First Class Menu (4 page)

“Don’t move,” he growled.

“But your mom!”

“She’s not coming out until we go get her. We have all the
time in the world.”

“Matt!” Janie was horrified.

And then they heard a muffled cry through the baby monitor.
And then another little whine.

“Saved by the baby,” Matt chuckled. He kissed her soundly
and released his hold on her. “This was fun,” he winked. “But now I’m really
hungry!”

David stood in the Atherton Gallery looking at the blank
walls in front of him. So far Lou had twelve pieces that were ready to show and
she was still working on a few more. They had three weeks ‘til the opening.
They would not only be showing off the newly renovated space, but three unknown
artists David had discovered. Audrey was thrilled and trusted David completely.

However, in David’s mind, there was some uneasiness. Lou was
excited at the opportunity to show her work and Reggie, another street artist
David had discovered while wandering the streets of New York City, was also
itching to land a gallery exhibit. They both had signed contracts with the
Atherton Gallery and were in constant communication with him about what else
needed to be done to be ready for their big break.

The third artist, Griffin, was a flake. He possessed some
genius to be sure, but he was unreliable and quite often unreachable and that
had David nervous. Griffin had agreed to show fifteen pieces at the opening,
but he hadn’t brought any of them to David. He had devoted one-third of the new
space to Griffin’s work and not one piece of art to show yet. He’d left a few
more messages pleading for him to call the gallery. He’d give him three more
days to deliver the pieces or else David would have to find someone else.

*****

That night, David entered the kitchen on the college campus
for his third class. He’d learned about knives and about cutting food the first
night, and last week, Gavin had taught them about the different cooking
techniques; roasting, baking, sautéing, frying, and boiling. Each station had
been assigned one technique and at the end of the class they had eaten what
each couple had cooked. David and Gwen had been assigned toasting. They had
made garlic bread, in the oven, and had only burnt a few of the pieces. They
were thrilled with their accomplishment and had gone for coffee afterwards to
celebrate.

David thought Gwen was a nice girl, but he certainly wasn’t
interested in anything more than being partners in their class. She had seemed
a little disappointed when David declined her offer of a movie over the
weekend, but nothing too devastating. He wasn’t interested in her at all, so
when he walked into the kitchen he was caught off guard as Gwen ran to him and
kissed his cheek.

“Hi,” she smiled. “Glad you made it.”

David frowned. “Why wouldn’t I make it?” He stepped away
from her and headed to their station. He was anxious for the class to begin as
tonight, now that they had completed the two introductory classes, they would
get the menu they would be cooking for the remaining ten weeks.

There was a dull roar of voices through the room as
conversations continued well after starting time for the class. Finally, ten
minutes later, the door swung open and a body rushed in and headed to the
front. David was stunned to recognize the woman who stood before them.

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” she began, “and obviously, an
explanation is necessary.”

The room silenced quickly as everyone turned their attention
to the woman who was apparently their instructor for the evening.

“Gavin will not be available for the rest of the course so I
will be filling in for him.”

There were instant whispers through the room as speculation
as to what happened to Gavin flooded everyone’s minds.

She held up her hands and quieted her students. “Gavin was
in a motorcycle accident and will be fine. But he has a broken leg and a broken
collar bone. Not ideal for a chef.”

Gasps were heard and several women winced at the image.

“So, here I am,” she smiled. “I’m Lindsey and I’ll be your
instructor for the remainder of the course. However, I only found out about
this gig about an hour ago, so you’ll need to help me get up to speed, k?”

A woman at the front offered a quick rundown of the first
two classes and Lindsey nodded her head.

“So we’ve got the basics covered and now you’re ready to
cook?”

The students all smiled and clapped and Lindsey chuckled.
“Alright then. I understand you need your menu for the remainder of the class,
so let’s get on that shall we?”

Again the students smiled and nodded in approval. Lindsey
walked to the chalkboard and picked up a piece of chalk and turned so her back
was to most of the students. David was off to the side and caught her profile
as she bit her lip and frowned. She obviously had no idea what she was going to
write on the board.

“Chateaubriand!” he yelled.

