Page 19 of Be My Traitor

“Could we get a bottle of red?” I said.

“Of course.” Dave did his little bow again and went off to fetch the wine, as Lucas started to examine the menu. I didn’t bother – I’d eaten here enough that I knew what I wanted.

“I can’t decide between the lababdar chicken or the prawn pachranga,” he said.

“Go with the chicken,” I advised. “I’m having the chicken razzala. Their chicken is always divine – it just melts in your mouth.”

“Chicken it is, then.”

Dave came back with our wine. He poured it out for us, took our orders and left us on our own again.

“So, how are you finding it as head of the Academy?” I asked.

“Interesting,” Lucas replied. “You think you know what to expect, but the Academy’s unlike any other place I’ve ever worked.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, how did you end up in teaching? You never spoke about wanting to go into teaching and I had no idea this was what you wanted to do. I thought you were going to go into the Donatello family business and continue making more millions.”

Lucas laughed, a little embarrassed. “It’s a bit of a long story.”

“That’s okay. We’ve got all night.” Intrigued, I picked up my wine glass and settled back in my chair, making it clear that I wanted to hear the story of how he ended up as head.

“After everything fell to pieces with Ivy, Ididtake up the position of CEO of Donatello Holdings,” Lucas told me. “I mean, there was no reason for me to stay round here if I wasn’t with Ivy and given what happened to Solomon, I figured it was better if I made myself scarce for a while. It turned out that I have a really good head for business and under my leadership, the company went from strength to strength until it was practically running on autopilot.

“But something was missing. Sure, making lots of money is great, but it wasn’t enough. I wanted something more fulfilling. With all my money, I could have done anything, so in the end, I decided to set up my own Academy in Italy. We award scholarships to gifted children from deprived backgrounds who would benefit from a private education and it wasn’t long before the Academy was inundated with applications. Not only did we give a first-class education to all our students, those which showed promise were given positions within Donatello Holdings, helping to grow the business with dedicated young talent.”

“But didn’t you need to go to university to qualify as a teacher to do that?”

“Not when it’s my own school.” Lucas shook his head. “Private institutions can set their own rules.”

“So that’s how you got the head position at King Academy?” I asked. “Despite your lack of experience?”

“That’s right,” Lucas confirmed. “Although they advertised for someone with more experience than me, when they saw the results I’d achieved at the Donatello Academy, as well as the fact that I was a former pupil myself, the Board decided to take a chance on me.”

“And you didn’t have to bribe your way into the role?”

Lucas had the good grace to look embarrassed. “I may have made a generous donation when I applied for the position.”

“Jenny must absolutely hate you,” I said. “I bet if you hadn’t done that, she’d have been given the job, so I suppose I should be grateful.”

Lucas leaned forward. “Between you and me, Jenny didn’t stand a chance. Even if she was the only applicant, the Board would have found someone,anyone, to take her place. They thought she would step up if they gave her a chance, but Jenny managed to alienate just about every single member of staff.”

“You got that right.” I snorted.

“Two valuable teachers had already resigned because they didn’t want to work with her and they wouldn’t wait for her replacement to arrive,” Lucas said. “The Board didn’t want to risk losing anyone else and face having to find an entire staff at short notice. So, when I showed up, they were practically falling over themselves in relief. Jenny wasn’t happy, but I pulled a few strings and got her a headship down south. Who knows? Maybe the change of scenery will inspire her to do better.”

“It would be nice to think so, but something tells me she’ll continue to be her annoying self,” I said.

Lucas shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter if she does. She’s someone else’s problem now.”

Dave came up to us with our starters.

“One hot butter devilled shrimps for the lady.” Dave put my plate in front of me. “And a spicy squid for the gentleman. Enjoy!”

He bowed and backed away, leaving us to enjoy our meal. One bite, and Lucas closed his eyes, moaning with pleasure.

“Jeez, that’s good,” he said. “If this place had been open when I was living here, maybe I would have stuck around for the food.”

“Yeah, Dinesh, the chef, is amazing,” I said. “Apparently she used to cook for her family and never considered cooking professionally. But when Ivy was holding an event, her caterers let her down at the last minute. She couldn’t find anyone at such short notice, but one of her secretaries suggested she contact her aunt and ask if she could come in. Dinesh was that aunt and she managed to work miracles with what Ivy had in her kitchen. When the night was over, Ivy insisted that Dinesh should go pro so that more people could experience her food. Dinesh’s children were all grown up by that point and she’d been feeling at a loose end, so when Ivy offered to invest in a restaurant for her, Dinesh agreed. Ivy’s still a silent partner in the business, but she lets Dinesh handle everything. Although most restaurants go bust within the first couple of years, this place has gone from strength to strength. People travel for miles to eat here and they’re usually booked solid for weeks. They always set aside a table for Ivy, and she lets me use it when I want to come here. Not that I go out all that much. I usually get a takeaway and eat at home with Amber.”

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