Personal Chef

Chapter 14

The next few weeks flew by. I got into a routine that consisted of shopping, cooking, relaxing, and enjoying the company of those helping Shawn create his next album. I'd even gotten comfortable popping into the studio occasionally during the day. The group often slept late after staying up the night before. We'd discussed at dinner one night that I should adjust my meal schedule. The new plan was to have something easy on hand that people could help themselves to for breakfast, serve a light lunch, and then serve a decent snack in the afternoon, which was taken in the studio. This is what initially got me in there. I'd bring in a tray with food and then I'd stay a bit listening to what they were doing. Dinners were the big meal of the day and were served late.

At the beginning of the third week Zach, who'd shown up a week after everyone else, and Geoff were leaving. Andrew was also taking off for a few days, and someone named Ziggy was arriving. Shawn suggested having a little party before the guys left. As a caterer, party foods were kind of my specialty, so I was excited. A few other people in the music industry who lived in LA were invited, so the total was around 15 people. The morning of the party I went shopping for fresh ingredients and then spent the afternoon cooking.

I'd decided to make a variety of hot canapés, cold finger sandwiches, dips, crudités, and tiny little tarts for dessert.

Late that afternoon, I was just finishing up some mini spanakopita and sausage rolls, which I'd bake right before the party. The dips were done, as were three kinds of tarts (pecan, lemon curd, and hazelnut), and I had all the veggies prepped for the crudités platter. Just before the party I'd put together the salmon and avocado canapés. Overall, I felt on top of things when I answered my phone after seeing Paige's face pop up on my screen.

"Hey there," I said as I put the last of the veggies in the fridge.

"Hi, Chelsea. Do you have a minute?" she asked.

I looked at the time. I still needed to shower and get ready, but I had at least 90 minutes. I had only talked to her once since I'd gotten to California, though we snapped each other daily and texted frequently.

"Sure," I told her as I walked up the stairs to my bedroom so that we could have some privacy.

I kicked off my shoes and plopped down on the bed resting my head on the large stack of pillows.

"What's up?" I asked.

"I feel weird calling you about this, but there's something you should know. Maybe it's not my place to say anything, but you're my friend, too."

I felt my heart start beating faster. Exactly what did she need to tell me?

"You're making me nervous," I told her honestly.

"Then I'm just going to spit it out. Ben spent the night here a couple nights ago. With Karyn," she said quickly.

I sat straight up. "What?"

"I guess he hasn't said anything?"

"No! And we talk almost every day!" I said

I thought about that a second. Maybe it was more like every three days, but we usually texted every day. And he'd never mentioned once that he was seeing his ex.

"Maybe he's waiting to tell you in person," she suggested.

"Are you sure whatever is going on is sexual?"

Paige laughed. "Oh yeah. I heard them. He's so damn loud, as I guess you know."

"Actually, I never found out," I said.

"Regardless, I'm sorry to break this news. I know this sucks for you," she said sympathetically.

It did suck, but not for the reasons it should. I was starting to feel that our relationship was headed nowhere, so the fact that it was now over wasn't the end of the world. What hurt was that he'd chosen someone over me. It felt like I wasn't good enough. I'd just been a temporary replacement until his girlfriend took him back.