Burnt Page #5

The four horsemen ride

and darkness descends.

Death.

- Sure.

- Okay, this is for free.

Someone told you when you

were very small that you were good

and the world was good,

and everything naturally would be good.

And then the serpent

served you a bad apple,

and for all your bullshit,

you can't take bad.

Not in a souffle,

not in an apple,

and crucially, not in a person.

Should I be writing this down?

'Cause I don't have a crayon.

Whatever it was

or whoever it was in the past,

it's time to get on with it.

And you can't do this alone.

There's strength

in needing others...

not weakness.

Make sure to thank Tony

for those kind thoughts, Doc.

Oh, that wasn't Tony.

That was all me.

Food's up, guys.

Family meal.

Chef?

David made pie.

Good.

Want me to make you a plate?

No, thanks.

One beef, one tartine

platter, one turbot.

Yes, chef!

Capers on the beef.

Don't forget that!

Yes, chef!

F*** off!

For f***'s sake, f*** off!

Michel, those kids there...

do something my friend.

How are you?

Yes, chef.

Max. Keep them

under control, yeah?

- Yeah.

- What's going on here?

Hello?

What are you doing here?

It's your day off.

Order for table eight.

I'm with a friend.

It's her birthday.

I want a cake.

- No, no cake.

- You're a chef.

You can make cakes, right?

No. No cake. I have sorbet.

- Tony, it's fine.

- Tony?

What's going on?

What's going on?

Chef, Lily didn't want to stay

at home today because it's her birthday,

so Tony said if I brought her into work,

he'd watch her during service.

And she wants

a f***ing birthday cake, okay?

So make a cake.

Nice gravy.

It's not called gravy anymore.

Well, actually, it's called gravy again.

Is the ogre in the kitchen?

The one who shouts?

I have no idea who you mean.

You're the ogre.

Yes.

But I bake great cakes.

Good?

I've had better.

Really?

Adam?

Ay.

Adam?

- Adam?

- Yo.

The maids don't come?

I always leave the, uh,

"do not disturb" sign on.

We have a laundry service as well.

You have an invitation.

Montgomery Reece invites you

to the relaunch of his restaurant.

I thought he hated you.

He does. That's why he invited me.

Tell him yes.

Well, if you go, you should

take someone with you.

Someone to stop you from

getting into a fight with him.

Oh, you mean like you?

No.

Your therapist's got a big mouth.

Nothing you didn't know.

You said in your restaurant

everything was possible,

but, um, I know

not everything is possible.

Besides, you're not as pretty

as you once were.

Hey, Tony.

Uh, you hungry?

Can I... can I make you

breakfast or something?

You mean, cook me breakfast

instead of falling in love with me?

Yeah.

No. Thank you.

I already ate.

But I appreciate the thought.

Take someone nice.

Little more skin on the bass, yeah?

- Yes, chef. Yeah.

- You got that, right?

Oh, you got to thin this sauce.

It's like f***ing glue.

You have a nice dress?

- Excuse me?

- Do you have a nice dress?

I got to go to this party, and, uh...

...you're the only girl

that I know, so...

Uh, yeah. Sure.

Good.

Hey, pretend you're my girlfriend, okay?

If Reece knows who you are,

he'll steal you away.

If I was your girlfriend,

you'd probably hold my arm.

No, if you were my girlfriend,

we would've gotten

in an argument in the taxi.

We wouldn't even be talking.

I've been working more

on the potato truffle veloute.

I think we should put it

on the menu tomorrow,

as a sort of modern take

on sole bonne femme.

Michelin loves it when

you celebrate French cuisine.

- You look great by the way.

- Thank you.

- Hello.

- Oh, hi, nice to meet you.

This is Montgomery Reece.

This is Marcus.

- Marcus.

- Nice to meet you, sir.

Marcus, is, uh, actually one of

the investors in the other restaurant.

Excellent.

Well, thank you very much.

Hello, Jones.

You find a nice flat surface yet?

I take it you are the saucier he's been

trying to hide from me this whole time,

in which case,

when you do get tired of him,

this is what you could be cooking.

You're doing me

almost as good as me.

And you're using butter.

Where'd you come up with that idea?

Adam?

I didn't invite her.

She came with another guest.

Who is she?

That is Jean Luc's daughter,

Anne Marie.

The Times just arrived.

What are you doing here?

I thought maybe you would

come to Papa's funeral.

Yeah, I didn't know that he'd died.

I've missed you.

I'm better now.

Been clean almost two years.

I went to a clinic in Milan.

They helped me stop.

You look good. Strong.

What do you want?

Papa wanted you

to have his knives.

Would you like me to send them?

Yes, please.

We were beautiful together, you know?

Hi.

Have you been here all night?

How'd you find me?

Couldn't sleep, then I remembered

sole bonne femme needs sole.

Yeah, without skin.

Sweeney's Irish,

by the way, not Scottish.

It's my ex-husband's name.

Leon Sweeney.

Didn't work out, huh?

It could have done.

We were really good

for a long time, but...

You know, we drank too much,

and partied too much and...

I could stay up for days,

and he loved that about me.

Then I got pregnant with Lily and,

you know, I wanted to stop,

and he didn't.

- Didn't or couldn't?

- What's the difference?

Yeah.

I worked in places like this

all the time when I was a kid.

I saved up a bunch of money,

bought a one-way ticket to Paris.

Lied my way

into Jean Luc's kitchen.

That's when Max was there, and Reece,

and, uh, Michel came later.

I didn't speak any French.

Worked 20-hour days, six days a week.

I was 19 years old.

I loved every minute of it.

The heat, the pressure, the violence,

the f***ing screaming.

You know, all the cooks.

That kitchen is the only place

I've ever felt like I really belonged.

Why?

What happened in Paris?

I just f***ed it all up.

Maybe it's...

Maybe I just wanted it really bad,

and then when I got it too early,

I didn't know how to hold on to it.

I tried to control everything.

Then when I wanted

to escape from it...

Five o'clock's always the worst time

for thinking things.

I always think of things,

like I make a list of, like,

things and people

I always think about right now.

It's like my mom,

my grandmother, Jean Luc.

It's like a broken f***ing record.

That woman at the party

was really pretty.

- Is she on your list?

- Nope.

Her perfume was amazing.

You smell okay.

Thank you.

What about Tony?

Is he on your list?

Yeah, he's there.

I worry maybe I'm too hard on him.

At about 6:
00, I decide it's okay.

And there's you.

- Wait, I'm on the list?

- Yeah, apparently so.

It's getting to be a long list.

No wonder I don't sleep.

Why are you thinking

about me at 5:
00 a.m.?

I just think you and I

are exactly the same, you know?

All we want to do...

Thanks...

...is just fry some f***ing fish.

I'm thinking of doing that

sauce with a chicken stock base,

a white chicken stock,

just to lighten it up a bit.

- Yeah?

- Yeah.

Adam.

Yeah?

This is a f***ing stupid idea.

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