Mistakenly Eaten

9. A New Entertainment on the Island

Serena c****d an eyebrow as she looked at Althea standing in front of her.

“I get Salva was too desperate to get off this island that he brought one home.” Serena smirked, scanning Althea up and down with her gaze.

Something about the way the woman looked at her and how she was dressed up, Althea felt slightly confused but nonetheless, she assumed her to be an important part of the administration, that’s why she stepped forward and offered her hand to Serena.

“I am Althea Ferrara.”

“Oh! Honey, no need to introduce yourself.” Serena scoffed. “I know how long someone can last with this one. You’ll be gone before dawn.”

Althea felt taken aback by Serena’s daunting yet quite cruel remarks.

“Excuse me? I got selected for a reason. I am here because of my talent and I plan on staying and I am going to prove myself with my talent and my hard work.” Althea clapped back at Serena.

She could tell that the woman was of the age of her mother and Althea was definitely planning on sating respectful towards Serena but at the very same time, she wasn’t going to let Serena throw her down.

Althea could tell that Serena may not like her because she was a last minute entry and according to the information added in the f******k group, it was told that the last minute entries were always looked down upon and they weren’t considered superior given to the fact that they are assumed to be taken in only to fill the empty seats left behind. They were also usually considered to be weaklings and were also eliminated in the initial rounds. That’s why Althea assumed that Serena was looking down upon her only because she was a last minute entry.

Serena on the other hand stood bewildered and stunned at Althea’s audacity. She had assumed Althea to be one of Salva’s hook ups that he had brought home to pass his time with, while he was on the island and sensing such heat and hostility coming from such a mere person, made Serena shook up with anger.

“Talent? What exact talent do you have? You really think that your lame talent could keep you here?” Serena scoffed, “If you think you have talent than I guess everyone should just quit their jobs and get down on their knees to do the business that you do. Besides women like you are nice only to a certain point and when it comes to be in the kitchen, all you do is cry and vent that you don’t know how to even hold a knife.”

Althea was obviously confused by Serena’s cryptic words, who was indirectly calling Althea a p********e but she only assumed that Serena was challenging her talent in the kitchen.

“I can’t believe this that you are a woman yourself and instead of lifting another woman up, you are throwing her down like that. I wonder how women like you reach such big ranks. Besides, how can you shove me down like that, when I do exactly what you have been doing for years?”

“Excuse me?” Serena shouted out loud, flabbergasted with Althea’s words.

According to her Althea was a p********e and Althea saying that they both had the same profession only made the woman’s blood boil in her veins.

“How dare you!” Serena huffed in sheer aggression.

Serena’s volume had gotten quite high and was able to reach out of the main foyer and down the hallways.

Everyone in the kitchen who had gathered there to cheer on to Garry stopped for a while as they heard loud murmurs and yells coming in from the main foyer.

Salva who was roaming the hallways to look for Serena, heard her loud voice and it only horrified him to his core as he sensed that Serena might have ran in to Althea.

He immediately turned back and sprinted down the hallway, reaching towards the main foyer where he saw Serena standing face to face with Althea.

Serena stepped ahead in anger and lifted her hand up, ready to smack Althea and Salva immediately rushed to stand beside Althea and grabbed Serena’s hands.

He grabbed Serena’s shoulder and pressed her arms down, pushing her back and along with him.

“I am sorry, please there must be some sort of misunderstanding, I will get back to you.”

Salva smiled at Althea, pretending that everything was normal but she wasn’t blind and could tell that something was off about the old wunch who was dressed quite formally.

“Oh I will boil her…”

Serena murmured under her breath and Salva was quick enough to grab her and pulled her back inside the kitchen where everyone stood by the door, that was opened up a slight c***k.

Through the c***k, the audience that was previously watching Garry cook and toss the dough around had suddenly become interested in seeing the new girl that Salva had brought on the island and was arguing with Serena.

Salva pulled Serena along with her and entered the kitchen making everyone who stood by the door immediately retract back and straighten up.

Everyone gathered around the counter where Garry was showing off his cooking skills and the man who was once the center of attention also stopped pouring cheese in a fancy manner over his artisan pizza when he noticed everyone hurdle around him.

“What… what is going on?”

He asked looking up only to see Salva standing in the middle of the kitchen.

