‘I see.’ She pursed her lips. ‘And you’re doing that in our kitchen?’
‘Well, yes. That’s not a problem, is it?’
The door opened and Liz breezed in. She looked from Tia to Jay. ‘Is everything all right?’
Jay waited for Tia to reply. He wasn’t at all certain why she was being so frosty.
‘Jay was just telling me he was testing out a new dish for the menu.’
‘Oh, are you?’ Liz’s face brightened. ‘What is it?’
‘What it is, is irrelevant.’ Tia cut in before Jay could reply. ‘It’s the fact that you seem to be using this kitchen for your personal business purposes and not just for carrying out Diva’s own functions.’
‘Well, we do use the area for forward planning. And it makes more sense for us to do the ordering here as we can see what stocks and equipment we have on site. Testing out new dishes in the kitchen they will eventually be cooked in is also useful. And we do need to keep the menu fresh. Lots of your clients have guests within the same social circles, so it wouldn’t look good if we served up the same dishes time after time.’
‘No, it wouldn’t,’ Tia said. ‘But are you using those dishes on your own private menu as well?’
‘We do try to keep them separate, but if someone asks for something similar it makes sense to provide what they want.’ Liz paused. ‘Tia, I really don’t understand what all this interrogation is about.’
Tia sighed and rolled her eyes. ‘Because, Liz, if you’re using Diva’s as your main business premises, then by rights we should be charging you rent.’
‘But we’re not!’ Liz said in protest. ‘We have our own kitchen for our private work.’
‘It doesn’t look that way to me. Take today for instance. There are no functions and yet you’re both here.’
‘To put the orders through for the functions next week,’ Liz said. ‘As I have explained.’
‘Be that as it may, but I’ve discussed it with the others. Perhaps it’s time we do start to charge you rent.’
Liz was quick to reply. ‘That’s not in our contract.’
‘No, but your contract is due for renewal in a few months, so perhaps we’ll need to take this into account when we renegotiate terms.’
Before either of them could reply, Tia turned on her heel and swished out of the room.
Liz stared at Jay, dumbfounded. ‘What was that all about?’
Jay pulled out a chair and sat down. ‘I have absolutely no idea. It came out of nowhere.’
‘She’s got a real bee in her bonnet about something and I don’t think it’s just about a little bit of rent.’
Liz sat down opposite Jay.
‘Neither do I,’ Jay said. ‘In fact, now I think about it, she’s been prickly for the last few weeks. I just put it down to her usual control freakery, but she has got worse.’
Liz tried to think what could have caused it. ‘She usually behaves like that when she’s not getting her own way about something, but I have no idea what that might be.’
‘And Alex hasn’t said anything?’
‘Not a thing. He’s more intent on me and the baby. Fussing around me like I don’t know what.’
‘Getting on your nerves, is he?’
‘Just a bit.’ Liz sighed. ‘I know I shouldn’t complain that he’s so concerned, especially as the morning sickness has been horrendous and considering what happened to him before, but he’s acting like I don’t have a mind of my own.’
‘You’ll just have to humour him until he gets used to the idea.’
‘I suppose I will.’ Liz was silent for a moment. ‘Just clarify something for me, Jay. Tia did say she’d discussed it with the others, didn’t she? I didn’t mishear that?’
