chef levi

Not much to know about me. I like food, so culinary school it was. Sort of been traveling around ever since. 

[its-bomendez-time]

“Why would you be worried that dream sounds awesome. I had a dream that I was supposed to kill a talking box of cereal who wouldn’t leave this random abandoned house known as the bug house. But how did yours go in the end, did you win? I bet Gordon Ramsay is a hard person to style for.”

[levi-reynoldss]

“Okay, okay, you got me. You win the weird dream challenge. It sounds like I should be worried about your dream instead, but as long as you know cereal boxes don’t actually talk,” he teased, “I would like to think I won Project Runway, but I don’t know. Gordon Ramsay didn’t seem too angry. His response involved many four-letter words directed at me.” 

[itsaprilhuang-blog]

“I kind of lost you after the dress designing for Gordon. Any chance you were eating a hamburger and watching Project Runway before falling asleep?”

[levi-reynoldss]

“I don’t really blame you. It was a very strange dream. The only thing that makes the most sense is the Gordon Ramsay part since he’s like an idol. But hey, maybe the dream’s telling me I got to advance my career and become a part-time designer as well as a cook,” he joked. 

[derek-kelly]

“Uh… depends. What’d you eat before bed?”

[levi-reynoldss]

“Well, I had leftovers last night. Either it was chicken enchiladas or a bowl of penne pasta. I wonder what Freud would think about my dream. Actually...I don’t want to know,” he answered with a laugh. 

[levi-reynoldss]

“So I had a dream last night that I was a finalist on Project Runway, and my challenge was to design a dress for Gordon Ramsay. Also I’m pretty sure one of the judges was an actual cow. I have no idea if dreams actually mean anything. Do you think I should be worried?” 

[missemmacassidy]

At this point, Emma felt like the inch between her face and Levi’s was way too much space, and she didn’t want to move ever again. She stayed there, smiling at her boyfriend, and taking turns between kissing and being kissed. “Ooh, you’ll look real good in a tutu,” she giggled, “you’ve got to make me into a five star chef in return, that’s the deal.” She kissed him again just because he was hers now, and she could, but then he mentioned the pie and she gasped, laughing. “Oh goodness, the pie. Can it be celebratory pie now?” she asked, finally moving away from his cute face and bringing her plate of pie toward her. “We need to cheers with it,” she said, getting some on her fork and lifting it up. “To my super cute boyfriend.”

[levi-reynoldss]

It was in that moment when Levi realized that he didn’t tell Emma the whole truth. She only knew the trauma he faced and the sadness of it all. But she didn’t know how much of a coward he was all these years. While Claire suffered, fought, and hopefully still kept on living, he ran away and hid himself in his passion. He abandoned the rest of his family, including Angie, and that was why he was here with her in the first place, because of that remorse. If she really knew how much of a coward he was, he wondered would she like him at all. 

But this was a...happy moment, so he gave Emma a warm smile. “Five star chef, huh? You planning on being my competition?” he joked and kissed her back. And when she grabbed a bite of her own pie, he did the same with his. “To us,” he agreed, bringing the fork into his mouth. He decided the crust could have turned out better, but the flavor was what he wanted. Out loud, he asked her, “How’s the pie?” with a grin on his face. But inside, he wondered if he’d ever have the nerve to face his problems head on. To stop his train of thought, he ended up kissing Emma again. “Don’t tell anyone, but I think I’d choose this over pie if I had to,” he whispered, smirking, after breaking away momentarily. 

[juniwinslow]

“I’m sure you can improve with a couple more lessons! Yeah, nothing like skateboarding. Dude, I loved skateboarding but my parents always took my boards because they didn’t think it was the right thing for a girl to be doing.”

[levi-reynoldss]

“Seriously, just because you’re a girl? That’s ‘so totally lame’ as thirteen year old me would say,” he joked, a grin on his face, “I’m Levi, by the way, also known as the guy who can’t surf to boot but can cook you up some gourmet food if you're ever in need.” 

[missemmacassidy]

So far, love hadn’t been kind to Emma. She always had unrealistic hope that things would turn out like they did in novels; that trust and compassion and compromise could help get a couple through anything. And despite being wrong about that so many times, she still had hope for it. There was still a little voice in the back of her head whispering ‘maybe this time’. Part of that was just her personality, and her determination to see the good in the things, but the bigger part was Levi. 

There was something about him she couldn’t describe or explain. Something he had that she’d never been able to find in anyone else. It was like a string tugging at her heart, pulling her up from whatever darkness held her and bringing her toward him. Her susceptibility to infection meant everything was a threat to Emma, but with Levi, she felt undeniably safe. “I trust you, too,” she whispered, smiling softly. “I’m thinking Eleanor’s going to flip when she finds out you’re my boyfriend.” She giggled and blushed and kissed him to shut herself up.

