Simmer Down

in.
    “So, probably no girlfriends, then?” Heather removed herself from her martini long enough to ask.
    Our waitress came to the table, took drink orders from Doug and me, and left all of us with the menu.

    APPETIZERS
    Seared Shrimp with Corn Polenta and Sweet Corn Sauce

    or

    Grilled Lobster Tail
    with Black Beluga Lentils and Truffle Oil

    or

    Seared Scallops with Chanterelles
    and Pineau des Charentes, Served in Puff Pastry

    SALAD

    Baby Greens Wrapped in English Cucumber
    with Sesame-Honey Dressing

    ENTRÉES

    Grilled Steak with a Stilton Potato Cake,
    Roasted Baby Vegetables, and Peppercorn Sauce

    or

    Pan-Seared Salmon Roulades
    with Saffron-Tomato Coulis, Served over Jasmine Rice

    or

    Roasted Vegetable Wellington
    with a Red Pepper Vinaigrette and Balsamic Reduction

    DESSERT

    Layered Chocolate Torte with Fresh Raspberries

    or

    Bananas Three Way

    One look at the mouthwatering menu made me mind my family’s presence less. Josh’s food made even Heather’s comments less grating!
    “This looks like heaven,” my father crooned. “What a way for Josh to open the restaurant!”
    “Sure,” Heather said, ignoring Walker, who was busy folding a menu into a paper airplane, “but everyone seems to be forgetting the fact that this isn’t Josh’s restaurant. He just works here.”
    I was about ready to grab her son’s paper airplane and fly it into her eye when our drinks came. I swallowed some wine and focused on deciding which mouthwatering entrée to have. Doug and I consulted with each other and agreed to order different things so we could share. When our waitress returned, I ordered the shrimp appetizer, followed by the steak and the banana dessert.
    Heather giggled. “A banana three way!”
    “Somebody cut her off,” I begged.
    Adrianna excused herself to go to the ladies’ room. The rest of us struggled to achieve relatively normal conversation.
    My father cleared his throat and whispered conspiratori-ally, “Did everyone see who’s here? The restaurant reviewer, Mishti Patil. I recognize her from her picture.”
    Josh was going to be more than unhappy about her presence. As this woman should know, it’s unfair to subject any restaurant to a review on its first night. It was obvious even to me, an outsider in this industry, that you cut a new place a lot of slack early on; you wait until it works out its kinks before you tear it apart. So far, nothing had gone wrong, but the evening had just started, and we hadn’t tasted any food yet. As confident as I was in Josh’s skill as a chef, I was worried that his food wouldn’t come out of the kitchen the way it was supposed to. It’s one thing for a chef to come up with fantastic dishes, but the quality of the food that actually gets plated and served depends on many other people besides the chef. Even with Josh and Snacker cooking on the line tonight, I was still afraid that some incompetent person had left bones in the salmon or had oversalted the salad dressing. I glanced around to see whether anyone was puckering or making faces. So far, everyone looked happy and festive. I tried to comfort myself by remembering that since Mishti had evidently been bribed to write a review, she’d presumably do a good one, no matter what. Furthermore, Josh had been so insulted about the bribe that I knew he’d outdo himself by proving that there was no need to buy good reviews of his food. Mishti and her dining companion were five or six tables away. Although I couldn’t get a good look at them, they seemed to be doing all right for now.
    Our appetizers began to arrive, and I lit up as I saw Josh coming to the table carrying mine.
    “Hi, honey. Oh, this looks beautiful,” I said, gazing with admiration at my plate. Four huge shrimp, delectably butter-flied, rested on a fluffy polenta circle dressed with a creamy yellow corn sauce. Josh shook hands all around and accepted praise and congratulations from everyone—well, everyone except Heather, of course, who busied herself with her napkin.
    Josh leaned in to me and said quietly, “So, you decided not to come to my restaurant with Sean, huh?”
    My stomach dropped. “What?” I whispered back.
    “Check your cell phone messages once in a while,” Josh snarled angrily. “Like I really needed this shit right now, Chloe.”
    He left the table. I immediately pulled my phone out of my purse and punched in my codes. The only message was the extremely pissed-off one from Josh: “Chloe. Glad