The brunette was just finishing her coffee when an announcement came over the PA system: All contestants please report to the kitchen set.
Franky followed the group out to the main filming set. It looked like they were going to film some kind of game or challenge. There were twelve domes sitting on a long table that the brunette assumed were covering some sort of food. There was also a blindfold placed in front of each dome. One of the crew members asked them to line up behind the table.
"Okay everyone, today we're doing a tasting challenge." Jared began explaining how it would work. "There are three different foods under each of the domes, some of the foods show up under more than one dome, but most of them are different. So don't think that something is excluded just because someone before you already had it. When it's your turn, you'll step up and put on your blindfold. I'll give you a piece of food, and you try to guess what it is. If you need a second piece, that's fine. There's lots of everything. Chefs often think they have a good pallet, but I find it can be surprising when you don't get to see when you're eating."
The brunette glanced at Jenna who was standing beside her. "It'll be okay." She saw the girl take a deep breath. Franky leaned down next to her ear. "When you're chewing, breathe out a bit through your nose. It'll help you pick up the flavour a bit better." Jenna gave her a questioning look. "Trust me."
"Shayne, you're up first." Jared waited while Shayne stepped up, and put on his blindfold.
Once he was satisfied that the blindfold was on properly, Jared lifted the dome covering the five small bowls. Franky could see that the foods didn't seem to be anything too weird, but she knew that what the chef had said was true. She'd done blind taste tests in culinary school before, and they definitely weren't easy.
The brunette knew there were a few factors that made this hard. First of all, while the ingredients that needed to be cooked had been, it didn't seem like they had been cooked on the set and they had now cooled off, so they didn't have any smells to go by. Second, most people weren't used to eating some things on their own. She found meats were especially hard with something like this because they weren't seasoned, and rarely did people eat them without some kind of spices or marinade. Texture was helpful with those though.
Shayne did well, guessing three of his five correctly. Franky could tell that he was struggling with the last one, having asked for a second piece. In the end he guessed wrong, but considering he hadn't been cooking that long, the brunette thought he did well. Jenna scored three out of five as well. After two more contestants, it was the brunette's turn.
Franky stepped up and put on her blindfold. She felt silly standing there basically waiting for someone to feed her, but she went along with it.
"Here's the first one."
The brunette opened her mouth slightly, and a second later, she felt the cold metal spoon on her bottom lip. She took the food from the spoon. It was cold, and not solid. Her first thought was that it may be pudding, then the tanginess hit her tongue.
"Sour cream," Franky said with confidence.
"Very good!" Jared picked up the next food item. "Ready for the second one?"
The brunette nodded, and felt the cold spoon on her lip again. This time it was cold and sweet. She bit down to get the texture. It was soft and juicy.
"Pineapple." Franky was confident with her answer again. So far, so good.
"Nicely done! Two for two so far." The chef picked up the next one.
The brunette easily guessed the next two as well; apple, and swiss cheese. She now had the last one in her mouth and she was worried. It was cold and greasy. There wasn't a lot of taste to it and it was kind of just coating her mouth. She didn't want to ask for a second piece because she wasn't sure that even that would help. She held it in her mouth for a few seconds, and it started to change its texture a bit.
"Butter?" Franky wasn't as confident as she was with the other ones, but it was the only thing that came to mind. If it wasn't that then she honestly didn't know what it could be, so she figured it was worth a guess.
"Not so confident with this one, are you?" Jared asked. He paused for a couple seconds, but got no response from the brunette. "But you're right, yes, it's butter. Well done! A perfect five out of five and the only contestant to do so so far!"
Franky removed her blindfold and heard the applause from a few of the other contestants behind her. There were a couple who didn't look too pleased though, but she figured there were always a couple like them in every group, and it was best just to ignore them.
She had been the first to have a perfect score. While she wasn't wishing for the others to fail, she really did want to win. There were two more people after her who almost got a perfect score as well. However, one couldn't tell the difference between chicken and turkey, and the other mixed up sour cream and plain yogurt. Quite a few others scored a four.