He screeched out loud in sheer horror.

“s**t! Salva is here, which means Gigi must be back as well…”

Garry dropped off his apron and immediately rushed out of the kitchen pushing past everyone and rushed out of the kitchen.

Everyone else remained in the kitchen, no longer interested in Garry anyways, they had much more hotter things at hands to gossip about and to be entertained about.

In their defense, they lived and worked on a remote island, where they had to be away from the normal land and life for months.

The staff of the house did have their usual hop towards the nearest town of Ibiza, where they went off to fetch groceries every once in a while but it was obviously a much more bigger thing of interest that they had new company on the island.

Serena sighed as Salva let go off her arms and finally stood up in front of her.

“What were you doing?” he began.

“What do you think I was doing? Trying to put that b***h in her place. Who the hell does she think she is?” Serena yelled back at him, “A stupid w***e, tried to compare me with her and…”

Everyone in the kitchen cooed and gasped as they heard Serena’s words.

“w***e? Don’t tell me you said to her face.” Salva asked in sheer horror.

“Well, I was about to when you stopped me.” Serena complained.

“You brought a w***e on the island?” one of the house keepers’ asked, excited that they had a new entertainment on the island.

“You brought a ‘w***e’ on the island?” asked one of the female house keepers’, actually judging Salva for that act.

“No!” he replied straight back to each and every single one of them.

“She is not a w***e?” Asked Serena.

“So, you didn’t bring a w***e?” cried the same male housekeeper.

“If not a w***e than…” Serena questioned and Salva took in a sharp breath.

“Listen, I will explain each and every one of you who she is but for now, no one go near her! got it!” he ordered sternly, making everyone look at him with a dubious expression.

“Gosh! It is a simple f*****g task that I am asking you guys and what the hell are you even doing here in the kitchen during day time.” He asked everyone, making them realize that they were supposed to be busy with their jobs instead of being gathered around in the kitchen.

Everyone immediately scattered away and got out of the kitchen, leaving behind no one but the chefs who immediately began cleaning the kitchen, in order to prepare the next meal.

“Who is she?” Serena asked Salva, still curious about who the woman was.

Salva rubbed his eyes, exhausted and confused, wondering how he would explain everything to Serena.

“She might be our antidote to Nicholas’s condition.”

Serena rose her eyebrows at Salva’s words.

“You just said that she is not a w***e!”

Salva grunted, throwing his head back, “Can you please, stop using that word! And please do not even say that in front of her. it might be a trigger for her.”

“Then who is she?”

“You know why Nicholas is not eating anything besides turkey sandwiches?”

“Because he wants to have some stupid pasta from Gragnano.” Serena grumbled, annoyed at the thought of that very pasta that put her own food to shame.

“Exactly! I have that pasta.”

“You went to Gragnano to get that pasta?” Serena c****d and Salva waved his hand in the air.

“Not exactly the pasta but I have someone who can make that pasta, actually she made that pasta.”

He pointed towards the door of the kitchen, signifying towards the person who was standing outside the kitchen and that person was no one but Althea.

Serena gasped realizing that the woman that she had been insulting and calling a hooker was actually the one who could save Nicholas.

“So, what is she going to do? Did you hire her a Nicholas’s private chef or something?” serena inquired and Salva once again did the same weighing motion with his hands.

“Well, she isn’t directly hired as his private chef but I brought her here under a disguise. She thinks she was selected for a secret chef society competition…”

“Secret Chef Hunters’ Society.” Andrew one of the chefs spoke up. He was a skinny lean kid with dirty blond hair and a bulged out nose that covered up most of his skinny face. his big blue eyes sparkled with confidence as he spoke the name out to Salva.

“Exactly that one!”

“I have been trying to get in to that for the past two years but I have heard that they have raised their criteria and only select a few special ones who would benefit them financially and…”

“We pay you to work here and yet you are yearning to be selected at some tacky under ground cooking ring.” Serena pointed out to Andrew making him shut his French mouth up.

Salva shook his head and pulled himself out of his zone.

“The point is, for now we need to test her. we need to at least see if her pasta can help Nicholas at least give up on one of his conditions and if that does happen than it means that Nicholas could also move out of this island one day as well and move on with his life. Camila told me that the last time Nicholas had that pasta, he was in love and ended up proposing to Cheryl, this time if he has the same pasta under different conditions than maybe he would realize that his love for Cheryl was merely conditional and it wasn’t her love that made that stupid pasta special but the fact that it simply tasted good. He can realize that his life was special and could be special even without Cheryl.”