Lindsey slowly turned and scanned the faces until her eyes
came to rest on David. A slight grin formed as recognition dawned.

“Well!” she exclaimed. “Mr. David Lathem! So glad you took
my suggestion.” She twisted back to the chalkboard and began writing.

1.
      
Hors
d’oeuvres – starter - Chicken Liver Mousse

2.
      
Potage
– soup – French Onion

3.
      
Salades 
- salad –Tuna Nicoise

4.
      
Entrée
– main course – Chateaubriand, Gratin dauphinois – scalloped potatoes, roasted
asparagus, glazed carrots

5.
      
Dessert
– Crème Brulee

Lindsey swung back to her class. “And there is your menu!”

‘Oohs’ and ‘aahs’ came from almost every mouth. They were
duly impressed with the list, even if a lot of them didn’t know what each item
was. It certainly looked and sounded impressive.

“A first class menu,” David sighed. “I have no hope of being
able to make that!”

“Don’t be silly,” encouraged Gwen. “We’ll do it together.”

David gave her a sideways glance and was a little unnerved
at her perkiness. She had a huge smile and was leaning in a bit too close for
David’s comfort. He took a step backwards and tried to ignore her. Lindsey was
talking about ingredients and recipes and David wondered if he was supposed to
be memorizing everything that she said. He tried to listen but Gwen had closed
the gap between and had rested her hand on his arm.

“I’ve got a brilliant idea,” she grinned. “After this course
is over, let’s partner up for the next one.”

David closed his eyes and tried to think of a kind way to
tell her ‘hell no’. He was thirty-seven years old and had endured the leers and
flirting of women all his adult life. Gwen was no different than most of the
other women he’d met over the years.

All the Lathem men looked very similar. All had thick dark
hair and dark blue eyes. Paul was the tallest at six feet three inches and
David the shortest at five feet and eleven inches. They were all blessed with a
good metabolism and the desire to work out regularly, which David did at the
gym just two blocks from his apartment in Chelsea. They were attractive men and
Matt had made the Lathem name relatively well-known in New York City. For years
Matt had made the most eligible bachelors list and was often photographed by
paparazzi, although not so much anymore since he had settled into marital bliss
with Janie. So David’s appearance and the last name often made him a target of
the kind of women he wasn’t interested in. Plus he didn’t have money like his
older brothers so once some women found that out, they moved on to their next
victim. David knew that not all women were like that, but he’d learned his
lesson early on and his social life had suffered.

Here stood Gwen, all eager and willing to saddle up beside
him. He didn’t know if she had any idea who his brothers were, but that really
didn’t matter. He wasn’t interested, even though it had been a long time since
he’d had a relationship that was more than three dates in a row.

“I don’t think I’ll be taking any more classes, but I hope
you have fun,” he said kindly but without any emotion.

“It’d be a lot of fun,” she insisted.

David shook his head. “I’m sure you’ll find someone else to
partner with.”

Gwen frowned, finally getting the hint and backed off.

Lindsey was saying something about a homework assignment.
He’d missed what it was. Everyone was gathering up their jackets and purses and
leaving, so David quickly said goodbye to Gwen and marched to the front of the
room.

“I apologize,” he frowned. “I didn’t hear what our
assignment was.”

Lindsey looked up and smirked. “You were too busy chatting
with your friend.”

“No,” he shook his head. “She was the one doing the
chatting. And she’s not my friend.”

Lindsey chuckled. “I want you to go to the grocery store and
look at the items you’ll think you’ll need for our menu.”

David whipped out his phone and quickly took a photo of the
menu written on the chalkboard. He would have to enlist help.

“You wouldn’t want to go with me, would you?” he grinned.

“That wouldn’t be fair to the other students, would it?”

“We wouldn’t tell them,” he whispered.

Lindsey laughed. David liked her laugh. “Is that a yes?” he
asked hopefully.

She shook her head. “No, that’s not a yes.”

“How am I ever going to become the teacher’s pet then?” he
grinned.

“Just ask my employees. I don’t have
pets.
”

“Well that’s too bad. I would’ve made a good one.”

“I’m sure you would have.”

