--[Cummulative Report Day 33-36]--
Simlife
Revenue: +$1,252,395
Cost: -$837,866
Profit: $414,529
Modifiers: Fortune III [+15%], Satisfaction [0%]
Income: +$476,708
Total: $328,893
DateLife
Energy Spent: 0
Energy Gained: 0
Tantric Reserves: 5/5
Lust: +0
Total: 80/100
The week passed in a blur as I became increasingly aware of the weekend drawing closer. Surprisingly enough, it wasn't the competition with a world-renowned chef that had me on edge the most, but rather the surprise getaway I had hinted at and hyped up. The thought of disappointing any of the girls who looked to and relied on me made me obsessive over planning out every single last detail. But after several days of planning and coordinating, I was confident that the day would meet every single expectation.
In addition to preparing for the celebration afterwards, I had also been coordinating with Ashe every day to hire more workers, eventually fully staffing the greenhouse.
Luckily, it didn't make sense to purchase the next greenhouse and batch of workers until next week, since their growing cycles needed to be staggered regardless of when they were bought.
It was nice to cross something off my to-do list when everything else was still up in the air, with no guaranteed level of success. Which was especially true for my cook-off with Colette.
I had done some research into Colette's past, and needless to say, Tiana had been right on the mark regarding what type of food the chef would be cooking. Colette had attended a top culinary school in Paris, becoming classically trained before working at a slew of fine-dining restaurants, many of which held Michelin stars. But despite her obvious talent and skill, Colette had never received the recognition she deserved, something she blamed on her being a woman in a male-dominated field.
So instead of trying to earn the approval of those who looked down on her, Colette decided to challenge the head chef of the restaurant where she worked. It was a risky move that would get her blacklisted from the culinary industry if she failed.
But long story short, Colette hadn't failed; she had handily beaten her boss and gained the reputation of somewhat of a boogieman, showing up at various restaurants and challenging the head chef. So far, she had an undefeated record against restaurants that were far more accomplished and renowned than my humble grillhouse.
Honestly, it was a bit unfair to put me up against someone of her caliber, but I hadn't let that thought discourage me from trying. After every service, I would spend time in the system's cooking mode, testing various recipes and ingredients to push my skills to the limit.
And when I felt that wasn't enough, I turned to the system to spend the various skill and perk points I had been accumulating over the past couple of weeks
[You have upgraded the skill Butcher to level 4 by spending three SP]
[You have purchased the skill Baking by spending one SP]
[You have upgraded the skill Baking to level three by spending three SP]
[You have purchased the skill Gastronomy by spending one SP]
[Skill: Butcher IV]
Upgrade Cost: 0/4
Effect(s):
+20% to the final quality of all recipes that contain a protein
[Skill: Baking III]
Upgrade Cost: 0/3
Effect(s):
+15% to the final quality of all baked recipes
[Skill: Gastronomy]
Upgrade Cost: 0/1
Effect(s):
+10% chance to create an inspired recipe when cooking
[You have purchased the perk Practice Makes Perfect by spending 1 PP]
[You have upgraded the perk Practice Makes Perfect to tier III by spending 3 PP]
[Perk: Practice Makes Perfect III]
Upgrade Cost: 0/3
Effect(s):
Add 3% quality to a recipe for every ten hours spent cooking said recipe
Unfortunately, my newly purchased perk did not account for my time spent in the system, meaning I couldn't cheat by spending hundreds of hours in the simulation to artificially raise the quality of the dishes I planned to cook. But between prep time in the morning and closing at night, I managed to rack up enough hours to activate the perk twice. It wasn't a lot, but I needed every last advantage I could scrape together.
Even though there was nothing at stake with the competition, I wanted to win. Not because I needed or even wanted Colette to work in my restaurant, but because a large part of me took pride in the food I made, and I wanted to see how I stacked up against a real professional. And of course, completing the quest and getting all the rewards would be nice as well.
All said, the pressure was on, which is why I found myself in the kitchen the night before, reviewing every step and procedure, looking for any last-minute improvements. I would have stayed up all night, had I been left to my own devices.
"Why are you still up? Megan muttered as she walked into the kitchen, wearing nothing but one of my shirts, which cut off at her mid-thigh.
"Think it's pretty obvious," I muttered with a smirk as Megan moved behind me and snuck her arms around my chest, "The competition is tomorrow."
"Yes, tomorrow, not tonight, you need to sleep." Megan muttered as she squeezed my chest and pumped her head against my back, "And don't you say that you're a demon that technically doesn't sleep, I don't care. Get your ass in that bed."
"You just want to use me as a body pillow," I muttered even as I turned off the stove.
I felt Megan stiffen behind me before she muttered under her breath, "I can neither confirm nor deny that. But regardless of that possibility, you just need to relax; the chance that a few hours of last-minute practice will be the difference between you winning and losing is slim. You'd be better off taking a rest to mentally recharge in bed with your two incredibly hot thralls, who will be cuddling you while naked."
"Fine, fine, you've twisted my arm," I sighed dramatically as I turned around and swept Megan off her feet, "So impertinent."
Megan smirked before kissing me on the cheek, "Thank you."
"Of course, what type of incubus would I be if I turned down such an offer?" I replied cheekily before walking into the bedroom nd shutting the door behind me.
---
It was morning in the blink of an eye, and I was on my way to the restaurant as the sun was rising. I expected to get there and have at least an hour to myself to set up, but what I found was very different.
"What the hell?"
I was forced to stop at the end of the road when I reached a barricade with wooden posts indicating the street was closed. Additionally, I could spot several news vans and what appeared to be a film crew set in the middle of being put together.
Stepping out of my car, I walked over to the wooden barricades. I was wondering how I could catch someone's attention and ask them what the hell was going on when someone called out to me first.
"Ah, you're finally here! "
I glanced over and saw a woman dressed in a pantsuit and high heels striding towards me with purpose, "I'm sorry, who are you, and what's happening here? I need to get into my restaurant."
The woman stared at me for the longest moment before letting out a long sigh, "No one told you, did they?"
"I guess not, judging by how confused I am." I muttered while trying to piece together an explanation with the bits of information I could gather, "Am I supposed to be a part of this?"
"Seeing as you're the only other participant in the cook-off besides Colette, yes, you are a part of this." The woman replied with an exaggerated sigh, then reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, "Yeah, really quick, tell me who was in charge of outreach, because I need them fired immediately…why? Oh, no reason, just that I ran into the only other chef in this damn cooking competition, and he's looking at me like he has no idea what's going on and that I'm some crazy woman screaming into her phone!"
She then abruptly ended the call before looking back at me, "Alright, I just got one question now, are you in or are you out?"
I glanced around once more at all the cameras and personnel before letting out a sigh and a shrug, "As long as I'm cooking at the end of the day, I guess the rest doesn't matter."
"Great! Turns out I didn't waste all this money and time after all," The woman muttered before clapping her hands together, "Now let's get you a media release contract and up to speed."