"-and we're going to let the pasta boil from anywhere from six to ten minutes- the longer you keep it on, the more tender they're going to be. I find that seven minutes tends to do the trick for me," a golden haired girl of medium height wearing a purple cooking apron smiled warmly as she stirred a steaming pot with a wooden spoon.
"Now, you want to make sure that you're stirring every now and again so the pasta doesn't stick to the sides," Zoe explained, making a few last vigorous stirs before tapping the wooden spoon as dry as she could and placing it on the countertop.
"Now, when we return back from the commercial break, everything will be ready to eat. Then, you'll get to hear what our panelist say about how my cooking turned out, "Now, with the remaining time we have before then, let's get to meet them," Zoe beamed radiantly with her brilliant blue eyes for her television audience as she walked over to a table covered in a red and white checkerboard-styled tablecloth.
Three boys sat next to each other at the judges table. Two of them looking nervously at the other as the large black camera's lens crossed path with their own eyes. However, the other boy, who sitted at the far right simply sighed and laced his fingers together and gaped at Zoe as she walked on screen to the far left of the table.
"So, tell me, who's our first judge, the dark looking guy sitting on the left?" Zoe asked, being sure to smile at him. She knew him, but needed to ask so the audience would be familar with him as well. The dark blue clad boy shivered at saccharine overload he had just took in.
"Uhm... my name's Kouji," he murmured, just barely loud enough for the camera equipment to pick up.
"Ah, I see," Zoe grinned, still a little unsure as to why Kouji would be on a cooking show, but she kept on nodding as she moved onto the next judge, "And, you are-" Zoe indicated to the next boy, who she recognized as being her friend. However her memories of him were clouded at best.
Suddenly, the boy in the middle wearing red and yellow, who Zoe knew as Takuya, grinned wider than she was and got a sudden burst of energy and courage to speak to the audience, "Hi everyone out there!" he cried, "My name's Takuya! I was the Shibuya Junior Eating Contest Champion last summer! I can down just as much as you put in front of my plate."
Suddenly, he calmed down and said almost as soft as Kouji, "It would be an honor to eat your pasta."
Zoe cringed as she saw the next boy, who she vaguely recalled had more than a yen for her, but not much more than that. Already, she could tell he still had similar sentiments as hearts appeared in his eyes while his jaw hung slack.
"Uhm, and you..."
"Did I ever tell you how beautiful you look with blush on? ..." the brown haired boy known as JP gasped slowly before the total blush on Zoe's face magnified and multiplied to from it was seconds ago. She placed cool hands on her cheeks, covering her lower face.
"Uhm... moving on..." Zoe glowered, her sheer embarassment turning to mild anger, "So that will be after the break. Until then: Li vedrò presto!"
The cameras rolled up and Zoe went off the set for a brief break before continuing filming. She didn't have to worry about the pasta. It was already steaming, prepared, and ready for her friends, the judges. The pasta that had been filmed and was already boiling would end up being her own lunch.
Zoe still couldn't believe that she persuaded the managers to allow her friends to guest judge on the show for the last episode of the season. However, she started to doubt and wonder her request after JP's certain... behavior on air...
Bumbling through the crowds of cameramen and technicians came a short, stubby looking man wearing thick horn-rimmed glasses. He was sporting a thin mustache and was currently panting, his hands resting on his knees. He got up, clutching a thick packet of paper.
"What's the matter?" Zoe asked. She usually wasn't approached by the producer of the show during filming, especially when on air- but judging by the look on his face and the size of the packet he held in his hand, Zoe knew this could mean only one thing... the one thing she was dreading since she walked in on the set.
"The ratings have come in," he said with a grim look on his face as he quickly ran a finger through the tops of the pages, "And I've got to say, I'm really shocked..."
Zoe twitched a little as she extended a hand to the packet nervously, "Oh... let me see! Are they good?"
"No! You have to film very soon- I wouldn't want you to..." the producer's hoarse voice wheezed cautiously as he pointed to the electric 'on-air' sign that had currently been turned off. Zoe looked at the producer with a sad look on her face, and it appeared that he would reconsider, "Alright... when does it come back on?"
A stage hand whispered into his ears as he nodded, his face relaxed, and he waved to Zoe that she was fine, "I don't want you to be anticipating anything while on air, so I might as well tell you anyway. Although, it was my fault that I let you know in the middle of a show, but it is kind of important..."
"Well, come on..." Zoe sighed tensely, "How did the ratings turn out?"
"Superb, well above and beyond our estimates... and that's an understatement," the producer stated quickly, "I have to say, Zoe, your cooking show has become a real success almost instantly. It's like we've struck instant T.V. gold- who would have thought that aiming a cooking show at a younger demographic would have been so... well, successful?"
"I don't know..." Zoe closed her eyes smiled, rubbing the back of her head, "Maybe teaching other kids how to make easy-to-cook stuff makes them a little bit more confident in their own abilities- I guess it just caught on." Zoe shrugged, "But that's just my guess."
"No, according to these reports, you're absolutely right," the producer exclaimed, "You're already gathering a very large regular audience. If we were to tweak and add one or two more things and integrate some popular elements into your show, it's definitely going to be the next really big thing- I'm talking about next big popular show genre... people have had their fill of soap operas, game shows, sitcoms, and reality shows..."
"But I don't understand. Cooking shows have been on for quite a while," Zoe said, a little confused.
"True, but remember our different demographic aim to a younger audience... but with the few tweaks I mentioned before, the show should be a new T.V. cooking experience altogether."
"I see..." Zoe said, before the light on the 'on-air' sign flared back on and the theme music started playing to cue her entry, "Oh- there I go," she grinned.
"So..." Zoe said, noticing that the boys had already dug in, "What do you guys think?"
"It's pretty good..." Kouji muttered as he nibbled on the pasta on his fork.
"Aw man, this is the greatest..." Takuya exclaimed as he shoveled mouthful after mouthful away, "I've got to tell ya," he mumbled with his mouth full, "You really know how to cook good food."
"Why thank you..." Zoe smiled slightly, "And you, J-" she was cut off when she saw that JP had barely touched his pasta and was resting his head on his hands and staring affectionately at Zoe.
"It's pretty good. I like it," JP sighed, "But you know what I like even more? -"
"Okay!" Zoe blushed wildly again as she motioned to turn the cameras away. Her mouth and eyes twitched a little before she continued, "Alright, so that's all for today..." she said hastily, "I, uhm... I'll see you next time? ..."
"Aaand... fade out," sounded the voice of the director as Zoe ran offstage, her face still a little flushed and warm.
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