"Franky! Congratulations, you're the winner of our first challenge. Now, we know this can be a stressful place to be, so we've tried to choose our rewards accordingly. As the winner, you'll get a one night stay in a panoramic suite at the Pan Pacific hotel, followed by a day of pampering at the Sensu Spa. Looks like it's going to be a good weekend for you! Again, Congratulations!" Jared shook her hand, then promptly left the set.
Once they were done filming the taste test segment, Jillian pulled the brunette aside.
"Hey, how are things so far?" the producer asked quietly.
"Good, yeah, they're good, I think." Franky thought it was probably a bit too early to judge, but she was feeling okay about things at the moment.
"Good!" Jillian gave her a small smile and nod.
The brunette looked around and lowered her voice. "Hey, about that spa thing I just won, I don't want it, I want to go home for that time instead."
"Are you sure? I mean, that hotel suite is amazing, and the spa is to die for." Jillan got quiet when she saw the look on Franky's face. "Right, I can't see it being a problem. Just make sure you're back on time Saturday night." A call came in over the director's radio. "Sorry, I'm going to have to go. Oh, but here are the questions for the interview we'll be filming on Thursday morning, and I'll be around tomorrow if you have questions."
"Thanks." The brunette shoved the folded piece of paper into her pocket.
Franky went back to the dorms where everyone was gathered for lunch.
"Everything alright? We saw Jillian pull you aside." One of the older women, who Franky thought was named Catherine, greeted her when she arrived in the kitchen.
The brunette heard one of the younger guys, who had been giving her a dirty look early, scoff. She chose to ignore him again.
"Yeah, it's all good." Franky looked around. "She just wanted to talk about something."
"Oh yeah? And what was that? The answers to the next challenge?" " The angry guy spoke up for the first time, and nodded towards her pocket.
Franky reached down and realized that the corner of the paper Jillian had given her was still visible above the edge of the fabric. She shoved it down further, and ignored his question.
"Shut up, Hank. You're just mad 'cause you were shit at the challenge." Shayne jumped in, saving Franky from having to explain any more.
"You didn't do too well either!" Hank shot back.
"Yeah but at least I'm not whining about it!" Shayne felt a hand on his elbow. He turned his head to see the brunette was now standing beside him.
"Relax, okay? He's not worth it," she said quietly. It scared her how much of her former self she saw in the young man. "Let's have lunch. We'll sit outside, you and I, yeah?" Shayne nodded, and Franky went to the kitchen to make them some sandwiches.
"Thanks," he said as the brunette sat the plate down on the patio table in front of him.
"What was that shit about?" Franky asked as she took her seat across from him. She wasn't in the mood to dance around the issue at hand.
"He shouldn't talk to you like that; or anyone else. He's been an ass since we got here." He took a bite of his sandwich.
"Okay, but I don't need you to fight my battles for me. Someone like him isn't worth your time." She caught Shayne's eye for a second before he looked away. "You were getting angry real fast in there. That happen often?"
"I don't know." Shayne shrugged.
"Let me tell you what I think; I think it does. Probably more than you'd like to admit." The brunette met his gaze again, and she knew she had his attention. "I used to be like that, and it got me in heaps of trouble."
"What happened?" When Franky stayed quiet, he started to get up out of his chair. "Let me guess; you'll tell me another time?"
"Sit down." The brunette reached out and put a hand on his arm. "I got an assault charge, and I was lucky that the right people had my back. I got off easy considering what I did, and then I got help."
"Help like what, therapy?" Shayne shook his head. "Therapy is bullshit."
"Have you tried it?" Franky had thought the same as him before she'd been forced to go.
"Nah." He took another bite of his sandwich.
"Well, it worked for me. Changed my life." The brunette smiled thinking of everything she had now that she would have missed out on if she hadn't changed her ways.
"Yeah?"
"Mhm." Franky chewed on a bite of her lunch.
"What would have been different for you if you hadn't changed?" Shayne had sat down his food and was fully focused on the brunette.
Franky thought for a moment. He'd asked about her personal life before, and she'd brushed him off. She'd only known him a couple days, but she did feel a connection between them.
"Everything." The brunette smiled. "I'm engaged to a beautiful woman."
