ra's

rely sleep

ake it off, Shawn Moretti's harsh

ks perso

rfect-technically flawless. But instead of acknowledging my effort, he

Patisserie's bustling kitchen,

ing to back down, he had no

itchen was buzzing - chefs kneading dough, whisking creams, plating pastries. The air was thick wi

onged

hen Elena slid in beside me, he

er your skin

nderstatement

orking with Shawn Moretti. H

abbed a bag of fl

the fact he bothered to critique you means he sees potential

That was..

ing, a familiar clipped v

end

wn standing a few feet away. As usual, h

tever clever comment he

ome

wned.

e just turned and wa

I barely had time to process it be

until we stopped at a private kitchen space - smaller than the main one bu

rned t

g the mille-fe

d my arm

n eyebrow. "

ed. Smug

eves and stepped up to the counter. If

s presence behind me - watching, analyzi

asn't go

out the dough with precision, making su

gh the butter and my breathing with the sound made by the rolling pin against the mar

d to test

's p

thickened into a smooth, silkiness. This time I added a stronger vanilla bean

rispy. As I layered the mille-feuille, I was steady as I piped the cr

mpleting the top layer while effortlessly

back, exhal

Do

e sliced through it, inspecting the layers-checking if they were crisp enough,

ed up a fork a

llowed

impossible to read. The seconds

set the

ett

ed. "Tha

cleaner; the pastry cream has more depth. I

for the inevitable but-the f

it did

, Shawn Moretti was

ve sworn there was something different in h

djacent to

pride flicke

joy that small win, he said somet

," he added, almost

y eyes. "Of

ep improving. We'll see how you han

ard the door, but I notic

been dismissive, like he wa

od

as somet

eptance.

st maybe-a fli

d t

enough to kee