[levi-reynoldss]

From the past couple of years, the most he knew about relationships and love was that some things don’t have to be set in stone from start to finish. He took life as it came, and planning for the future was rarely something he thought about unless it was related to his career. Sure, he knew well enough that even with the best wishes, things could backfire, but he knew he was ready for someone like Emma to come along in his life. And when she kissed him, he felt as if maybe...just maybe he didn’t screw everything. He kissed her back softly, placing a hand on her cheek. “It’s like she’s been our personal cheerleader from the start,” he laughed softly, pulling back slightly from the kiss. He studied her eyes, brushing his thumb against her skin. She looked happy, less concerned as she seemed to be moments before. “Now you can finally give me that ballet lesson, tutu and all,” he teased. He kissed her again lightly and turned his head towards the table. “I swear the pie’s good,” he joked, “It just wasn’t as much...pie mood as I initially thought.” 

[eleanorstclair]

“Well it just so happens that my obsession with marine life started from a young age. So you’ve got me there, I can’t deny,” Eleanor said with a bright smile. “My brother was always so interested in what he had to do to grow up fast. Which I never understood. I mean, we had another older brother to do that for us,” she sighed. “That’s awful, you’re a wonderful chef. And if I do say so you’ve made out alright for yourself at a five star resort in Hawaii,” Eleanor reassured him. “Well, then how about beach then teddy,” she joked, jumping up from the couch and holding out a hand for Levi. “Maybe we can dig up some sand crabs and send them back into the ocean,” she mused happily.

[levi-reynoldss]

“I think I had a goldfish when I was in preschool, but I’m pretty sure it didn’t survive past two weeks. I was devastated though. I thought it was because I tapped on the glass too hard,” he replied with a smirk. Levi shook his head, “God no, your brother must have not known the horrors of growing up fast. I mean, I grew up fast, and look where I’m now -- an old man that falls asleep in lobbies.” He laughed. “But you’re right. At least it’s the lobby of a five-star resort.” He grabbed Eleanor’s hand and used his other hand to push himself off the couch. He stretched a little with a yawn before linking his arm in Eleanor’s, letting her lead him out the lobby door. 

[missemmacassidy]

Hearing Levi’s secret made Emma forget her own for a moment, but it didn’t last long. She knew she would eventually have to tell him. He obviously trusted her a lot, and she knew she trusted him just as much, but she also knew how much her secret would change everything. His secret was about his sadness. His family. Hers was about her life, and her future, and the fragility of both. If he knew, he’d just worry about things he couldn’t change. She was being selfish with her secret, not wanting him to look at her differently, but she was also doing it for him. He’d already lost his sister… if he knew Emma was sick, he’d be scared of losing her every day, and she couldn’t put him through that.

Her arms were still wrapped around him as he asked her to be his girlfriend. Eyes wide, she pulled back slightly, her face just inches from his. “…What?” she asked, even though she’d heard him correctly. She’d be lying if she said she hadn’t hoped one day he’d ask her this, but she was nervous now. About her secret, and his, and her sudden realization of their age difference, but one more thing was bothering her most. “God, I want to say yes…” she whispered, “but… I don’t want you to just be asking me this because you’re sad and I’m here. Will you ask me again in the morning?”

[levi-reynoldss]

The first girlfriend he ever had was back in sophomore year of high school, and they dated for around two years until she dumped him for some other guy. Ever since then, Levi couldn’t remember the last serious relationship he had with a girl. With his commitment issues and his love for traveling, it had never seemed important to put down roots in one place and maintain relationships. He’d fall for them, and perhaps they’d feel the same way in return. But in the end, he never let them in. He only told them the bare minimum about his family issues, rarely mentioning Claire at all. 

So when Levi asked Emma to be his girlfriend, he surprised himself. They had spent over a month now spending time together and going on dates, and so far, she didn’t even give him any reason to define their relationship. But looking at her now, he didn’t want to wait another month for them to realize they were meant to have a relationship all along. He stared into her eyes. He could see her worry and her hesitation. This could be the moment where Levi could take it back and pretend it was just him caught up in the moment, but he didn’t want to. He wanted Emma to be his. “Emma, I like you. It takes a while for me to trust people, but I...trust you. I want to be with you,” he repeated in a hush. He gave her a small reassuring smile now and nodded. “I'd ask you in the morning, the afternoon, any time of day. What are  you thinking though?” 