"You have a kid," Shayne said as a statement, not a question.
"How did yo-?" Franky looked at him questioningly.
"Unless your fiancée likes making bracelets for you." He nodded towards the brunette's wrist.
"Oh." Franky let out a small laugh. "Yeah, no, she doesn't. Yes, we have a kid. We're raising her niece. She just turned six."
"Sounds like a great family." He gave her a small smile. "Secret's safe with me."
"Thanks." Franky returned his smile. "Enough of the mushy stuff. Let's finish these before they call us back to set." She picked up her sandwich and took a big bite.
After lunch, they were all called back to set and lined up the same way they had been in the morning. The brunette looked around, and saw some nervous faces among her fellow competitors. She took a deep breath. She knew the menu and she knew her own recipes.
The main doors of the 'restaurant' opened and Jared entered, dressed in his full chef's uniform.
"First of all, I'd just like to say you all did very well in the challenge this morning. Now, however, it's time to start the main part of the competition." He paced back and forth in front of the group as he spoke. "As you know, it will be team-based until we're down to the final five. I've been watching all of you, and I've taken a lot of things into consideration when deciding how you'll be divided up."
Franky stole a look at Shayne, and saw him give a barely perceptible nod. She had been right about why they hadn't been put on teams right away.
"So let's get to it." The host stepped up to a table which had two stacks of white chef's jackets on it. One pile had blue across the shoulders, and the other, red. "Alright, first up for the Red team we have Catherine."
One of the older women, who Franky hadn't talked to much yet, walked up to get her jacket, then went to stand in front of the red kitchen.
"Next up, Joseph. You'll be on the Blue team." Jared handed him a blue jacket. "Shayne, you're on the Red team."
Franky could tell that the young man was nervous. When he walked by, she discreetly reached out and tapped his forearm. When he looked at her, she gave him a small nod…'you'll be alright'.
The brunette watched as one by one, the other contestants were assigned to a team. Jenna had been placed on the Red team with Shayne. Franky was happy because she knew that if she wasn't put on that team as well, then at least he would look out for the nervous girl.
It was down to the last three people; Franky, Hank, and a guy named Lucas. There were two spots left on the Red team and only one on the Blue. Hank was the next one to be placed on a team. Jared sent him to the Red kitchen. The brunette closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She knew something was going to be done to stir up some drama for ratings, and clearly Jared had seen what had happened between Shayne and Hank before lunch.
"Lucas." Jared paused, and Franky held her breath. She knew that wherever Lucas went, she was going to the other team. "You're on the Blue team, so that means that Franky, you're on the Red team." He held out jackets to each of them.
The brunette accepted her jacket and turned to join her teammates. Shayne and Jenna looked happy, and she was glad to be with them as well. Hank on the other hand, didn't look pleased. Franky wasn't surprised that she'd been put with them. She didn't have a problem with Hank yet, but he seemed to dislike her, and the incident between him and Shayne after lunch had started when he tried to have a go at her.
"Now, I'd love to give you all some time to settle in and come up with a game plan, but where's the fun in that?" Jared laughed at his own joke. "We have a dinner service tonight. You have two hours to go get changed and prep your kitchens. Go!"
Franky quickly walked back to the dorm to change her clothes. The rest of their uniforms including a pair of black pants, and an assortment of white t-shirts and singlets to wear under their jacket, had been placed on each of their beds.
The brunette was back out in the kitchen in less than five minutes. She flipped through the reference book that was laying on the counter. She heard the others come in behind her, but then the room went quiet again. She turned to see four of the other five team members standing behind her.
"What do you want us to do?" Catherine asked, looking at Franky expectantly.
"Uh..what?" The brunette was confused as to why they were asking her for guidance right now. "I'm not in charge."
"We just thought since you were looking at the book that maybe you knew…" The woman trailed off. She'd realized her mistake too late.
Franky looked around the group again. "I'm just reading the book." There wasn't time to discuss this right now. "Alright, fine, but just this once." If they wanted someone to tell them what to do, she would, but she'd make it clear later that they were a team, not her team.
