Page 49 of Things We Need to Say (Second Chance Love Stories #2)

Liz shifted on the chair she was sitting on in Diva’s restaurant.

She had barely slept last night, the baby had been so active.

She was twenty-eight weeks pregnant now and felt huge.

Her back ached and her ankles were swollen.

At least she had an appointment with the midwife next week.

She had so many questions, the most important being, was it normal to feel so uncomfortable all of the time?

It had taken three weeks to set up the meeting for the contract renewal with Tia and the last thing she needed now was to be waiting around for the woman to bother to show up.

Roberto looked at his watch and tutted. ‘If she’s not here in five minutes, I suggest we start the meeting without her.’

Alex nodded. ‘I completely agree. Are you okay, Liz?’

‘Yes, I’m fine.’ Liz smiled at him, even though she felt anything but. She was grateful that there were no functions until the weekend.

The door opened and Tia breezed through it.

‘Hello, everyone.’ She spoke without a hint of an apology in her voice.

Roberto looked pointedly at his watch again. ‘We were expecting you twenty minutes ago.’

‘Well, I’m here now, so we can get started, can’t we?’

‘Yes, let’s, because I for one have other places I need to be,’ Roberto replied.

‘I’ll make this as quick as possible then. Liz, Jay, we’re here to discuss the changes to your contract.’ Tia continued unruffled. ‘As I have intimated before, you have been using Diva’s kitchen to fulfil your own business needs as well as ours.’

Jay tried to defend them. ‘That’s not true—’

‘And as such, we feel that as part of this contract renewal we need to discuss what level of rent we will charge you in order for you to continue working here.’ Tia ignored him.

‘Where’s the “we” in this?’ Roberto asked. ‘Liz, Jay, I just have to say that this proposal has come from Tia and is not something Alex or I, as her business partners—’ he glared at Tia — ‘have had any input on.’

‘That’s correct,’ Alex said. ‘So, Tia, as we have finally pinned you down today, I think the three of us need to talk when we have finished our meeting with Liz and Jay. Roberto and I are very keen to discuss the future of our own partnership.’

‘Well, let’s deal with our business here first, shall we?’ The look she gave Liz and Jay could only be interpreted as not in front of the servants . ‘So, let’s get back to the subject of rent.’

‘I don’t agree with the idea of charging rent,’ Alex said.

‘Liz and Jay are doing an excellent job catering for the functions at Diva’s and I know for a fact that they use their own kitchen for their own functions.

So for them to incur an extra cost would be counter-productive to the current working relationship. ’

‘Thanks, Alex.’ Liz smiled at her husband. ‘But I have been giving this matter some thought. And I’m not completely opposed to the idea of paying rent.’

There were several shocked gasps around the table, especially from Jay.

‘I’m sorry, Jay, I haven’t had a chance to discuss this with you before as it only occurred to me on the way in this morning.’

Jay nodded at her. She was glad he had her back even though he had no idea what she was about to say. Liz looked to the others. Alex and Roberto both had confused frowns on their faces, while Tia was grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

‘Well, Liz, I can only say that I’m glad you’ve come round to my way of thinking,’ she said.

‘Actually, Tia, I haven’t quite finished,’ Liz said. ‘If we were to pay rent to you, then we would become your tenants instead of your contractor, and, as such, what we really need to be discussing here are the future lease terms, not contract-renewal terms.’

The smile slipped from Tia’s face. ‘I don’t understand.’

Alex interjected as he caught on. ‘What Liz means is that, if we charge rent, they will require a legally binding lease setting out the terms of how, and for how long, they are entitled to occupy their part of the building. As such, we will become their landlords and we will have no say in how they run their business as long as they operate within the terms of the lease.’

‘But the deal is they cater exclusively for Diva’s customers.’

‘That’s exactly my point, Tia. You can’t charge us rent and then expect to have a say in how we run our business.

Of course, we owe a certain amount of loyalty to Diva’s, and I’m sure we can come to some kind of preferential agreement with yourselves to cater for Diva’s clients.

’ Liz looked to Jay, who nodded in agreement and smiled.

‘But effectively we would also be free to cater for our own private clients in the space we occupy and pay for, and charge at our own pricing points.’

Tia looked outraged. ‘No, that’s not what I was suggesting at all.’

‘It’s quite clear that you need to decide on one way or the other. You can’t have both, Tia.’

Liz smiled inwardly at the way Tia’s lips puckered in disapproval. If she hadn’t been sitting down, Liz could imagine her stamping her foot in frustration at not getting her own way.

‘I suggest that Jay and I leave you to your discussions,’ Liz said. ‘Although if we could reach a decision quickly, I would be grateful. I’d really like to get everything finalised as soon as possible so that I can then get everything in place before I go on maternity leave.’

Alex reached for his phone. ‘I’ll book a taxi for you on my account, seeing as I won’t be able to drive you back as planned.’

‘No need. I’ll see Liz back home,’ Jay said.

‘I’m not a child,’ Liz replied, feeling indignant.

‘No, but we have plenty of things to discuss along the way.’

* * *

As Jay drove back to Liz and Alex’s flat, he said, ‘Well, I have to admit it, you played a blinder in there.’

‘Certainly wiped the smile off Tia’s face, didn’t it?’

