The Chauffeur (#24) The Weekend (part 1)

The Chauffeur (#24) The Weekend (part 1)

By: PABLO DIABLO

Copyright 2019

CHAPTER 1

Dakota began calling both culinary schools, telling each what was needed. One declined telling me that they don’t recommend any of their students, thus avoiding the appearance of favoritism. Dakota didn’t buy that lame excuse and called the other school.

After she explained what was wanted, they recommended not one but two students. Dakota asked if it would be possible to come to the school this morning and sample their cooking. They told her that they would be happy to have her meet the potential chefs. Dakota set up the meeting for 9:30am, telling the school personnel that we would need them no later than 3pm at our house as we are throwing a three-day celebration party and expect to have about 30-40 people for the entire weekend.

She also inquired how much they should be paid and if it goes directly to them or to the school. They said that the student will have to negotiate price and all monies go directly to the student and none of it is to go to the school. Dakota liked the sound of that.

Dakota let me know that we had a meeting at the culinary school at 9:30am to meet the two prospective chefs for the weekend shindig.

I asked her to call for a car for us, a limo, not a Town car.

“Dakota, how much cash is in the firebox?” I asked.

“Um, I don’t know. I stay out of that unless you direct me to go in there.

That’s your own personal property,” she says looking into my eyes.

“Hmm, a personal property you say? Then what are you?” I ask sarcastically with a big smile.

She playfully slaps me on the shoulder, smiling and walks away wiggling her tiny ass at me.

I just think to myself about how incredibly lucky I am.

I go wake Jill asking if she would like to stay here and do some work or go with Dakota and me to taste the sampling of a couple of chefs this morning.

Clearly, with those two choices, she chose the food. She grudgingly got out of bed and headed to the bathroom.

“Honey, we only have a short time. Don’t be too long in there,” I say smiling.

“Then keep your horny ass out so I can get done quickly,” she replies smiling.

“Hey, I was thinking that maybe we should invite John and Diane to join us in the sampling. John because…. well he eats like there’s a small village living in his stomach. I think bringing Diane, would signify to her, at least, that we still trust her and love her,” I say in a serious tone.

“That’s a great idea. It might also make others in the playgroup realize that if you can forgive her then they should as well,” Jill says to me.

Of course, Jill is right. She’s the smart one between us. I may have the gift to read people well, but she seems to understand the workings of people’s mind.

I get dressed. Dress shorts, another Cuban style shirt, socks, sneakers, and a belt. I put my cell phone, wallet, and key into my pocket. I pull the single key out and look at it for a moment thinking about how nice it was to have only one key to the Commune that had the ability to open virtually every door, except one…. the red door.

I went out of our bedroom to go search for John and Diane. I found them in the bedroom that they slept the other night. They were all snuggled up together, which made me smile seeing that.

I called from the doorway. Well, I had to call a couple of times to wake them.

“Hey, sleepyheads, time to get up. We have an appointment at 9:30…. Let’s go, rise and shine!” I said to them in a sickeningly cheery voice that I could muster.

Diane groaned first. She saw me, smiled and shook John, who didn’t want to get up. She whispered something in his ear and his eyes popped open and he sat up in bed as if she had just shoved a hot poker up his ass. As I stood in the doorway, he got out of bed and hustled to the bathroom.

“What did you say to my boy?” I asked.

“I told him that we had an appointment to taste some food and if he didn’t get ready in time, that you were uninviting him to the party this weekend,” she says to me smiling and giggling.

“Daddy, thank you for asking us to join you,” she says in a heartfelt manner.

“It was my better half’s idea, she’s the smart one,” I say smiling as I leave the doorway.

I meet Jill who is coming out of our bedroom, all dressed, hair/makeup done, looking gorgeous as ever.

“Um, how did you get ready so fast?” I asked.

“I took a whore’s bath?” Jill replied.

“A…. whore’s bath? What the heck is that?” I replied having never heard that term before.

“You know, where you use a bar of soap and a washcloth to wash under your arms, your kitty cat, and your neck,” she explains to me.

“Oh, I’ve always heard it called a cowboy bath, never heard it called a whore’s bath,” I said chuckling.

We walk down the hall together heading towards the kitchen. Amy is already there working on a list.

“Good morning my dear, is everything alright?” I ask.

“Well…. sort of…. you know we won’t be able to get a chef on this short notice, don’t you?” She says in a frustrated voice.

“Don’t worry your pretty head about that. Dakota has already arranged things for you about that. Security guys should be here installing cameras out front. I would like them to start with the license plate camera and the street cameras first. To me, those are important cameras as well as one over our front door. Can I assume that you have the pool company coming today to make sure both pools will be ready for the party?” I ask.