"Alright, we need someone to prep the seafood. Anyone comfortable with that?" A guy named George raised his hand, and she acknowledged him. "The meat station?" Catherine put up her hand for that one. "Appetizers?" Franky looked at Shayne and Jenna. "One of you good with that?"
"Yep, I got it." He glanced at the young girl standing beside him. It wasn't that he didn't want to do the station; he didn't really care which one he got, but he knew she was less confident, so he wanted her to have first choice. When she didn't speak up, he took it.
"Okay, Jenna you're on garnish then." The brunette looked at the book, then the group again. "We're missing someone. Where's Hank?"
As if on cue, he walked through the door into the kitchen.
"I'm here, keep your panties on." Hank chuckled as he snapped up his jacket.
"Right." Franky decided to let his comment slide. "Hank, you need to make sure each station has the supplies it needs; spices, utensils, etc. Shouldn't take too long. Then, you'll help whoever needs it."
"And what are you going to be doing?" He folded his arms over his chest.
"Desserts, then helping, like you. Unless you want that station instead?" The burnette watched as he shook his head. "Good, okay. If you have questions, ask someone, and if you finish early, help someone else. Seafood and meat have the most to do, so it'll likely be them needing some extra hands. Thirty minutes before the end, turn on the ovens to preheat so they're ready to go for service. Let's go."
Everyone started their assigned tasks. Franky wasn't paying much attention to the others, her mind was focused on prepping her station and running through the menu one last time.
"Franks." Shayne came up beside the brunette and spoke softly.
"Yeah?" Franky turned to see the young man tilt his head towards where Jenna was working. She had a few tears on her face. "Okay, I'll go over in a second. Thanks."
The brunette finished up what she was working on, and went over to check on the young woman.
"I'm okay, I think it's just the onions," Jenna said quickly, and wiped her face on her sleeve.
"Jenna." Franky raised an eyebrow when the young woman turned to look at her. They both knew no one was chopping onions, and it was a bullshit excuse.
Jenna sighed. "I'm just nervous, okay?"
"That's okay, but things will be fine. We'll all be here together tonight." The brunette understood the other woman's feelings, but she also needed to make it clear that she had to pull it together. "Listen, I get it, I do, but during service tonight, this can't happen. We get in, we get it done, then we get out. No tears, no excuses, alright?"
"Alright." Jenna nodded, and wiped her face again.
"Okay." Franky gave her shoulder a squeeze and went back to her own work.
Bridget was running late to pick up Emily. She'd gotten held up with an emergency counselling session, and lost track of time.
"I'm so sorry, Liz." The blonde rushed into Liz's office where she and the young girl were waiting. "There was an emergency at work." She glanced at the clock and saw that she was a little over a half hour late.
"Oh not to worry, love. She's just telling me all about what she learned in school today." Liz gave Bridget a warm smile.
"I thought you got hurt." Emily got up to give her aunt a hug.
"No, love, I'm fine. I'm sorry, I should have let Liz know I was running late, but I didn't realize at the time. Did you have a fun day?" the blonde asked as she returned the hug.
"Yeah. We learned about weather." Emily looked up at her. "Did you know in some places it's winter now, not summer?"
"Yeah, that's pretty neat, huh?" Bridget smiled down at her. "You ready to go home and get something for supper?" The young girl nodded and the blonde thanked Liz once again before they said goodbye.
"What's for supper?" Emily asked when they arrived at the house.
"I was thinking maybe spag bol." Bridget's cooking had improved a lot since she'd met Franky, but she still didn't have a lot of dishes she made, and she tended to stick with the easier ones. "Would you like to help me?"
The young girl reluctantly agreed. The blonde knew that Emily saw cooking as Franky's thing, but she hoped that maybe having her help with it would cheer her up a bit.
Bridget was pleased that their supper turned out well, and it seemed like Emily had enjoyed helping her. She was currently in a half-sitting position against one end of the couch with her niece on her lap laying against her. The young girl had always liked having that physical contact for comfort. Even as a baby, she would start to cry if Bridget put her down for too long. Now, whenever she spent evenings with them on the couch, she was usually leaning against one of them or sitting on their lap.
