An Uncertain Affair (The Affair Series Book 2) (8 page)

It
was becoming clear to me why Adele was so adamant about how the book should be
shot. The original restaurant concept was Cy’s idea, and the book was hers. She
selected the recipes that would be included in the book, and it obviously chapped
her that Sergio was taking any control of it. I felt slightly foolish that I
had given Sergio all the credit without knowing this background. It made me consider
how much I really knew about him at all.

Valerie
chimed in and broke my train of thought. “Well, that’s good to know. Thanks for
sharing that with us. And speaking of sharing, I’m going to let the two of you
enjoy that cheese plate. I don’t dare touch it with those Marcona almonds on
there. I’d be heading straight to the emergency room.”

“You
have nut allergies?” Nicole asked.

“Yup,”
Valerie responded. “I avoid them at all cost.”

Nicole
jotted down a note. “I’ll remember that when we get into shooting. There are a
few recipes that contain nuts, so I’ll make sure you steer clear of those.”

The
conversation went on for another hour, covering everything from food,
photography, and life to shopping and Christmas. Valerie and I ordered some more
food to go with the generous pitcher of margaritas and snacks Cy had prepared
for us. Everyone seemed to be getting along pretty well. Both Nicole and
Valerie had done their homework on each other. It was an interesting volley,
each of them throwing out book references and specific recipes within the books
they had styled. They appeared to have a relatively healthy respect for each
other, but I could tell it could turn into rivalry in a heartbeat.

Toward
the end of the conversation, Nicole handed Valerie the list of duties she
expected from her assistant. Valerie bristled. She was willing to be an
assistant… but on her terms. Nicole left us for a moment to say good-bye to Cy.
When she was out of sight, Valerie shot me a look that could kill.

“We’ll
figure it out,” I reassured her. This was our first point of contact with
Nicole. There’d be time to negotiate our own ground rules. Clearly, Nicole’s
set of rules was
not
going to fly.

Early
Saturday afternoon, I went to the studio to cull the shots Dane had taken for
the meeting. As I examined each one, I thought about the book and the conversation
with Nicole at Familia Cucina. It bothered me that when it came to Buena
Comida, it appeared Sergio was more of a follower than the leader I’d imagined
him to be. Of course, this was Nicole’s side of the story, and she was Cy’s
girlfriend. The real truth probably lay somewhere in between Nicole’s story and
the image of the Sergio I knew. I was glad I had put a little distance between
Sergio and me so I could figure it out and decide for myself.

The
text buzzer on my cell phone went off:
I’m sorry I didn’t get 2 say good-bye
last night. U looked so beautiful, it was hard 2 walk away

I
thought to myself,
Who is this man?
I waited a little while to respond:
I
knew u were busy. I didn’t expect 2 c u there. c u tue.

I
couldn’t even consider seeing him again until our meeting. It was a long while
before I got a response from him. He was probably trying to figure out a way to
convince me to come to the restaurant or his apartment, but all I got back was:
K.

That
night, I went digging to see what information I could find about Sergio and Cy.
There was an article about the
Top Chef
contenders when Sergio had
participated, including bios of each contestant. Sergio’s touted him as an
innovator in Latin cuisine, and early in his career had been named one of
Food
& Wine’s
“Top Ten New Chefs.” He looked like a model, the way his soft
brown eyes connected with the lens. That was the Sergio I knew.

I
modified my search to look for information specifically on Cy. I found an
article about the opening of Buena Comida that credited Cy with the concept.
The article was from the opening weekend and said the restaurant and Cy, as
Sergio’s brother, had a lot of promise. It was sort of a backhanded compliment
that only gave Cy credibility because of his relation to Sergio.

Another
article from a couple of weeks later was a scathing story of Cy’s infidelity,
with accusations of him being abusive. His wife, a high-fashion model, was
suing for divorce and was going for blood. Yet another entry from several weeks
after that said Buena Comida was on the verge of bankruptcy since Cy had been
judged in the court of public opinion about the affair. People were boycotting
the restaurant to show their support for Cy’s wife. Sergio on the other hand,
had public sympathy from when he bowed out of
Top Chef
after his wife’s
death, so he stepped in to see if he could revive it. If anyone could save it, he
could.

Article
after article raved about Buena Comida after Sergio took over. He was a
superstar. I couldn’t find anything that had been written referencing Cy that
was more recent than two years earlier. The last thing I found was an article
summarizing the fallout of his divorce. His wife had gotten everything; the two
photos in the article showed his victorious wife driving away in a Mercedes, juxtaposed
with Cy covering his face as he walked from the courthouse. His life was in
shambles.

I
went to LinkedIn to see what was there. Since Cy had to enter his own profile, that
might be telling about how he presented himself.

Executive
Chef, Partner, Ramirez Restaurant Group – 9 years

5
years immersion in Latin Cuisine in Lima, Peru

Master’s
Certification in Hospitality Leadership, Cornell University, School of Hotel
Administration

Associate’s
Degree in Culinary Arts from the CIA, St. Helena, CA

My
passion is creative Latin cuisine that feeds the soul. Our restaurants provide
a wide variety of dining experiences. I’m most proud of Buena Comida, Ramirez
Restaurant Group’s high-end dining experience that opened in October 2011 and
was an overnight success.

As
I read on, I realized he never once mentioned Sergio as his brother or business
partner, only that he was a partner in the Ramirez Restaurant Group. I pulled
up Sergio’s profile and found the same. There was a long list of accolades and
associations, but no mention of Cy. That was a bit more understandable, since
associating with Cy would be more of a detriment to his image, but I was
surprised Cy wouldn’t promote his connection with Sergio. I wondered how deeply
their bad blood flowed.

