Leah's Choice

Chapter 1-1

1

Cameras snapped pictures at the rate of one frame every two seconds, from eight different angles and Leah's job was to watch over them to make sure they captured the perfect teardrop shape of the candle's flame. Four years of undergraduate school, two years to get her Masters to start work on her Ph.D. in microchemistry and this was what her life had become. Even if she didn't take into account the two years she'd worked at a prestigious French school in Paris studying to be a flavorist, it still seemed to be a waste. All she did now was take pictures of candles as they burned. How much lower could she go?

Leah dutifully stood to watch over the cameras until the second hand of the clock clicked on the magic number. Woohoo! She was finally free for the weekend. She blew out all her prototype candles and put them away in the storage compartment above her lab station then peeled off her lab coat, hung it on the cube wall of her station and pulled her purse out of her desk drawer.

Leah's high heels clattered against the asphalt as she sauntered out to her Buick, looking up at the building that housed the Pioneer Candle Company, a division of Southport Enterprises. She released a deep sigh, so very, very glad for the weekend.

Who in their right mind drives a Buick anyway? Oh, yeah, she did ever since things had started getting tight. Her grandfather had put her on a strict budget ever since things started going downhill at Loven's Challah and Bakery. It was a staple of the Jewish community in the region and had been the pride and joy of her grandfather's life since he was a very young man.

Times were changing and, though she did try, she could never convince her grandfather to keep up with the latest trends. He stuck so hard and fast to the old ways, but those traditions didn't feed the bottom line. She pulled out of the parking lot and drove over to her buddy Asa's loft apartment that he was currently sharing with their buddy from high school, Liam.

As she tapped her foot waiting for the freight elevator to take her up to Asa's floor, she wondered what Liam would think of her curve-hugging classic print dress and a matching set of three-inch pumps. Ever since she'd lost some weight, she'd learned to love fashion, and nobody appreciated it more than Liam, one of her best friends from high-school and Asa's current, temporary roommate. He had been staying with Asa following a huge argument with his partner. She smiled at the thought of the three of them being together again, just like the old days. As she walked down the hallway towards their sliding door, she saw it open, and Liam greeted her with open arms.

"Hubba, hubba, hubba. Look what the cat dragged in today," he said, holding her arms out wide so he could get a look at her outfit. "Okay," he said, gesturing in a circle for her to do a turn. "Let's see what you got going on in the caboose, sister." She dutifully turned in her spot, dropping the bag of goodies she'd brought from home and some comfortable clothes. Liam touched his finger to his mouth and mimed that he was touching something that burned. "You are hot to trot, missy. You better come in before you set off the sprinklers."

Leah mock-kissed both sides of his face as she walked through the door. "You are too much, Liam."

She saw her friend Asa standing at the counter of their open kitchen. He was the same as always, short in stature, slight in build with his wild light brown hair a tangled mass of curls, thick glasses falling down his nose as he bent over his cooking. Leah always thought he was cute as a button and was proud that he always wore a yarmulka, regardless of his messy hair. Today it was a bright blue one she'd made for him back in high school.

"And he's getting to be way too much because of my gourmet meals, honey. He's gonna need a serious diet if he lives here much longer," he said.

"So what do you have in that bag of tricks on your arm?" Liam asked.

"Ingredients, mainly." She opened the bag and pulled out several labeled, innocuous-looking brown bottles and a pair of comfortable leggings. "And sweats. I hope you don't mind if I change. If we're going to do this right, it's going to be a long night, my friend."

Asa was stirring a pot of pasta and marinara sauce over the open gas flame in their kitchen. The scent of cooking tomatoes, oregano, fresh Italian parsley and basil wafted in the air. "Mmm, it smells delicious. What's for grub?" Leah asked, waving some of the fumes in her direction.

"Eggplant and spaghetti. You'll love it. It's very healthy," Asa said, looking at Liam.

Liam's face scrunched up as if Asa had said a naughty word.

"Oh, come now, Liam. Surely you want to keep that magnificent body of yours a temple?" Leah asked.

"Of course, I do, honey, but there are some prices too steep even for me," he said, as he plunked down on the couch and pretended to read a magazine.

Leah turned to face Liam. "You do understand that's what we're going to be doing here tonight, nothing but healthy, right? That's the next in-thing where food is concerned. We have to come up with a healthy alternative for Jews for cereal for Passover. They're sick of crispy rice and toasty o's. It's a niche in the market that's ripe for the picking."

Liam nodded his head and didn't say a word.

Leah went over and sat next to him, her forearms leaning against her knees, carefully examining her friend's face. His dark complexion and fine features resembled a woman's face in some ways. He still had the textured black hair that he'd always had cut in an unusual style that he started in high school. He was a small man, much like Asa, and the three of them had been the misfits of their class. That was part of what made them such close friends. Maybe he'd developed a bit of a paunch since his break-up with Raul, but it wasn't noticeable to Leah. "Why so glum suddenly, Liam?" she asked, bumping her shoulder against his.

