Johnathon's Arc

Chapter 26 of 31

The first episode moved like clockwork. Johnathon cooked at his station while Lexi plated beside him, both their names glowing on the cards. Cameras rolled. The crowd inside Champion Kitchen Hall clapped at the right moments. When the timer buzzed, the judges tasted, smiled, and turned to the audience. One of them raised a hand for quiet. "That closes tonight's show," the judge said. "Next week, we send our two hosts a surprise basket. Mystery ingredients. No planning allowed." The crowd cheered. Johnathon barely heard it. The episode was done. That meant the night he promised was here. Backstage, Lexi wiped her hands and let out a long breath. "You didn't drop a single plate," she said. She bumped his shoulder with hers. "I told you." "We finished," Johnathon said. His chest felt tight, not from the cameras. The napkin sat in his pocket, folded soft from all his checking. He thought of the lilies on their counter, pink and black and white, the same colors that had won him everything. He thought of three words in her handwriting. "You did good out there," she said. She reached for her pink purse on the hook. "Lexi." His voice came out smaller than he wanted. "You said ask you tonight. It's tonight." She stopped. Her hand stayed on the purse strap. For a second she didn't turn around, and Johnathon's stomach dropped. He had waited two days for this. Now the waiting felt like the edge of a cliff. "Here?" she said. "You want to do this here?" "I don't want to guess in the car," he said. "You've been holding something back. You told me it was good. So tell me." Lexi faced him. She pushed her glasses up. Her sentences got quiet, plain, the way they did when she meant them most. "I found a building," she said. "Two doors down from your bistro. Empty. For sale." She swallowed. "I want to move my boutique next to your restaurant. So we work on the same street. Same block. No more crossing the city." Johnathon stared. That was not the question he thought he'd asked. "That's the surprise?" "That's part of it." She took his hand and pressed something into it. A small key, silver, worn smooth. "I already signed the papers this morning. I was scared you'd say it was too much. Us, working that close. Every day." He closed his fingers around the key. Two days of her cut-off sentences, all for this. "It's not too much," he said. "It's what I wanted and never asked for." She smiled, full this time. "Then it's done." Johnathon slid the key into his pocket beside the napkin. The first episode had aired to the whole country. Now their two businesses would sit side by side. But a signed lease meant a second store to build from nothing, and their first mystery basket waited one week away.