we’re just gonna step it up a
notch.”

Lindsey took the paper from his hand and read down the list.
“Shouldn’t be any problem. I’ll send three people with the food.”

Aaron stood up. “I figured you’d handle it,” he smiled.
“Thanks.”

Lindsey said goodbye to her boss and reviewed the list
again.
Finger food. Easy.
She called out to Gary, one of her sous chefs
that worked in both restaurants wherever he was needed, and gave him the
assignment of ensuring food was completed and ready to be delivered by four
o’clock the following Friday and then she once again chewed on her pencil, her
mind wandering to David Lathem.

He hadn’t shown up to class last night. She had watched the
door all evening waiting for him to come in and he never did. But he’d called
Aaron about the gallery. She was slightly irritated that he hadn’t called her.
But then she told herself that Aaron was a family friend – of course he would
call him. Lindsey tried to concentrate on her order forms.

*****

Lindsey didn’t have to be in the restaurant on Friday
evening. As Executive Chef, she created the dishes served, prepared the menus,
sometimes did the food ordering, and on a rare occasion, like earlier in the
day, arranged the employee schedule, but she didn’t actually have to do any of
the line cooking or kitchen supervision. She had employees that took care of it
all. As she sat at the end of the bar at six o’clock, watching the ‘after-work’
drinkers leave and the couples arriving for an early dinner, she felt pathetic.
Just slightly pathetic
, she told herself.

She was thirty-five years old and an Executive Chef of not
one, but two very successful Manhattan restaurants. She was at the top of her
profession and loved her job. Aaron had guided her, mentored her, and now
trusted her with two of his five restaurants and she would never do anything to
lose that trust. She was head-hunted often and always felt flattered when the
outrageous offers would come, but they were always for the west coast and she
couldn’t leave her city, her home. And she wouldn’t leave Aaron.

She was also divorced. The marriage had lasted just over two
years. She was way too young and she and Lewis hadn’t spent enough time
together. It was doomed from the start. He’d been the Executive Chef at the
first restaurant she’d gone to work in after culinary school. It was love at
first sight…for both of them. But working eighty hours a week didn’t help their
relationship and it quickly crumbled. She’d left after the divorce and Aaron
had hired her. She hadn’t looked back. She would never date anyone in the
restaurant business again. It was too hard and held too many bad memories.

She only really ever met people in the restaurant biz, and
that is why she sat alone, at the bar, on a Friday night, when she could be
anywhere else but at work. She didn’t have anywhere else to go. She didn’t have
anyone else to be with.

Her cell phone ringing snapped her out of her melancholy.

“Hi Trudy,” she smiled into the phone. Trudy was the foster
mom Lindsey had spent her teen years with and the woman who had made a huge
impact in her life. She had given her direction and the permission to speak her
mind without the threat of retribution or punishment. Trudy had been the only
mom she’d ever known. “You always call when I need to hear a friendly voice.”

They spoke for a few minutes and then Lindsey hung up. Trudy
had just called to say hi, something she did weekly, just to stay in touch. She
hadn’t lived with her for over fifteen years, but the bond they had forged
would never be broken.

Trudy and her husband Trevor had not been able to have
children of their own. They’d tried for years but couldn’t afford in-vitro or
other expensive medical treatments or even adoption so they had decided to be
foster parents. They were well into their seventies now and hadn’t taken in any
children for the past several years but Trudy tried to keep in touch with most
of them. She had been Lindsey’s angel, rescuing her from a neglectful foster
home that she’d been in since her mother had over-dosed when Lindsey was three
years old. She’d stayed there ‘til she was nine. She was fed and housed and had
clean clothes to wear, but there was no love, no attention, nobody to make her
feel special. And then one day, her case worker had picked her up and taken her
to Trudy and her life changed…instantly.

Lindsey finished her drink, said goodbye to some of the
staff and went home to her apartment. After pulling a T-bone steak from the
refrigerator, allowing it to come up to room temperature before she cooked it,
Lindsey went and took a long hot shower and then dressed herself in flannel
pajama bottoms and an old sweatshirt. Her long auburn hair was knotted on the
top of her head and without any makeup on, she wandered through to her kitchen
to make dinner.

