Soufflés at Sunrise (14 page)

When it seemed like a thousand years had passed, Diego came in front of them, the cameras were turned on, and it was time to begin.

“You’ve all had a trying week,” Diego said. “You had to make mousse and pound cake in your mini challenges, and you all probably wondered how those two things would fit together in our week’s final challenge. And this is how. Your challenge is trifles, moist layers of cakes, custards, and unique ingredients put together beautifully.”

Everyone murmured as Diego’s announcement died down in the cavernous kitchens. Trifles. Not bad. Chase figured he could layer cake and custard to make something delicious.

Diego held up his hand. “Trifles are simple desserts, and this week we’re not going to add any other stipulations. The only thing you need to think about is they have to be
Burned
level. We want creativity, we want perfect flavors, amazing textures, and surprises. Make the judges want to keep eating after their first few bites, keep them excited. You have five minutes to plan, and then the first chefs will be buzzed to the ingredients table.

Chase closed his eyes.

Trifles. Unique. How can I make it unique?

He hadn’t done anything with chocolate yet… but Chase wasn’t a huge fan of chocolate. It wouldn’t be easy to work with it and come up with something amazing. There hadn’t been a lot of use of heat yet. He could incorporate some cayenne or chili powder. He kept that thought in his head while he thought of other flavors he could add. The buzzer went off and the first group of chefs hurried to the table to grab ingredients. Chase had to wait. And wait. And wait. It was so hard to watch everyone start, grab ingredients he might use, turn their ovens on, get a head start. He was ready to jump out of his skin.

The buzzer finally went off, and Chase leaped off the stool he’d been perched on and jogged with Louis, who’d also blown a challenge, to the table. There wasn’t a lot left. Chase instinctively went for the pumpkin puree and some apples. He had spices back at his cook station. Cayenne and cardamom and cinnamon. He knew what he was going to do. Chase went through the rest of the table and picked up bits he knew he’d need, and hurried back to his station. He had to get started and fast.

The cake was going to be the hardest to get done on time. He started with that. He wanted to do a soft, moist cake, flavored with the spices to give the trifle a subtle heat. He’d balance that with the crispness of a custard cut through with a sharp apple sauce and a few other little twists. There was a lot to do, and he was already thirty minutes behind the others.

Two hours left….

He had a lot of work to do: get the cake in the oven, make his apple custard, candy the pecans, make his bourbon syrup and whipped cream. There was a lot to do, and he didn’t know if he could get it all done on time. Chase put his head down and kept working.

One hour left….

The cake was out of the oven, still hot, but it smelled perfect, and the tiny corner Chase tasted had been exactly what he wanted. He had his bourbon syrup—bourbon, maple syrup, and cayenne powder—reducing on the stovetop, and his pralines were coming out really well. Everything at his station smelled amazing. He’d been running so behind after having to wait forever to start. He hadn’t managed to glare at Kai very much, and there certainly hadn’t been time for any verbal bitching. He was lucky if he got his trifle finished on time.

F
OR
SOME
reason it took the judges forever to get themselves ready and in position to be filmed tasting the desserts, which was time Chase spent panicking, looking around the room at everyone else’s creations, then panicking some more.

Polly had made a mint chocolate trifle that looked so much fun; dark chocolate biscuit layers, bright white peppermint cream, a lighter chocolate mousse, and mint leaves on top to garnish. It was bright and sexy and cool, something that said she still enjoyed cooking and creating interesting twists on classic flavors.

Al, who was stationed just in front of Chase, had gone with a deconstructed banana cream pie—banana, vanilla custard, whipped cream, and shortbread cookies. Kai had gone with cappuccino and cherry, hot and sophisticated, and Chase felt his gut clench as he looked back at his own dessert. This wasn’t
him
. It wasn’t the sort of food he made at home, and it wasn’t the sort of food he came here to make. Spending so much time trying to impress the judges had taken him away from what he came here to do.

“Chase?”

