‘Oh, but your room is just down the hall?’ he says, brow furrowed.
‘I’m not really going to sleep here, James.’
‘Of course,’ he says, shaking his head. ‘Hey – ah, sorry I was a bit, um, short with you when you got here.’
‘It’s okay; it was like, what, eight hours ago now. I’m over it.’
‘It’s just that everything is changing. And Russell is new, and his menu is new, and I don’t want to make any mistakes, and I was worried that you …’
‘Wouldn’t be up to the task?’
‘No, thatwewouldn’t have time to sort things.’ He pauses for a moment, looking briefly at the floor. He rubs both his eyes with the palms of his hands and tries to conceal a big yawn. ‘It’s just – it’s all quite serious as we bring in the new menu and the new look. It will settle.’
I want to reassure him that I’m not going to fuck up, and make a firm promise to myself to start my wine study tonight.
‘It’s definitely all new,’ I say, suddenly fading fast from exhaustion and three glasses of hastily quaffed champagne. ‘But don’t worry. We won’t fuck it up.’
I want to hug him. He reminds me of a tree. A nice, big, solid tree.
Go to your room, Birdy.
6.
‘How’s it going?’ I say, yawning and rolling my shoulders back in circles to loosen them up.
That’s the problem with ten hours of uninterrupted sleep – rigor mortis begins to set in. So much for brushing up on my wine knowledge; I could barely type the word ‘wine’ into Google, I was so exhausted.
‘Sorry, what I mean is: hi, Irene, how are you? It’s great to see you again.’
I grin, because if I’ve ever learned anything, it’s that confidence is key.
Irene might be older than most of the staff here, but she’s got the swagger of a bohemian French supermodel. She looks even more glamorous today than she did at the Wine Awards. Her wild white hair is tossed together in a ponytail, but her make-up is immaculate. She’s wearing a long teal-green kimono over a crisp white shirt and wide bottle-green pants. I can’t see her shoes, but I can hear them clip-clop on the pebbled path outside the cottages.
‘And you too, darling. I’m so sorry I couldn’t be here to greet you last night, but unfortunately the pigsty needed a big spring clear-out.’
I baulk, trying to imagine this elegant, majestic creature knee-deep in pig shit.
‘It’s okay, I’ve had a bath,’ she smiles. ‘We’ll walk up, shall we? Such a lovely day.’
The mercury’s at ten degrees, at an absolute push, and although I opted for a more casual look this morning – a grey sweatshirt and jeans – it’s still woefully inadequate for this weather.
‘It was so fortunate to meet you in London. What a wonderful coincidence. And we might never have known, if we’d not been forced to wear those insufferable name badges.’
‘Yes, it was, er, a great night. Tim was so, um, embarrassed about those antique glasses.’By the time he had relayed the story to Damo later that night, it was a whole champagne tower.
Irene smiles at me and nods, like a lovely aunt might. It’s a smile that says,I didn’t like him one bit, but I’m far too supportive of you to say anything, so I will remain silent.
I speed up, as she’s got a lot of pace in those heels. She’s one of those people who walk effortlessly in stilettos, almost glides in fact. I’m grateful I’m wearing my running shoes, as my feet are swollen and showing no signs of calming down ahead of the next full service, which is in less than two hours.
‘Yes, we’re so lucky to have you,’ Irene continues. ‘I was telling Russell what a scream you are. You’ll fit right in here, I’m sure.’
‘Thank you. I’m so lucky to be here.’ I want to make a joke about it being the only place that would take me, but I’m not sure how far I should push theHeather is a riotreputation.
‘So, I want to show you around our little place,’ she says. ‘I know you have a mountain to climb to get up to speed in the kitchen and cellar, but I thought a quick tour would help orientate you. Bill seems to think you were unaware of the changes?’
‘Ahh, yes. It was a surprise.’
We reach the rear of the house, but instead of entering through the kitchen door she takes me along the back, to a large set of French doors with an enormous pot plant on either side.
