Steamed

similarities between the restaurants. Who could have missed them?
    “Wait, Chloe, you have to sit in the middle. Owen and I cannot be next to each other in these outfits,” Adrianna insisted.
    “You two are weird,” I said but agreed that it would be best for other diners if they didn’t have to witness the pairing of my fashion-extremist friends. Maybe my green outfit would tone them down?
    Once settled, I looked up to see Josh off to my left furiously chopping onions. How cute was he? He looked so serious and focused and lovable. He suddenly whipped around to the grill behind him and flipped a piece of meat. I could tell, even from a distance, that it was perfectly seared.
    “That’s Josh, I bet, right?” Ade asked.
    I nodded.
    “How did he know that was done? He wasn’t even looking.”
    Owen, Ade, and I continued staring at Josh while he worked. We watched in awe as he sharpened a chef’s knife on a steel with a bright blue plastic handle. The sharpening steel reminded me of something a fencer would use, probably because of the swift, smooth way Josh dragged the knife blade across the top and then under the bottom of the metal rod. I was able to watch in comfort only because he held the knife with the blade facing away from him. When satisfied with his knife, Josh reached under the counter and pulled up a bunch of leeks that he speedily sliced and tossed with the onions into the hot skillet behind him. The sweet aroma brought a smile to my face.
    Ade nudged me. “If slicing onions makes you smile like that, who knows what could happen later.”
    I rolled my eyes. “But seriously, isn’t he cute?” I couldn’t stop staring at Josh, who was a Josh I hadn’t seen before, Josh at work.
    “He’s adorable,” she agreed.
    After shaking the pan of onions and leeks, Josh finally looked over and caught my eye. “Hi, beautiful!” He leaned across the chef’s counter to give me a little kiss. “I’ve been waiting all week to do that.”
    He called me beautiful! And kissed me!
    I introduced Adrianna and Owen and was happy to see that Josh appeared not to notice Ade’s supermodel looks.
    A dark-haired young man appeared by Josh’s side. “You want me to pull out the sea bass?” he asked.
    “Hey, Brian. Yeah,” Josh said. “Brian, this is Chloe, Adrianna, and Owen. Here for dinner tonight as my guests, so we have to impress them. My future happiness depends on what we cook for them tonight,” he said with mock seriousness.
    “Oh, so this is Chloe?” Brian poked Josh’s side with his fingers. “Let me tell you something. I’ve never seen Josh burn anything until this week. But so far, he’s burned a salmon and two steaks, and I’m betting you’re the reason.”
    I was pleased to note that Josh blushed as he playfully shoved Brian away. “That’s enough of that. Just go get the sea bass. We’ve got a three top that’s all ordered the special.” At a guess, a “three top” meant a table of three people. Before I could ask my chef what tops had to do with anything— top hats? tops of people’s heads?—he turned back to us and said, “Okay, kids, you ready to eat? I thought I’d start you off with my spring rolls. And then I’ve got soft shell crabs for the ladies and a duck for you, Owen. Sound good?”
    Owen clapped his hands together eagerly. “Bring it on, baby! We’re ready!”
    Josh looked at me and smiled, holding my gaze for a moment.
    “Josh! The leeks!” Brian yelled.
    Josh spun around, saw the burning mess in the pan, and threw his hands up. Brian laughed, “One cute girl and look what happens.”
    Josh started chopping fresh leeks just as Madeline approached our group. “Hello, again, Chloe,” she said. “I’m so glad to see you. You made quite an impression on Josh.” She smiled conspiratorially. “I guess the ride home worked out well, huh?”
    “It did, it did,” I agreed, unable to stop grinning. I introduced Ade and Owen. “And this is Madeline Rock. She owns Magellan.”
    We all chatted for a few moments before Madeline offered us drinks from the bar. Adrianna asked for wine, and Madeline said she knew exactly the right bottle for us, on the house, no less.
    “Excuse me, folks. “ A young waitress dressed in all black spoke from behind us. “The chef asked me to bring these out to you.”
    She placed the plates of spring rolls in front of us. These spring rolls bore so little resemblance to any I’d ever seen before that they seemed to demand a