Yes Chef, No Chef - By Susan Willis Page 0,63
me,” he said, reaching across the table and suddenly grabbing her free hand. “I know you can feel the attraction between us and I’ve watched you trying to ignore me. It’s probably your way of fighting against it, babe. But, you know it would only be a matter of time before we’d have to surrender to it…”
Jesus, she fumed, this guy was something else and quickly snatched her hand away spilling some of the coffee from her mug. His fingers had felt cruel and rough and she trembled with outrage and hatred for this creep - not only was he taking her job he actually had the audacity to try and hit on her at the same time. Who the hell did he think he was?
“You’re taking the piss, right?” she hissed across the table at him. “You know, Alex, I can cheerfully and honestly say you’d be the last man on earth I could ever feel attracted to.”
He grinned patronisingly at her. “Oh, you probably just feel like that now because you’ve split up from your boyfriend the chef but you’ll soon be up for it again and just so you know, I’ll be here ready and waiting, babe.”
Katie’s temper rose to boiling point especially at the mention of her Tim and taking a deep breath she stood up and pulled the strap of her bag firmly up onto her shoulder. “Firstly, Alex, I’m not your babe,” she scathed. “And secondly, what makes you think any woman in her right mind could possibly be turned-on by a pathetic creep like you? I mean, you can’t even get a job on your own merit without having to run to your uncle!”
“Aah,” he breathed. “So that’s it. You’re jealous?”
“Jealous!” she shouted and knew everyone in the restaurant was turning to look at them but she was past caring. “Me - jealous of you? Christ, you’ve got to be joking…”
She quickly turned away from him and strode out of the restaurant. Her heart was racing in anger as she flew up the stairs and into the toilets where she stood gripping the edge of the wash basin breathing slowly and deeply trying to calm down. What on earth was she getting herself so agitated about, this time tomorrow she’d be finished, with a whole new way of life ahead of her and the likes of Alexander Jennings wouldn’t even figure on her radar? Smiling at herself in the mirror she lifted her chin and confidently pulled her shoulders back. It would take a lot more than his sarcastic remarks to spoil her day she thought, applying her new burnt orange lipstick which matched her orange blouse to perfection.
Completely back to her previous good mood and fully in control she sauntered back to the office and saw Frances at her desk with Harry and Alice sitting next to her and February’s issues of Delicious, BBC Good Food, and Hot Restaurant magazines spread out. Frances was explaining the procedure of writing recipes correctly and Katie smiled listening to her broad Somerset accent explaining the importance of listing ingredients with correct weights. Walking up to them she smiled fondly and knew she would miss her little team.
She put her arm along Frances’s shoulder who looked up and moaned, “Aah, Katie, what am I going to do without you? I still can’t believe you’re going - it’ll probably not sink in until you don’t come back on Monday morning and I’m sitting here looking at your empty desk…”
“Oh, you’ll be fine,” she said reassuring her. “You’ve done the job on your own before and it won’t be long until they find my replacement.”
Harry and Alice left the desk as it was obvious the teaching session was over and Frances stood up linking Katie’s arm in hers. “I didn’t mean the bloody work. I meant what am I going to do without you? I’m really going to miss you…” she said as they all set off to walk along to the meeting room for what Katie thought was a final product meeting.
While promising Frances she’d definitely keep in touch she opened the door and walked into the room. Suddenly the lights went on and all her friends jumped out shouting surprise. Katie’s heart began to pound with the shock and then grinned at them all.
“I wondered why the office was empty. I thought you must have all gone for lunch early,” she cried. The table was filled with a beautiful buffet lunch, bottles of champagne, and a