Yes Chef, No Chef - By Susan Willis Page 0,2
slim shapely legs. But sadly that wasn’t going to happen tonight. A sudden idea of charging into the restaurant’s kitchen and showing him exactly what he was missing and then throwing his tuxedo at him or into a pan of boiling soup flashed into her mind, but this would only make her look foolish. Grinning with the thought of how much it would embarrass him though she grabbed her clutch bag, pushed her feet into black patent heels and ran out of the apartment.
Daylight was fading and the bright street lights heralded the start of London’s busy night-life as the taxi manoeuvred its way along the Strand. Throngs of people spilled out of restaurants and hotels onto the pavements as the juggling mixture of buses, cars, and bicycles fought their way into positions. The window of the taxi was pulled half-way down and the noise of people laughing and shouting filled Katie’s quiet space while she shuffled trying to pull her dress further down because her legs were sticking to the plastic cover on the seat. She thought of how much Tim would have enjoyed the buzz and laid her hand on the empty space on the seat – she missed him being next to her.
What was she going to do about their relationship? She groaned silently, it was petering-out fast and she didn’t know how to get it back on track. They’d been so happy living together in the apartment for nearly fourteen months now, or at least she had. But, maybe he wasn’t and wanted something more or someone else? Shaking the bad vibes from her mind she promised herself she wouldn’t think of it again until she got home.
The party was held in The Lancaster Room at the Savoy and Katie marvelled at the interior. The website had described it’s décor as ‘sparkling with timeless elegance and glamour’ and when she walked into the room she decided they had it in a nutshell. Although it was a large room with high ceilings, it was warm and she gazed upwards at the glittering lights from four huge chandeliers while listening to the quiet soft notes of Gershwin’s music. It was the ideal choice for the party because it had a clear floor space for dancing and even a small stage where the chief executive would make his speech to open the new advertising campaign. She walked through the room from the tall white Art Deco doors and spotted her two junior technologists, Harry and Alice who were looking at the seating plan pinned to a clip board and she called out a greeting.
Alice smiled sheepishly at her with excited bright eyes. “Is my dress OK?” she asked Katie nervously.
Katie knew this was Alice’s first big function with the company and was determined to enjoy herself but at the same time didn’t want to let the department down in any way.
“It’s perfect, Alice,” she said hugging her warmly.
Harry stepped forward and kissed Katie’s cheek. “And will I do?” he asked her, grinning broadly in his black tuxedo and freshly gel-spiked hair. He was only twenty one and fresh out of University but she loved his open, sincere personality and eagerness to learn.
“It’ll do very nicely,” she said beaming back at him.
Waitresses and waiters in the obligatory black skirts and trousers with clean white shirts wandered amongst groups of people with trays of champagne flutes and Katie inhaled the heady mixture of strong female perfumes.
“I think we are sitting at table six,” Harry said as they helped themselves to a glass of champagne and manoeuvred their way in between round tables covered with white tablecloths and gilded chairs with cream upholstery. Table six was towards the back of the room and they found their names on place cards propped up in front of white linen napkins, and silver and blue decorations. A silver candelabrum stood in the centre of the table with three white candles and Harry lit them while Alice delightedly fingered her card which had a blue background and her name in silver print.
Excitedly Alice squeezed Katie’s arm and looked in wonderment around the table. “Oh, isn’t it all just beautiful?”
“It certainly is,” Katie agreed while counting ten tables strategically placed around the room. “I just wish we could have been on a table nearer the front.”
Awestruck, Alice whispered, “Well, we couldn’t expect to be sitting at the management tables.”
Katie sipped her champagne thoughtfully. “Of course we couldn’t,” she said, but looked longingly at table three where ten