Page 68 of Things We Need to Say
Jay took the chicken that was marinating for tonight’s main course out of the fridge, gave it a good stir, re-covered it and placed it back in the fridge. ‘I find that really strange. Maybe she needed them to help set things up, but now that everything’s running smoothly she wants to be in complete control. She always was a bit of a control freak.’
‘I agree, but I still think there’s something more. I just can’t put my finger on what.’
‘Hm, well, I guess we’ll just have to let Alex and Roberto sort it out and see what happens when the contract comes up for renewal.’
‘You know, the more I think about it, the more tempted I am not to renew the contract at Diva’s. Once the baby is born, I’m not sure it will work being at Tia’s beck and call, especially if I don’t have a business partner to lean on.’
‘What do you mean?’ Jay shut the fridge with a thump.
Liz stopped chopping and looked him in the eye. ‘What I mean is that we have to face facts. Both of us. You’re doing really well in this competition. In fact, I’ll suspect you’ll go all the way.’
He blushed. ‘Thanks.’
‘And if you do, you’ll have all sorts of offers. I wouldn’t want to hold you back. It’s always been your dream to open your own restaurant and I wouldn’t want your loyalty to me to get in the way.’
‘I’ve been thinking about that, actually.’ Jay began to pack up the utensils he would need for that evening into large plastic boxes. ‘In fact, I was talking to Angela about it the other day.’
‘I still can’t believe Angela Markham is one of the judges. I’ve always thought she was a brilliant chef.’
‘She is and she’s a really nice person too.’
‘I envy you.’
‘She said she thinks I’m a really good chef, but that I need more experience in the business side of things.’
‘Okay.’
‘I mean, there would be no point in rushing into owning my own restaurant, getting the numbers wrong and quickly going bust, would there?’
‘That’s very true.’
‘And when you have your baby, you’ll have your hands full, especially at first.’
‘Yes, I can imagine I will.’
‘So once the competition is over, could you show me what I have to do and I’ll take as much as I can?’
‘Okay, yes, I can see that working. But what about the functions, Jay? You can’t do everything.’
‘No. We’ll need get some extra staff. And I think I might have found a chef for us. I haven’t spoken to her about it, so it might just be pie in the sky, but she’s said she wants some experience working for larger numbers, so she might well be interested.’
‘And who is this chef, then?’
‘Her name’s Chloe — she’s one of my fellow competitors. She’s got talent and we get on well. She’s the one who saw off Louis.’
‘I see.’ Liz raised her eyebrows. ‘Well, she’s obviously got your approval, so you’d better sound her out and, if she’s interested, then we can fix a date for me to meet her.’
Jay grinned. ‘Great.’ His phone started to ring and, as he looked at the screen, the smile slipped from his face. He answered it. ‘Mum?’
‘Sorry to bother you, Jay. I know how busy you are.’
He frowned even more at the sound of her voice. ‘That’s okay. Is everything all right? You sound—’
‘Not it’s not. It’s your nan. She’s been taken into hospital. They think she’s had a heart attack.’
‘Which hospital?’ Jay asked immediately.
‘The Royal London.’
