A Taste of Jealousy

Adrian and Ethan walked towards their office, with Ethan trailing a step behind him.

"What do you mean, remake the dish? Ms. Victoria said it was rated the highest at the tasting," Ethan said.

"I am the president of this company," Adrian replied. "Is any other reason necessary?"

"Well, it's very unlike you, sir. And you seem to be treating Ms. Chloe very emotionally."

"Mr. Ethan." Adrian's voice sharpened with irritation. "Do you really not realize who Ms. Chloe is?"

"Who else would she be?" Ethan asked, confused. "Chloe is Chloe."

"That Chloe is... Ms. Stephanie."

"What?" Ethan burst into laughter. "What are you talking about? Is that really true?"

"Yes. I've already confirmed it," Adrian said, looking straight at him.

"Wait. Just wait a second. How is that..." Ethan shook his head in disbelief. "So, what are you going to do now?"

"What do you think? I'm going to take my time and make her realize..." Adrian pulled out his chair and sat down. "Just how big a mistake she's made." His eyes settled on his computer screen.

Adrian kept giving Chloe one task after another. She prepared dish after dish, countless of them, only to be told to redo each one. She was a patient woman, but even her patience had limits, and she had finally reached hers.

She spotted Adrian in the hallway and called out to him.

"Please give me detailed feedback on how you want it redone, sir!" She looked him straight in the face.

"I want you to redo it until it's to my liking," Adrian replied, his voice trembling slightly.

"What do you..."

Chloe could only watch as he walked away. She had finally had enough of his nonsense.

She returned to the lab to prepare the food again. As she worked, members of her department team came in to help. A few minutes later, Chef Caleb stepped into the laboratory.

"Hello," he greeted.

"Oh, hello," they answered in unison.

"Chef Caleb, what brings you here?" Nora asked. She was one of Chloe's colleagues on the department team.

"I have a meeting with the marketing team, so I decided to drop by," Caleb replied. He then turned to Chloe. "What are you doing, Chloe?"

"Yes, well... as you can see," Chloe replied, her expression flat and dull.

Meanwhile, Adrian's grandfather had arrived at the office unannounced. He was having lunch in the company cafeteria with Adrian and his secretary, Ethan.

Adrian spotted Chloe and Caleb walking in together to get food from their new product.

"Why are there so few people here today?" Caleb asked.

"I don't really know. It's usually packed." Chloe glanced at the empty seats, then noticed Adrian sitting with his grandfather and Ethan in the middle of their meal. He was staring intensely at her from across the table.

Chloe's heart skipped a beat.

"Caleb, do you want to eat out?" she asked.

"You said you didn't want to," Caleb replied.

"As you said, now that I'm smelling the food, I've suddenly lost my appetite. Let's eat out." She took Caleb by the arm and pulled him out of the cafeteria.

"Is Ms. Stephanie busy nowadays?" Adrian's grandfather asked.

When Ethan heard the question, he spat out the water in his mouth.

"What's wrong? Are you all right?" the old man asked.

"Yes, sir. I'm fine," Ethan replied.

Adrian paid little attention to their conversation. His eyes remained fixed on Chloe, and watching her leave with Caleb left him strangely bothered.

"Are you listening to me? What are you looking at?" his grandfather asked.

"Why are you asking about Ms. Stephanie?" Ethan asked the old man.

"It's nothing. I just want to see her. It's fun being with her." The old man turned to his grandson. "Adrian, set a date and clear your schedule so we can all see each other."

"Sure," Adrian replied. "I'll set something up as soon as possible."