Yes Chef, No Chef - By Susan Willis Page 0,80

glass but she put her hand over the top of hers preventing him from filling it up and smiled reassuringly at him.

He continued, “So, I blurted out that I was going to ask her to marry me and had an engagement ring ready and asked her why she hadn’t said anything earlier. And she said it only happened two days ago and it wasn’t her fault because she didn’t know anything about getting engaged.”

He was rambling now as if he was turning the argument over in his mind, “And then I accused her of just accepting the job without talking to me first and asked her where that left us? And that’s when she’d slammed out of the room…” he said heaving a deep sigh.

Katie sighed too. “Oh dear. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get engaged,” she said trying to sound comforting. “Can’t you just wait until she gets back?”

“Well, it doesn’t look now as though she wants to,” he whined. “It was as if she couldn’t wait to get away from me and hated the idea of getting engaged. What’s wrong with me, Katie?”

His face got closer and closer to hers and she shrank back from him further and further into the soft plush settee. He stared at her now as though he was seeing her for the first time and gave her a half-cocked drunken grin.

She said, “Now Terry, there’s nothing wrong with you. You’ve probably had a little too much wine and you are…” she didn’t get another word out before he lunged at her and starting kissing her so hard that she struggled to breathe. His mouth stank of red wine and she tried to pull away but his lips seemed to have a suction quality all of their own, so with both her hands on his thick set chest she pushed as hard as she could to get him off her. The feeling of pressure on his chest must have brought him to his senses and he released his lips from her mouth.

She gasped for breath and jumped up off the settee. “Got to go,” she rasped, “I have to get home.”

Her heart was pounding fit to burst out of her chest and her mouth was dry with fear as she fled down the hall to the kitchen.

He followed slowly, apologising, and desperately trying to make amends. “God, Katie, I’m really sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”

She was pulling on her jacket and grabbing all her bags together while unsteadily he slouched against the kitchen door. “Look, let me help you,” he tried again.

“N…no, I’m fine,” she almost squeaked with hysteria. “I can manage.”

Instead of waiting for the lift she took the stairs two at a time and ran out onto the pavement gasping for breath in the cold night air.

Chapter Nineteen

Tim’s stomach was knotted with tension while he paced the floor of the lounge in the apartment trying to make his glass of red wine last until it was time to meet Julie. They’d arranged to meet at a restaurant on New King’s Road and although he was excited and looking forward to meeting her it had been a long time since he’d dated and worried she was out of his league. He’d often heard Jessie and Simon talking about speed dating and on-line dates and knew there was a whole new set of do’s and don’ts that he was out of touch with.

“She’s called, Julie, but I call her Miss Cupcake,” he’d told Luke on his mobile.

Luke had laughed and said, “Just get out there and have a good time.”

Tim had frowned. “I will, but I’m a bit worried that I’m out of my depth?”

“Look it’s just like learning to ride a bike,” Luke advised. “As soon as you get your feet back in the pedals again you’ll be fine.”

They’d both laughed at this and then Luke had told him he’d definitely decided to leave Yorkshire and return to London. Tim’s flagging spirits rose and excitedly he’d invited him to stay in the apartment until he found somewhere to live. He grinned imagining them as roommates again and memories of drunken nights at parties, sharing everything at university, even girlfriends at one stage, flitted through his mind. And although they were older and wiser now, he knew Luke’s company was just what he needed at the moment.

Managing to fight off the urge to pour another glass of wine for Dutch courage he wondered if they should both enter the marathon