On the wings of the cacao tree

"Hawaii, really? We had to come to a tropical island to work?"

Jocelyn was sympathetic of Nancy's whining. It was all she'd done for the past three hours; which was the entirety of the time they'd been on the island so far. "Yes, work," said Jocelyn. "This is a job after all. Maybe we'll get lucky and have some time to sit on the beach and drink one of those fruity drinks with umbrellas in them once the event is over."

Jocelyn was standing on the balcony of their hotel suite really only half listening to her best friend and business partner. The view from the balcony was breathtaking. Ocean and blue sky as far as she could see. The sumptuous accommodations had taken her completely by surprise. She knew that their client was wealthy but she and Nancy in no way expected to be put up in a 5-star resort. Jocelyn frankly didn't care that this was a working trip. It was a vacation just to be here, in Hawaii, and in this resort.

Nancy's grumpiness wasn't her fault. Air travel had never agreed with her. They figured it had something to do with the altitude because she would always suffer a migraine shortly after landing. Nancy's issue with traveling by air was something they'd taken into account when they set up their catering business. Every contract that involved travel by air included two extra days: a day getting there with overnight to recover, and a day getting home with overnight to recover. If potential clients didn't agree to the added expense, then they would have to seek out a different caterer.

Jocelyn and Nancy had started their catering business right after college. Nancy went for a degree in business while Jocelyn had traveled to New York to attend the Culinary Institute. Both women knew how to cook. They had grown up in a small town in the midwest and had great-grandmas, grandmas and moms who cooked and passed down skills and recipes to Jocelyn and Nancy. While they were in high school, some club had organized a cooking competition and Jocelyn had placed first with Nancy taking second. Right then they knew where their future lay.

Finding a name for their fledging catering business was a no brainer for them. They'd been best friends since the 3rd grade and whenever they would appear at either of their home's their moms would invariably say "here come the merry twins!" So they named their business The Merry Twins Catering Company.

"I'm heading off to bed. See you at 7, " said Nancy. Nancy didn't want to go to bed at four in the afternoon, but after years of experience she knew she wouldn't shake the migraine unless she tucked in.

"See you, Nance," said Jocelyn. She looked forward to the morning when her friend would be her happy perky self, migraine gone.

Jocelyn set about organizing their paperwork for the event that was to begin in two days time. She gave her head a shake as she looked at the initial letter they'd received three months prior. It was addressed to their business office, The Merry Twins Catering Co., care of Nancy's downtown office. The letterhead had given her pause because she recognized the name, Reginald J. Hollings. This name had appeared on the guest list of a dinner she and Nancy had catered last Christmas. They had done the whole spread, from appetizers to turkey to desserts. Especially desserts. Jocelyn's great-grandmother Eugenie had passed down the recipe for a chocolate cake that tasted like none that Jocelyn had ever had. One piece of this chocolate cake was enough to call down the angels and their trumpets. The recipe was not written down and it had a very special, very secret ingredient no other chocolate had. The recipe had literally been passed down through hands teaching hands. Jocelyn and her mom were now the only ones to own it.

The letter they'd received had invited The Merry Twins Catering Company to travel to Honolulu, Hawaii and provide dessert for an exclusive Hollings Holding Company retreat. What was being requested was a spread of tea cakes, cookies, crisps and dessert cheeses and the Merry Twins exclusive chocolate cake. The guest list would include 40 people. Would they be interested? And the letter was signed by Reginald J. Hollings, Esq.

Nancy, being the business brains behind their enterprise, got busy researching the Hollings Holding Company. She wanted to make sure that this was an up-and-up corporation and that neither she nor Jocelyn would be taken advantage of. They were, after all, just a 2-person operation. Whenever they had a big job, they hired local help. For this job, they wouldn't need more than four pastry sous chefs. They'd already been assured that all serving staff was being taken care of by the resort. In fact, the only real thing giving Nancy pause was the fee. They were being offered far more than they would normally charge. They did expect their travel expenses paid, true, and accommodations...but at a 5-star resort? Maybe it had something to do with convenience as the event was scheduled to be held there.

She and Jocelyn had sat down and discussed all the pros and cons of the job after Nancy had done her homework. Given that it would be a good payday and a trip to the tropics, they accepted.

Jocelyn gathered up the paperwork, set it aside and went to explore. She wanted to scope out where they would be working beginning tomorrow morning. She called the front desk and asked for Mr. Pattinson, whom she had been told was their liason for the job.

Two hours later Jocelyn was back in the suite sufficiently satisfied that all would go smoothly. Mr. Pattinson had shown her where the kitchens and dining rooms were, introduced her to the staff, head chef, head pastry chef and head of the serving staff. He showed her where the event was to be held for Hollings Holding. Of special interest to her was the cake table. There was a special round table that would be set up just for her chocolate cakes. The Merry Twins chocolate cake was a 3-tier cake, a 9" bottom tier, a 7" middle tier and a 5" top tier. It was unadorned, with just her special recipe frosting smoothed over. For this occasion she estimated that 5 cakes would take care of the event. The other dessert items were fairly easy to estimate and would be displayed on two separate tables along one wall of the room.

The following two days were spent in a whirlwind of prep. Nancy, with two helpers, took care of all the desserts except the cakes. Jocelyn, with the other two pastry sous chefs, began her prep for the chocolate cakes. Timing would be everything. She had brought the chocolate needed for the cake and the choloate needed for the frosting with them. It was a baking chocolate she ordered from her supplier in France. In her mind it was all about the chocolate. And great-grandma's secret ingredient. A piece of chocolate cake was not simply a piece of chocolate cake without the very finest of ingredients. Great-grandma Eugenie had taught her that.

Both women stood at the door to the conference room, both a little anxious.

"Are you ready for this?" whispered Nancy. "I know our stuff is good but for some inexplicable reason I'm a bit nervous."

Jocelyn, also whispering, said "I'm nervous too and can't figure out why either. We've catered dessert events before. We've had wealthy clients before. What's different about this one?"

Together they watched as the servers brought out the trays of cookies, tea cakes, crips and an array of dessert cheeses. Of the cheeses Nancy's favorite was the Aged Gouda. In honor of being in Hawaii she had ground up locally sourced macadamia nuts and covered mounds of the Gouda with it. Nancy was happy with the two tables displaying her team's contribution. The event's color scheme was typical tropics, with greens, yellows, reds and sky blues. There were large vases filled with exotic Hawaiian flowers on the tables.

The cake table had the same colorful table covering with one large vase of flowers in the center. Jocelyn found herself clutching Nancy's arm as she watched five servers enter with her five chocolate cakes.

"Oh, Jocelyn," said Nancy, "they look stunning!"

And so they did. Jocelyn had learned her frosting skills well and could achieve a flawless gleam on the cakes. They had been frosted just that morning and so had spent no time in refrigeration which would have changed the nature of the shine.

They heard a noise on the other side of the room and saw that the meeting room doors were opening and people were beginning to pour in. "Time for us to vanish," said Jocelyn.

Later that evening, sitting on the beach, Jocelyn and Nancy were toasting one another with tasty beverages that had little umbrellas in them. Catering was an interesting job. So much work on the front side, but once the food - or in this case the dessert - was served, their work was done. They had learned that the desserts, everything, was wildly applauded by the Hollings Holding group.

"To a successful job in the middle of paradise," said Jocelyn, clinking her glass against her friend's. "And of realizing that we worried over nothing."

Nancy bent over a small basket that sat next to her chair in the sand. From it she pulled a plate covered by a colorful napkin. She handed it to Jocelyn, whipped off the cloth and said, "Salut! And let's enjoy a piece of chocolate cake!"