Page 18 of A Perfect Devon Pub
‘Right.’
‘Right.’ he echoed.
She didn’t reply. Just turned and walked away.
Nine
While laying up for lunch, Fiona tackled Rose. ‘Why didn’t you tell me who the new sous chef was?’
Rose grinned. ‘Thrilling, isn’t it!’ said Rose. ‘We feared it was a prank. I mean, why would a celebrity chef want to work in a Devon country pub, and for the wages of a junior chef?’ The phone rang and her boss rushed to answer it. Fiona laid a table and when the phone rang a second time, she prepared another, followed by a third. Her boss was clearly unaware of the history between Fiona and Ru. Should Fiona confess? Rose put down the phone and busied herself at the tables, fiddling with cutlery and glassware, seemingly unable to stop moving, all the time humming.
Fiona decided not to mention anything; she didn’t want to make her employers nervous about staff interaction. She would warn Ru that no one knew about their history. They should behave professionally and treat each other as colleagues.
News that the London celebrity chef Ruben Nkosi was cooking at the Smuggler’s Innhadspread quickly on social media, resulting in the pub being fully booked until October half-term week. When Rose promised to recruit another helper for front of house, Fiona became tangled in a web of overthinking. She didn’t trust Ru to have listened to her when she claimed she had no interest in rekindling their relationship.
If she admitted their shared past, would her boss question why Fiona had concealed the information, jeopardizing her job?Should she have it out with Ru and get him to back out of her life pronto, head off to supervise setting uphisnew restaurant? Each thread she explored took her into dangerous territory. It was best to keep quiet – she needed this job.
One evening, about a week after Ru had shown up at the pub, Fiona arrived as Josh was firing up his vape, but she was so deep in thought that she didn’t immediately notice him.
Josh’s voice made her startle. ‘When can we fix another lesson?’
She watched him take a long pull on his vape, not wanting to dampen his enthusiasm by pointing out the negative effects the habit would have on his palate.
‘Unless you’d like a taste of surfing in exchange first?Go on! I dare ya!’
She blushed.
‘What are you frightened of Fiona? That you might like it? That having fun might test that resolve to waste your life studying?’ He chuckled.
‘I’m too old to take up a new sport.’
‘That’s a crock of shit. Come on, dive in. Grab hold of what life has to offer.’
Fiona felt the breeze on her face and turned to admire the sea, sparkling in the autumn sunshine, the waves curling and rushing inwards before breaking on the beach. It did look inviting.
‘Maybe.’
‘That’s better. Now what about that wine lesson?’
‘Whenever you like! Tomorrow afternoon, thirty minutes before prep, like last time?’
Behind her, the back door creaked open, then a soft, powerful voice spoke, the one that still sent a shiver through her core. ‘Hi, I need a break from gutting fish.’
She glanced over her shoulder and saw Ru step outside, his hands in his pockets, watching her with an unreadable expression.
‘Am I interrupting something?’ he asked, his voice deceptively light as he jogged down the steps towards them. ‘Or are you just talking aboutprofessionalmatters?’
Josh straightened, his hands slipping into his pockets. ‘We were talking about wine.’
Ru’s mouth twitched into a half-smile, though his eyes held a hard gleam. ‘Wine? With Fiona?’ His voice had a faint edge. ‘You might do better to find a professional.’
Fiona’s jaw tightened. ‘I’ve been helping Josh learn a bit about wine. He’s interested.’
‘Is he now?’ Ru’s eyes flicked over to Josh ‘Howadmirable. Not everyone’s got the palate for it, you know,’ he added, his tone dripping with casual indifference. ‘Especially not those who vape.’
Josh laughed, turning off his vape and pocketing it.
Fiona took a step closer to Josh, her tone firm as she spoke. ‘Josh’s doing fine. It’s just finding the time for lessons.’
