‘It must be intuition because I was just about to call you.’
‘You were?’
‘Yes, I’ve got some amazing news to tell you. Angela’s offered me a job in her restaurant.’
‘She has? But I thought you wanted to move away from restaurants.’
‘Well, I certainly don’t want to work in the restaurant I’m in at the moment, but working for Angela will be completely different. It’s her whole ethos of mentoring and treating people with respect and equality. It’s going to be like a breath of fresh air and I know I’m going to learn so much from her.’
‘Yes, I think you will.’ Jay breathed a sigh of relief. Not working with Chloe would make life so much less complicated. And working with Angela would benefit her career, far more than covering Liz’s maternity leave with him. ‘That’s such good news, Chloe. Congratulations.’
‘Oh, I’m so glad you’re pleased for me. I was a bit worried about telling you, to be honest. I know we’d talked about me coming to work for you and Liz, but this really is an opportunity I couldn’t turn down.’
‘I completely agree with you. And don’t worry, we understand. I can see why this is the right choice for you.’
‘Thank you, Jay. And I just want to say that working with you during the competition played an important part in me getting this job.’
‘It did?’
‘Yes, for the first time in a long time I was working with people who believed in me as a chef. You’ve no idea how much confidence that gave me.’
‘Well, I’m glad I could help.’
‘And it’s nice to have made such a good friend. You stuck up for me in other things as well and I’ll always be grateful for that.’
‘I’m just glad it’s worked out for you, Chloe. You deserve it.’
As he put the phone down, his hands were shaking with relief. But he still needed to get things back on track with Emma. That would be the hardest part, convincing her that he deserved another chance.
* * *
Emma put her key in the door with something akin to dread. She’d been putting this conversation off all week and now she would just have to rip the plaster off and get it over and done with.
As she opened the door, she heard Jay clattering about in the kitchen and the most delicious smell hit her. Her heart sank. She hoped he wasn’t cooking for her.
Emma put her head round the door. ‘Hi,’ she said quietly. Jay was stirring a sauce and tasting it until he got the flavour he wanted, as she’d watched him do so many times before. ‘What are you up to?’
‘Emma, hi, you’re early.’ He looked at his watch.
‘It was quiet in the office so they let me go.’
‘Well, I’m glad you’re here because I’ve cooked you dinner. We haven’t spent much time together recently and I wanted to talk to you.’
‘Oh, okay.’ This was the last thing she’d been expecting.
‘Why don’t you get changed out of your suit and then we can relax with a glass of wine before dinner.’
‘Sure.’
She made a hasty retreat to their bedroom. She would do as he said and get changed. After months of practically ignoring her, why did he choose tonight, the very night she was going to tell him it was over between them, to cook her dinner?
Her hand shook as he handed her a glass of wine in the living room.
‘Jay, look, this is all very nice, but there’s something I’ve got to tell you.’
‘Please, can I just say my bit first?’
She sighed and sat down. ‘Go on then.’
