The Rock Star Wants A Wife

Part 7

SEVEN

Pierre was right, Penny reflected glumly, untying her apron. She wouldn't get work as an apprentice chef again in a hurry. Oh, sure, she had a waitressing job, and she'd even found a place to live in a sharehouse in town without too much trouble, but she was as far from becoming a qualified chef as the day she jumped aboard that cruise ship. The universe hated her, that was why.

As she cleaned up the last of the tables, she picked up a copy of the day's West. On the cover was a woman in chef's whites, holding up some sort of trophy she'd won in a competition. Glancing around to make sure no one needed her, Penny took a moment to read the article.

Penny's surprise increased with each word she read. Far from being a trained chef, the woman was a mother and office worker in one of the regional towns down the coast. Yet the meals she'd cooked as part of some reality TV program had earned her the status of one of Australia's celebrity chefs.

The newspaper dropped from her hand. If she went on one of those programs, she wouldn't need to finish her apprenticeship. Her reputation would speak for itself, and Pierre could go screw himself. She'd be able to open her own restaurant, and never have to look to some overbearing man for direction again. She'd be in charge.