Yes Chef, No Chef - By Susan Willis Page 0,95
girl and picked up the broken plate then pushed everyone along on his side of the table to make room for Katie. They’d been the best of friends for the next three years.
Watching him at the bar ordering their lunch and drinks she decided that disappointing as it was and even though he was still the same genuine, decent guy she couldn't possibly think of this as a date because she didn’t fancy him one iota. He would always be lovely but only in a brotherly manner which was a shame because she’d built herself up for a little flirtation.
After she’d looked at his photograph of his eight year old boy and listened to the tale of his divorce, he said, “Tell me again why I didn’t snap you up and beg you to marry me?”
Katie grinned. “Well, you did one drunken New Year’s Eve, but because our dear friend Lucy was besotted with you, I just couldn’t do that to a friend. You know us girls have to stick together.”
He laughed and fiddled with a beer mat on the table. “Aah Lucy, of course,” he said thoughtfully. “Nice girl, but she wasn’t a patch on our considerate and loyal Katie.”
She slapped him playfully on the arm and he told her where and what Lucy and their other friends were doing and the career paths they’d carved out for themselves. Promising each other they'd definitely keep in touch and contact more of their university crowd to arrange a reunion they headed back to the shop.
When Phil went to get changed Doug came from behind the counter. “Here’s my uncle’s number who gave me information about government loans for small businesses, and I’ve put my number on there as well,” he said. The small note of paper looked lost in one of his big hands and although she knew it was rude she simply couldn't stop staring at them.
"Actually," he said smiling, "I don't know if this is your type of thing or not, but I've been thinking of having some recipe leaflets done to encourage the customers to buy some of the least popular cuts of meat. I thought it might pick my sales up a bit. What do you think?"
She dragged her eyes away from his hands. "Oh yes, of course it would help. I could certainly do some recipes for you. It’s a great idea and maybe I could download some pictures to go with them?"
"Right, nothing too fancy though. Maybe similar to the ones in Sainsbury’s or Waitrose?" Nodding thoughtfully he grabbed another piece of paper and wrote down the meats he wanted her to include and she agreed to keep the recipes simple. While he wrote down his email address, she looked at his bent head and reckoned he had to be at least six foot, and although he wasn't particularly good looking, he did have thick, solid shoulders and there was certainly something very appealing about him. They agreed a schedule and price for the job and she offered to call back in a couple of days with some proofs for him to check. She practically skipped back up the road thinking how lucky she'd been to have such a lovely lunch; to make another business contact at the same time was fantastic.
Once home and changing into her Sloppy Joe’s she walked past her answer machine in the lounge, She couldn't stop herself checking for messages because even though it was over a week since Tim’s visit she still hoped he’d ring. But the light on the answer machine remained firmly off and she thought how there was nothing so lonely as an answer machine with no messages. Dear God, how she’d love to see it flashing so she could at least hear his voice and accepting the tears now as a normal reaction to grieve for someone she let them fall instead of struggling against them.
Perching on the edge of the settee she blew her nose and looked around the lounge. It was amazing how quickly she’d settled into the new flat, and was actually beginning to think of it, and not the apartment, as home. She idly traced her finger along a deep crease in the leather hide of the brown settee and felt pleased with her new décor. She’d used the same colours they’d had in the apartment and knew other women would probably have had a change but basically she couldn’t think of any other colour scheme she liked better. Michael