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She shook her head. ‘My phone has been dead all day, so I haven’t been getting messages. Sorry, Luca. Shall I clear the table?’
Luca nodded, standing up. I’d only eaten half my steak, but I lay down my knife and fork so Liv could take my plate. I’d have to finish it in the kitchen. I eyed up the last of the Pomerol. That wasn’t going down the sink either.
‘I should probably catch up with Mimi and Frank,’ Luca said, distracted, ‘would you mind serving the drinks? And you… er… should probably put your uniform on, you know, with Genevieve being here.’
Oh. I felt like I’d been slapped in the face. Two large glasses of red wine and half a steak and I was being dunked back in the plunge pool. It was a rhetorical question, but I nodded. I looked over at Liv, expecting her to be allI told you sobut her eyes had softened, her fixed smile gone. This was so humiliating. I didn’t reply.
‘Thank you,’ Luca said, leaving me at the table alone and going upstairs.
‘I’m so sorry, babes,’ Liv said, rushing to my side.
‘He didn’t even say anything to them. He just completely ignored me.’
‘I’d tell him to stick his drinks,’ she said. ‘I can serve them for you, don’t worry.’
‘No, he’s asked me to do it, so I can’t say no. I do work here after all.’
I helped Liv clear the rest of the table and wiped it down ready for Genevieve and her guests to have drinks. Spritzing orange air freshener throughout the downstairs to get rid of the meaty smells. To erase any memory of Luca and I having dinner. It all seemed slightly dramatic; we were two consenting adults, what was the big deal? I went back to my room and put my uniform on, ready to assume my alter ego, swinging by the kitchen to finish my steak before I went up.
‘Dinner was amazing Xavier – well, what I managed to eat of it,’ I said.
‘Good. That steak is the best,’ he replied.
‘Is the rest of it here somewhere?’ I said, sniffing about and seeing my plate on the side. ‘It would be a crime against beef for it to go in the bin.’ I sliced it up and transferred it onto a clean plate with a baguette and some butter. Xavier handed me the Dijon.
‘Perfect,’ I said. ‘I need to soak up all the red wine before I get back to work.’ I pulled the bread apart, which was still warm from the oven. Layered on the butter and a tiny bit of mustard, before piling in the steak and chomping down on it. Nothing better.
‘I’m sorry your dinner got cut short,’ Xavier said, softly.
I shrugged. I was more embarrassed at being told I couldn’t eat at the master’s table, than upset with Luca. Maybe Genevieve coming home early was a blessing in disguise. The last thing I needed was another man who saw me as somehow inferior to him. I’d been so confused about the whole Luca situation anyway – maybe now I had my answer. I finished my steak sandwich and washed up my plate.
‘I suppose the chocolate mousse is off the cards?’
‘You can have whatever you like,’ Xavier said, opening the fridge to reveal the three untouched desserts.
‘Amazing. They look delicious. I’ll save mine for later as a reward for getting through the next few hours. Once Verbier-ella has done all her chores.’
Xavier put his arm around me. ‘You’ll be alright,’ he said.
I took a deep breath and made my way back upstairs to the bar, but I could hear Luca and Genevieve having a heated discussion, so I hid behind the door so as not to disturb them.
‘What were you thinking? Have you no standards?’ Genevieve said angrily. They were arguing in French, so I had to click my brain into gear to understand what they were saying.
‘It is nothing, it was just dinner,’ Luca replied.
‘Just dinner? It’s a disgusting show of immorality. Can you not control yourself?’
‘Of course. Please, Genevieve, you’re over-reacting. I was simply being friendly.’
‘Fillet steak and Pomerol is more than friendly. Do you need me here to watch your every move? To stop you making life-altering mistakes?’
‘Not at all. I hear you. It stops today.’ Luca was bright red and flustered.
‘I should think so. We can’t keep losing staff to your indiscretions and we won’t find anyone else this far into the season. Can you keep it civil?’
‘Of course I can.’
*