"When is Franky going to call?" Emily asked quietly.
"I don't know, love. It might not always be up to her when or if she can. She has to listen to the people in charge there." The blonde knew that if Franky didn't call, there was a good reason. That wouldn't help to comfort Emily however.
"She said she'd call every night." The young girl looked up at her aunt. "Is she okay? She might be sick, or hurt." The tears started to form in her eyes.
"She's fine, they would have called me if something had happened to her." Bridget hugged her tighter, and made a mental note to suggest to the brunette not to make any concrete promises going forward since her schedule seemed a bit unpredictable.
"Are you sure?" the young girl asked in a small voice.
"Yes, I'm sure. She probably just had to work tonight." The blonde rubbed her niece's back.
"I miss her." Emily took in a shaky breath.
"Shh, I know. I do too. She'll be back as soon as she can though." Bridget placed a kiss on the top of her head. She felt Emily start to relax more. "Why don't we go lay in your bed, and I'll read you an extra story tonight?" She knew if they stayed on the couch much longer, the young girl would be asleep, and it would be hard for Bridget to get up and get her into bed without waking her.
Their prep time passed quickly and before they knew it, they were given a short break before the restaurant opened for service. Franky ate a granola bar and grabbed a bottle of water. It would be enough to get her through the service, and in her experience, there were usually enough leftovers at the end of the day that she'd be able to have a meal after everything was done.
The doors opened, and the customers filled the tables. Franky was working at the garnish station, Shayne and Jenna were working together on the seafood station, and Hank was doing the meat. It wasn't longer before the first orders were coming in, and Catherine started on the appetizers. As soon as they went out for a table, Franky and the others would start on the main courses.
She delivered mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables to go with the steak and salmon dishes from the other two stations. She had just turned to go start on the next order when Jared called her back.
"Yes?" The brunette couldn't imagine what was wrong with something that simple.
"Taste those." Jared pointed to the two pots she'd sat in front of him.
Franky picked up two spoons from the tray on the counter and took a spoonful of the mashed potatoes first, then the vegetables. They tasted okay, but just not quite right.
"What do you think?" The host waited for her answer.
"Needs salt." The brunette still couldn't figure out exactly what had happened, but she knew they definitely needed some more seasoning.
"Good. Fix it and bring it back. Quick as you can now." Jared turned to check the next dish that had been brought to him.
Franky sat the pot back on the burner so the food would stay warm, and quickly added a pinch of salt to each. She stirred it in well, then decided to taste it before she took it back up to Jared. It tasted even more off now, and almost sweet.
"What the fuck?" The brunette mumbled to herself. She didn't understand how she could add salt, and yet the food tasted sweeter. Then it hit her. "Mother fucker."
Franky picked up the salt and shook some into her hand. She tasted it and immediately her mouth was flooded with sweetness. She sat the dish down loudly on the counter, and went to the pantry in the back. She grabbed a box of salt and went back to the kitchen. She quickly seasoned another pot of potatoes, and one of vegetables, and walked them up to the front.
"Nicely done, Franky," Jared called to her, as she made her way back to her station.
Hank had set up the supplies at each station. There was no way he would have known who would be working there at the time, so Franky didn't think he'd specifically targeted her, but it was still concerning.
The rest of the service went well, and the brunette's team ended up finishing first, which meant none of them were going home tonight, but it was apparent that they had some issues to work on.
"Hank!" Franky called out to him once they'd made it back into the dorms. He stopped and waited for her to catch up with him. "What was that about?"
Hank looked at her like she was stupid. "Uh, we won. That's what that was about."
"You know what I meant." When he stayed quiet, she continued. "There was sugar at my station instead of salt. You were responsible for stocking those things."
"Oops, my bad." He gave a shrug, and a small grin played at the corner of his mouth.
"Yeah... so either you were careless, or you were trying to fuck someone over." Franky didn't like either option.
"Well," He looked around as if he was trying to see who was nearby. "It is a competition."
"Yes, it is." Franky held his stare.
