Page 39 of Things We Need to Say (Second Chance Love Stories #2)

Jay was having a wonderful night. The alcohol, adrenaline and joy of having made it to the banquet was a heady mixture.

He did feel a twinge of guilt about Emma — she’d been so supportive of him throughout the competition — but this was the last time he would see the other competitors until the day of the actual banquet.

He pushed his guilt aside. He was keen to not let it ruin his evening.

‘I’m starving,’ Chloe said. ‘Anyone fancy going for a meal?’

‘Not me,’ Rav said. ‘I need to get home. My wife will have dinner waiting for me and if I hurry I’ll be able to read my girls a bedtime story.’

‘Oh, that’s lovely. How old are they?’ Chloe asked.

‘Seven and five,’ Rav replied. The grin on his face made it obvious that he adored them.

‘And is your wife as good a cook as you?’ Chloe continued.

He smiled again. ‘She is, yes, even though she doesn’t believe it. If I know her she will have been cooking all day, because she knows that I won’t have eaten.’

Jay felt another pang of guilt. Emma had offered to cook for him too, but he had turned her down.

‘Earth to Jay?’ Chloe said, and Jay realised she’d been talking to him.

‘Sorry, what?’

‘I said, as it’s just the two of us, do you fancy eating, or do you want to celebrate with your girlfriend? Emma, isn’t it?’

Fleetingly, Jay wondered if he should go home. But then he remembered how he had brushed Emma off when he had been so caught up in the thrill of getting through to the banquet. She probably wouldn’t be that pleased to see him, now. And he was hungry.

‘I’d love to,’ he said.

‘What do you fancy, then?’

‘Um ... er — I don’t know.’

‘All this talk of Rav’s banquet has made me fancy an Indian. What about you?’

‘Sounds good to me.’

Rav pulled his jacket from the back of the chair. ‘I’ll leave you two to it then. See you both at the banquet. And again, congratulations. I’m really pleased the three of us will be working together. We make a good team.’

‘We do.’ Chloe smiled at him. ‘And I’m glad you got through too.’

‘And me,’ Jay said.

When Rav had left, Chloe said, ‘So where shall we go then? There’s a really good restaurant in Elephant and Castle if that’s not too out of your way.’

‘I live in Kennington, so that’s perfect.’

‘Great.’

As they sat together on the Tube, Jay was completely tongue-tied. It suddenly felt strange to be alone with Chloe outside of the competition and he wondered if he’d done the right thing in agreeing to go for a meal with her.

‘You’ve gone quiet,’ Chloe said eventually.

‘It’s just the Tube,’ he said, lying.

She chuckled. ‘Yes. No one speaks and no one can look anyone in the eye. You wouldn’t get that in Manchester. Can’t shut people up there.’

Jay laughed. ‘I wouldn’t know, I’ve never been.

’ He considered this for a moment. Apart from the odd holiday to Spain or Greece, he’d never been anywhere outside of London.

They hadn’t had the money for holidays or weekends away when he was a child, and since training as a chef he just hadn’t found the time.

‘If you haven’t been to Manchester then you haven’t lived.’ Chloe interrupted his thoughts.

‘And yet you live in London?’ he said, glad that their conversation was on safe ground.

‘It suits me for work at the moment, but I’ll always be a northern girl at heart.’

‘And I’ll always be a London boy.’

Chloe jumped up. ‘This is our stop.’

As they emerged into the dusk of the summer evening, Chloe led the way to the Indian restaurant while Jay tried to convince himself he was just going for something to eat with a colleague, and that this wasn’t strange at all.

When they’d ordered, Jay asked, ‘So once the banquet is over, what are you going to do? Go back to the restaurant you’re in already or try something new?’

Chloe took a sip of lager. ‘I don’t know. I suppose initially I’ll go back, but I really fancy doing something different. This competition has been a challenge, but I’ve loved every minute of it. It’s made me realise that I want to keep pushing myself. There’s no point in treading water.’

Jay admired her confidence and the fact that, if there was something she wanted, she’d have no hesitation in moving forward. Unlike him. He knew what he wanted yet he was still holding himself back. Working with Liz — was that treading water when his real goal was to set up on his own?

‘Honestly, Jay, you’re miles away tonight. I asked you what you’re going to be doing after the competition,’ Chloe said.

Focusing on her, he said, ‘My business partner, Liz, is pregnant, so I’ll be stepping up while she’s on maternity leave.

’ And in choosing the words ‘stepping up’ he realised that he too would be moving forward, maybe just slightly slower than Chloe would contemplate.

Also, remembering Angela’s advice, he knew it was the right thing for him to do at the moment.

‘So although I’ll be doing the same job, it doesn’t feel like a step backwards to me,’ he added.

‘Sounds interesting.’

‘It was Liz’s business originally, but when she wanted to expand she asked me to become her partner,’ he said, convincing himself that he should be proud of what he’d achieved so far.

‘Shortly afterwards we took on a contract to cater for functions at Diva’s restaurant in Fitzroy Square, as well as private functions. ’

Chloe’s eyes widened. ‘I didn’t know that. Diva’s has a fabulous reputation. What are the owners like?’

‘There are three of them altogether. Roberto Bianchi is Chef Patron. He’s brilliant. I used to work for him at La Emporium. Liz worked there too. Alex Sinclaire, Liz’s husband, is pretty hands-off. He’s more involved in the property side of things. And then there’s Tia McIntyre.’

‘Socialite and interior designer?’ Chloe asked.

‘The very same.’

‘Wow!’ Chloe said. ‘You do move in some fancy circles.’

Jay grinned as their food arrived. They both tucked in with gusto. All day they’d been surrounded by food, but hadn’t had the opportunity to eat.

He glanced at Chloe and realised he would miss her company once the competition was over.

He remembered his conversation with Liz.

It would be fun working with Chloe. She’d bring a new zest to his working environment, if she was interested.

He decided to bite the bullet. ‘Actually, with Liz on maternity leave, we were thinking of taking on another chef. It might only be on a temporary basis, say six months to a year, if you’re interested in something new? ’

Chloe stared at him. ‘Are you serious?’

‘Yes. It wouldn’t just be up to me, though. You’d have to meet Liz and she’d be the one to make the decision. But having worked with you, I know you’d be a good fit for the business.’

Chloe beamed. ‘That would be amazing and I’d love to work with you after the competition is over.’

‘I’ll sort something out with Liz then, after the banquet.’

‘Oh, God, the banquet!’ Chloe said. ‘I’m so pleased to have got through, but now that I have I’m rather terrified. Are you?’

‘Absolutely,’ Jay said. ‘I’ve been having nightmares about apples. And to scale that dish up to feed a hundred people, I’m beginning to wonder if I’ve taken on too much.’

Chloe put her hand on his arm and smiled at him. ‘We’re all in this together, Jay. We’ll all help each other.’

‘We will,’ he said, at a loss to know what else to say.