Next Masterchef

“Maybe next time slow and steady wins the race, huh?” Mia chuckled. “Yeah, sure, I’d love to try some of your lemonade. It sounds very refreshing. So tell me how you’ve been, julienning mishaps aside? I’m sure you got a lot of new customers from the food truck festival.”

“It was college, I thought I could win a race against the professor”, they shrugged. “One lemonade, coming up”, they poured a cup and nodded, “it has agave sugar and lavender. Yeah, the festival was wild, I got this invitation for a wedding, I’m catering the after party. What about you? How are the kiddos?”

amaya could feel each individual bead of sweat as it traversed down her back; in her formal pantsuit, complete with black blazer, she was suffering in the heat. “ that was certainly…enlightening, ” she finally said, pressing the cold water bottle she’d just purchased to her neck. “ hopefully in the next hour. i’m supposed to meet a client and i can’t go looking like a sweaty mess. ” 

“First step, stay out of the sun”, Devon pointed to the truck. “Get in if you want, it has a small freezer you can open so you can cool off, I’ll bring you some lemonade and... I think I have small popsicles if you want?”

Asher sighed and shrugged “I have no idea, I’m new here, this weather is still a mystery to me, can I get one of those?” He took a bite of his Taquitos and moan lightly for how amazing it taste “Man, these are better than I remember or maybe they are actually better than the ones I remember.” He chuckled. 

“The secret’s in the sauce. And the marinate of course, do you feel the moistness?”, Devon crossed their arms with a small smirk, they were proud of their cooking and seeing a customer enjoy it was always a win. “The hibiscus really brings out the flavor or are you more of a cinnamon guy?”

“I swear this city goes to extremes when it comes to weather. Either it’s too cold or too hot,” Esteban said, even after living two years in here he still couldn’t get used to the weather. “Can I get one of those before I pass out?” He asked, gesturing to their glass.

“Thank heavens I’m not the only one who thinks that”. Mexican weather wasn’t this harsh, at least the Mexican weather she remembered, it hardly felt like 5 years had already passed. “Do you want jamaica, horchata that’s rice with cinnamon or lavender lemonade?”, they hurried to grab one of the large paper cups.

Pippa was watching as Devon worked, being around customers and she was trying her best not to be in the way of their work when Devon finally left the truck. A smile appeared on Pippa’s lips. “It’s not that awful, come on… you could park your truck near the beach and once your shift is over we could get ourselves in the water. Or, just give yourself a break and let’s do it!”

“It’s horrible, Pippa. You’re not near the grill”, Devon stuck out their tongue and shook their head, “maybe I should change location for now, people in the beach get hungrier faster and clients get too hot to come here, and I could have tons of breaks to go in the sea”. 

Charlie loved kids, or he loved teaching them. He wasn’t sure if he ever actually wanted kids himself. But this was fun. He loved this. And he was pretty sure he needed a break. “I’d love some.” He nodded at their offer. “Probably me, they like to initiate games of tag and well… I’m terrible at telling them no.” Humming in agreement Charlie looked over them, “I haven’t seen you here before, did you need something?”

“Well, it’s hard to say no to them, especially with their wide eyes and cute voices. I once tried to teach cooking classes to them and we ended up eating all of the ingredients and talking about dinosaurs”, Devon handed him the water bottle with a smile. “Yes, I was in the neighborhood and was wondering about adult classes?”

“At least you didn’t somehow cut yourself while doing it. Things could have been a lot worse.” Mia turned to face Devon as they came out of the truck. “I’m not sure, but it’s got to be soon. Fall isn’t too far away.”

“No, I already have too many cuts on my hands”, Devon smiled with a shrug, “julienning is still not one of my fortes”. They took a sip and nodded, “hopefully, do you want something to drink, Mia? There’s this new lavender lemonade that I just put out”. 

“You’re telling me.” he replied to Devon as he walked over to the stand with Bugs doing his best to say hello to the person who gave him treats. “This summer has been beyond unreasonable.” He pushed his sunglasses up to his head. His blonde hair still visible as ever. “I feel like whenever I come for something to eat from your truck, you end up disappearing. Glad to see you are back though.”

“Bugs, my favorite costumer!”, even though their visits weren’t many or frequent, Devon kept some snacks for Bugs and a plate for Kevin. “Right? I’m so ready for this weather to be over, I want blankets and warm drinks”. Devon couldn’t help but crack a smile at his hair, “I’m glad that you could take some time off Maroon 5 to visit, Mr. Levine. Is this going to be a regular look or are you waiting for it to fade away?”.

@novedflores: i changed @santoinfiernotruck wheel all by myself.

❝I’ve got red velvet cookies with a cream cheese frosting filling, a classic favorite; fresh carrot cake, also with a cream cheese frosting, as you can tell it’s a recurring theme.❞ Isabelle chatted on as she arranged each dessert on the platters set in front of her, her brown orbs focussing intently on making everything look perfect. The bakery had been a little slow at the moment, giving her a moment to breathe and really tend to the small details, while still interacting with her customers. 

❝Uh, we’ve also got some croissants, sweet or savory your choice. Any how, see anything you like? Anything I can get you?❞ She finished, finally looking up with a soft smile as she wiped her hands on her white apron. 

“I’m gonna take six cookies, one carrot cake and one sweet croissant to go”, the brunette scratched their head, that would be good for the weekend, right? Sometimes they got so tired from working, that they just needed some comfort food. And ever since the bakery opened, they had been wanting to go and eat, but the lines were crazy. 

“No wait, make it three croissants, I’m dying to eat one of them right now”. 

Dancing and teaching were two things Charlie loved, it was his dream since he was a kid. But teaching a bunch of 5 year olds how to salsa dance wasn’t something he’d really expected. Sure he loved them, they were great kids. But they were 5 and had the attention spans of well, 5 year olds. Clapping he called for a snack break for them, watching them run to their parents seated against the wall. “I need a break.” he muttered to himself not realizing someone had been next to him.

Devon needed exercise. They had tried the gym, but found out the machines boring and the fact that there was a giant mirror pretty weird, plus with the food truck hours and the fact that there was no set schedule... they decided to quit. They thought dancing would be a good idea, they liked to do it and they would learn something new, so here they were. “Want some water? I don’t know who looks more exhausted, you or the kids”, they commented with a small smile, “you have to admit the little shoes are cute”. 

“Gracias! I try to keep them moist. I’m gonna make some pork and chicken in salsa verde soon so keep your eye open for those”

“Fair point. I know plenty of people who refuse to eat green things. Not just the dentists. Probably the physicians too. People could get diabetes from too many of those things. They’re a menace to healthy society.”

“And yet, we challenge our body to digest it. is it even worth it? All that sugar... Maybe I can think of a low sugar option”.