And he’d been called up first.
Great
.

“Your presentation is good,” Emilio said, turning the dish around so he could see it from all angles. “You’ve got nice defined layers here, and the colors are nice. It looks very appetizing.”

“Thank you,” Chase murmured. He waited silently while Basil dug his spoon into the dish and took a large mouthful of all the layers together. Nicolette and Emilio tried it too, eating just one bite before setting their spoons down.

“This isn’t a
bad
effort, Chase,” Nicolette said. “It’s well made. Fine.”

“Fine isn’t good enough here,” Basil told Chase sharply. “I’m not a judge on
Burned
to taste average food. I’m here to sample top-line cooking, and this isn’t it.”

“I’m afraid I agree,” Emilio added. “It’s perfectly acceptable, Chase, but something I might expect from my grandmother at Thanksgiving. Not a chef of your caliber.”

Chase nodded, mumbled his thanks again, then took the dish back to his station.

Not good enough.
He vowed to himself that if he got through and didn’t choke at the judges’ altar, he’d try harder, work more intelligently, make better food. Basil hadn’t come there to taste average food? Well, Chase hadn’t come there to
make
average food.

He watched sullenly as the others all had their moment in the spotlight. Then they were dismissed while the judges deliberated. Instead of going back to the small room set aside for them, Chase ducked into the bathroom and hid there for ten minutes, then waited on the stairs until they were called back in for final judging. He didn’t have the energy, or a stable enough stomach, to handle the others right now.

Diego started to speak, finally, going through the whole spiel with the prizes and what the challenge had entailed. Again. He didn’t know why the viewers needed to be reminded about five times an episode, but he supposed that was why he wasn’t a television writer.

Finally, he got to the good stuff.

“This week’s final challenge was both easy and hard. There were quite a few outstanding trifle desserts, but we can have only one challenge winner, and that winner is Jenna. Congratulations!” Diego tossed Jenna one of his slick smiles. “The judges loved the fresh flavors of your gluten-free key lime and Meyer lemon trifle. You mixed sour and sweet together perfectly, and your textures of cake and custard were spot on.” Jenna smiled and bowed her head in thanks.

“Not everyone can come out on top. There are some low scores as well. Chase and Sylvia, please step forward. Chase.” Chase’s heart went straight into his throat. He was one of the low scores? “Your trifle was delicious but safe. We know you’re capable of more than a hodgepodge of autumn flavors. Sylvia, you tried to go out on a limb this week and it didn’t pay off. Your trifle was a little weird—and not in a good way. The judges didn’t know if it was even a dessert. Between tasty but too safe and a poorly executed risk, the judges have decided to save….”

Chase’s heart stuck in his chest. He hadn’t had a damn bit of luck that week. None at all. He started wondering if he had to pack his bags already and hightail it home, or maybe just pretend for another week and hang around on the beach, which he’d loved. He wasn’t ready to—

“Chase.” Diego looked at him gravely. “You’re still in, Chase. That means Sylvia, you’re burned.”

Thank fucking
God
.

Chase leaned over and gave Sylvia a long hug. He’d miss her. A lot. Other than Kai, he’d spoken to her the most. Everyone else was still a little intimidating. Sylvia hugged him back and waved at the others while she walked behind the partition into the backstage area. Supposedly that was the last of her, but he knew they’d all see her for a final good-bye dinner. That’s how it had worked with the others, at least.

He couldn’t believe it. He was still there. By the skin of his teeth, maybe, but he wasn’t gone yet. For a few minutes back there he’d thought that he was really gone. The judges rarely picked the safe option over the risky one. Chase rubbed at his temples. He saw Kai in the corner, pretending not to grin, and Chase vowed not to get that close to elimination again. If he even had a choice in the matter.

Later, when the cameras were off and nobody was around, Kai hugged him for a really long time. Chase felt himself melting into Kai’s skin.

“I was really worried there for a minute. You can’t leave, okay?”

