Page 9 of Once Bitten, Twice Fried
“That’s it, Zoe. I quit.”
“When you’re done being silly, help me get out of this dress. I’m going to die of dehydration.”
After Zoe slid back in her normal clothes, she sat down next to Nicki in a row of folding chairs next to the entrance of the set.
“We can quickly go through the catering agenda then you can go home.” Nicki was swiping at the tablet again.
Zoe hesitated. Tom was not at the house tonight and she had too much energy to just stay home alone. It was the one time that filming didn’t end stupidly late, and it felt like a waste of an evening.
“Do you have any plans for dinner?”
Nicki looked up from her tablet. “Not really. My girlfriend is on a work trip so it’s just me and the cat tonight.”
“Wanna talk about all this over dinner then? It’s my treat.” Zoe regretted the invitation immediately. How pathetic was it that her fiancé was not spending the evening with her after he’d been gone for weeks? And that her only friend she knew would be available was her assistant?
“Sure. I’d love to. Can I pick a fancy restaurant?”
A wave of relief flowed through Zoe. Of course Nicki wouldn’t think she was pathetic.
Nicki eventually settled for some upscale fish and chips, which Zoe happily agreed to. If there was one thing she’d learnt in Belgium, it was that good fries just made life better. A few heads turned as they walked into the restaurant. Probably people who recognised Zoe from TV or from her books, though even before she was famous, people would turn their heads to look at her. Zoe wasn’t always comfortable with it, but she knew she was a pretty woman.
Her career had evolved so fast, from her shared flat’s kitchen just outside London while she attended culinary school, to her first apprenticeship with a well-known chef, to a famous cooking TV show contest. At just 27, she’d made it to the semi-final and knew that this would be her once in a lifetime opportunity. Zoe had quickly looked for an agent who’d helped her publish her first recipe book, then the calls started pouring in, until she’d secured her own TV show on public television. She knew that some of it was because she was easy to look at, - so many sleazy producers had told her that when she started -, but Zoe refusedto coast on her good looks, always looking for new challenges and working with people who had her best interests at heart. She was a chef, a proper and talented one. She’d earned it.
They sat down at a table that Zoe couldn’t describe as anything else than a repurposed and over-designed chippy table. Somehow, everything in this restaurant looked like it belonged in a modest diner, but upon further inspection it was all expensive material, from the black and white tiling on the floor to the dark wooden chairs.
They ordered two plates of fish and chips, a pint of beer for Nicki and a glass of Pinot Grigio for Zoe.
“Back to business.” Nicki pulled her tablet out of her backpack. “Here’s a few events that you can easily do because they’re in the same area.”
Zoe leaned over the tablet. “Lots of English events. Oh, and some in Milan and Florence? That’s quite nice.” Zoe stopped. “Belgium?”
“Yeah, someone wants you at the racetrack. Some rich famous guy who’s trying to attract sponsors for his race car, I think? And then directly after that, there’s this wedding that’s in the same area. The Ardeens?”
“The Ardennes. I know the place.” Zoe stared at Yasmine’s name on the screen.
“Yes, what you said. Is it from your crazy Belgian year?”
“It is.” Zoe leaned back in her chair. “It’s an old university friend of mine. She’s getting married and wants to hire me.” She took a sip of her white wine. She still hadn’t made up her mind about this. What was Julie up to these days? Would she even remember Zoe? Was she married? Maybe she even had kids. What type of woman was she with?
“You don’t want to do this one?” Nicki confusedly stared at Zoe.
“No I-” Zoe didn’t know how to finish this sentence. She was saved when the waiter came with their food.
They ate in silence for a short moment.
“Is it the wedding part that’s making you sad? Because of what we talked about before the interview?” Nicki asked bluntly.
Zoe sighed. “No. It’s not the wedding that’s the problem.” How many personal problems could she dump on her assistant today? She could maybe talk about this later with Tom instead. But how would she even start to explain this to him?
“Do you want to tell me what the problem is?”
Zoe wanted to. And if Nicki was nice enough to care about it, she wasn’t going to push her away.
“It’s a woman.” Zoe bit her lip.
“A woman?” Nicki cocked her brow.
“You’re not helping.”
