‘You mean… I’d be a line cook?’ She wanted to be clear. Maybe she’d got the wrong end of the stick. Surely he wouldn’t let her walk straight into a cooking job, just like that? Maybe Ian was moving up to Mark’s job and he wanted her to start as a commis – which she’d be happy to do if she could afford to, but unfortunately, she couldn’t. She’d earn more as a waiter.
‘Yeah, you would. Hence the test. I’d like to know that wasn’t just a one-off. But as I say, if you’d rather wait tables, that’s fine.’ His smile was smug because she’d already given the game away with her reaction.
‘No, I think I could cope with leaving that behind. You’re actually serious?’
‘I don’t joke about my restaurant. You can train on the job.’
‘I still couldn’t work nights.’
‘That’s fine. You can continue on lunch shifts. So what do you think?’
‘Yes. I’ll take it.’
‘Great.’ He finished his tea. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow, then,’ he said, standing. ‘I’ll need you to continue working front of house for another couple of weeks until Mark leaves. In the meantime, I’ll start looking for more wait staff.’
‘Oh, when are we going to do this cooking test, then?’
‘Hmm.’ He rubbed his chin. ‘I didn’t think this through, did I? I don’t have a night off until Monday and it really should be used when it’s at its freshest.’
Lou twisted her mouth, thinking. ‘How about you take that fish back to the restaurant – where I assume it belongs?—’
‘You’re rejecting my peace offering?’
‘Uh-uh.’ Lou shook her head. ‘No way. But you could get me a fresh one on Monday and we could do this dinner then.’
‘You’re on. And Shane will be pleased. He didn’t look too impressed to see me making off with tonight’s supplies.’
‘I don’t think that’s all he wasn’t impressed with you for today.’
‘Yeah, yeah.’ Aidan sighed. ‘I know I have some brownie points to make up with the team.’
‘If you like, you can come over when we pick the kids up from school and you and Bo can stay for dinner.’
‘We could come over later. I’m sure you don’t want me looking over your shoulder while you’re working.’
‘Actually…’ Lou bit her lip. ‘I could do with someone looking over my shoulder. I have no idea how to go about handling a fish like that.’
‘You’ve never filleted a fish before?’
‘Yes, but not one that size – or that expensive. I’d hate to ruin it. At the pie-and-mash places I worked, our fish tended to come ready-filleted from the freezer.’
Aidan gave a mock shudder. ‘Okay, we’ll come over earlier then and I can show you.’ He looked around the small room. ‘Is that the kitchen?’ He pointed to the arched opening that led off the living room.
‘Yeah.’
‘Mind if I have a look?’
‘No, go ahead.’
Lou followed Aidan into the small space. He stood in the middle of the galley, hands on his hips.
‘I know it’s small, but?—’
‘It’s nice. But would you mind if we did it at my place? We could use the restaurant kitchen. There’s more space and it’ll be easier to show you how to fillet it.’
‘No, that’s fine by me.’ She hadn’t been looking forward to working so closely with Aidan in that cramped space. Actually, that wasn’t strictly true. On one level, she’d been looking forward to it very much. But she didn’t want to go to that level. The further away she stayed from that level, the better.
‘In fact,’ Aidan said, ‘how about I invite everyone and we have a staff dinner?’
