Lacy's Interview

I take extra care getting dressed Tuesday morning. My interview with Mr. Edmundson is at 10 at Lovebird Café. Everett won't be there this time, but I'm planning to bring some cookies that I made. It doesn't feel right doing an interview for a culinary magazine without something to nibble on.

I walk out the door confidently in my curve-hugging gray pencil skirt; loose, dressy green blouse; and hot gold stilettos.

When I arrive a few minutes before the interview, I'm surprised to find a familiar car in the employee parking area. What is Alex doing here?

I find her in the kitchen, bent over a pan of apple strudel.

"Hey Alex," I say with a smile. "What's up?"

"Hey Lacy!" She returns my smile. "I figured that since Mr. Edmundson got to try some of our dinner fare last time, I'd give him a sample of desserts this time."

"That's so sweet of you." I give her a quick hug. "I brought a few cookies if you want to include them or you can just eat them yourself."

She breathes in deeply the aroma of my fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies and laughs. "If you think I'm turning down an offer like that, you're crazy! I'll definitely save a few for Mr. Edmundson, but I can't promise more than that."

I laugh with her and set the cookies on the counter, then head to the front to wait for my guest.

He arrives right on time in a nice, gray suit and green paisley tie that brings out his eyes and matches my shirt.

Noting our unintentional color coordination, I laugh and ask if he's been spying on me.

"This is just a happy accident," he answers in his deep voice, taking a seat at the table across from me.

"Well you look very nice. Those colors suit you."

"As they do you," he replies with a short chuckle.

Alex comes out with a tray of small dessert plates before we can go any further.

"This is my pastry chef, Alexia Handel. She's a wonder with desserts, so she offered to make a little sample tray for us to munch on while we talk."

"It's nice to meet you, Chef Handel. This looks incredible. Thank you."

"It's nice to meet you as well. Enjoy."

She disappears back into the kitchen with a wave while Mr. Edmundson and I each select one of the little plates.

As we eat, he jumps right into the interview.

"How long have you wanted to be a restaurant owner?"

"Ever since I realized that I had no future as a chef," I answer. "I've already regaled you with some of my kitchen disasters. Suffice it to say, I love food. I have always wanted to be around food. Once it became apparent that I had no talent for cooking, I decided to approach my dream from a different direction.

"Starting a restaurant meant that I could utilize my talent for business, management, and marketing and still be a part of bringing people delicious food."

He nods. "And how long have you been working on this restaurant specifically?"

"I started looking for a home for my restaurant dream as soon as I graduated from JWU." I go on to tell him about finding this building and using a small inheritance left to me by my grandmother to pay the down payment.

"Once my fiancé, Jeff, graduated, I of course invited him to be my head chef. He was completely on board with the idea and seemed to be happy with my plan to create a restaurant with a love story feel to it."

"What changed?"

"It was the soup. See, I had never had a culinary success, but that didn't stop me from occasionally experimenting in the kitchen. One day, while Jeff was getting his menu ready for an upcoming taste-testing with a big culinary name, I made a soup. You might know it as Lacy's Special."

Mr. Edmundson blinked in surprise. "That's one of your most popular dishes."

"Yes. It was my first and, well, to date only, culinary success. But what a success, right?"

He nods.

"Naturally, I added it to Jeff's menu. He agreed that it was good, of course. But when we did our taste-testing with Delilah Lee Jones, she was pretty unimpressed with everything except the soup. . . so everything Jeff made."

"I take it that didn't go over well?"

"Not at all. But he didn't just leave the restaurant. He left me. He took the ring, ended our engagement, and left me alone with a restaurant that was supposed to be our future."

"That must have been very difficult."

"I honestly don't think I could have made it through without Delilah. She kept reaching out and pushing me to keep going. She's the one who helped me start my search for a new head chef. Thankfully, Chef Brodbeck stepped in. He was a perfect fit for the food I wanted and we also found that we worked well together."

"And. . . I know this is really personal, but I have to ask. . . is there anything between you two outside of work?"

"Oh no. Everett is a great friend and an awesome coworker, but I'm actually dating someone else and so is he."

"So everything has been smooth sailing from there?"

"I mean, we've faced our challenges. I don't think there's a restaurant anywhere that doesn't have to overcome a few hurdles. We are still working on establishing ourselves here, but I like to think that we're off to a good start. We really just want to provide delicious food and a great atmosphere for people. Even though we certainly are geared towards date night couples, I'd like to think that our restaurant is open and welcoming for anyone who just wants yummy food and friendly service."

"I have found it to be so," he answers.

He asks a few more specific questions about my relationship with Jeff and about his leaving. He also talks with me about my relationship with Delilah and how much work I put into my restaurant.

"Well, that should give me plenty to work with," he finally says, clicking off his recorder. "Thank you for consenting to do this interview, Ms. Linden."

"You can call me Lacy. Thank you for doing this for us. I just hope that people will pay attention. I also hope Jeff's article doesn't do too much damage."

"This will certainly minimize any damage he might cause. I'm sure the editors will be very interested to know that they were taken in by a man with a vendetta against you and no real meat to his claims."

"They won't be angry with me, will they?"

"Oh no. But Jeff will probably be blacklisted for this. And I'm sure it will strain his relationship with a few of his connections."

I sigh in relief. "Well, he asked for it. I wasn't looking for a fight, but I'm not about to back down."

"Nor should you. This is a fight you can win, and it's a fight you deserve to win."

Mr. Edmundson shakes my hand and congratulates me on my great choice in chefs, asking that I leave his compliments with Alex, before heading out.

I sink back into my seat with a sigh. "Looks like it's your move, Jeff," I whisper.