“Fine,” Austin muttered. Just as Cass said, “I need some fresh air.”
“Take ten, everyone,” Sasha said. Then she lowered her voice so just Austin and Cass could hear her. “And you two? Work it out. We are at the finish line here, and we are finishing it. Today. Okay?”
Austin rolled his eyes and Cass mumbled an apology to Sasha.
“I’m going outside for a minute,” Cass said to no one in particular, slipping on the flip-flops behind her workstation, before walking off the set.
* * *
? ? ?
Outside Cass took a few deep breaths and closed her eyes, letting the sun warm her face for a moment. Then, feeling more grounded and ready to face Austin again, she headed upstairs and was almost back to the greenroom when she heard Sasha’s voice from inside the room.
“Austin, that was an unnecessary stunt.”
“Sasha, come on. You know the viewers will love it. Justin’s fine. A crappy pastry chef, but he’s going to make it. Besides, isn’t this exactly what you hired me for? To stir the pot a bit, so to speak?”
“Yes, that is one of your particular charms, if we can call it that.”
“I think we can,” Austin said, his confident tone that of someone used to getting his way.
Cass took a step closer, being careful not to give herself away as Sasha lowered her voice. “I need us to finish this out smoothly, alright?” she said. “Which means you need to tone it down a bit.”
“And you need to talk to Charlie, Sasha. This was decided weeks ago. What are you waiting for? Having second thoughts?”
A long silence, then, “I’ll talk to Charlie, once we’ve wrapped tomorrow’s teaser.”
Austin whistled. “She is not going to be happy.” However, he sounded positively delighted about whatever Sasha had to talk to Charlie about. “Glad I don’t have your job, Sasha. Actually, I’m too good-looking to be behind the camera, know what I mean?”
“Honestly, Austin, you’re unbelievable.” Sasha cleared her throat, as Austin replied, “Thank you!”
“Please don’t make us regret giving you the host job over Charlie,” Sasha said, her tone clipped. “And let’s not be cute and pretend you were my first choice, okay?”
“Well, then good thing it wasn’t up to you, Sasha,” Austin retorted. “Seems my on-camera confidence was a hard-to-resist asset. And, come on—I make these chef’s whites look amazing.”
Sasha sighed, then paused a moment before saying, “Austin, a piece of advice, not that I expect you to take it. Soon you won’t have Charlie to balance you out, so showing a touch of humility here and there would be a wise move. Viewers can be fickle, and you aren’t as charming as you think.”
* * *
? ? ?
“So, Charlie, tell us about your signature holiday cake.” Austin smiled into the camera, then turned toward Cass.
Cass, heels back on and makeup reapplied, returned the smile. The shock at what she’d overheard had been replaced by determination, and she was laser-focused on the task at hand. She put a hand on Austin’s arm, leaving it there just long enough that the audience might view it as more meaningful than it was （two could play this game）， then faced camera B. “I am really excited for you to try this one today, Austin. It’s spicy, but simple, and positively sublime.”
“Sounds a lot like you, Charlie.” Austin raised an eyebrow, giving her a flirty smirk. There was canned laughter on set, and Austin looked quite pleased with himself. He was so predictably obnoxious.
“Well, if that’s a compliment I’ll take it!” Cass said, laughing easily. The buzzer dinged and she held up a finger—all of this, of course, was orchestrated—then slid on her Sweet & Salty–branded oven mitts and pulled out the cake.
“This is my dad’s recipe. He’s a celebrated and award-winning chef, who also happens to know his way around pastries better than anyone I know.” She set the cake on the hot plate in front of her, happy to see it looked perfect. Her dad would be proud. “Gingerbread cake with candied ginger and orange. We’ll top it with a light citrus-infused buttercream and a cinnamon-poached pear compote on the side, and then you’ll have—in my admittedly biased opinion—the perfect holiday cake.”
“Someone is feeling confident,” Austin said, leaning over to take a deep inhale. “But . . . maybe a bit heavy on that orange, Charlie? A touch bitter on the nose. Guess we’ll see.” He winked into the camera. Cass gritted her teeth but kept her smile intact.