“He’s only going to be working in the morning. The odds of you ever running into him are really small. And he makes cookies for the cats! None of the other chefs offered that.”
Lindsay sighed. Lauren was right; Lindsay rarely ever stopped by the café before midafternoon, so the odds of her running into Brad were low. But not impossible. What if they ran into each other? What would she say when she saw him? What if… She took a deep breath and told herself that Brad’s little intrusion into her life would be fine. Right?
***
“So let me get this straight. You’re making pastries. For cats.”
Brad understood how silly it sounded. He stared at his friend Aaron and said, “Yes.”
“You were a sous-chef at Milk Bar. You got a ton of press for your work at that chocolate place. Your doughnuts were featured on a Food Network show. And you’re leaving all that behind to make pastries for cats.”
Brad signaled to the bartender that he wanted a refill on his beer. “I am also making pastries for humans, and the café is giving me complete creative control, which I’ve never had before.”
That really had been his motivation. He hadn’t realized when he’d applied for the job that the Lauren who managed the café was the same Lauren who’d been close friends with his ex, Lindsay. Lauren had gotten married, so he hadn’t recognized the last name in the job ad. But when he’d arrived with his samples, he’d recognized her. They’d only met a handful of times while he and Lindsay were dating, but that whole period of his life was seared into his brain. It was a series of happy memories he didn’t want to remember.
Lauren had outlined the parameters of the job: their bread and butter was pastries for the morning coffee crowd, but she wanted some special things for people who came into the café to sit during the day. The cat treats had been his idea. A culinary school buddy worked at a bakery for pets in Park Slope and had given him some recipes that he’d tweaked based on what he’d researched about what cats needed nutritionally and what was poisonous. The chicken-flavored cookies had tasted pretty weird to Brad, but the cats had loved them, and Lauren had loved the idea of offering them to the café’s customers.
And, okay, hehadasked after Lindsay. Once he realized who Lauren was, he wondered if fate had brought him to this cat café. He was embarrassed by the fact that he still thought about Lindsay a lot, even though they’d broken up almost five years ago. He’d been in two other relationships since then. But Lindsay had always been the one he remembered most. She was the one who got away.
“Weird coincidence,” Brad said. “The manager at the café is good friends with Lindsay.”
“Your Lindsay?”
“Well, she’s not my anything, but yeah.”
Aaron frowned. “Lindsay doesn’t work at the café, does she? Because if this just an elaborate plot to win her back, I’m going to pour my beer on you.”
“No, no. It’s just a coincidence. The manager said Lindsay’s writing forEat Out New Yorknow, which I already knew.”
“Wow, really? I read that site, although I never look at the bylines. They actually have pretty decent recipes. Probably nothing for cats, though.”
“You’re not getting over that anytime soon, are you?”
“I’ll let it drop when you let go of Lindsay. She’s not coming back, dude.”
“Did I say I want her back?”
Aaron shrugged.
“So, yeah, I’m working at a cat café. What’s going on with you?”
Aaron grinned. “I’m developing a new show.” Aaron worked as a producer at the Food Channel. “It’s a half-hour competition show. Three chefs have to work against the clock to make a dish with one wackadoo featured ingredient. We’re planning on cuttlefish for the pilot.”
“That doesn’t seem that weird.I’vecooked cuttlefish.”
“We’re kind of leading the viewer into it. Start off with a few episodes with ingredients chefs work with but home cooks generally don’t. Cuttlefish, sea urchin, bone marrow. Then we can bring in some ingredients that are only really used in specific cuisines. Gochujang, maybe. Durian. Rocky Mountain oysters. The stinkiest cheese I can find in Chelsea Market. And I saw an episode of the JapaneseIron Chefwhere the chairman’s ingredient was fish eyeballs. Wouldn’t that be a twist?”
“I’m an adventurous eater, but I don’t want to eat fish eyeballs.”
“They’re a delicacy!”
“Have you eaten them?”
“Once. The texture isveryweird. And I couldn’t get over the fact that I was eating an eyeball.”
“See?” Brad shivered involuntarily imagining it.
“We also might do some episodes where we withhold an ingredient. Like, everyone has to make risotto, but you can’t use rice.”
