Yes Chef, No Chef - By Susan Willis Page 0,31
and grand front doors. It was hard to pick out which was the most exclusive and knew this was wealth on a grand scale. Her mum would usually recite the saying, that money didn’t always bring happiness, but she wouldn’t mind testing that theory one day.
Running back up the stairs with her things she tried to muster some excitement for the party but knew her heart wasn’t in it. The unhappy alternative though was to stay in the flat all night alone with only the previous upsetting memories to keep her company – this made her physically shudder with dread. She decided to go along for a few hours and then make an early exit once Lisa had got hooked up with her guy which, knowing Lisa’s usual track record, shouldn’t take too long.
Plans for who was showering first and what clothes they’d wear were made over a bottle of pink champagne and a table was booked at a small Italian restaurant for supper before the party. Lisa was the perfect host and made Katie feel relaxed and welcome up to the stage where momentarily she forgot the earlier upset at the apartment and began to remember with amusement the single life she’d led before Tim. While styling their hair, applying make-up and painting finger nails they chatted and laughed remembering nights with Sarah at different dances and parties and some of the hilarious antics they’d got up to and by the time the taxi arrived Katie felt slightly tiddly and in an upbeat mood.
“Thanks, Lisa,” she said when they left and walked down the steps onto the street. “I feel so much better than I did when we got here this afternoon - you’ve been an absolute tonic.”
Lisa opened the taxi door and climbed in. “Tsk, you’d do the same if I was in your situation,” she said blushing.
Katie sat next to her on the back seat and Lisa looking uneasily down at her shoes obviously embarrassed with the compliment and Katie thought she looked like someone caught in the act of being considerate and was almost ashamed at possessing such a virtue.
While Lisa gave directions to the taxi driver she let her mind drift back to the day she’d met Lisa. She’d been having lunch on her own in a café opposite the office in Holborn because Frances had cancelled at the last minute and had looked up from her plate to see Lisa breeze into the packed room. Because there were no empty tables she’d asked Katie if she could share hers and they’d started chatting and laughing together from the minute she’d sat down. Lisa had been doing some PR work in a nearby office block so they’d arranged to meet for lunch again the following week and within a couple of months they were great friends. Sarah however, had taken a little longer to firm her friendship with Lisa’s often complex personality but now the three of them were inseparable and Sarah loved her just as much as she did.
“No garlic bread tonight,” Lisa warned when they studied the menu in the restaurant. “I don’t want to be reeking of garlic when I get my lips around this guy.”
Katie giggled at her friend and not for the first time longed to have just a quarter of her self-confidence. It was as though there wasn’t a smidgen of doubt in Lisa’s mind that she wouldn’t have this guy tonight.
“I’ve got mints in my bag,” she offered, to which Lisa raised a haughty eyebrow and gently shook her head.
“My dear!” she exclaimed. “Have you learnt nothing from me over the last few years?” and they both dissolved into fits of giggles which turned the heads of other diners in the room. The waiter appeared and joined in their happy spirit while Lisa rose to his challenge and good humoured banter was played back and forth like a tennis ball while ordering their food. Katie looked around the room and relaxed, she felt content with her glass of wine, a much improved state of mind, her good friend’s excited chatter, and for the first time in what seemed like forever she actually could see the light at the end of a black tunnel.
She told Lisa how she was feeling and she clapped her hands together delightedly. “Now that’s grand, isn’t it?” Lisa said. “Me and Sarah have been so worried about you all week and quite frankly it was heart-breaking to see you in such a state.”
“I know,