A chef's nightmare

Within the next forty-eight hours I would be invited to the White House as their official executive chef but just as I got the invitation, every second felt like an hour and I could not wait for the moment. It was still quite unbelievable thinking of how the events played out. It was just about two weeks ago, all the chefs around America were asked to apply for the position of executive chef for the newly elected president of the United States of America. Amongst even more renowned chefs, I was somehow chosen by president Walker. The truth was that I knew that I was not the best for the job but somehow the president just loved my cuisine. Jamie Walker used to be one of those that patronized my restaurant frequently whenever he arrived in Arkansas for his election campaign back then, he always came to the restaurant to have the French cuisine which he loved so much. “I wish my mom was alive to behold what a hobby had become, using the same recipes that she made. You know, I miss every single memory I had with her,” I said to Luther while we had our lunch. Whenever I remembered my mom, it made me sort of depressed and he was the only close friend I had in my life after my mom died. He was the only person that stood by me during my darkest times, especially after my mom left me in this cruel world. “I miss her a lot too. All I know is that wherever she is now, she would be proud that she gave birth to someone like you,” he told her with so much assurance as if he knew that her mom was watching. He was soft-spoken, his words were always what I needed. Looking at him, I smiled warmly then I uttered “I know that she is somewhere in heaven and one day I would see her again,” I would have given up anything to get to see her again but I guess life does not work that way, perhaps no one could their cake and have it. “Whenever I look back to how it all started, it feels amazing. A small business had evolved under my care, I am proud of the woman I have finally become and the empire that you and I built together in the world of cooking,” I uttered to Luther, who was also a chef. He also had a restaurant of his own, but he helped me in every step I took to build mine. When the restaurant began making waves in the city, I offered him about fifty percent of the restaurant’s worth but he turned it down. It was an amazing thing he did, and I do not know if I would ever be able to repay him. Luther was exactly the brother and the father I never had. The Le Meilleur had grown into something much more than a restaurant, it had become the 8th wonder of the world as people called it. I could still remember vividly the day that made my cuisines stand out, maybe it was all luck or perhaps hard work. All I know is that it all happened like a dream, just an unexpected turn of events but somehow a popular social media influencer Mark Wiens happened to find himself in my restaurant. According to him, he had visited Arkansas in the past but just for the hot springs but this time he was there for the Vlog that he was preparing. He had already been to about twenty-seven states in search of the restaurants that serve the best cuisine varieties, but there were not many restaurants like that in Arkansas. Back then, the restaurant had not become anything of importance in the town until Mark Wiens made the Vlog about Le Meilleur. He had championed it as the best place where he’d had eaten a French cuisine in all of America and with the kind of popularity he had, he was able to make my restaurant enter the limelight. That was the first time that the Le Meilleur was portrayed on a show, a lot of people decided to try out the restaurant in Arkansas, and among these people was Jamie Walker. I had never really been much of a social media person, so I had no idea what was happening online. Luther came running through the front doors of the restaurant, he screamed my name as he moved swiftly towards the kitchen. I was not used to how all the Internet popularity, so I was not moved by what he said, it all sounded a bit unimportant to me. Just as Luther had predicted, travelers from all over America visited Arkansas just to get a chance to eat at the Le Meilleur. The variety of cuisines that were in the restaurant did not disappoint those that came to try it out, from that period the number of customers become so much that we were forced to expand the Le Meilleur. In the space of about two weeks after Mark Wiens talked about the restaurant, an average of forty to fifty individuals per day magically became over two hundred customers on a daily basis. It was so surprising, soon the numbers became just too much. Above all, the Le Meilleur had the cheapest prices for the best cuisines in America. The restaurant was a place for all kinds of people and classes, although it was not as exquisite as other restaurants in town it was the perfect place to excite your taste buds. As the D day kept crawling closer, I could not help but imagine how the feeling would be once I begin preparing the president’s meals. Of course, it was going to be an experience I would never forget. Even if I knew that I was chosen for the job, it still felt unreal mentally. I could not sleep all night long, the state of euphoria would not let me close my eyes even for a second. I had suddenly become more interested in documentaries about the president and the White House.