[missemmacassidy]

Instinctively, Emma reached out her hand and gently grazed her thumb across Levi’s cheek. She realized how strong and mature and brave he’d seemed to her, and was surprised to find that all of that only intensified now that she’d seen his vulnerability. His strength wasn’t diminished by his weakness, it was caused by it, and she respected him even more. And she was more honored than she could say that he’d chosen to trust her with this. Not only this secret, but this expression of his feelings about it. This kind of thing wasn’t easy for anyone. 

She took her hand down and put it on top of his again. She listened, and slowly did the math in her head. Ten years ago. Ten years ago she’d been twelve. This young girl in the picture was roughly Emma’s age, if not older. Which made Levi… 28? 29? This revelation threw Emma off for a moment, as the numbers swirled around in her head. But this wasn’t about her, or the age difference between her and this man she was falling for. It was about his heartbreak over missing his sister for over ten years and not knowing what happened. She couldn’t even imagine. “Levi…” was all she could say, keeping her voice as soft as his. She reached out and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, holding him close, wishing she knew what to say to make him feel better.

[levi-reynoldss]

After he told her, Levi hadn’t realized how relieved he’d feel. All his life ever since it happened, he did his best to keep it to himself and pretend everything was okay. But he couldn’t escape his past, no matter how far he left home. Now, all the way in Hawaii, he still remembered everything perfectly. Every second of that day, every news report, headline, missing flier -- he remembered the memories he had with his sister before she left his world but not completely. Somedays, he liked to think about what he’d do if Claire returned, what he’d say to her. All those years they could have had together...someone took them away, and Levi had no control over that. He only kept moving forward. 

Telling Emma had pulled him back into the past again, and he felt a rush of emotions. Mostly everyone who knew about Claire went on with their lives as if she had been long buried. Even his mother who had tried so hard to keep holding onto hope about her daughter believed his sister couldn’t be alive and breathing today. Levi didn’t know what to believe. He did his best to forget as Emma pulled him into her arms. At least he had her. He still had someone he could hold onto and make him feel safe. Levi had traveled so much for a lifetime, but maybe this time he needed...something stable. He liked it here, and he liked Emma. “Thank you,” he said quietly, wrapping his own arms around her. She was warm, and he thought she smelled a little bit like the ocean. “Emma,” he continued, “will you...I was wondering if you wanted to be my girlfriend?” 

[juniwinslow]

“I did a lot better than you, apparently. I can at least stand on a board by myself now.”

[levi-reynoldss]

Levi laughed. “That is very true. I’m not even going to hide the fact that I’m probably the worst surfer in Maui. I guess I was very surprised it ended up being nothing like skateboarding. I was real into skateboarding as a kid,” he replied. 

[its-bomendez-time]

“Two enemies too many” Bo laughed “It kills me inside knowing people hate me. That girl doesn’t count she’s just like angry and agitated. It’s hot outside you know, so I dried quickly.” She shrugged “Exactly Reynolds, you can’t get rid of me either…friendly reminder that my birthday is coming up, just sayin”

[levi-reynoldss]

“As long as you’re the type of person to have more friends than enemies. You know, people who you just don’t get along with aren’t worth it in the long run. But I like Lottie, once you get past her mean edge,” he replied, “Well, I heard someone’s planning on baking you a cake in celebration, but you haven’t heard it from me.” 

[juniwinslow]

I passed myself off as a guest yesterday and got free surf lessons. It was pretty cool.

[levi-reynoldss]

“My one attempt at surfing lessons ended up with me falling off my board too many times than I’d care to admit. So how did you do?” 

[its-bomendez-time]

“Well I’m pretty sure Elijah hates me but he’s new so I don’t think were quite at enemy status while Lottie wouldn’t hesitate to throw me under a bus.” Bo smiled “Obviously we’re still friends, I love you too much to put you in my burn book.”

[levi-reynoldss]

Levi raised his eyebrows a little but couldn’t help keep a smirk off his face. “Bo Mendez, woman of, like, two enemies,” he joked, “Well, I guess you could include the girl who poured water all over you. Did your clothes dry that fast or did you go and change?” He smiled at her. “Good. We’ve been friends for a while now, Mendez. It’s too late to quit now.” 

[missemmacassidy]

She was right about the eyes. They were definitely related. And for a moment she was glad of that, and glad at least that she wasn’t his secret daughter, but within a split second, she no longer wanted to be right. Missing. The word didn’t make sense, Emma couldn’t understand, people don’t just disappear. Until they do. You hear about these things on the news, and you wonder what happened to the kid, and whether they’ll be okay, and you worry for them, but you don’t often think that maybe they have an older brother at home who’s worrying a million times more, and still gets a devastating heartbroken look in his eyes years afterward that might never go away. Wordlessly, Emma stood up and sat in the seat next to him, facing him, taking both of his hands, as though to make extra sure that he knew she was there. “Your sister…” she whispered, her heart completely shattering for him. “How long has she been gone?”

