Kaleidoscope Eyes

It was just totally typical of her to start crying now.

With a sigh she thumbed the tears away carefully so that her mascara wouldn’t smudge all over the place. She put the chopping knife to one side as she reached for the kitchen roll to dab away the rest of the onion-induced tears. This was the only thing she hated about onions: their ability to make her cry. She loved the smell of them when they fried in the pan and she loved their flavour when they were teamed with vegetables, but she hated how from the minute she started peeling onions, the water works would start.

She scraped the onions together on the cutting board creating a large pile, and after washing her hands she then made her way out of the make shift kitchen to the storage van in which all the foodstuffs were stored. As she crossed the parking lot, which was already drowned in early morning light, the heat steadily began to make it’s presence known. Searching for a hair tie she scrunched her hair up in a messy bun before proceeding to open the door of the storage van.

She smiled as her eyes fell on all the fresh produce. The sight of the vibrant bright colours of the peppers and other fruits cheered her up immensely. The fresh smell hit her nose and allowed her to wake up just a little more. She grabbed a crate of mixed peppers and made her way back to the kitchen where she was greeted with a cup of coffee and a smile from her favourite person. She put the crate down on the counter and took the cup gratefully.

“Welcome to the routine you’re going to be keeping until August the twenty-third,” David Fleets said with a smile to his favourite kitchen helper.

Isabella smiled up at the chef before taking a sip from her steaming coffee.

“You know I love being on the road and you also know how much I love cooking. The two things work out perfectly.”

The two friends stood side by side as they watched the enfolding of the morning sun as it slowly started to creep up the hemisphere. It was just past six in the morning and already the heat had begun to sneak upon them, but Isabella didn’t mind. The heat was part of Warped Tour. The two things just belonged together.

Isabella knew that potentially she had worked herself into a difficult situation, but occupational hazards were all part of the bigger adventure. Her adventure started when she met David. They had been working together for two years now. She had come fresh out of high school with no college ambitions, despite the fact that she had a place at the University of California Los Angeles. She loved food and cooking more than anything academic and after a semester of university she dropped out and joined a catering company that was situated at the heart of LA. There she met David and the two had been fast friends ever since. Whilst he climb the ranks to chef, Isabella was more than happy to just be the kitchen hand. She didn’t want the extra attention that came with being in such a high position in the kitchen. David too was comfortable with this arrangement because it meant that there was always someone there to have his back and she could always rely on him as a boss and friend.

During her time in catering she had seen many things: Angelina Jolie eating her way through a tray of canapés during her pregnancy, Rob Stewart flirting obnoxiously with her and Britney Spears nearly choking on a gherkin. She had seen drunk brides at wedding receptions and fist fights at charity galas, but never had she seen or personally be involved in something the size of Warped.

The catering company that David and Isabella worked for, TA!DA, had an excellent reputation for diversity and efficiency as well as for the wonderful food. At the end of the last Warped Tour the organizer had called the company asking them to cater for them next year.

So it came that Isabella found herself stood in a mobile kitchen chopping up onions and peppers at six in the morning in preparation for the stir fry that would be served at lunch. Breakfast had already been organised since five in the morning.

She smiled as she remember her little sisters reaction when she told her that she would be going out for the whole of Warped tour to cook for the bands. The face of her fifteen year old sister contorted into an outraged expression and she went very pink very quickly.

“That is so not fair!” she had shouted stamping her foot. “You don’t even listen to that kind of music! Hell you don’t even like it! Did you know that Alex Gaskarth is at Warped? No you didn’t because you don’t have any interest in that kind of music! I should go instead of you!”

But because Lorain couldn’t even stop a cheese toasty from catching fire this was not an option. So Isabella had packed her bags for Warped all the time dodging the resentful looks from her sister, who was with each day practically turning green.

It was true, Isabella didn’t really care for the new music that was played over the radio and which was dissected in over priced monthly magazines. Her father had raised her on Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder. Songs by Diana Ross and The Supremes were the most played on her iPod, despite the best efforts of Lorain to educate her sister. But Isabella didn’t feel the need to buy into contemporary music.

It actually came as a relief to be working in an environment where she didn’t know anyone. She liked that she could start afresh and be honest with the people she was going to be working with. There were only seven full time workers from their catering company, the rest of the helpers were volunteers from each of the cities in which Warped was that day. These were chiefly girls who hoped to be able to tell their friends that they had served Zack Merrick his lunch burrito.

All of these apparent rockstars left Isabella unfazed. She didn’t care who they were or how popular their music was. To her they were people who needed feeding and loving care that could be shown through food. She enjoyed being able to make someone happy through a meal that would be able to sustain them and allow them to do what they did best.

Isabella put down her now empty cup of coffee and turned back to the crate of peppers. She and David began to wash and prepare them in amiable silence. As they were cutting the peppers into strips the make shift kitchen slowly but surely became fuller, as the entire kitchen workers came together to start the day.

Soon the sun was shining down brightly on everything and the morning was well on its way. The sounds of sizzling omelettes and brewing coffee became the constant background noise as the musicians started to appear to claim their breakfast.

The heat in the kitchen had already risen dramatically and Isabella wiped the sweat on her brow off with the corner of her apron. She was already feeling intensely overheated, but she pushed this thought aside. This would be the regular workings for the next forty-six days.

Taking a deep breath in she managed to spare a moment to glance outside at the milling people who were crossing the parking lot. She could positively feel the energy radiating off every single person that walked past. A lot of them were carrying music gear, others boxes of merchandise. Some of the boys were showing their girlfriends around and those girls who were going on tour were having their suitcases dragged about by their boyfriends.

Isabella smiled. She could handle this.

She was ready for this to be the first day of her new life.