"Oh, so you do realize that? Because the way you're coaching everyone out there and giving pep talks, I wasn't sure if you did." He gave her a cocky smile.
"First of all, if you have to play dirty to save yourself, then you're not good enough to win anyway, and second, if you sink the team at this point, then you sink yourself too. I'm sure that when we lose a service, there'll be a few people who won't hesitate to nominate you for elimination. So next time you think it's a good idea to mess with something, just remember you might actually be screwing yourself over." The brunette turned and continued on her way to the bedroom. She wanted to change her clothes, have a shower, and find some food. She had hoped to call Bridget, but it was past ten, and she'd probably be in bed by now.
"I got us some food," Shayne said when Franky returned from her shower. He took a pan out of the oven, and fixed them each a plate.
"You're amazing." The brunette was suddenly tired after her shower, and probably would have skipped eating if it had been left up to her to get something for herself.
Shane gave a small laugh. "Want to eat outside?"
Franky nodded, and he picked up their plates. She followed him out onto the patio.
It was late, and it wasn't long before, one by one, everyone started calling it a night. Franky assumed that, like herself, none of them were sleeping very well there. If missing someone back home wasn't getting to them, then the knowledge that there were cameras watching them probably was. Soon it was just her and Shayne left outside.
"Listen, I'm not condoning what you did this morning, but thanks for having my back," Franky said after they'd sat in silence for a moment. She'd wanted to get her point across earlier about him needing to control his anger, so she hadn't thanked him. She wanted him to know though, that she was grateful for his support. It felt nice to know she had a friend in this.
"Anytime." He gave the brunette a small nod. "So tell me about your girl. How did you meet?"
Franky smiled at him. "I don't know much about you yet. I think it's your turn to share." The brunette felt comfortable with him, but she didn't want to be the only one to open up and be vulnerable.
"Don't know my dad, my mom was a junkie who died, and then there were a bunch of shit foster homes. That's pretty much everything." Shayne took a bite of his meal.
Franky wasn't expecting him to blurt out everything like that, but now she understood why, during the few times they'd talked, he had wanted to focus the attention more on her.
"My dad left us, Mom was an abusive alcoholic, and eventually I got taken away and put in foster care." The brunette held Shayne's gaze and it felt like they had come to an understanding, they got each other.
"So your parents are both still out there somewhere." He nodded in the direction beyond the high fence that surrounded the set.
"In theory, I guess. No one's ever told me they died." It was something Franky hadn't thought about in years. She'd given up the hope of her father coming back for her once she'd been taken from her mother, and she hadn't given either of them a second thought after Liz had taken her in. The talks she'd had with Bridget were the most time she'd given them since then.
"Now that's out of the way, let's talk about happier stuff, yeah? I can't dwell on that dark shit for too long." He gave her a half smile.
"Bridget enrolled her niece in a class I was teaching. That's how we met." The brunette smiled. She remembered when Liz had told her that Bridget was going to be late. She'd almost asked one of her friends if they could stay with her instead so she could keep her date with Kim. There'd been something about how shy she'd been though, that had made Franky think she'd be better off staying herself.
"And the rest is history." Shayne could tell by the smile on the brunette's face that she'd never stood a chance of not falling for this woman.
"Pretty much." Franky shrugged. "This is really good." She held up a piece of her steak on her fork. "Did you cook this or did Jenna?"
"I did. It's not from service. I cooked it while you were in the shower, just kept it warm in the oven." He took another bite.
"Thanks." The brunette smiled. She was touched that he had cooked for her.
They ate the rest of their meal in silence. It had been a long day, and Franky's last bit of energy was quickly fading.
"I'll wash these, then I'm going to bed." The brunette reached over and picked up Shayne's empty plate and placed it on top of hers. She stood to go inside.
"Just leave them on the counter. I'll do them when I come in." He stretched in his chair.
"Are you sure?" Franky didn't want him to have to do the dishes too after cooking for them.
"Yeah, I don't sleep anyway, and you're tired. Go get some rest." He nodded in the general direction of the dorms.
"Thanks." She gave him a smile.
"Night, Franks." He reached up and gave her a fist bump on her way by.
