Judges Decision

Having a smile on her face, the woman led Mira to a side room. In her, she saw that there were already some other plates filled with deserts stationed.

The woman who led Mira into the room spoke up, "As you can see, there are also others that have presented their food. In order to not mix up anything, I will write your name on the plate you have brought with you. I also have to make sure that you are a registered participant. So what is your name?"

"Mi.. Mira." Mira answered shyly again.

Looking at a ledger the woman muttered the name, "Mira" a few times before she said, "Ah got it. Well Mira, are you confident in your product?" She tried to lighten the mood, as she had noticed that Mira was rather stiff.

Nodding, Mira was not able to properly reply to the question. Building up some courage, she was finally able to ask, "What do I have to do now?"

"Now you wait. Tonight when the sun sets, the products will be presented at the clients of the inn. They will be the judges of who will get to the competition. The quicker your plate is emptied the more chance you will have." The woman replied with a smile.

Understanding how the decisions will be made, Mira asked again, "Will it not be unfair if someone brought his friends to pick his food?"

"That is indeed sharp of you, but no. To prevent something like that from happening, the judges are picked beforehand. They have a small chance of being influenced. Moreover the creators of the contest will also be judging." The woman replied with a smile.

Hearing all this, the only thing that Mira wanted to know if she would be able to attend the event at night. The woman replied that other participants would also attend and that she was welcome to do so.

…

As the sun started to set down, the inn started to become livelier. Taking a look around, Mira saw that there were at least 50 people present that would judge on the quality of the products. As for the competitors for today's round, Mira saw that there were close to 30 participants. Even though she did not see or directly knew who was participating, she had quick glance at the plates that were present in the kitchen area.

After everyone was seated a door opened up. "Welcome everyone to the second preliminary round of the cooking competition." A female who was dressed in fancy cloths said to everyone, who was seated, as she entered the room. "I hope that you brought your appetite, as there is quite a large variety on today's menu." She said as she got to the middle of the room.

A smile grew on the faces of the seated people. Even some cheers could be heard.

The female patiently waited for the cheers to subside as. After which she pointed to a side door that was leading to the kitchen and spoke up again, "If everyone is ready, let the delicacies come!"

With those words, the door opened up and a number of maids entered the room with plates in their hands. Looking over at the wears that were being brought, Mira saw her own pie also in the group. Sweat started to form up as she become nervous.

After all the plates were brought into the room, the people started to pick which delicacy they wanted to eat. The one that was picked off the first from all the pastries where the ones that had a nice presentation. Even Mira wanted to taste those, as they looked delicious. However, this also made her realize that presentation is also important when presenting food and that if she got to the second round, she also had to do this.

One after the other, plates started to get emptied and filled back up with other pastries. Mira saw that some were left unfinished, as the judges had disgusted expressions. Fearing that also her product would be put aside, she took a closer look at the plates. However to her fortune, her plate was almost empty and there were no leftovers on the plates of the judges.

Feeling some relief, Mira felt easier as she continued to watch the competition. It took another few minutes before the judges had enough. After close to an hour the judges where finally finished with ranking their favorites on a list.

These list where then given to the maids who then started to rank the pastries in order to find the winning ones. After another moment passed, the presenter received a list with the winners.

Walking forward, the woman in the fancy dress spoke up ones more, "The judges have decided. The following 5 participants will continue to the final competition. These names are as followed. First off, Daisy Days, with her amazing strawberry cake. Next off, we have Michel, who had an amazing presentation… and lastly we have Thomas, with his delicious pear pie."

Hearing the names, Mira felt crushed. She did not hear her own name at all. She did her best and even got beaten and disgraced, yet it was all for nothing. Tears started to build up in her eyes. Her heart being crushed. She had spent all her savings just for this, and now she had to start all over again.

…