“Hmm, you do have a point but what are we supposed to do with her?”

“For now! Let’s just test her out. Let’s keep her away from everyone else and especially Nicholas away from her and unless and until it is not confirmed that she is of use to us, let’s just not welcome her at our island yet.”

“So, what are we waiting for? Let’s test her out.”

“Wait!” as the two were about to leave the kitchen, Salva told the rest of the chefs to empty the area, so that when they would bring Althea in, there wouldn’t be anyone else.

Serena and Salva rushed out of the kitchen and went straight in to the foyer where they saw Althea standing in the middle of the foyer, with all the house staff gathered around her.

They stayed at an arm’s distance and everyone pretended to be busy with their own work but Althea only felt awkward standing in the very center of the attention. She could tell that even though everyone pretended to be busy but they still stole gazes at her.

Salva grunted in annoyance and rolled his eyes.

He went towards Althea and simply grabbed her wrist, too occupied to even explain anything to her.

He simply pulled her inside the kitchen and she gasped looking at the lavish and exquisite grey and wood interior of the kitchen.

“Wow! It is just like…”

“…How the previous participants described it?” Salva completed her words, irritated by Althea repeated the same sentence over and over again.

She chimed and nodded her head, holding back her excitement to her own self.

Serena knew that she was far behind in the entire explanation monologue, so for the moment she decided to remain quiet.

Althea turned to spare a glance at the old wench and simply held her head up and high.

“Althea Ferrara!” she extended her hand to introduce herself to old distasteful woman once more and this time, Serena simply took her hand in and decided to play along Salva’s plan.

If they needed Nicholas to eat some good and real food and actually move on, the girl could be their perfect opportunity.

“Serena Gilmore.”

“You are…” Althea lingered wanting to know who Serena was.

“She is one of the judges.” Salva pointed out and Serena immediately broadened her shoulders at his words.

“Oh! That’s nice! Serena Gilmore…” Althea squinted her eyes as she accessed Serena’s entire look head till toe and Serena gulped hard, feeling a bit anxious that Althea might be up to her.

“So, what restaurants have you worked at…”

Althea tried to strike up a conversation with Serena but Salva cut him off, actually having no time for chit chats.

“Actually, she is a very serious person, you must have gotten an understanding for that.” He winked at Althea, trying his best to give off a friendly impression to her and so far, only Salva was the one person Althea trusted to be kind towards her.

Listening to Salva’s words, Serena formed a frown around her lips and daunted in a heavy and stern tone.

“Yes! We don’t have time for introductions, if you want to stay here, you will have to prove yourself.”

Salva was taken aback and actually amazed at how quickly Serena was playing along with him.

“Umm, well duh! That’s what I am here for.” Althea snorted in a sarcastic tone.

“Do you really think just making it till here is enough?” Serena c****d, making the smile on Althea’s face vanish away in seconds.

“What do you mean?”

“Coming here doesn’t ensure your place in the competition.”

“What? Did I not get selected for the top twenty four? And then I am going to compete in a round and get selected for the top twelve, right?” Althea asked Salva and he looked at Serena, both of the two confused but Salva quickly came up with a cover.

“You did but this year we have a new rule.” He lied straight away.

“What new rule?”

“This year, we selected the top twelve already.”

“You did? Then what am I doing here?” Althea’s heart sank immediately with sorrow, realizing that her dreams might never become a reality.

“We actually selected the top eleven already and there is one spot remaining for the top twelve and this year instead of doing a collective round we did an individual round and everyone had to cook their signature dishes, the one over which they got invited to the island. The top eleven are already selected and now it’s your turn to cook your dish and serve it to the judges. If they like it then you will get a safe place in the top twelve.”

Salva built yet another bridge of lies and Althea felt a small ray of hope ignite in her eyes.

“Then when do I get assessed?” she asked, all pumped up to make her place in the top twelve.

“Now?” Salva suggested and Althea’s eyes popped out of her socket.

“Now?”

“Yes! Now!”

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Are you guys excited to see what will happen next? :D

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