Page 29 of Things We Need to Say (Second Chance Love Stories #2)

A wave of relief washed over him as the chefs filed out of the kitchen.

That was it. He had cooked all four of his dishes and there was nothing more he could do now.

It was all in the hands of the judges. He looked up from packing up his belongings towards the judges’ table.

Only two of them were there — Angela and Philip.

They were deep in conversation, their heads bent closely together.

Louis had obviously sloped off somewhere. He’d tried not to let the chef put him off through the competition, although it had been difficult at times. He decided to pack up his van before getting changed. There would probably be a crush in the changing rooms at the moment.

As Jay was finishing loading up his van he saw Rav, still in his chef’s whites, doing the same. They walked back into the building together and Jay clapped him on the shoulder. ‘So, how do you think it went today?’

‘I’m not sure. I made a few silly mistakes that I wouldn’t normally make, so I can only hope I’ve done enough,’ Rav said.

‘I cooked a dish that is often served as a celebration dish, particularly at weddings, called kacchi biriyani. I’ve cooked it many times, but I think my nerves got the better of me today.

And compared to your apples, my attempt at gulab jamun, which is a popular dessert within my cuisine, just couldn’t compete. ’

‘You had some good comments from the judges, though, so maybe you’re being too hard on yourself.’

‘Well, I hope so, because I’d like to go through to the group challenge. That will all be about working together and I think we’d make a pretty good team.’

Jay laughed. ‘That would be good, but there’s no guarantee I’ll get through either.’

‘You’ve definitely got a good chance. Were you listening to what they said today? I reckon your apple dessert was the dish of the day.’

‘Thank you, Rav, that is high praise coming from you. I just wish they’d let us know the results today, as they have done in the previous rounds, rather than make us wait until next week.’

‘I imagine it will be a difficult decision at this stage in the competition,’ Rav said, ‘so they are going to want to take their time.’

‘I suppose so. I’m just being impatient. Come on, let’s get changed.’

They moved towards the changing rooms, but just outside the lounge area they heard a cry that sounded like someone in pain.

After a quick glance at each other, Jay pushed through the door with Rav hot on his heels.

As Jay stopped short in shock, Rav bumped into him.

To his surprise, Louis was lying on the floor clutching his groin in agony.

Standing above him with her hair escaping from her plait and her face bright red was Chloe.

‘Are you okay?’ Jay asked her, even though Louis was the one on the ground.

‘I am now,’ she said defiantly and then looked down at Louis. ‘But if you try anything like that again, a knee in the groin will be the least of your worries.’ With that she stepped around them all and stormed out of the room.

Jay and Rav looked at each other in astonishment.

‘Did you see what she did? You’re my witnesses,’ Louis gasped from the floor.

‘I didn’t see anything.’ Jay turned around to follow Chloe out of the room.

She was sitting on a chair in Reception. All her defiance had gone and she was trembling as she held her head in her hands.

Jay crouched down before her, but far enough away so that she didn’t feel he was invading her space.

‘Are you okay?’

She nodded numbly.

‘Want to talk about it?’

She held her head up and he could see that she was close to tears.

‘He caught me alone in the room, came on to me, and told me that if I was nice to him he’d make sure I got through to the next round.’

‘That’s disgusting,’ Jay said, appalled at Louis’ behaviour.

‘Isn’t it? And when I said no, he tried to take what he wanted anyway. But his loafers were no defence for my boots. And once I’d caught him off guard, I gave him a good knee in the nuts, which is when you came in.’

‘That must have been really scary.’

‘For a few minutes it was,’ Chloe said. ‘But I’ve trained in some of the toughest restaurants and there are a lot of chefs who behave like him, so over the years I’ve learned to defend myself.’

‘You shouldn’t have to though.’

At the sound of footsteps, they both looked up, to see Louis with his bag and his coat. He cast a brief, worried glance at them and scuttled out of the door.

Rav joined them. ‘Well, at least he’s gone now.’

‘Are you going to report him?’ Jay asked.

Chloe nodded her head. ‘Oh yes. I’m not going to let him get away with this.’

‘If you want some moral support while you speak to the judges, I’d be happy to come with you.’

‘That will be wonderful, thanks.’

‘And I’ll come too,’ Rav agreed. ‘We may not have seen the actual assault but we’d trust you over Louis any day.’

‘Thanks guys, I really do appreciate it.’

* * *

The three of them walked back into the kitchen area, where Angela and Philip were still huddled over their notebooks, obviously discussing the outcome of the day.

Chloe cleared her throat.

‘Hi, I’m sorry to interrupt, but I was wondering if I can have a word?’

Angela looked up and smiled at her. ‘Of course you can.’ She shuffled her papers together and covered them with her notebook. ‘What can we do for you?’

‘It’s about Louis,’ Chloe said and Jay noticed her voice had a slight wobble. She looked up. Jay smiled at her and she continued. ‘He assaulted me in the changing area.’

‘What?’ Angela exclaimed. ‘Please, tell us what happened.’

‘When I came out of the changing room area, Louis was in the lounge,’ Chloe said.

‘He told me he found me attractive and that he’d like to take me out sometime.

’ Jay noticed that Philip was frowning, but didn’t actually look surprised.

‘When I said I wasn’t interested and it wouldn’t be good to fraternise with a judge, he said it could be our secret and that it would be to my advantage for the competition if I did.

’ She took a deep breath. ‘I said no again, that I wasn’t interested, and I picked up my bag and started to walk towards the door. ’

‘What happened next?’ Angela asked.

‘He grabbed hold of me and tried to kiss me.’ She closed her eyes as she remembered. ‘I turned my head away and then I stamped on his foot. He was startled and while he was off balance I kneed him in the groin.’ She said the words in a rush.

‘That’s when Rav and I came into the room, to see Louis on the floor,’ Jay said.

‘So you didn’t see what happened?’ Philip asked.

‘No, but—’

Philip held his hand up to stop Jay. ‘I’m not saying that because I don’t believe Chloe — I do. It’s Louis I don’t trust, and I can imagine he’ll deny it and say it’s his word against Chloe’s.’

‘It’s a good job I’ve got proof then. Well, at least I hope I have,’ Chloe said.

‘I’ve always been wary of Louis and the way he stood just a little bit too close to me.

I’d just sent a text when he came into the room, so I switched on a recording app on my phone.

I haven’t listened to it yet, but I hope it’s recorded okay. ’

‘Well, that’s good,’ Angela said. ‘I’m sorry you had to go through that.

You won’t have to see him again in the kitchen.

We’ll report this straight away and get him thrown off the judging panel.

Philip and I had our doubts about him from the beginning.

We reported the fact that he knew Jay from previous employment to the sponsors when Jay told us on the first day of the competition.

By rights Louis should have been the one to tell us, but he didn’t.

We thought the sponsors would replace him, but, for reasons we can’t go into to, they wanted to keep him.

I can’t imagine they’ll be able to now though.

’ Turning to Chloe, she said, ‘What you’ve described is certainly assault, so I’m wondering if you are thinking of reporting him to the police?

You’ll have our full support if you do.’

‘I don’t know. I hadn’t really thought that far ahead,’ Chloe said. ‘But maybe I should. I’m not afraid to hold him accountable for his actions.’

‘It’s entirely your decision.’ Angela squeezed her arm. ‘It’s not an easy thing to do, but if you do decide to report him there’s a station just round the corner.’

Chloe nodded. ‘Yes, I will. It is the right thing to do.’

‘Want some company?’ Jay asked.

Chloe nodded. ‘I’d appreciate that.’

‘And I’ll come too, if I may?’ Rav said.

The three of them smiled at each other.