Chapter 7: Purple Orchids

  Tony looked down at his phone at the three missed texts he had from Ethan. It was still a surreal experience for him to see messages from him and not be filled with white hot rage. The dude made it past six months sober, and Tony was more at ease than ever that he could and would stay sober. Of course, a small part of him was hesitant, but that was okay, right? On one hand if he did make it to a year, he would gladly introduce him to Dillon. On the other, what if he didn't make it to two years and he put bad ideas into Dillon's head? Brothers were stressful. He wouldn't worry about it then. At the present, Ethan tried  his best and that was all he wanted.

  Ethan 2:01 PM: Yo brother, happy birthday! That fake ids trash now, huh?

  2:03 PM: 1 attachment. Chloe looked up at me when i started to text you. She always seems to know. She says happy bday too

  2:03 PM: Could i treat ya to a bday dinner or somethin? If your free of course. 

  Man, that dog was too cute. He really wanted a pup someday. After Tony thought for a moment, he accepted his invitation. It'd be nice to see him. He missed the guy and wished they could spend more time together than they did. It would be so cool if when his recovery stabilized, maybe he could move closer. Then he'd have everyone close and he'd be set. For now, he had to settle with what time he could get with him. He had over a week's paid vacation so he could take a day or two off. It was his birthday week after all. Why not stay over a night? They'd have more time to get to know one another again and it was fun. 

  Tony 2:29 PM: Thanks man! Yea its just plastic now haha

  2:30 PM: Awww you tempted me with her! You twisted my arm, i accept. Mind if i stay the night like Thursday or somethin'? For Chloe of course haha

  Once he hit send, he took a couple gulps of coffee and looked in through the windows to the kitchens. There he saw as Dillon used his mad knife skills to cut up a ton of salad ingredients. The station he was at appeared to be where they made all the side salads and such. There were carrots, beets, three different lettuce colours, tiny little tomatoes, onion, and radishes all around him. As he thinly sliced each ingredient at light speed, he would add them to a giant wooden bowl. Except for the lettuce. That he cut up last and left on the board.

  The dressing appeared to be a simple mix. Dillon added in lemon juice, olive and sesame oil, a couple spoons of soy sauce, grated ginger, parsley, sugar, dijon mustard, and a bit of salt and pepper to a smaller bowl and whisked the ingredients together until it was smooth. He poured it into the bowl on the cut up veggies and gently tossed them together. Once they were mixed and the liquid wasn't as heavy, he could add the lettuce. Dillon had explained to him that it's best to break up the dressing on the harder ingredients. That way the weight and seasonings in the dressing didn't wilt the lettuce as fast. Nothing better than a soggy, wet salad, right?

  The part of interest to Tony was when Dillon walked over to a small fridge by his salad station and grabbed a large wooden bowl full of large bright purple flowers with white edges. They were rather unique in shape. Almost like trumpets. He set them down while he got out a stack of small salad plates and set out six of them. On each plate, he used his gloved hands to add well-mixed handfuls of salad gently to each plate. Then he topped each with paper thin slices of red cabbage('Radicchio, stupid!' Dillon would say), some pan fried bacon bits, and one of the purple and white trumpet flowers.

  Now that Tony had watched Dillon prepare the whole thing, he had to have one. His salad needed to have three flowers. Two more than everyone else, because he was Dillon's. He scanned the room for Sarah and waved her down. He wanted it to-go and made fresh for when he was done. When he ordered it he decided to get it with the last five flowers, which he had to pay an extra two dollars each for. For once, he didn't care. Any flower that was so beautiful and edible as those were was so worth it. Besides, it wasn't just for him.

  Sarah nodded with a smile and disappeared through the double door to the kitchen. It was a busy area behind the breakfast bar. The kitchen doors and the food warmer was built into the wall between the counter and the kitchen. They would exit the counter through a fold up faux countertop with food and and enter a one way door back into the kitchen. He could only assume that was to get the students used to a certain flow. Dillon had indeed mentioned that kitchens had a certain order to be followed. 

  His gaze returned to Dillon as he ran over to one of the ranges with a couple order tickets. He loved those ranges. It must have been pretty busy if he had to bounce between stations like that, and Tony noticed the place was packed. It was about the time when they wrapped things up. They had just put the closed sign up so the students had cleanup time. The place cleared out quickly once they filled all the orders, Dillon had told him. It was neat to know a chef and have such insight into the industry and food in general.

  Tony's mouth watered as Dillon got a big frying pan out and added a half a stick of butter and let it melt. To the melted butter he added a couple spoons of flour, which he whisked together. When the butter and flour mixture was cooked a bit, he poured in heavy cream and milk with some salt and pepper and whisked. He knew what came next. The kid always took his slip from the line so he could cook for him. From a fridge next to his range he got out a tub of partially cooked linguini and added it to the milk and cream when it started to steam. 

  Out of the same fridge, he got out pre-breaded catfish filets, and set them down with a bowl of some sort of batter. Maybe the hushpuppies? He was right as Dillon took both over to the deep fryer(also new). He batter dipped and put three big filets in one basket and dropped it in the oil with another empty basket. With a small ice-cream scoop, he scooped out and dropped hushpuppies into the oil. The kid had showed he knew his love of hushpuppies well when he made a good two dozen of them. 

  While those things fried away, Dillon returned to the pasta that simmered on the range. When he tossed it 'fancy-chef' style, Tony noticed how beautifully the sauce had thickened. That must have been what the butter and flour was for at the beginning. To the pan he added a bunch of freshly grated parmigiano with a rotary grater along with some cream cheese(how Tony liked it), a good bit of minced garlic, and more black pepper. Dillon blew his mind a little bit when he added a bunch of fried bacon bits to it. Fantastic! He turned the heat down and returned to the deep fryer to wait on the fish and hushpuppies. 

  The meal came together very quickly. All he did was put the pasta into a large triangle shaped shallow bowl. Around one side, he put eight hushpuppies, and on top he gently fanned out the fried catfish. He garnished everything with some more bacon, a few ribbons of parmigiano, and some chopped parsley. Fuck, he was ready to destroy that bowl. He was so hungry he might eat the bowl after. Dillon walked up to the warmer with his plate as he wiped the edges with a clean towel. He went back and forth between the range and the warmer as he plated up three other linguini alfredos, with different things added.

  A moment later, Tony got excited as he saw Sarah check his ticket and pick up his food. Next thing he knew, it was right in front of him as he graciously thanked Sarah for her diligent service. She got him a coffee refill as he stared at his bowl in wonder. Where should he even start? Everything looked equally awesome. At random speared his fork into a hushpuppy and popped it in his mouth. Wonderful. Perfection!  So crisp on the outside but so light and soft yet savoury on the inside. Exactly as was the case with the catfish. Perfectly fresh and not overcooked. 

  The best part in terms of flavour was the catfish. The best part in flavour and quantity was the linguini alfredo. For someone that had such an appetite as he, quantity was an important thing to consider. The sauce was so rich and well seasoned, and whatever high quality real parmigiano they used really shined through. All was complete with perfectly aldenté pasta and lots of bacon. At the end he was so satisfied he could sleep for a week. His man had really outdone himself. What a talented guy, and he was all his. Tony even saw him put extra flowers on his salad. Those couldn't have been cheap. What a spectacular birthday gift. He'd have a whole new appreciation and love for Dillon after that day.