book club are finishing their meeting. I grin at them. “What’s the book this week, Fred?”
Fred, the old librarian from the village, holds up a book on which two men are entwined on the cover. I blink. “That doesn’t look like it’s from the Richard and Judy Book Club.”
Philippa, the lady who runs the club, laughs. “Oh, we don’t read that shit. Far too tame.”
I’m well aware of that. Oz is a member of the club and last week’s book of the week was an erotic story which he’d read to me while we were lying naked in bed. I’d been lying on my front nestling my head into my arms while he lay with his head pillowed on my arse. His Irish accent had drifted through the bedroom, spinning a spell of heat. I’m embarrassed to admit that we never even made it to page three. It was less erotic, however, when he’d picked it back up after we’d finished and had used funny accents for the next sex scene.
Oz comes hurrying up to me and pulls me to one side. “Listen, they’ve got a backlog. Can you wait for a bit while I help?”
I sigh. “How long?”
He shoots me a surprised look, because it isn’t like me to whine.
“Sorry,” I mutter. “I just really need some time with you.”
He hugs me and steps back, looking conflicted. “I can’t leave them,” he whispers. “They’re snowed under.”
“I’ll help you,” I say brightly. “If I do, we’ll get done quicker, and I can talk to you.”
“You’re going to wait on tables?” he asks, humorous dismay crossing face.
“Yes, if it gets the fucking food out quicker.”
He stares at me for a second and then laughs. “Okay, then. At the very least, I’ll have loads to tell Henry when he rings.” He gestures. “Follow me.”
I trail behind him and into the kitchen where Simon, the chef, is dishing up food quickly and adeptly. Plates are building up on the stainless steel counter. Oz picks up one of the tickets and gestures at two plates.
“Take those,” he orders. “They’re for table ten. Warn them that the plates are hot and don’t forget to give them cutlery.”
Simon looks utterly scandalized, and I grin. “Okay,” I say meekly.
I edge into the dining area carrying the plates carefully over to table ten, where a middle-aged couple is hissing at each other. The man looks bored, and the woman looks querulous.
“Good afternoon,” I say heartily. “Two Boursin Chicken.”
She nods and gestures at the table. “On here, please,” she orders as if I was somehow contemplating putting them on the floor.
My mouth quirks and I put the plates down obediently. “Please don’t touch the hot plates,” I say quickly and stare in amazement as the man immediately stretches out his fingers and touches the plate.
“Ouch!” he shouts. “These plates are bloody hot.”
“I did warn you,” I say and feel someone at my back. It’s Oz.
“Everything okay?” he asks smoothly.
“I burnt my finger on this plate. It’s hot.”
Oz looks at me, and I shake my head. “I did tell you it was hot,” I say patiently. “Yet you still reached out and grabbed it.”
Oz’s mouth quirks. “Your waiter will get you a bowl of cold water to put your hand in,” he says in a very lordly manner, and I make sure he sees me shake my head at him before I move off to obey the small tyrant.
When I come back, the woman is eating her food with a moue of disgust. “Is everything okay?” I ask, alarmed. This is one of Simon’s best dishes, and it’s delicious.
“It’s chicken. I don’t like chicken.”
I pause and look at Oz for direction. He’s biting his lips and obviously has none.
“Why did you order Boursin Chicken, then?” I ask politely.
“We were only trying to make life easy for you lot,” her husband says crossly.
I open my mouth to try and find a diplomatic way of saying I couldn’t care less what they eat as long as they enjoy it, but Oz elbows me and sends me on my way. I busy myself with trying to get the food out as quickly as I can and when I next look over they’re laughing at something he’s said.
He excuses himself and comes over with laughter brimming in his eyes.
“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,” I say crossly, and he snorts.
“I apologised for your fumbling ineptitude, but he excused me because I shouldn’t expect the apprentice to know how to serve food correctly.”