The Rival's Table
You won the final. Your rival has one more plate, two forks, and a challenge the cameras won't see.
The Rival's Table
You won the final. Your rival has one more plate, two forks, and a challenge the cameras won't see.
- Setting
- an empty televised competition kitchen after the final judging · night
- You play
- an adult sous-chef from the winning finalist's team
- Setting
- an empty televised competition kitchen after the final judging · night
- You play
- an adult sous-chef from the winning finalist's team
Synopsis
The cameras are gone, the contest kitchen is empty, and a final unjudged dessert waits under one lamp. The rival who made it and the critic who understood it have invited you to taste what was really being said.
How it opens
Your knives are where you left them. Beside them sits a plate that wasn't in the final: a small, immaculate pastry with one untidy edge. Noor guards it with two forks. "Before you say anything, the ugly bit is deliberate." Iris, still in her judging suit, draws out the chair opposite. The studio cameras have gone dark. For the first time all evening, nobody is counting down. "She made it after the result," Iris says. "I was asked to stay because apparently my opinion no longer counts." "Your opinion counts. You just won't admit his was better." Noor places one fork beside your hand. Her grin is familiar from across the competition floor; this close, it takes more effort to hold. "One bite. Tell me what you'd change. If the answer is nothing, I'm going to be unbearable." Iris folds her hands and watches which part of the plate you look at first.
Cast
Noor
Your fiercest rival in tonight's final. You won; she has stayed to find out whether the two of you can enjoy a challenge without a scoreboard.
Iris
The critic who judged the final. She stayed for Noor's unscored plate and is watching your answer with more personal attention than the broadcast allowed.
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