Under the Cover of Darkness

30 | Alexandra

“I just had a vision, Alex. Ask me what it was.”

“I don't think I care, Ken. Let me work.”

“You finally let us take you to a good ol' fashioned British pub and you enjoyed yourself so much that it became a weekly thing. Am I psychic or what?” Ken asked over my shoulder, momentarily distracting me from the dough I was kneading.

I rolled my eyes and went back to my task, making sure I stretched every inch of the dough. “Come on Ken, we've been over this. I don't drink so there's no point in following you to a bar.”

“Technically it's called a pub, not the same thing.”

I paused what I was doing to glare at him but he had quickly moved away from me to the other side of the expansive kitchen to avoid my wrath.

“I'm just saying Alex, you need some fun in your life,” he said before his attention was captured by Gareth, one of the sous chefs.

As I turned back to my work a tiny part of me couldn't help but agree with him.

It had been three months since I left Miami and moved to London and frankly I was still adjusting to the change.

Ken had been right about the hotel needing someone with my skills. After getting through the interview and impressing the head chef Martin with my baking skills I was hired.

I moved in with Ken and his boyfriend, Ian. They were the kindest people ever, helping me to seamlessly integrate into the London scene.

It was a big ass change and I was scared out of my mind but I was also proud of myself for taking the leap and going ahead to come here.

Even though it was largely to get away from him.

In my short time here I had purposely stayed away from any news about Carson because my heart ached anytime I even remembered his name, and as such I didn't know what was going on with him. I imagine he got back together with the supermodel and they were now happy together. Much as the thought made my chest feel like it was flooded with acid I had no choice but to accept that we were never meant to be.

My mood plummeted as I stared at the shapeless form of the white dough on my flour-covered workstation.

A hand on my shoulder brought me out of my own thoughts and I looked up into Lily's hazel eyes.

“Don't listen to him, Alex, you don't always have to have some fun in your life. There are benefits to a nice, boring life. Why, sometimes I look around at how some people act and I wish I had just stayed locked away in the convent.”

I smiled and nodded like I knew what she meant even as I knew it was impossible that Lily ever lived in a convent.

The thing about Lily was that she was incredibly loud. It was impossible not to notice her. From her booming voice with a thick Australian accent, to her shiny red curls that were always spilling out of her hair net no matter how tightly she tied them back to her short nails that were painted in different colors, she was born to stand out.

Lily always had a smile on her face and a funny anecdote to cheer anyone up and I had taken a liking to her the first day I started working here.

“If you lived in a convent then I'm the Princess of Wales,” Dunni interposed as she walked out of the pantry wiping her hands on a dish towel.

“Yeah, didn't you say you were a stripper for ten years before you went to culinary school?” Shawn shot Lily an unbelieving look before he went back to working on the filling for the cranberry pie we were going to be making later.