‘Okay,’ James nods, and he drops his head. Does he look annoyed or shy?
‘Anis, you can work on the venison this week. Try some different wood in the smoker this time,’ Russell orders.
Anis lifts her chin a little, and although she’s incredibly straight-faced, I can tell she’s thrilled, by the twitch in her eyebrow.
‘Yes, Chef,’ she says with a sombreness that makes me laugh. I turn it into anotherouch!and grab at my ankle again. Russell frowns at me, and I realize I’d better recover from my non-injury quickly.
‘Well. That will do then, I suppose,’ he says.
‘Yes, Chef,’ I say.
Irene is next to burst through the doors. She starts clapping her hands, and I half-expect a light to spring on. ‘Heather, Roxy, we need you front of house now, please. Are you walking?’ She looks at me.
‘More or less,’ I say meekly. She looks thrilled.
‘Good. Roxy! Come, come.’
‘James, we need to discuss orders, in the bar now,’ Russell commands.
‘The lamb,’ James says, holding his hands up, ‘you wanted to see it?’
‘Bar. Now,’ Russell repeats like a drill sergeant.
What an arsehole. As I lower myself down, I shoot James a smile of solidarity. He’s clearly brilliant at his job – why is Russell such a knob to him?
In the dining area I edge over to stand by Roxy. I notice the apples of her cheeks have a slight dusty-rose shimmer to them. I remind myself to at least put some concealer on tomorrow.
‘Can you help me out a bit tonight?’ I say quietly. ‘I don’t want to worry Irene or Russell, but my foot hurts quite a bit, and it would be great if I could lean on you,’ I say. ‘Not literally. Well, maybe a bit literally.’
‘Of course you can,’ she replies. ‘You know, the last sommelier we had was so rude to me. And he wasn’t even a proper sommelier, like you. He was a waiter, but because he was French and knew a bit about wine, he got your job. I’m so glad you’re here and you’re a girl.’
‘A girl,’ I repeat, laughing.
‘Yeah, it’s inspiring. I want to be a sommelier so badly. Like ever since it was legal for me to drink – like three years or something – I’vebeen hassling my parents to send me on a course. They’re so expensive, though.’
‘Yeah, they are. Do you get paid enough to save something?’
‘Just about,’ she says, nodding. ‘And Irene has promised that she will help fund me, if we get through the summer. I’d love to learn from you. Just say the word.’
12.
It has not gone well.
It all started with those four Canadian men who were here on a college-reunion fishing trip and should have been drinking massive pints of ale, not sipping on vintage wine.
‘Hi and welcome. Can I offer you the wine list?’ I’d started confidently.
‘We’ll take your finest champagne,’ said the roundest, glancing around at his table of friends, grinning.
‘Are you sure about that? This place is really expensive,’ I’d blurted out.
‘Yes, mam,’ he replied.
Feeling uneasy, I made a beeline for Bill.
‘They want thefinestchampagne, and they don’t want to see the menu.’
He smiled. ‘Well, that makes your job easy.’
