‘Earth to Jay?’ Chloe said, and Jay realised she’d been talking to him.
‘Sorry, what?’
‘I said, as it’s just the two of us, do you fancy eating, or do you want to celebrate with your girlfriend? Emma, isn’t it?’
Fleetingly, Jay wondered if he should go home. But then he remembered how he had brushed Emma off when he had been so caught up in the thrill of getting through to the banquet. She probably wouldn’t be that pleased to see him, now. And he was hungry.
‘I’d love to,’ he said.
‘What do you fancy, then?’
‘Um ... er — I don’t know.’
‘All this talk of Rav’s banquet has made me fancy an Indian. What about you?’
‘Sounds good to me.’
Rav pulled his jacket from the back of the chair. ‘I’ll leave you two to it then. See you both at the banquet. And again, congratulations. I’m really pleased the three of us will be working together. We make a good team.’
‘We do.’ Chloe smiled at him. ‘And I’m glad you got through too.’
‘And me,’ Jay said.
When Rav had left, Chloe said, ‘So where shall we go then? There’s a really good restaurant in Elephant and Castle if that’s not too out of your way.’
‘I live in Kennington, so that’s perfect.’
‘Great.’
As they sat together on the Tube, Jay was completely tongue-tied. It suddenly felt strange to be alone with Chloe outside of the competition and he wondered if he’d done the right thing in agreeing to go for a meal with her.
‘You’ve gone quiet,’ Chloe said eventually.
‘It’s just the Tube,’ he said, lying.
She chuckled. ‘Yes. No one speaks and no one can look anyone in the eye. You wouldn’t get that in Manchester. Can’t shut people up there.’
Jay laughed. ‘I wouldn’t know, I’ve never been.’ He considered this for a moment. Apart from the odd holiday to Spain or Greece, he’d neverbeen anywhere outside of London. They hadn’t had the money for holidays or weekends away when he was a child, and since training as a chef he just hadn’t found the time.
‘If you haven’t been to Manchester then you haven’t lived.’ Chloe interrupted his thoughts.
‘And yet you live in London?’ he said, glad that their conversation was on safe ground.
‘It suits me for work at the moment, but I’ll always be a northern girl at heart.’
‘And I’ll always be a London boy.’
Chloe jumped up. ‘This is our stop.’
As they emerged into the dusk of the summer evening, Chloe led the way to the Indian restaurant while Jay tried to convince himself he was just going for something to eat with a colleague, and that this wasn’t strange at all.
When they’d ordered, Jay asked, ‘So once the banquet is over, what are you going to do? Go back to the restaurant you’re in already or try something new?’
Chloe took a sip of lager. ‘I don’t know. I suppose initially I’ll go back, but I really fancy doing something different. This competition has been a challenge, but I’ve loved every minute of it. It’s made me realise that I want to keep pushing myself. There’s no point in treading water.’
Jay admired her confidence and the fact that, if there was something she wanted, she’d have no hesitation in moving forward. Unlike him. He knew what he wanted yet he was still holding himself back. Working with Liz — was that treading water when his real goal was to set up on his own?
‘Honestly, Jay, you’re miles away tonight. I asked you what you’re going to be doing after the competition,’ Chloe said.