**

Dane
and I met Monday morning to review my selects from the test shots. “What’d you
think?” he asked

“Awesome
shots, Dane. It was really hard to pick. I decided on three of the still-life
shots, and one each of the single-serving and the family-style plating. I liked
the tomatillos and peppers best of the ingredients, and the single-serving
plate most of all. I think those are the ones we should clean up. You?”

“Yeah,
I was having a hard time deciding between the tomatillos and the scallions for
the still-life shot. I felt really good about both of those. I’ll go with your
picks. You have such a good eye.”

“Thanks,
Dane. That’s very nice of you to say.”

“Only
‘cause it’s true,” he said, fist-bumping with me. “Do you think you can get
them cleaned up by two so I can get them blown up and mounted for our meeting
tomorrow?”

“Shouldn’t
be a problem. I’ll get on it,” I said, looking at my watch and remembering I
should have had a response from Adele about the contract by now. The first
e-mail from her finally came in about eleven.

Bridget,

Attached
is the revised contract. Please sign it and get it back to me ASAP.

Adele

Adele
Westbook

Culinary
Director

Ramirez
Restaurant Group

503-555-5656

I
opened the document, and the only change I could find from the original
contract was the place where “Savory Shots” had been listed as the photographer
was corrected to “Pratt Photography.” None of our other changes had been
incorporated. Surely this was a mistake, although the file name had a new date.
I wrote her back right away.

Hi,
Adele,

I
think there may be a mistake with the file you attached. I didn’t see any
changes other than on page 4 where the company name was corrected. Could you
double-check it?

Thanks,
Bridget

Bridget
Stone

Studio
Manager

Pratt
Photography

503-555-2345

Not
a moment later, she responded.

That
is the correct document. This covers all of the stipulations we need to agree
on.

Adele
Westbook

Culinary
Director

Ramirez
Restaurant Group

503-555-5656

My
blood boiled. She was pushing back to see if we would give in or walk away.
There had to be a middle ground, but how could I get her there? I knew the
likelihood of her agreeing to all our changes was slim. I had to focus on the
most critical, nonnegotiable points.

Adele,

Please
consider adding the language spelling out the list of deliverables, specify
that we can use the material for our promotional purposes, and the stipulations
about Nicole as the stylist relative to maintaining the schedule. Also please
include the addendum with the schedule as we have outlined it. Once those
changes are made, Dane will sign it.

Thank
you,

Bridget

Bridget
Stone

Studio
Manager

Pratt
Photography

503-555-2345

An
hour went by with no response. My stress level was through the roof as I waited
to see what she would come back with. I was having trouble concentrating on the
Photoshop work, and time was running out to get the images to the printer. I
didn’t want Dane to know about the e-mail exchange with Adele, either. He would
only worry that the job might go away. Another hour went by before I finally
got another e-mail from her.

Nicole
is a professional. There is no need to call into question her ability to maintain
the schedule. Attached is the revised contract. Sign it and return it ASAP.

Adele
Westbook

Culinary
Director

Ramirez
Restaurant Group

503-555-5656

She’d
added the list of deliverables, and the stipulation that we could use the
material
after the book was published
for promotional purposes. That was
certainly better than not being able to use the material at all, but she still
hadn’t included the calendar, and from her note, it seemed she wasn’t even
going to
consider adding any language about Nicole. Why was she so
defensive? I hadn’t questioned Nicole’s professionalism, only the speed at
which she did her job. None of
us
had worked with her. I was sure if they
were shooting and we were forcing them to work with Valerie, Adele would want the
same assurances.

I
had to focus on finishing the cleanup on the shots for Dane. They were coming
together, and once I added a slight vignette to the edges, they were perfect. I
put them on a thumb drive and took them to Dane.

“See
what you think of these,” I said, handing him the drive.

He
plugged in into his laptop, and his eyes lit up. “You are one badass Photoshop
artist!” he said, high-fiving with me. “These are awesome! I’m going to take
them to the printer right now.”

“Before
you go, I need to talk to you about the contract.”

“Oh?”
Dane said, looking worried.

“Well,
Adele has only added a couple of our changes from last week. The biggest things
that aren’t in there yet are the calendar and the stipulations about Nicole’s
ability to maintain the schedule. How much do you want me to push back?”

“Ya
know, Nicole is obviously Adele’s dream girl. She can do no wrong in her eyes,
so forcing that point will lead to no good. Let it go but I really need to know
they’re on board with extending the schedule. That’s critical.”

“Okay,
let me see what I can do. Hopefully, by the time you get back, it’ll be
resolved.”

“Kick
some butt, girl!” he said as he walked out the door.

This
could
not
be a deal-breaker. I had to make it work.

Adele,

I
see that the calendar is still not attached as an addendum. We need to know you
are on board with the schedule as we have outlined. Please let me know if our
timeline is acceptable. That’s the last point that needs to be addressed before
Dane signs the contract.

Thank
you,

Bridget

I
said a little prayer before hitting “send,” then waited anxiously for her
reply. I knew it would only take Dane about half an hour to get to the printer
and back, and, more than anything, I wanted to have a clean contract waiting
for him to sign.  Twenty minutes later, the e-mail came in from Adele.

This
paperwork
must
be settled before
our meeting tomorrow. I’ve removed all references to the schedule and added a
TBD clause. We will discuss it tomorrow and initial it when we can agree on it.
Send the signed contract to me by the end of the day.

Adele
Westbook

Culinary
Director

Ramirez
Restaurant Group

503-555-5656

I
guess that could be considered a compromise. I felt better about it than I had,
but still couldn’t claim victory.

When
Dane got back, he read through the final document. “Well, it’s an improvement
from where we started.”

“I
know, but I wish I could have gotten more of our changes added in. I’m going to
fight hard for that schedule tomorrow. I’ll feel a lot better about it when we
get that settled.”

“Amen,
sister.”