“WOW, Daddy, how did Dakota pick the chef? I mean, who is this person, what are their qualifications? And yes, the pool people said they would be here by 10am, the lawn service will be here about that time as well trimming up some of the front bushes and mowing and edging the back area. I’ll take care of the security company. May I enlist some help changing sheets on some of the various bedrooms?” Said Amy.

“Dakota didn’t pick the chef. John, Diane, Dakota, Jill and I are heading to a culinary school to meet the two that they recommended. We will taste their food. I’m bringing John, well, as you know he has a bottomless pit in his stomach. I invited Diane because she’s still part of our playgroup and I trust her opinion. I have also forgiven her, and I think our group needs to do the same. She made a stupid mistake, haven’t we all done stupid things in our lives from time to time?” I explained and asked.

“Yes, Daddy. We have,” she says bowing her head and looking at the floor.

I put my index finger under her chin raising her face to look at me. “You know I love you, don’t you?” I ask delicately.

“Yes, Daddy I do. I don’t understand why, but I do know that you love me,” she says with her eyes welling up.

I kiss her and give her a big hug.

John and Diane show up to the kitchen all dressed and ready to go.

“How is it, when there is food or sex involved you ladies can get ready in just a couple of minutes? However, when we are heading out to any other type of appointment you ladies take a long while to get ready?” I ask rhetorically.

Jill takes the bull by the horn and answers for women in general, “Darling, if we were able to get ready like this all the time, you would tire of us. We need to keep you guys guessing, It’s part of our DNA, it’s in the woman’s handbook, it’s how we ensure you pay attention to us,” Jill says with a big cheesy smile on her face.

The ladies in the room: Amy, Diane, and Dakota all laugh out loud. John and I meanwhile, just look at each other shrugging our shoulders.

Dakota points out that Fred is here with a stretch limo. We all head out to the front courtyard where Fred has the backdoor open and waiting for us. Dakota hands him a slip of paper that has the address of the culinary school.

Once we are all in and settled Fred heads towards our ‘breakfast’ and food. I think about all my coffee drinkers who haven’t had any yet. I kind of made the analogy in my head that I may be reaching into a pit of snakes. Will they bite me like a viper, or will they be gentle like a python and just wrap themselves around me and squeeze? Either way, I’m playing with fire that’s for sure.

CHAPTER 2

Traffic is brisk. Fred keeps us off the interstate telling us that there are multiple accidents there and the traffic camera’s show long slow-moving lines. That’s why we are taking surface streets.

Just as Dakota’s cellphone alarm went off announcing that it was 9:30, Fred was pulling the limo into the parking lot of the culinary school.

They had a sign that faced the street offering to teach anyone to become a chef. In my head, I was hoping that they were right.

We exited the car and was greeted warmly by a young lady that worked for the school.

She led us to a private kitchen and asked us to take a seat and she would send in each student one at a time.

I interjected.

“Ma’am, if you don’t mind, we would like to meet both of them together, not one at a time,” I say.

“Certainly sir. Let me go get them,” she says before leaving the room.

I get up and walk around looking at the two ‘kitchens’ in the room. It made me think of that game show, Chopped. Similar setup.

The lady returned introducing one chef as Samuel G. but likes to be called Sammy. The other one was introduced as Rameses but preferred to be called Bobby.

I shook hands with each guy.

The lady excused herself and left the room.

“Before you begin making anything, we would like you to join us and just chat for a couple of minutes,” I said.

They both followed me over to the tables and each took a chair at the same table.

“Sammy, Bobby this is my wife Jill. My assistant Dakota. And two dear friends John and Diane,” I introduced.

“Hey, when did I get promoted to ‘dear friend’, I thought I was your protégé?” John says smiling as Diane playfully slaps him in the stomach.

Bobby and Sammy laugh at the joke.

“Bobby let’s start with you. How did you end up here at this culinary school?” I ask.

“Simple really, Sammy and I were in the Navy together. We both served aboard the ‘Big Stick’. I was a plane mechanic and Sammy had the job as a deckhand helping the planes take off and land,” he tells us.

“Big Stick?” I ask.

“The USS Theodore Roosevelt CVN 71” Jill answered, which raised some eyebrows from the two chefs.

Bobby answered the looming question before I asked showing my military ignorance, “Sir, the Roosevelt was named because of his famous saying ‘Speak softly and carry a big stick’ I’m not sure where that saying came from but in the Navy the ship is just referred to as The Big Stick,” he says looking at Jill.

Sammy added, “We both enjoy cooking so after serving 20 years in the Navy we decided to find a cooking school and learn to become chefs. We’ve been having nothing but fun. Bobby usually thrives on cooking comfort food while my forte is appetizers and desserts,” he says as I see John smiling.

He wasn’t drooling but I was sure that would happen soon enough.

Dakota asked, “You are both able to cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner plus have a variety of snacks?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Sammy answered.

Jill wanted to know if they can chat with people while cooking or are they just focused on the cooking?