*****

At lunch time on Friday, the delivery service dropped off a
large package for David at the gallery. He knew what it was so didn’t bother
opening it.

“What is it?” Audrey asked him.

“A gift for my brother and his wife.”

“Oh,” she replied. “What is it?”

“Nothing much,” he shrugged. “Just a sketch I did.”

“You still draw?” Audrey was stunned. “I didn’t know that.
Can I see it?”

David sighed. He didn’t like people looking at his sketches.
It made him uncomfortable. He never knew when people were genuinely praising
his work or when they were just trying to be polite. He would prefer that they
told him they hated it, if it were the truth, than to lie to him to spare his
feelings. So he just kept his art to himself and to the members of his family
that he’d given pieces to.

“Please?” she insisted.

David peeled back the brown paper to reveal the sleek black
minimal frame. It was square. Twenty-four inches by twenty-four with a crisp
white mat that held the sketch, eighteen inches square. Audrey gasped as she
beheld the picture.

“It’s beautiful,” she gushed. “The emotion is perfectly
captured.”

“They’d just announced she was pregnant,” David smiled,
recalling the day just a few weeks before.

“Oh, David, really. It is quite superb.”

“Well I hope they’ll like it.”

“Well if they don’t, I’ll take it!” she smiled.

David was flattered with Audrey’s response. She was one of
the people he could trust to tell him the truth. So if she said she liked it,
he believed her.

“Thanks,” he smiled and rewrapped the brown paper as best he
could. He would take it to them after work.

They finished their lunch and were cleaning up the paper
boxes when the receptionist rang back to say that Griffin was there and asking
to speak to David.

“Send him back,” he replied.

A few seconds later, Griffin appeared in the doorway.

“Come on in and have a seat,” David said and pulled out a
chair at the table.

“I can’t stay. I just came to say that I can’t do the show.”

“NO!” exclaimed Audrey. “You said you’d have your pieces
ready!”

“Look, I’m sorry, but I can’t do it. You’ll have to find
someone else.”

David took a couple of steps toward him. “Griffin. This is
your shot, man. You may not get another one.”

Griffin shrugged. “I can’t do it.” He turned and hurried
back to the front door and left.

“Shit!” David yelled and buried his face in his hands.
“Shit!” He walked over and slumped into the chair next to Audrey. She didn’t speak.

“Well,” he said, “Lou and Reggie might be able to add a few
pieces and then we could just spread them through and it would probably be
fine.”

Audrey shook her head. “Nope. We’ve advertised, marketed,
promised
three new artists. The Atherton
will
deliver on that promise.”

“Where the hell am I going to find another artist in a week?
The show opens one week from today!”

“I’ve already found one,” Audrey declared.

“Really? Who?”

“You!”

*****

David sat in his apartment looking at his finished work he
kept in the closet. He didn’t want to show
any
of them. They were
extremely personal and he didn’t like the idea of strangers critiquing him.
But, Audrey had insisted, in fact, she had demanded. David tried to dissuade
her and came up with every possible excuse he could think of but she wouldn’t
give in. There really wasn’t enough time to find another artist and Audrey
pointed out that ultimately it was his responsibility to fill the walls with art.
He owed her, and that she had repeated several times.

On the way home, he’d called both Lou and Reggie and asked
if they could add a couple more pieces for their exhibit. Both agreed
willingly. David figured with their additions he would only have to subject
five, maybe six sketches to be ogled and dissected. And now he had to whittle
down the selection to the pieces that meant the least to him, so as to not risk
too much emotionally.

In high school, David had spent every spare minute in the
art room. He wasn’t an athlete like most of his brothers, or a straight A
student like Matt and Ben and Andrew. He wasn’t cool like Mark and Paul or the
class clown like Tim. He was reserved and had a small but close group of
friends, most of them budding artists like himself.  And when it came time to
display his work, his teachers had to threaten him with flunking the class if
he didn’t allow his work to be shown with the rest of the students’. It wasn’t
that he thought his talent was less than his peers, or he was ashamed of it in
any way, he just didn’t like other people looking at it. When he created, he
poured his soul, all his emotion, onto the paper or canvas. It was private.