[levi-reynoldss]

Levi felt his bottom lip tremble the slightest, making him feel like he were a child again. He never told anyone much of the story, not even Alex. Alex and him were rarely serious with each other, which had always been a form of escape. It was this familiar vulnerable feeling that reminded him why he kept quiet about Claire, pretended he didn’t have a sister at all. When it had first happened, his parents had been meaning to send him to a therapist. But eventually, they forgot all about it, about Levi, and he faded into the background behind police reports and the five eyewitness news. 

By then, even if they wanted to take him to therapy, he wouldn’t have let them. He’d pretend not to care -- it worked for some time...except when it didn’t. Levi turned his head towards Emma who was now seated next to him. “I-I was seventeen when it happened. It’s been...over ten years since she went missing. We don't know what happened to her,” he replied softly, worried if he spoke any louder he might start to cry. He didn’t want to cry in front of her, didn’t want to make himself feel even more vulnerable than he already felt. 

[missemmacassidy]

“I know I would,” she said gently. While she wasn’t exactly sure why she had to be gentle, she felt the need to be tonight. Like anything harsher than a whisper would blow Levi out the window. As he spoke, she cut them pieces of pie, and served them, sitting across from him at the table. He mentioned the girl in the picture, and Emma’s stomach flipped. Her brain was searching for answers, for who this girl was, and why she had his eyes, and why he got so heartbroken talking about her. But she was able to shut her brain off for a moment, and focus on her heart. She took his hand, not touching her pie. “It’s alright, Levi. You can tell me…”

[levi-reynoldss]

Growing up with parents who spent more time working than watching him had been hard on him as a kid. But he still loved them. He remembered how he used to hang out at his mother’s cupcake shop doing homework at his favorite table. And years after Claire was born, the both of them would sit across from each other, when she was still barely tall enough to reach the tabletop. His mother had to sit her on top of a two mammoth phone directories. Even the happy memories made him sad. Levi looked up at Emma, sitting across from him. He wanted to believe, to trust her, to not be someone to fix his life but just listen. He nodded before continuing. “Her name’s Claire. She’s...she’s my sister, Emma. She must have been ten years old in that picture. About a year before it happened...before she went missing,” 

[levi-reynoldss]

movie night || levi & alex

[baker-alex-blog]

“Ah, that would just put everything together, wouldn’t it?” She teased. Alex never really understood the whole animals and years thing, but the idea of that made her chuckle. “Well, this version will have movie me, so like, it’s gotta be better.” She laughed. “Oh, yeah sure. you keep telling yourself that, mister.” Alex teased, messing up his hair as she did. “Urgh, Blockbuster. So much effort involved with that!” She laughed, grabbing a handful of popcorn. “I mean with this, you just click a button and it’s there!” She smiled. “Oh no, only the branded stuff for us in our fancy Hawaiian jobs .” 

“If that is how you wanna play, go ahead.” Alex laughed but she knew fine well that he was right. Without him, she would have probably given up on baking and headed to work at the club full time. He got her so far and it was just enough to get her through the last years without him. She was thankful that he managed to tell her about this place, it was like she was back home when she was with him. “You just keep those fetishes to yourself, that I don’t need to know.” She laughed. “Nah, that would be you.” She laughed, smiling towards him. “I just look more like a teenage boy than you. You’re like a proper man with facial hair and stuff.” She laughed. “I never said I had anything against her!” Alex remarked. “You don’t know if you are dating? Well, I would fix that. Loose seems to be our thing.” She said, not thinking about it. 

[levi-reynoldss]

“Right, right, my movie about a talent chef rat will take down Ratatouille any day,” he laughed, “Who would play movie you? Maybe we should get Betty White on the phone.” He reached over, grabbed an Oreo from the package, and bit into it. They had the Holy Grail of junk food all lined up in front of them on the coffee table. And with Lion King playing in the background, he found himself feeling so much more relaxed than how he had been for the past couple days in the kitchen. Levi shook his head. “I bet you know way too many fetishes already for a lifetime from working at the club,” he commented casually. “Proper man? You fancy my beard, Alex Greene?” he teased her. 

But when she said her remark about not knowing if he and Emma were actually dating, his face fell. Part of him wanted to continue feigning innocence that he had no idea what she was talking about or referring to, but he knew. That night, at the goodbye party, ended up being much more vivid than he imagined it would be since they both had drunk their fair share of alcohol. They kissed. It was meant to be just a peck, nothing much, but somehow, they got so wrapped up into it. It could have been more. But Levi had left before they did anything else. “I thought...I thought you had just forgotten about that,” he replied quietly, looking down at his lap.