The Secret Ingredient (29 page)

‘Is this for real?' she said out loud.

He dropped his gaze for a moment, before looking up at her again. ‘I'm sorry, Andie, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, or put you on the spot. You can go.'

‘It's just, you're my boss, you know?'

‘I know. It's okay, please, feel free to go.'

Oh God, he was misunderstanding her, and he looked so crestfallen.

‘I'm not saying no, I didn't say no, did I?' she blurted.

He looked confused now.

‘I wasn't expecting it, that's all,' she stammered, her heart racing. ‘After the other day, why would I?'

‘I understand,' he said. ‘And I apologise —'

‘Stop. You didn't do anything wrong, I was being sensitive —'

‘No, it was my fault —'

‘You don't have to keep apologising,' she interrupted him finally, catching her breath. ‘Just give a girl a minute to catch up.'

Andie detected the beginnings of a smile on his face, and something stirred inside her. ‘You know,' she said, ‘if you could see yourself when you smile, you'd smile a lot more often.'

His eyebrows lifted slightly, and now he looked at once embarrassed, coy, even a little vulnerable. Andie began to think there might be a lot more to Dominic Gerou than the arrogant chef persona he wore so well.

‘What are you thinking?' he asked after a while.

This may turn out to be the stupidest thing she'd ever done. Jess would probably freak. But suddenly Andie couldn't help herself. How had he put it before?

‘I'm thinking that an opportunity has presented itself . . .'

He smiled then, a proper smile. And that sealed it.

‘See, that's not so hard, is it?'

They had settled on Monday night, their only night off, which meant they had to get through a whole shift on Sunday first. Andie wasn't worried about being fired any more, now she was only worried about where Dominic was at any given time, if he was watching her, what he was thinking. He smiled at her more in one shift than she had seen him smile the whole time she'd been working there.

He had said he'd noticed her, a lot; that meant all those times she'd thought he was watching her, he probably was. Andie vacillated between feeling flattered and feeling self-conscious, but mostly she just wondered why she had said yes. She had been beating herself up for even accepting to have a drink with him, and now she was going on a proper, not-to-be-mistaken-for-anything-else, real live date? And since when had she decided to date anyone again, let alone her boss? It was too soon, for one thing. Wasn't it? Not that it was serious, not that it was actually anything yet. She had far more important priorities to attend to – like finding her own place and establishing her career – before she even thought about starting a new relationship.

But who said anything about a ‘relationship'? It was definitely too soon for that. She would be crazy to even contemplate it. She needed time and space to get over the last one – the last one being a ten-year-long marriage that she had thought would last forever. This was only a date, it might turn into a few dates, or it might go nowhere. She really needed to chill out. That's what Jess would say, if Andie told her. But Andie hadn't told her because she knew Jess would have a problem with the whole ‘fraternising' with the boss thing. She would also remind Andie that she'd thought he was an arrogant prick, only a week ago. That was true, this date could turn into an unmitigated disaster of unparalleled awkwardness, given their track record so far. Their track record being one drink, which is where Andie really should have let things lie, if she had any brains . . . But instead she'd been swayed by all his talk about how he noticed her, how she kept surprising him . . . how he wanted to get to know her better . . . the way he smiled . . .

‘Are you all right, Andie?'

She stirred, Cosmo was watching her across the table. Somehow she had made it through the shift today, on autopilot she suspected, and she was getting ready to go home when she noticed everyone was gathering for staffy's. She'd forgotten it was Sunday.

She took a gulp of her drink. ‘Sure, I'm fine thanks, Cosmo. Everything's fine.'

He nodded. ‘You seemed a little distracted today.'

Andie's eyes grew wide. ‘I'm sorry, did I do something wrong?'

‘No, of course not,' he assured her. ‘I think you could do most of your regular tasks on autopilot now.'

Just as well.

‘You really stepped up over New Year's,' he went on. ‘I was impressed. In fact, it's getting time we moved you up. I'll have a talk to Chef.'

