‘I’m not sure I can do this,’ she said immediately.
‘Yes, you can.’ He didn’t dare tell her that he’d had similar thoughts himself. ‘It’s just the waiting that’s getting to you. Once you’re in and cooking, it will all be okay. And don’t forget, although they’ll be voting for an overall winner, to get this far we’ve already won the prize.’
‘I suppose so, but I’m absolutely terrified.’
He tried to look as though he too wasn’t scared. ‘The other week you told me that we’re all in this together, and you were right. If you need any help all you have to do is to shout for one of us. The main thing to remember is not to panic.’
She nodded and wrapped her arms around him. ‘Thanks, Jay.’
He hugged her back. She felt comfortable and familiar in his arms.What am I doing?he asked himself, realising how wrong this was. The hug might be perfectly innocent, but it wouldn’t look good if someone saw them.
He moved away from her. ‘Come on, let’s go in and see if we can start setting up.’
Rav and Alan arrived soon after. From then on, as Jay had predicted, there was little time to think, let alone give in to nerves.
* * *
When Emma arrived at work, she met with Faye and they walked to the Clover Suite to organise the positioning of the tables. Then it would be all systems go in getting them laid up and ready for the start of the function at one o’clock. The guest list was impressive — it was full of renowned chefs and businesspeople. Alex and Liz, of course, along with Roberto. Emma smiled when she saw Lord Weatherton’s name on the list. He’d be in his element with all the delicious food that was on the menu.
When everyone was organised and busy concentrating on the set-up, Emma paid a quick visit to the kitchen. She wouldn’t disturb Jay, because she didn’t want to interrupt his flow. She knew how nervous he’d been — his tossing and turning had kept her awake most of the night and, when she had woken at six, he had already left for the hotel. She only hoped that once he got into the rhythm of cooking his nerves would disappear.
‘How are things going?’ she whispered to the head chef. Since asking him to provide that last-minute vegan requirement at the afternoon-tea birthday party, they had developed a good working relationship. In fact, Emma was one of the few people Chef didn’t shout at.
‘It’s going well so far and they’re not disturbing the rest of my kitchen too much.’
‘That’s good, then.’
‘Yes, and they all seem to get along with each other. They certainly help each other out.’
Emma looked across to where Jay was working next to a dark-haired woman who she could only guess was Chloe. As shewatched, Chloe called Jay’s name and he instantly looked up and rushed to her side. She was stirring something in a large pan with a forlorn expression on her face. Jay stood so close to her that it was almost intimate. Then she moved to one side and Jay began to beat the contents of the pan with vigour. When he finished, he looked at Chloe and smiled, and she put her hand on his arm. Emma felt the blood drain from her face. She could feel her heart beating frantically in her chest and she felt sick.
‘Are you okay?’ Chef asked.
Emma replied on autopilot. ‘Yes, I’m fine. Well, I’m glad everything is going well. Now, I must get back to the function room. Make sure everything is going as planned there too.’ And with that she fled from the kitchen.
For the rest of the morning, Emma tried to focus on her work and not the scene she had witnessed. She chivvied the staff into getting everything done on time, while checking and re-checking that once the function started everything would run smoothly.
But no matter how hard she worked, she couldn’t forget how Jay and Chloe had looked together. Chloe was incredibly beautiful with shining dark hair that hung down her back in a thick plait, huge green eyes and high cheekbones. Emma would defy any man not to fall in love with her. Jay had been spending so much time with Chloe recently, it was hard not to imagine that he had fallen for her. And the way they had stood so closely together had screamed intimacy. Was there something going on between them, even though he had sworn they were only fellow competitors? Or was she overreacting and jumping to conclusions, just like he had done with Nick? But then when she thought about how distant he had often been with her recently and how much he had kept her away from the competition and the other competitors, it all suddenly made so much more sense. Jay had said he was thinking of employing Chloe while Liz wason maternity leave, and with a sickening dread she couldn’t help wondering where that might lead.
* * *
Once Jay had overcome his initial nerves he had got stuck into the cooking, and so far everything was going amazingly well. Even though he’d had to make it in batches, the chocolate tempered correctly each time and the moulds were now resting in the fridge. Even the mousse had come together perfectly. It was light, fluffy and most importantly hadn’t split.
‘Oh, shit!’
Jay looked up at the sound of Chloe’s voice next to him. ‘What’s wrong?’ He was instantly on alert.
‘It’s this sauce — it’s gone lumpy. What is it with sauces at the moment? I just can’t seem to get them right. And today of all days.’
‘Here, let me have a look.’ Jay moved to her side and manoeuvred the pan onto the worktop, peering into it. ‘It is a bit lumpy.’ He took a whisk out and began to beat the sauce vigorously. ‘Let’s see if we can’t sort that out.’
Chloe stood close to him and peered into the pan. ‘I’m not used to working with such big volumes. And I don’t have the same strength in my arms that you do.’
For a moment he stopped beating to look down at her. The last thing he needed was for her to panic, so he tried to make light of the situation. ‘Who needs to go to the gym when you’re catering for a hundred people?’
She smiled back and their gazes locked. Jay was startled for a moment at the way she was looking at him. Confused, he turned his attention back to the sauce.
‘Here, it’s much better now. But it might be wise to pass it through a sieve before serving, just in case there are any hidden lumps.’
