‘I can’t say I took to him at all,’ Lucy said, as she tried to refasten her escaping hair back into its bun. ‘There’s something about him that gave me the creeps.’
‘I don’t think the other two like him very much either,’ Sarah said.
They all nodded in agreement.
‘Do you think you should declare your previous acquaintance with him to the other judges?’ Sarah asked.
Jay looked to Ben. He hadn’t thought about that.
‘Perhaps we should,’ he said. ‘Although my pre-acquaintance with the man certainly won’t do me any favours.’
‘But for the sake of clarity,’ Ben agreed. ‘We probably should speak to the judges.’
The door opened and they were asked to return to the kitchen.
The eight chefs stood in a row, all anxiously waiting to hear their fate.
‘Right, well, I know how nervous you all are,’ Angela said. ‘So I won’t keep you waiting too long. What I do want to say, though, is congratulations to you all. The standard was incredibly high and you made our decision very difficult. But the chefs going through to the next heat are...’ She paused. ‘Jay, Rav, Lucy and Ben.’
‘Commiserations to you other four,’ Philip added. ‘But please don’t think of it as a reflection on your cooking. You are all very talented chefs and will go far in your careers.’
Jay stood in disbelief as the other chefs clapped him on the back and he realised he’d done it. He was through to the next heat.
As the other chefs filed out, Jay nodded to Ben and hesitantly they approached the judges’ table.
‘Gentlemen,’ Angela said. ‘Congratulations.’
‘Thank you,’ they said in unison.
‘Is there something we can help with?’ Philip asked.
‘Yes well,’ Jay said, taking the lead. ‘We thought that, in order to be transparent, Ben and I should let you know that we used to work with Louis at La Emporium.’
‘I didn’t work there for very long,’ Ben added. ‘But all the same.’
‘Quite,’ Philip said and turned to Louis. ‘Did you not think to mention this during the selection process?’
Louis shrugged. ‘I didn’t think it was important.’
‘Well, it obviously is,’ Angela said. ‘We’ll have to declare this to the sponsors and seek their guidance, going forward. But thank you, gentlemen, for bringing this to our attention.’
‘But we will still be going through to the next round, won’t we?’ Ben asked.
‘Yes, you will,’ Philip said. ‘The marks you were awarded by both Angela and me guarantee that.’
‘Well, that’s a relief,’ Jay said but couldn’t help noticing the way Louis was glaring at him.
Chapter Ten
Liz squeezed her legs together. ‘I wish they’d hurry up. I’m desperate for the loo.’ She and Alex were sitting in the waiting room and it was half an hour past the appointment time for her twelve-week scan. She didn’t think she could hold all the water she’d drunk this morning much longer.
‘I told you I was happy to go private. We wouldn’t have been kept waiting then.’
‘I’d rather do this through my own doctor and local hospital.’ Liz was unable to shake off her working-class roots, even though they could easily afford to go private. ‘I just wish they’d hurry up.’
If she was honest, her irritation was partly fear. What if they found something wrong with the baby? And she couldn’t help thinking it must be so much worse for Alex.
A nurse called out. ‘Elizabeth Sinclaire.’ Liz got up with a sigh of relief and they both followed her down a corridor and into an examination room.