Jay chuckled. ‘Oh, it did. I could hardly contain myself. Although I couldn’t have been more shocked when you agreed to paying rent.’

‘I know. I’m sorry. Normally I’d have discussed it with you first, but the I didn’t get a chance before the meeting. Something Alex said about leases on the way in struck a chord and I realised it might be the perfect way to get Tia to relinquish control.’

‘Genius idea if you ask me.’

‘The lease on our own kitchen ends in a few months. If we do agree to lease Diva’s we could terminate that lease and reduce some of our overheads. I know it won’t be as convenient for you though, not having the workspace downstairs from where you live.’

‘I don’t mind that at all. I actually prefer the kitchen at Diva’s.’

‘I do too, although I will be sad to say goodbye to that little kitchen. I have lots of good memories there.’

‘Yes,’ Jay said. ‘It’s where it all started. But looking to the future, you moving house has made me realise I can’t rely on being your tenant for ever.’

‘I’m not thinking of selling, Jay. I told you, you’re welcome to stay there as long as you want.’

‘I know, but after everything that’s happened I think I need some stability in my life. I’ve got some money saved, so I was thinking I might look into buying my own place.’

‘But what about your plans for your own restaurant?’

‘I’ve realised it’s a long way in the future and maybe a house would be a good investment. Besides, it doesn’t feel the same being in the flat without Emma, so maybe a fresh start is just what I need.’

‘How are you coping, Jay?’

‘I’m just taking it one day at a time and trying to keep busy.’

‘Well, you’re certainly going to be that for the foreseeable.’

‘Yes, and it’ll be great to have something else to focus on.’

Liz fell silent as they continued their journey.

She felt certain that Emma wasn’t seeing someone else, but Jay seemed pretty convinced.

She still hadn’t got round to meeting up with her friend, but she’d give her a ring later and invite her round.

Then she could really get to the bottom of what was actually going on.

* * *

Liz was dozing on the sofa when Alex returned from the meeting later that afternoon.

‘Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you,’ he said as she stirred.

‘It’s okay, I was cat-napping. It’s the only kind of sleep I seem to get at the moment.’

‘Must be the little one preparing you for all those night feeds. But it’s good to see you’re getting some rest. You must need it after this morning.’

She pulled herself up into a sitting position. ‘Yes, it was a bit dramatic.’

‘Wait until I tell you what happened after you left. It got even worse.’

‘Oh, I can’t wait to hear about that.’

‘Let me get myself a cup of coffee first. Can I get you anything?’

‘A peppermint tea would be nice. I’ve got terrible heartburn and a thumping head, so some paracetamol wouldn’t go amiss either.’

‘Consider it done. And when you’ve caught up with everything, I think you should go for a proper lie-down.’

‘Yes, I will. It’s really taking it out of me at the moment so I’ll be glad to see the midwife next week.’

‘Me too. I’d like to make sure that everything’s okay.’

‘I’m sure it will be, but you can understand why I want to get everything in place as soon as I can.’

He put the tea, a glass of water and two painkillers on the coffee table and sat down opposite her.

‘So, come on then, spill,’ she said when she’d swallowed the pills.

‘Tia wasn’t a happy bunny, I can tell you. I must admit the way you handled everything was inspired. I was all set to fight your corner, but I should have realised I didn’t need to.’

‘Well, it did come from something you said to me this morning, so I’d say it was teamwork.’

He smiled. ‘She certainly didn’t like being outmanoeuvred. In fact, she had a complete meltdown.’

Liz frowned. ‘That’s not like her. She’s usually so in control. But she has been acting oddly for a while now.’

‘I know, and, when Roberto and I joined forces and insisted that a tenancy agreement was the way forward, she really lost it. Said we were ganging up on her. That the restaurant and hotel were the only things she had control over in her life and we had no right to take that away from her.’

Liz frowned. ‘I don’t understand.’

‘It turns out Tia wants to meet “the one”, settle down and have children but she knows she’s running out of time.’

‘I can see how that would upset her.’

‘It’s more than that. I fear she’s on the verge of some sort of breakdown.’

‘Poor Tia,’ Liz said.

‘I know. I went into the meeting feeling aggrieved with her, but now... Well, I just feel sorry for her.’

‘Me too. So what happens now?’

‘Eventually Roberto and I managed to calm her down. We persuaded her to take some time to work things out. She’s going to book herself into a retreat in Bali.’

‘That sounds like just what she needs. But surely that puts more pressure on you, at a time when you need it least.’

‘It’s not ideal. But Roberto is going to spend more time at the restaurant and the hotel is running relatively smoothly. We’ve got a good management team, so hopefully I’ll only have to step in if there are any problems.

‘As long as you don’t overdo it yourself.’

‘I won’t. But at least we can sort out the terms of the lease together.’

‘That’s something,’ Liz said with a sigh of relief. ‘I do sympathise with Tia, but sorting out the lease will be a lot easier without her involved.’

‘Completely.’

‘And managing the business while I’m on maternity leave will be a lot easier for Jay if everything is operating from one place.’

‘Leaving us to be able to concentrate on our new addition to the family.’

Liz smiled. She loved her work, but she was more than ready to focus on this new chapter of her life.