Searing the steak on a griddle pan, along with onions and
mushrooms in a red wine sauce, was her preferred way to eat meat. She was
definitely a carnivore and could live without bread or chocolate as long as
there was red meat to be had. Her love of meat came from Trevor, her foster
dad. Many evenings were spent grilling in the backyard; hotdogs, hamburgers,
chicken, steak…it didn’t matter. Lindsey loved the smell and the sound of it
searing on the grill and eating is was just heavenly. It’s not a surprise she
became a chef when she grew up. She had spent thousands of hours in the kitchen
with Trudy learning how to make everything from cupcakes from a cake mix to
chicken cordon bleu and everything in between.

Lindsey tossed some greens with a balsamic vinaigrette and
set the table with a placemat and napkin and a tall glass of ice water. She let
the steak rest for a few minutes and then sat down and ate as she listened to
the hum of the city on a Friday night. Then she clicked on the television, found
an old Doris Day and Rock Hudson movie and fell asleep on the couch before ten
o’clock.

*****

Saturday morning Lindsey arrived at The Bourbon ready to put
in a full day of work. She didn’t have anywhere else to be and there was
always
work to be done, even on a Saturday…
especially
on a Saturday. The
kitchen staff wasn’t at all surprised to see her and Gary took the opportunity
to have her approve the hors d'oeuvre menu for the Atherton Gallery opening the
following week.

As Lindsey read through the list, she again felt a little
peeved that David had called Aaron and not her. There really wasn’t any
validity in her feelings…she knew she was being ridiculous, but she felt what
she felt and accepted it. She liked him. Not in a middle school crush kind of
way, but as an adult woman who didn’t have much interaction with adult men
outside of the restaurant business. He was extremely pleasing to look at; tall,
dark and handsome. He had beautiful blue eyes and a crooked smile that showed
his perfectly straight white teeth. She enjoyed looking at him.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Gary asked if there was
something wrong with his menu choices. Lindsey blushed, embarrassed at her mind
wandering off while her sous chef stood right beside her talking about work.
She told him it all looked great. He walked away and left Lindsey alone with
her thoughts of David.

Taking over the cooking class had not been something she had
been excited about, but when she saw David in the class, her pulse had
quickened and the idea of spending every Thursday night with him had been a
bonus she hadn’t counted on. When he’d asked her out she’d been inwardly
crushed that she’d had to say no. It wouldn’t be ethical to date one of her
students, even if the class was just an adult continuing education class that
didn’t receive credit and only cost a few hundred bucks. She needed to maintain
a professional relationship with
all
the students, not just David.

Lindsey stood in the kitchen in the early afternoon making
bleu cheese dressing and parmesan crisps. Carving grape tomatoes into miniature
tulips came next and by the time one of the line cooks arrived for the salad
prep, Lindsey had completed most of it. She excused herself from the kitchen
and headed to the front of the house to survey preparations for the evening
rush. Saturday evenings were always busy and she had hired an excellent crew to
maintain the high standard of the restaurant. As usual, all was in order and
she wasn’t needed. Aaron told her to go home, she’d earned it.

Walking home while the sun was still up was something she
was still getting used to. Over the years she had worked harder than anyone
else to get to the top of her craft and become an Executive Chef. She had
achieved her goal at a much younger age than most. She still had a few years
before the big 4-0 and she had a lot to show for it…career wise. Having some
evenings off was unusual for a chef, the dinner rush being the main event for
the work day.

After a shower, Lindsey decided she’d go out for dinner. Several
of the staff at Aaron’s Grill had talked about a new Thai place that had opened
up just a few blocks from her apartment. She hadn’t lived in Soho for very long
– just a couple of years now – and there were still hundreds of restaurants she
needed to try out. A night out for dinner was just what she needed, so she
called Trudy to see if she and Trevor would be her guests for dinner.

*****

The week went by fast. They always did. The last five years
had flown by for Lindsey. She had worked so hard and had given up any sort of a
personal life. She hadn’t had a date in years. She hadn’t had sex in even
longer! But she told herself when she felt lonely that it had all been worth
it.

By the time Thursday arrived, she felt a bit on edge.
David’s cooking class was in the evening and she wondered if he’d come. She’d
thought about calling him the week before to find out why he hadn’t shown up,
but had thought better of it and resisted the urge.

As she sauntered into the classroom five minutes before
class began, she tried to appear cool and relaxed, but she felt anything but.
Lindsey nonchalantly scanned the room. He wasn’t there. She put her bag down
and twisted her hair into a knot on the top of her head and secured it with a
claw. Then lathered up her hands in the sink and scrubbed them clean. Now at
the top of the hour, class began…without David.