‘Don't do that,' she blurted.

Cosmo was taken aback. ‘Why, what's wrong?'

She starts dating the boss and suddenly gets a promotion, that's what's wrong!

‘I just don't think I'm ready,' said Andie. ‘It's too soon, isn't it?'

‘Why do you say that?'

She hesitated. ‘Because it is . . . isn't it?'

Cosmo shook his head. ‘I've known chefs who have trained for years, but they don't have that . . . that
something
.'

‘What something?'

He was thinking about it. ‘It's like the secret ingredient that lifts a dish from the everyday to something special.' He looked at her. ‘That's what you have, Andie.'

‘I do?' she blinked. She had a secret ingredient? ‘Can you tell me what it is?'

Cosmo smiled at her. ‘You need to trust your own instincts. You know what you're doing, start believing it.'

Cosmo's words were still jangling in her head when Andie woke this morning, D-day. She was actually feeling a little sick . . . Sick enough to cancel? she wondered. Probably not, seeing as she was only feeling sick at the thought of this date. Notwithstanding all the other issues – and there were enough of them – she just hadn't been on a date in so long, more than a decade in fact, as long as she'd been with Ross. And look how that had turned out.

What the hell was the matter with her? She was ten years older, and wiser – she hoped – and Dominic was a mature man . . . who was probably around the same age as Ross when she met him, it just occurred to Andie. She wasn't sure how she felt about that . . . but then she remembered she was not a naive twentysomething any more, and besides, Dominic was not Ross . . . and besides
besides
, this was just a date! She really had to stop overthinking it.

She had to ring Jess, she needed someone to knock some sense into her. She picked up her mobile and dialled Jess's number, but it went straight to message bank. So she said, ‘Call me when you get this,' and hung up. Damn.

Now she had no choice but to get out of bed. She was making herself a cup of tea when her mobile rang. She was relieved to see it was Jess calling back.

‘What's wrong?' Jess said breathlessly as soon as she picked up. ‘What's happened? Are you okay?'

‘I'm fine,' Andie reassured her.

‘My God, you sounded so grim in your voice message.'

‘Did I?'

‘Yeah, I've put the “Back in five” sign up and locked the door.'

‘Of course, you're at the shop today,' said Andie. ‘I forgot, I'm sorry.'

‘Forgot you had a shop?' Jess said wryly.

‘I know, I really need to come in, very soon.'

‘Well, what are you doing today? It's your day off, isn't it?'

Andie sighed. ‘That's what I was calling about. I have a date.'

‘Whoo! So you're taking my advice, getting right back in the saddle. Good for you.'

‘No, you don't understand, it's not good.'

‘Why not?'

‘Don't freak . . .'

‘You're not going out with Ross, are you?'

‘No!' she insisted. ‘Jess, would you stop always thinking everything is about Ross. I promise you, he's out of my life.'

‘Okay. So what's the problem then?'

Andie took a deep breath. ‘The date is with Dominic Gerou.' She winced, waiting for her reaction.

‘Hold on, I'm confused,' Jess said, her voice surprisingly calm. ‘That wouldn't be Dominic Gerou, the same guy you said was an arrogant wanker? The same guy who happens to be your
boss
.'

‘All right, I get it, you're going with sarcasm.'

‘Are you nuts?'

‘Probably.'

‘How did this happen? When did he ask you? Why did you say yes? Tell me everything.'

Andie sat down at the kitchen table, jiggling the tea bag in her cup. ‘I haven't even seen him since Christmas, he's been off work. He was back Saturday, and he approached me at the end of the shift.'

‘Sounds keen.'

‘Hm. Anyway, he said he was sorry about the other time, he never intended to offend me, and he'd like another chance.'

‘Yikes, now that sounds serious.'

She groaned. ‘What am I going to do?'

‘Do you like him at all? Even a little bit? Does he do anything for you?'

Andie was flummoxed. ‘What's that got to do with it?'

‘Well, you are going on a date with him.'