Chase chuckled into Kai’s neck. “Okay. I won’t suck again.”

“You know what I mean.”

“I do. I’m not ready to say good-bye.” It had only been a few weeks, but Chase was starting to wonder when he was going to be ready to say good-bye. If ever.

W
ELCOME
TO
Burned
, where we find fresh new cooking talent… and a few culinary disasters!

Last week Jenna proved she was not to be trifled with, but Sylvia’s trifle was too weird to be tasty, and while her dessert was unique, she got burned, taking our remaining contestants down to nine.

This week the chefs are drowning in everyone’s favorite subject. Chocolate. The sky’s the limit, just as long as three separate types of chocolate are featured in their dessert. One more thing. Nobody’s allowed to make a dessert they’ve made on the show already. The judges want something new!

Just so you don’t forget, let’s go over the fabulous prizes. Our grand prize winner gets a year of pastry training in Paris, a whole kitchen’s worth of top-of-the-line commercial tools and appliances, and a hundred thousand dollars for his or her own business.

With stakes this big, we ask the one question on everyone’s mind: Do these chefs have what it takes to rise to the top? Or will they get
Burned
?

“W
E
REALLY
have to sign papers just to leave for the night?” Kai asked after they’d finished the challenge Monday afternoon. Tommy nodded and shoved some documents toward them.

“These aren’t a big deal, just a standard nondisclosure.”

“But we’ve left before. We went to the beach. The others went out as well,” Kai protested. Chase understood. They’d already
signed so many things, papers that said they couldn’t tell their
families what was going on, papers that said they had to fight on screen. Papers, papers, papers. Chase figured it’d take a forklift to move just the pages he’d signed alone.

Tommy shrugged. “I didn’t know about your beach trip. The others signed NDAs when they left. It’s standard. Nothing out of the ordinary. You can’t divulge information about the challenges, the contracts, or the contestants to any outside sources.”

Chase read over the sheets in his hand. Tommy had been telling the truth. It really was only a document to make sure they weren’t giving up information about the show itself. It wasn’t anything big. He checked each section and then signed his. Kai finished reading and followed suit. Reluctantly.

“Is there anything else we need to do?”

Tommy shook his head. “You’ll need to make sure you’re back Wednesday morning for the shuttle to the studio. Other than that, you’re free to go.”

Chase couldn’t get out of there quickly enough. His challenge had gone well that morning and he’d actually earned time for the final on Friday instead of losing it, but he was ready for a break—from their castmates, from the condo, from everything except Kai.

They both stood. “See you Wednesday,” Kai said.

He and Tommy seemed to have come to some sort of truce since the showdown last Monday. It was still uncomfortable between the three of them because of all the crap with him and Kai having to fight, but it was better. Chase was happy about that.

They jogged out of Tommy’s office and onto the shuttle that would take them back to the condo. Everyone was smiling and laughing. There had been losers on the mini challenge just like there always was, but it hadn’t been nearly as brutal as some of the others. Chase still missed Sylvia’s presence, more than the other three who’d gone before her for sure. It was weird with her not there, but he still grabbed a seat and watched Kai sink into the one in front of him. Chase’s hands itched to touch him. He wanted to shimmy his arm between the seat and the window and get to Kai’s skin. Chase wasn’t sure what was going to happen that night, but he was sure that he wanted to touch Kai. Pretty much all the time.

“Y
OU
OKAY
?”

Chase fiddled with his sleeve and looked around Kai’s apartment. It was clean and functional but there wasn’t a lot of personality. Made sense, since Kai said he’d only been there for a few months before he auditioned for
Burned
. He’d been subletting it to a tourist from Australia while he was living in Bryant Tower with the others, but the kid had moved on, so the space was all theirs for a couple of days. They had arrived a few minutes ago after packing up a bag at the condo and hopping in Kai’s Jeep for the short drive. He was nervous. He’d been alone with Kai in public, but they were
alone
alone. That was a different story.