Page 38 of Once Bitten, Twice Fried
“Is this a crazy idea? I feel like this is a crazy idea.”A pause followed by another message.“What’s his name and the castle number?”
Was Julie actually serious? Zoe thought it was a mean trick to play on Colin, but at the same time the man wouldn’t take no for an answer. Maybe that was well deserved. She texted Julie the castle’s phone number and Colin’s full name, right before a waiter entered and told her Colin was requesting her.
Zoe dragged her feet through the dining room, across the veranda then to the lobby. There was a door connecting the kitchen to the lobby, but she felt like taking the long way around. Colin was sitting in an armchair, two glasses of brandy laid on a small carved wooden table in front of him. There was an empty armchair next to his. Zoe was sure he’d moved the two chairs closer. His face lit up when he saw Zoe walking towards him.
“Thank you for your time, Zoe. And I have to say, dinner was exquisite. I’ve experienced a lot of delicious things in life-” he took a small pause while making unrelenting eye contact with Zoe. “But this was high on my list.”
Zoe faintly nodded. “Thanks, Colin. So what did you want to know about the dry ageing process? What’s this business idea?” She sat in the empty chair.
“I’ll get to it when the time comes.” He pushed one of the glasses of brandy towards her. “Please toast with me. This was a very successful day for me, and I dare say to you as well?”
“No, thanks. I don’t drink when I work.” Zoe put some emphasis on the last word.
“That’s too bad, but I understand.” He took a sip. “I just thought that you and I were more friends than just an employee and an employer. Considering how well I know Tom and all.”
“Sorry, Colin. I try not to mix personal life and business. My fiancé is not the person doing catering tonight, is he?”
Colin chuckled. “I thought Tom and you met while on the job?” He leaned towards her. “I think business and pleasure are two sides of the same coin.”
Zoe’s face reddened. This man really had no shame. And what exactly was he implying? That Zoe was shagging her clients? She felt her blood boil underneath her skin. She exhaled as to not hurl insults towards him.
The concierge of the castle suddenly appeared in the room, phone in hand. He seemed panicked.
“Sorry, sir.” He handed the phone to Colin. “It’s the race track. They’re saying that there’s some sort of emergency.”
Colin frowned. His face turned pale. “What type of emergency?” He took the phone, covering the receiver with his hand.
“I don’t know. They wanted to talk to you privately.”
“Fuck!” Colin stood up, running his hand in his hair. “There’s always fucking problems with these Belgians.” He whispered loudly before walking away.
The concierge ran after him. “Sir, I have to warn you, they only speak French.”
“Of course they do!” Colin erupted. He walked to the entrance of the castle, violently slamming the door of the lobby behind him. Zoe could hear some of the conversation, and she couldn’t help but chuckle. Colin was loudly screaming in English that he couldn’t understand anything. That the race track had to see with his team manager. That he was busy. Finally:
“Fine! I’ll come to the race track right away. Just keep everything on hold.” Colin stomped back into the lobby, fuming. He shoved the phone into the concierge’s hands and turned to Zoe. “Sorry, the imbeciles at the race track say that something happened to my car. I better go see what happened.” He paused, his hands on his waist. “Can we pick up where we left off later?”
Zoe grinned. “Sorry Colin, I’m clocking out in half an hour. Considering that getting to and back from the race track will take you at least a good 40 minutes… I think it’s best we leave it there. You can send an email to my assistant for any business proposals. You have it already.” Zoe stood up and walked away. It was a small victory, but it felt tremendously good. She had no idea how Julie pulled it off, but she would forever be grateful for this.
As Zoe opened the door to the kitchen, she could see Colin looking defeated from the corner of her eye. She imagined him getting to the race track and being welcomed by a confused and unimpressed security guard. She hoped they wouldn’t let him in at this hour. She hoped it was pouring rain and he would get caught in it. She did feel a little bit bad for him, but if he wasn’t so hell-bent on hitting on his friend’s fiancée, none of this would have happened, would it?
Zoe’s phone buzzed in her pocket.
“Is he gone?”
She leaned against the large marble windowsill of the kitchen. “He’s gone. You’re a hero. You should’ve seen his face. What did you even tell him?”Zoe tried to picture Julie, alone in her apartment on a Wednesday night, pulling this off for her. It was hard not to be excited about the attention she was getting. She was so happy to have a friend like that.
“Just spoke a bunch of French to him. I said there was an incident with his car and he had to be there personally for insurance reasons.”
“Nice. He was fuming when he left. I think there’s going to be some yelling happening at the race track.”
“Ooh I hope so. If he really loses it, maybe he’ll get banned from the track.”
“Banned??”
“I have a friend who used to work at the race track. She said they didn’t have a lot of patience for rich pricks and overconfident drivers there. Cars going 200 km/hr and temper tantrums don’t mix well, so she saw more than a few people get slapped with bans.”
Zoe didn’t respond for a moment, contemplating that possibility. Had they gone too far? Her phone buzzed again.