‘But the issue is not whether I'm attracted to him.'

‘Then what is the issue?'

‘That he's my boss!'

She heard Jess sigh. ‘Okay, granted, it's probably not the smartest idea to date your boss, but you're not working in some government department where it's against regulations, and you're not a twenty-year-old intern where he's the CEO of the company. This is not exactly unethical, Andie. In this industry, if you don't date people you work with, you don't date.'

‘But it's still a minefield,' she said. ‘What if he asks me out again?'

‘Why don't you wait and see how this one goes first?'

‘No,' Andie said decisively. ‘I really don't think I should take it any further after tonight.'

‘Then, if that's how you really feel, you'll just have to tell him.'

‘How am I supposed to do that?' she protested. ‘If I go out with him, it's uncomfortable, if I don't go out with him, it's going to be uncomfortable. I'm damned either way.'

‘Okay . . .' Jess said slowly, thinking about it. ‘Then what you have to do is totally kill the attraction.'

Andie frowned. ‘How do I do that?'

‘Play it cool, act bored,
be
boring, or be outright offensive – swear a lot. Do you think he's the type who'd be turned off by that? A lot of guys are, even if they've got mouths like sewers themselves.'

‘I don't know . . .' Andie said vaguely.

‘What about his politics, do you know which way he votes? If he's to the right, act like a leftie green wingnut, if he's to the left, start complaining about boat people and say you don't believe in climate change.'

‘Jess, don't you think that's all a bit extreme?'

‘Maybe, but if you play it right, he won't ask you out again.'

‘And he probably won't renew my contract either. He'll think I'm a crackpot.'

Jess groaned. ‘Then stop stressing. You're only going on a date, do you know how many dates I've been on that have never gone anywhere? That would be most of them. So go, have a nice time. On the bright side, you might even get laid.'

‘Oh, don't even say that.'

‘Do you good.'

As if things weren't already complicated enough. ‘I still think it's too soon,' said Andie. ‘I was married to Ross for ten years. I can't just hop into bed with the first guy that comes along.'

‘Ross did . . . not with a guy, but you know what I'm saying.'

‘Yes, and you think he's a bastard.'

‘That's totally different,' said Jess. ‘But hey, there's your way out – honesty. Just tell this Dominic that it's too soon. He'll probably run a mile once he realises you're fresh out of a marriage break-up.'

‘He already knows, remember, we talked about it over drinks.'

‘He is keen then.'

Now Andie groaned.

‘You know Andie, there are worse things than having a guy keen on you.'

‘Not when he's your boss,' she said glumly.

‘Look, tell me the truth, did you only say yes because you felt pressured?' Jess asked her.

‘No,' she sighed, ‘he didn't pressure me, he gave me the chance to bow out gracefully.'

‘Then why did you say yes?'

Andie thought about it. There was his smile, but that would just sound lame. ‘I suppose it was what he said – that I keep surprising him, that he thinks there's a lot more to me than just a pretty face, and he'd like the chance to get to know me better. He said he screwed up, and he asked me if I'd give him a second chance.'

‘Sounds like a bit of thought went into all that,' Jess mused.

Andie released a loud sigh.

‘Do me a favour, Andie, and stop thinking so much. Just go out and enjoy yourself. It's a date, you're not going in front of a firing squad.'

‘Okay, you're right.'

‘Yes, I am,' she said firmly. ‘Now, enough of this, what are you going to wear?'

‘Oh God, I haven't even thought about that.'

She hung up and went to investigate her wardrobe. Most of her ‘date' clothes must still be back at the apartment she discovered. She had plenty of clothes for everyday wear or working at the shop, and that was about it. So she made a mad dash to the nearest shopping mall, but once she got there, she had no idea what she was looking for. Dominic had suggested dinner, but that was no help – anything from semi-formal to jeans and a nice top might be acceptable, depending on where they were going. Things were very loose these days, not like in her mother's era when there were rules about what you wore where and when. There was something to be said for all that at a time like this.