Cass smiled, proud of her twin. Charlie was a force, and not much could hold her back.

“I know I’ve already said this, but the more time I spend with you the more I see how alike you really are. Even with your differences, like the tattoo, and the whole drinking thing. You both have that unstoppable energy thing. An eternal flame, I always say to Charlie.”

“That’s nice of you to say,” Cass said. Too bad she felt like a smoldering pile of ash, after a bucket of water had been poured on a fire.

“It’s the truth.” Priya took out the clips and fluffed up Cass’s hair. “And . . . done. Gorgeous, as usual.”

Any signs of sickness were covered up, and Cass looked refreshed and healthy. “Thanks, Priya. You’re a miracle worker.”

“I have an excellent canvas, friend.” Priya gave her a quick hug from behind. “Now, go show Austin who’s boss, okay? He needs to be brought down about a hundred notches.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“You sure will,” Priya said. “You’re a Goodwin twin, after all.”

• • •

Cass’s sugarplum cake, with the spiced cherry and citrus ice cream layer in its center, was the first to be plated and brought forward for judging. One of the finalists, a chef named Justin who was talented but suffered from time management issues, stood by anxiously.

Cass and Austin did the usual rigmarole, glancing at each other with raised eyebrows and other facial expressions, which were scripted for dramatic flair. They did three takes, because Sasha wanted to make sure she had enough B-roll, and in that time the assistants had to cut another two pieces of the dessert because the ice cream layer kept melting under the hot lights.

“So, Justin. We’ve talked about this before, but your station . . .” Austin gestured to Justin’s countertop, and the camera panned to the mess. “What happened there?”

“Yeah, it could be tidier.” Justin looked sheepish.

“Tidier?” Austin let out a laugh, then turned to Cass. “Charlie, what do you think about Justin’s ‘Yeah, it could be tidier’ station?”

Cass played Charlie’s part as best she could, knowing she was to be the sweet persona to Austin’s salty one. “Your desserts are consistently impressive, Justin, but I’m sorry to say your station is also consistently a disaster.” She smiled, trying to give the nervous contestant a hit of encouragement. “We have seen what you’re capable of. But no pastry chef will be successful without a pristine bench.” It was a rule of the industry. You cleaned up as you went, no exceptions.

“What Charlie is trying to say is that with a mess like that it doesn’t really matter what this tastes like. You’re in a competition, man.” Austin picked up the gold spoon and pointed it at the dessert, which was starting to lose its shape on the plate.

“Cut, cut,” Austin said, sticking his spoon into the melting ice cream layer. “This is a mess. Again. We just had to do ice cream today.” Austin heaved a dramatic sigh in Cass’s direction, and Justin looked even more nervous. “Can someone get me another plate? Hurry up.”