Liam's voice had dropped to a whisper. "Do you think I'm too lumpy to get another man? I don't want to be alone forever."

Leah shook her head. "Nah, Asa was just joking. Do you want to come over and work out with me sometime? I mean, if you're concerned. I know workout places can be a meat market for, well, some men. Maybe you'd be more comfortable ..."

Liam wiggled his arm to cross over hers and snuggled into her. "You know, you're a different person ever since you dated that health freak. I love your new curves, and you seem more ... I don't know... open?"

"You live and learn, my friend," she said, patting his hand and stood. "It's okay if I pop into the guest room to change? I don't want to invade on your space."

"Sure, sunshine. Go ahead," Liam said.

When she'd changed into sweats and a comfy T-shirt, Leah came out to help Liam set the table for dinner. They shared stories of their day over the sumptuous vegetarian dish. There was even crème brulé for dessert, a delicacy that was near and dear to Leah's heart. The trouble was she knew all that cream and sugar could be directly applied to her hips. She'd need to work out a little longer to make up for the decadent dessert.

"Mmm," she said, licking every morsel off her spoon. "This is divine, Asa. I always forget that you're a phenomenal chef besides such a great food scientist."

"I love cooking like this," he said, placing his napkin on the table and standing up. "It's a joy to prepare a nice meal for friends." He started walking away and called out as he walked. "I'll be right back."

"What's he doing?" she asked of Liam.

Liam's eyes were flashing with glee, a smirk on his face. "You'll see."

"Oh, man. If you guys got me another vibrator, I'm going to ..."

Liam leaned over and patted her hand. "That was my little joke, honey. Nothing personal. You'll need this tonight."

A few minutes later, Asa came out from the bedroom carrying something shaped like a gun under a piece of cloth and sat down at the head of the table.

"This," he said, gesturing to the item under the cloth as if he were a salesman on a television program, "is the secret weapon for the night."

"Is that a gun, Asa?" she said. Her eyes had grown wide with concern.

"Of course it's not a gun. Well, I suppose it is a gun of a sort."

He pulled off the cloth. Underneath was an odd assortment of what looked like white PVC piping, pieced together almost in the shape of a gun, with a triggering mechanism. He handed it over to her.

"What the heck?" Leah said, turning the device to try to figure out what it was.

"It's an extruder."

Her raised eyebrows and wide eyes must have been enough for him to see she had no idea what she was holding.

"For extruding out loops," he said, using air-quotes for the word loops.

Leah released a deep sigh. "Okaaaay, I guess I hadn't even thought about that part of it."

"I did," Liam said. "I used to work in manufacturing automation, in another lifetime."

Leah manipulated it in her hands, looking into the several small intricacies of the tool, trying to figure out how it worked.

"This was all Liam's idea, and a mighty good one at that," Asa said, crossing one leg over the other and leaning back in his chair. "If I can convince your grandfather to put this into production, we'll need to get a full-sized massive machine that will do what this tool does, but for the time being, for our testing, we need a tool like this to extrude our, shall we say, goo, into nice little loops that we can bake and sample."

Leah's face brightened and she flashed a giant smile. "It's ingenious, Liam. This is such a group effort now."

"And I'll be glad to be your taste tester tonight," Liam said. "I have plenty of room left after this veggie dinner."

"Okay, then," Leah said, rising from her chair, reaching out to gather the dirty dishes and taking them to the sink. "Let's get to it."

She and Asa worked through the evening, using quinoa, a super food, as the base of the recipe for a healthy, kosher alternative cereal. They made several test batches using different flavorings, including pomegranate, cranberry, kiwi, strawberries, acai berries and other natural fruit and herbal substances. She had also brought along several blends she'd created while she'd studied in Europe that had touches of other natural elements. She'd been playing with the flavor profiles they were putting into this endeavor for most of her life. Asa was the master of practicality and she was the flavor expert and together they hoped to make the best new cereal on the market.

Leah took charge of clean-up, and Asa was responsible for mixing the ingredients in appropriate amounts until he had the perfect consistency to extrude through their homemade invention. They carefully labeled each batch and put them in the oven to bake, cooling them in the freezer for a few minutes until they were ready for the final taste test. Leah had her heart set on Batch E, which used a specific variety of French honey she'd fallen in love with in Paris.

The first five samples did not go well, with the dough too runny for the extruder. Asa adjusted the recipe to thicken the product, and then it was too thick. Finally, they had ten final samples ready for taste testing. The three of them poured milk over small amounts of the loops and mentally noted their favorites. Liam was the blind control for this test, having paid no attention to their efforts. He'd purposefully been off reading while they worked and only got involved with the testing part of the endeavor.

"Well," Leah said, carefully studying Liam's face as he considered the flavors of the last test group he'd eaten. "What do you think? Which is the best?"

"For me, and maybe this is just personal preference, but it's a toss-up between Sample B and E. I love them both. They're different, and they're both super delicious. The apple and cinnamon flavor of B is very classic and I don't know what I love about E, but whatever's in there is to die for. Is there more? I'm hungry."