Chapter 3

As she closes her mouth, excitement fills her. The sauce on the bottom of the fork he used to decorate the plate, is the first element she tastes. As she pulls the fork from her mouth and bites down on the cube, the different element’s flavours explode in her mouth.

Ally closes her eyes as she takes in every texture and flavour of the bite in her mouth. She is in awe. She savours every moment of it before swallowing. When she opens her eyes she finds herself looking straight into the master of this creation’s eyes. This man is an amazing chef.

He looks at her expectantly. Ally raises her eyebrows and slowly shakes her head. She is speechless.

She places the fork back on the plate and shakes her head slowly again while looking at the plate.

She finally brings her gaze back up to his.

“That was…. unbelievable.” She finally tells him.

“Thank you.” He says, smiling at her. “I must tell you, watching you eat it… was… very satisfactory to me.” He gives a small chuckle. “But don’t worry, I will not expect any favours or rewards from you for the experience.” Ally lets out a surprised laugh. She almost forgot about her horrible date.

“What a gentleman. Thank you so much.” She tells him jokingly.

“How many of these one-bite dishes do you have?” Ally asks him. Her interest piqued.

“Only a few. I want it to be a unique experience whenever one of them is tried. It is easy to place elements together that go together. The trick is to place elements together that should not go together but when they are together they work.” He busies himself with cleaning up his work station.

“That is really amazing. What are you working on now?” Ally points to the book with the recipe and the notes. He looks at the book and then turns it around so she can read the recipe. As Ally ponders over it, he continues to clean up. He pulls up his stool on the other side of the counter and takes a seat.

“What do you see?” He asks her. Testing her knowledge of cooking and recipe reading.

“Well, it seems that all these elements will go well together but it will not have that taste explosion that I just experienced.” Ally tells him quietly. It is awful if someone criticizes your work. She is very careful not be hurtful. She looks up at him and sees that he is pressing his lips together.

“That is exactly the problem.” He places his elbows on the counter and rests his chin on his fists. “Any suggestions?”

Ally looks up at him. Surprise showing in her delicate features.

“Yes, I am open to suggestions.” He tells her and rewards her with that beautiful smile of his. Ally feels her insides melt as it does every time, he smiles at her. She picks up his pencil and points to each element of the recipe. Muttering their main characteristics as she does. This one offer sweetness. This one adds acidity. This one adds texture.

“What if you remove this one and replace it with a strawberry reduction.” Ally says more in thought than directly to him.                                                                                                                            

“That’s it!” he exclaims and quickly gets all the ingredients together to make a strawberry reduction. He works so swiftly and effortlessly that Ally stares at him in admiration. As he works, he cleans as well. When he is finished with his last element of the dish, he places it in the flash freezer to cool. He comes to stand in front of Ally and places his hands on the counter.

“Now we wait.” He says tapping his hands on the counter. Ally looks at his hands for the first time. Taking note of the ring finger. She was so dazzled by his smile that she didn’t even check if the man was married. She sighs a little sigh of relief when she sees the bare finger.

Ally takes her phone from her bag. She completely forgot that Meg was supposed to pick her up.

“Is she here?” He asks her.

“No, not yet. She says she is fifteen minutes away.” Ally says as a sadness settles over her. She thoroughly enjoyed this evening spent with this Master of a Chef. Tasting his creations and watching him do his magic. It is sad to think that the night is almost over. She thinks about the man she left at the restaurant next door. It feels like that happened a month ago.

“Well then. Fifteen minutes for you to experience a piece of magic that you helped create!” His enthusiasm is contagious. Ally smiles brightly and watches as he prepares two of the little plates with the single fork placed in the middle of it. He expertly slices each element into the most perfect squares. He places the squares perfectly on top of each other, forming a perfect cube that he then places on the tip of the fork.

Ally cannot hold her excitement anymore and quickly claps her hands softly in front of her chest.

He appreciates her excitement and slides her plate in front of her.

“Ready?” He asks in a soft seductive voice. For a moment every nerve in Ally’s body tingles. She almost forgets that he is talking about the bite sized experience in front of her. She quickly pulls herself together and nods.

Taking their forks in hand they each take the bite as it was prepared. Watching each other for their reactions. Ally sees how he lowers his fork slowly to the plate and places it softly back in its place. He places his hand on the counter and lowers his gaze as he experiences the different elements in his mouth.

Ally then bites down on the cube in her mouth and closes her eyes as all the tastes come together to form another magical moment. When she opens her eyes again, she looks into the dazed eyes of the man in front of her.

“I think you have just helped create perfection.” He tells her in a husky voice. Just when Ally thought this man cannot be any more attractive, the husky voice ensures her that she was wrong. He quickly takes his pencil in his hand. “What is your name?” he asks her, a lot more composed now and back to business.

“Ally.” She says slowly.

She watches as he writes above the recipe where all the notes are made to create this masterpiece.

ALLY’S LIPS

Ally blushes slightly.

“Are you calling this dish, “Ally’s lips”?” Ally asks him surprised.

“That I am. The strawberry reduction is as bright red as the lipstick you are wearing and if you did not come in here tonight it would have taken me a lot longer to get to this result.” He walks around the counter and holds his hand out for Ally to take his hand. Ally places her hand in his and he bends down to kiss the back of her hand.

“I am eternally grateful for your bad date, Miss Ally.” He tells her while looking at her with his playful eyes. Ally is at a loss for words but she can feel herself blushing deeply.

“Why, sir. I am only glad I could be of assistance.” Ally jokes in return.

He lets go of her hand and chuckles slightly. Ally receives a message of her phone and tells him that Meg is here. He walks with her to the back door of the kitchen and opens it with his thumb print. He holds the door open for her and she walks out in front of him.

Ally thought he would stay by the door and let her go to Meg by herself but he is right behind her as she takes the few steps down.

“It has been such a pleasure meeting you tonight, Ally.” He tells her as he opens the passenger door to Meg’s car. He bends down and looks inside to greet Meg. Meg, of course, is instantly dazzled by this incredibly beautiful man and can barely get a word out. She nods in reply.

He straightens up and looks at Ally again.

“If ever you need to get away from another bad date, the back door to my kitchen will always open for you.” He smiles teasingly at Ally as she turns to get into the car.

“I really enjoyed your company as well. And thank you for sharing your work with me. I am in awe.” Ally tells him truthfully.

“Only my pleasure.” He tells her with the most genuine smile on his face.

“Go home safely.” He tells her before closing the door for her.

Ally quickly opens the window before Meg starts driving off.

“I never got your name?” She asks him as Meg pulls away.

He smiles at her. Clearly, he noticed that he knew her name and she never asked for his.

“Eric” he tells her and then watches as they drive off and the tail lights disappear around the corner.