They both offered to demonstrate, but first, they wanted to know what types of food they were to cook as well as if there was an allergy.

Dakota tried to add some humor pointing to John, “He’s got an allergy to not having enough to eat,” she says in a deadpan manner.

Everyone, including the chefs, laughed at her joke.

One of the nice things to see was before they picked up the first utensil, they both washed their hands, used paper towels to dry them, and THEN put on rubber gloves. I was impressed.

They opened one of the three fridges, taking out several ingredients.

Sammy started, “Since I’m the appetizer and dessert guy, how about I put together some appetizers for you to taste while Bobby cooks you a quick lunch,” he said.

They worked well as a team, regaling us with stories from their Navy days. How they came from completely different parts of the US. Bobby, from the West Coast, San Diego. Sammy, from the East Coast, Boston.

Listening to them made the time pass quickly. When Sammy had several appetizers ready for us to sample it seemed as if we waited only about 15 minutes and he had five different appetizers for us to eat, each sampling plate held 10 samples each. He didn’t want us filling up on appetizers when the main course and dessert weren’t far away.

John took two samples of each tasting and asked Diane to do the same, that way he could potentially get a third appetizer taste.

Jill and I chuckled at John and his scheming to get an additional bite of food.

As we were tasting the appetizers, Bobby picked up the conversation. He told us about his first tour in the Pacific getting to visit Japan, Vietnam, Hawaii, the Philippines, and even Australia.

Before we even realized it another 15 minutes had passed and he had a broiled fish garnished in lemon butter, a huge salad that included feta, olives, tomatoes, shredded cheese, three types of lettuce, cucumbers, celery, and of course, not one but two homemade dressings. One Ranch, the other Thousand Island, but he also had vinegar and oil available. In addition, he had several Quesadillas prepared along with homemade salsa and his own spin of an item making an avocado-mustard dip that could also be used for dressing.

Jokingly we told John that he would be the last to fill a plate and that he should get Diane her plate. He forced a smile and got up to get her a plate.

Dakota asked if there was coffee anywhere as she was dying to have some caffeine. Jill agreed.

Sammy went over to the coffee pot. He pulled out a bag of Starbuck’s Sumatra and started the pot. Jill and Dakota both smiled as the Sumatra was their favorite.

Sammy went on to tell us about how Sumatra beans are grown as we filled our plates with the fish, the quesadillas and a bite of the avocado-mustard dip. Diane asked John to just get her salad and some of the homemade ranch dressing.

Dakota, on the other hand, was filling her plate as if she was ensuring that she got her share before John wiped out the buffet.

Sammy also asked if anyone needed soda, water, or juice.

Dakota answered for me, “We need a bottle of water and a large glass of pineapple juice,” she said snickering.

Without hesitation, Sammy pulled a bottle from the fridge and put ice in a glass and opened a large can of Dole brand Pineapple juice.

After he delivered everyone a drink, he went on to prepare a series of desserts.

Everyone was enjoying the main course. I thought to myself that fish was a bold choice not knowing if we were steak, chicken, or fish people. In my head, I rationalized about the amount of time to cook a steak or chicken.

While everyone was enjoying the food, I began the obvious questions about how much do they charge, could they be available as soon as tonight, is there family matters that they need to address, do they understand that the party begins on Friday night and will run through Sunday morning where we will feed people breakfast before sending them home.

“The school tells us that we should charge about $15.00/hour since this would be our first job as a catering chef,” Sammy explains.

“Hmm, I don’t know. I mean $15.00/hour. Gosh, let me think about that for a moment,” I say looking at John who was smiling but looking down into his food trying not to give my ploy away.

I pull out my phone and go to calculator mode. “Let’s see starting at 6 tonight and running through Sunday morning is about 40 hours times 15 dollars an hour comes to $600.00,” I say.

Both Sammy and Bobby offer to reduce the per hour cost to something more reasonable for me to afford.

I blast back with, “Hell no! Don’t you dare lower your price! I was thinking of offering each of you $1200.00. I want both of you, not just one. You guys work well together. It’s clear you have been friends for a long time. I like that you both come from long careers in the Navy, which to me tells me you both know how to keep your mouth shut about what you will see, hear, and participate in while at my house. I will ask that each of you sign a small statement saying that you will not divulge anything that goes on in my house, except about what food you prepared. I’m sure that all your classmates and the school will want to know that information. Can we agree on this?” I ask them.

Without hesitation, they both answer ‘Yes, sir’.

Sammy has several small desserts prepared and once again, John is ready to sample the food.

We all smile as his plate is empty

Jill does add that we don’t have a deep fryer if they need one. We can plan to have one for them. They accept Jill’s offer as they clearly have the idea of making some fried food items.

Dakota is already dialing the restaurant food supply place ordering a two-basket deep fryer for the house. She gives them the address, puts the cost on her Visa and ends the call.