Yes Chef, No Chef - By Susan Willis Page 0,18
she’d grown up like you, well she too would probably still be looking for Mr Right.”
“Hmm,” Sarah pondered and shook her head. “Anyway, did I tell you Mark is coming up to York for the night?”
Katie grinned at her. “Oh my God, no you didn’t!”
“Well, when I told him about the course he decided to take the day off work and join me in the hotel to have dinner. There’s a fabulous pool and spa so it’ll be a good chance to relax and unwind, and the food is supposed to be out of this world…”
Katie drained her coffee. “And how long has he lasted?” she probed. “It has to be at least six or seven dates now?”
“Seven but I’m insisting on single rooms or at least until we get there,” she giggled.
“Seriously though, Sarah, give him a chance. I think he’s lovely and he’s obviously crazy about you,” Katie said without much hope. Over the years both her and Lisa had cajoled her into giving men a proper chance to see if they could, in time be Mr Right but Sarah was always adamant that it should feel right from the beginning and if the men weren’t instantly her Prince Charming she kicked them into touch without a second glance.
Leaving Sarah to her design she showered, dressed and felt her spirits lift a little when she stepped outside and looked at her Micra. Remembering how upset she’d been last night in the dark she decided that the saying, everything always looked better in the daylight, was true. The street was quiet, and as Katie slid into the driver’s seat she noticed a woman about her own age wearily pushing a toddler in his buggy who was crying loudly. The woman looked tired and miserable as though the last thing in the world she wanted to do was care for the child, and yet there upstairs in her studio sat Sarah who would give anything to be in this woman’s position with a child to love. Life certainly seemed unfair sometimes, Katie mused, pulling away from the kerb.
Driving across the city to work she wondered if Tim would be too embarrassed to ring her now that he would have calmed down and maybe he’d send an email instead, or perhaps he’d just call around to Sarah’s and Lisa’s looking for her? Well, probably not Lisa’s because he knew the hostile reception he’d get. Parking her car and heading into the office block she decided to push him and the argument firmly out of mind until she’d finished work.
Stepping out of the lift on the third floor she looked around the big room at the sales team in one section, the buyers in the furthest corner and the planning team in the middle next to her own product development section. When she’d first started at the company the work area had been carved into two corridors with numerous offices leading from it but two years ago the whole floor had been re-designed into one open plan office. At first there’d been grumblings from the staff who felt as though they were sitting in a new-fangled call centre but everyone had eventually settled and now they liked the fact that all the teams were together.
Walking across the room under the bright strip lighting she gazed at the desks with smart professional men and women going about their daily jobs and thought how fortunate she was to work with people she’d known for years. It was the type of national retailer that looked after their work force well and a place where people were happy to work, hence staying in the jobs for much longer than in other companies. And in these times of recession she decided, that counted for a lot.
Removing her grey suit jacket and sitting down at her desk she decided everyone looked the same as they had done when she’d left on Friday and it was definitely only her that felt different. Booting up her computer she picked up Tim’s photograph from her tidy minimalistic desk and placed it carefully face down under a pile of papers - she couldn’t bear to look at him today and wanted to keep her mind firmly on her work.
Fiddling with the mouse cable she connected straight through to her inbox and speed read the names. There were no emails from Tim and she read through her to-do list which she’d written on Friday. Sighing heavily she remembered how excited she’d been looking