‘She told me what happened and I have to say, I’m extremely pleased. Making an event special and unique to the client is all about taking into account what they are like as a person. Your instincts were spot on.’
‘Thanks.’
‘Off you go, then,’ she said, returning to her papers.
I scurried out and closed the door. For the first time in alongtime, I felt that I had really made Mum proud of me. I couldn’t work out if that was a good thing or not. I mean, it felt nice and everything but if I kept this whole making-parents-happy thing up I was in danger of turning into Cal Weston.
‘I don’t believe it.’
Timothy blinked and slowly lowered himself into a chair to let the shock sink in.
Cal chuckled. ‘It’s truly a miracle, isn’t it?’
I sighed. ‘Ye of little faith! I have mastered the forks.’
Timothy ran his finger across the line of forks, the perfectly folded napkin, the knives and the spoons. He shook his head.
‘It’s perfect. You did it!’ Timothy exclaimed. ‘You were actuallylistening.’
‘It took me ages, though,’ I admitted, looking down at my handiwork. ‘You do it in a matter of seconds.’
‘Ah,’ he said, ‘that’s just practice.’
We were interrupted by a waitress, Poppy, who shyly asked Timothy for help with a difficult table upstairs. He excused himself and rushed out after her.
We were in Chef?’s office – it had taken me all morning to get the place settings just right, and we’d had to move downstairs from the restaurant because guests began arriving for the lunchtime service. I’d kept putting the forks in the wrong order, or mixing up the white wine glasses with the red or dessert wine glasses, and don’t even get me started on how to fold a napkin. Who decided napkins should be so flimsy?
‘Never again will I be intimidated by forks,’ I announced, sitting down.
Cal was sitting at Chef?’s desk, studying the new menu. ‘The world can rejoice,’ he commented, before a look of disappointment washed over his expression. ‘The strawberry mousse is gone!’
‘Yes, Chef felt that was a summer pudding. But don’t worry, the plum and almond cake he’s introduced to the menu is incredible,’ I enthused. ‘You’ll love it.’
Watching him as he ran his eyes down the menu, I guess I could kind of see what Sky meant when we talked on Wednesday – I’d been sitting in her room while she got ready to go to the stadium for one of her tour concerts, and she’d turned the conversation to Cal.
‘So, that guy in the kitchen –’ she began, pulling her hoodie over her head. Her costumes, hair and make-up were all done at the venue so whenever she left for her concerts, it just looked as though she was leaving to go to the gym. ‘He’s cute.’
‘Chef??’ I wrinkled my nose, flicking through a magazine with Sky on its cover. ‘Isn’t he a bit old for you?’
‘No, not Chef?!’ She laughed, picking up her trainers. ‘That Cal guy. You’ve talked about him but you never mentioned that he was tall and handsome.’
I lowered the magazine to watch her doing up her laces. ‘Really? You think he’s hot?’
‘He’s got that cute vibe going for him. His dimples are adorable.’
‘He’s also SUCH a nerd,’ I pointed out. ‘He reads books about tanks and London architecture. In his free time.’
‘Geek chic.’ She shrugged.
‘I’ve never really thought about him like that. He’s always just been there, lurking around the hotel like a loner.’
‘He seemed nice,’ she said, attempting to tame her wild hair, clipping it back from her face. ‘Anyway, whatever, let me tell you about my date to the Christmas Ball.’
‘The dancer?’
‘No, he fell through. But I’ve managed to bag myself a European prince.’
With Cal distracted by the menu, I took the opportunity to really look at him. I guess it was quite cute the way his thick hair was always sticking up at odd angles, and he did have nice green eyes. A gentle, olive green. And I suppose he did have those dimples, which some people might find attractive.
