Dinner Banquet {1}

Chapter One - Dinner Banquet {1}

[Ivy’s POV]

I woke up to the shrill sound of my phone ringing. It was particularly loud due to the deafening silence of the early hours.

Picking up my phone, I saw it was my mentor chef Laurent calling.

It was just five in the morning and he was calling. Something must have happened.

“Hello?” I said immediately I picked up the call.

“Hello, Ivy. You must have been sleeping, sorry for waking you up so early” Chef Laurent’s sombre voice came from the other end of the phone.

“No, it's okay. Is anything the matter?” I asked knowing there was indeed something. After all, Laurent would not call me this early in the morning for no reason.

“Yes, Ivy. I need your help with something very important. There is an event happening this evening where I'm supposed to be the main chef, but I won't be able to attend anymore.

Nora is currently in labour and you know I can't allow her to go through this alone.

So, I'll need you to take over my position as the main chef. Is that okay with you?”

“Yes, I can” I quickly replied “You should just focus on Nora, I'll take over for you”

Laurent was a hopeless Romantic and he loved his wife so much. They were both parental figures in my life.

Moreover, this was their first child after more than twenty years of being married. He wouldn't miss the birth of the child, not even for the whole world.

“Thank you so much, Ivy. You can also use this opportunity to socialize and build connections. It's a very big event.” Laurent stated.

Of course, I knew it was a big event. Laurent had been planning and finalizing the dishes for the event for months. I know because I had heard him discussing it on the phone one day, probably with the organizers.

Taking over as the main chef for this event is definitely a huge opportunity for me.

“I will. What time do I leave?” I asked.

“As early as six a.m. So you can have enough time to finalize the dishes you want to make. Also, I have told the organizers about you taking over. I'll send you the location.” Laurent replied.

“Alright, I won't let you down. You should just focus on Nora, I'll handle the event.” I stated with much conviction.

“I believe you. Thanks” Laurent said with a smile before ending the call.

Looking at the time, it was quarter past five. I had less than forty-five minutes to prepare before heading out.

I didn't expect to spend the whole day of my third wedding anniversary working.

I quickly scrambled to get ready in order not to be late.

Despite all my efforts to be there on time, I still ended up being late.

I left my house at ten minutes past six and hailed a cab to the venue.

Hotel Royalty.

The hotel was quite a distance from my house. It took me approximately thirty minutes to get there.

Immediately I entered the lobby of the hotel, I was stopped by a lady.

“Are you the replacement chef?” The lady asked impatiently.

“Yes,” I replied, knowing the lady was probably annoyed by my late coming.

And sure enough, I was right.

“I see you are quite the princess, keeping everyone waiting for almost an hour.” She sneered.

“I'm really sorry, I………”

The lady cut me off before I could finish speaking.

“Keep it, I don't need your apology. Just follow me.” The lady continued rudely.

Not knowing what else to say and not wanting to offend anyone, I followed her silently.

We took the elevator to the third floor where the kitchen was located.

Immediately we entered the kitchen, all eyes turned to me and I knew the reason why.

I felt guilty for making them wait, but I wasn't told early enough.

“Is she the replacement chef? Chef Laurent's student?” A man with a beard asked.

The lady beside me nodded before turning to leave impatiently.

“Hi, I'm Ivy Zane. I am really sorry for making you guys wait.” I apologized again looking mainly at the bearded man.

He seemed kind and gentle.

“It’s okay. We understand you were just informed this morning.” The bearded man said kindly.

“If there's nothing else, let's start the preparations. I am one of your assistants, you can call me Henry.” He continued.

Henry introduced me to the other people who would be working with me. Together, we were a team of fifteen people.

We discussed and finalized how the dishes were going to be made and served.

Since Chef Laurent already had a menu and the ingredients had been bought, I only had to follow the same menu.

For starters, we made mini crab cakes with lemon aioli and also lobster bisque.

The main course was Wagyu beef with red wine and wild mushroom risotto with truffle jus.

And for desserts, macarons, chocolate truffle and lemon tart with berries.

It was a high-end dinner after all, the food should not be too heavy and should also cater to the taste of both vegetarians and non-vegetarians.

We started prepping the ingredients, before moving on to preparing the dishes.

It was tedious and time-consuming.

When we were finally done, it was already evening. The dinner party was about to start and I was so tired.

The others had gone to freshen up and I was the only one still in the kitchen.

I turned off the stove and cross-checked the dishes properly before I started walking out of the kitchen.

I had to freshen up too to get off the smell and grime of the kitchen.

When I got to the door, I suddenly spotted two ladies heading in my direction.

They seemed like trouble and I hated trouble.

Stopping before me, one of the ladies in a navy blue dress assesses me from head to toe before speaking.

“I heard you are the main chef for this dinner and you are Chef Laurent’s student. Are you and your mentor trying to deceive us?” Vivian Osborne questioned.

I was taken aback by the accusation, but before I could say anything, the other lady chimed in.

“They definitely are. The majority of us want to use this dinner opportunity to have a taste of Chef Laurent's food. After all, it's not every day we get the chance to taste something made by a world-renowned chef.

Who knew he would send this hussy instead of coming himself? Vivian, it seems that Chef Laurent looks down on us.” The lady who seemed to be Vivian‘s lackey spoke lengthily.

“Oh really?” Vivian looked at me “Do you both look down on us? Or are we not noble enough to taste your mentor's dishes?”

“No, it's nothing like that. Laurent isn't here because of an emergency” I quickly stated.

I couldn't allow Vivian’s accusations to ruin Laurent's renowned reputation.

The lackey immediately scoffed at my words.

“Even at that, why would he send a slut like you to replace him? Clearly, you are only here to seduce men and climb up the social ladder.” The lackey hissed.

“What do you mean by that?” I had not expected her to say such disrespectful words.

“The literal meaning” The lackey replied. She then turned towards Vivian and continued, “She might even be planning to seduce Liam Roy after hearing he would be attending.

A lot of girls have their eyes on him, even a lowly cook.”

I was left speechless at her words, I didn't even know who the person they were talking about was. It was nerve-racking.

“I see. I'll make sure no one eats the food made by a slut” Vivian stated, giving me one last look before turning to leave with her lackey.

Seeing they were leaving, I let out a huge sigh of relief. I really hated trouble and didn't want trouble.

But could they really make everyone at the event totally ignore my food?

Deciding not to think of it too much, I quickly went to my room prepared by the event organizers.