Finding Chef's Kiss

Chapter 1

I must be dreaming. There's no way in hell this is happening.

Replaying the voicemail a few times isn't helping my heart, now clanging at full force against my ribcage. My knees are trembling, and I'm praying that all of this is just some joke that will be revealed at any second.

With my mind racing a thousand miles per minute, I tap Logan's number and hold the phone to my ear. After a few rings, my pounding eardrum meets his deep voice in a recorded message:

You've reached Perusing Port. We're currently closed undergoing renovations but will be opening back up soon! You may have seen an article about us on Eatz. What can we say? The press loves us, and we think you will too! Follow along on our-

Flattening my lips and flaring my nostrils, I swiftly end the call. I grab my gym bag and sprint back to my apartment, about two blocks away from NYC Gym Club. Any other day I would be thankful for how close I live to the gym. But today, I might as well be trekking across the US and swimming through treacherous waters to arrive at a home in Guam.

As soon as I make it up the stairs and through the door, Fluff hisses and dives under the couch. My abrupt entrance with Medusa-like hair may have slightly traumatized him, but I can't worry about that right now. I have a potentially major screw up to deal with.

Please God, let it not be a major screw up!

I zero in on the black pants I wore yesterday and pull out the small white business card in one of the pockets. After grabbing the similar looking business card on my desk, I hold them side-by-side in front of me. My pulse skyrockets again.

Perusing Port... Perfect Pairing... What kind of sick twisted joke is this?

I dash to my computer and power up the screen. A spinning rainbow wheel appears before me, moving at a pace slower than a Brita pitcher filling up with water. "Ugh, rainbow wheel! Not now!"

After I count to what feels like a trillion, the computer deigns to grace me with the login screen. Finally, I'm able to login, and open a browser to visit Perfect Pairing's website. A beautiful, elegant webpage meets my pulsing eyes. The clean use of white space and imagery of all the dishes I tried yesterday are neatly scattered across the page. This is the place!

I quickly open another tab and find the website for Perusing Port – Logan's restaurant. The restaurant I have never eaten at in my life. A bright yellow screen with "Renovating. Be Back Soon!" text in red letters stares back at me.

Oh. My. God. Oh, my God!

I weld my eyes shut as my thoughts rake over the article I submitted last night. All I could hear are my words about the elegance and prestige of the place I reviewed yesterday. But what I was currently looking at was not that. Holding my breath, I swiftly navigate to Yelp and search for Perusing Port. While the reviews are quite high, I gasp when I read some of the menu items the place has. Sandwiches? Burgers? Might as well add pizza by the slice to seal the coffin on my career!

"Ahhhh!" I let out a scream causing Fluff to shimmy out from under the couch and sprint to the bedroom. How could this have happened? God, how could I be such an idiot?

"I'm such an idiot!"

I often wondered what it would look like for my career to sink to the ground. Mistaking bad quality ingredients for good? Although not ideal, it happened to the best of critics at times. Using bad grammar in an article? A slap on the wrist, at most. What I inadvertently did last night? Now there's something that could sink it to the ground, and dig a hole to bedrock.

I begin pacing the apartment and only pause to try Logan's phone again. Another freaking voicemail.

This is all just a misunderstanding. This is just a really dumb mistake. I'll tell Shelley and this will all be okay!