Amy looked petrified but nodded.
‘Now get out there,’ Gianni clapped his hands then ushered them out of the kitchen.
‘Yes, Chef!’ they all replied, filtering into the restaurant. Ella noticed a slight smile on Gianni’s face as she spun round on one foot and followed the rest of them.
Pushing open the door into the restaurant, Ella smoothed down her skirt and took a deep breath. She spotted the TV crew bunched together in front of the bar, the camera scanning the restaurant.
In Ella’s section of the restaurant were Isla and Felicity, which she was relieved about as that took some pressure off her if she wasn’t sure what to do. As she walked towards their table, Ella noticed that Amy, despite painting a smile on her face, actually looked petrified of Tiffany Down, and she saw Tiffany glowering at Amy.
‘Good afternoon, I’m Amy and I will be your waitress today.’
Ella followed suit and, armed with menus, she handed them out to everyone who was sat at the table with Isla and Felicity. Drew was sat opposite Isla and then there were two others sitting at the table that Ella didn’t know.
‘Good afternoon, I’m Ella and I will be your waitress today.’
‘Oh she’s good,’ joked Felicity, ‘and sounds the part.’
‘We’re so glad you’re our waitress!’ said Isla. ‘Let me introduce you to Martha and Aggie. Martha is my grandmother and Aggie is Fergus’s mum. They came across on the boat before us.’
Ella greeted everyone then began to take their drinks orders. She felt a sense of importance as she jotted their order on her brand-new pad in her best handwriting, which was silly, but Ella desperately wanted to give a good impression.
Once the orders were taken, she noticed that Tiffany’s voice was carrying across the restaurant. It seemed she was already rattled about something.
‘I’ve been waiting a while to be served and I don’t appear to have a drinks menu.’ Tiffany’s tone was short and sharp.
Whilst Amy was apologising profusely, Ella hurried over. ‘Sorry for the delay, Amy! I’ve just printed an up-to-date drinks menu, here you go.’ Ella handed a drinks menu over to Amy, who looked relieved.
‘Thank you,’ replied Amy, handing over the list to Tiffany, who immediately began to look it over.
‘What would you recommend for a Monday lunchtime?’ asked Tiffany, staring up at them both before Ella could escape.
Ella noticed that Amy looked a little flustered but didn’t want to step on her toes. ‘I do like a glass of Chablis – how about you, Amy?’ shared Ella, who had a little bit of wine knowledge after spending nearly a year with Alex. He was always buying expensive wines which, of course, she’d now discovered, had been paid for mainly with her credit card.
‘I love a good Chablis too,’ joined in Amy, taking Ella’s lead.
Ella noticed that on the wine list there was a short description next to each drink listing the ingredients and the origin. Ella held the menu in her hand and discreetly pointed to the next one on the list, so Amy could see that all Ella was doing was reading what was printed. ‘Or we have Sancerre,’ suggested Ella.
‘Produced in the eastern part of the Loire Valley in France,’ continued Amy. Between them they talked their way through the bulk of the wine list, leaving Tiffany looking suitably impressed.
‘You pair seem to know your stuff. I think I’ll go for your first recommendation – a small glass of Chablis.’
‘That’s the perfect choice,’ acknowledged Ella, who thought for a fleeting moment that Tiffany had actually cracked a slight smile.
‘I’ll get that for you right away,’ replied Amy, writing it down on her pad and hurrying towards the bar.
Ella was just about to walk away when Tiffany picked up the food menu. ‘Can you talk me through today’s specials too, please?’
Ella looked over towards the bar, but now Amy seemed to have disappeared out of sight. She didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes, but it would have looked unprofessional if she’d called Amy back over to cover her own table, and Ella didn’t want to leave Tiffany waiting longer than necessary.
‘Certainly,’ replied Ella, who had to admit she was secretly enjoying herself. She felt her confidence building by the second as she opened up her notepad and sang her way through the delicious meals that she’d tasted only a few moments ago.
‘Which would you recommend?’ Tiffany was once again putting Ella on the spot but she answered immediately.
‘Without a doubt, the escalope of Pork à la Milanese garnished with fresh rocket, piccolo tomatoes, shaved pecorino and fresh lemon,’ replied Ella, not knowing why she’d just spoken in a French accent, leaving Tiffany to raise an eyebrow and Isla and Felicity stifling their laughter at their nearby table.
‘And what is pecorino?’ quizzed Tiffany, testing Ella’s knowledge.
‘The most delicious Italian cheese,’ replied Ella confidently, thankful she had listened to Gianni and had jotted that information down on her pad, otherwise she wouldn’t have had a clue. ‘I think you’ll love it.’
‘Okay, I’ll take your word for it.’ Tiffany plumped for the pork and handed the menu back to Ella, who turned around to discover Felicity and Isla giving her a thumbs up and Callie watching her from the back of the restaurant.
With a spring in her step, she spotted Amy coming back through the double doors. ‘Amy, I’m so sorry. Tiffany collared me about the food, so I just took the order. I hope that’s okay?’
‘Of course it’s okay! And thank you for coming to my rescue with the wine menu – it was my fault, I’d forgotten to put them out on the table.’
‘I think we got away with it. I’ll put her food order into the kitchen, but I didn’t mean to take over.’
‘You didn’t, don’t worry.’ Amy was thankful. ‘You’re such a natural with the customers. Happy first day!’
Ella smiled brightly as she tore Tiffany’s order from her pad and handed it over to the kitchen. Callie placed her hand on her shoulder. ‘Look at you! Keeping Tiffany happy. Flynn will be pleased, not to mention Gianni.’
‘I hope so. Is Roman still in with Flynn?’ Ella had just realised she hadn’t seen him leave the office yet and the boat was due to leave soon.
‘It appears that way. Wilbur is going to take the boat back to Heartcross and I’m going to cover the bar. Don’t stand around, go and work those tables. Amy can take carry on with her section now.’
‘Okey dokey,’ Ella replied. Even though she hadn’t quite worked a full hour yet, she loved being surrounded by people, the hustle and bustle of the kitchen and doing the best she could to please the customers. It was so different from her last job, sitting all day by herself in her shop, waiting for customers to walk through the door.
Once Ella was back on the floor she flitted between her tables, taking down orders and serving drinks. She never knew work could actually be so enjoyable. Apart from a couple of tables, the restaurant was actually full. Everyone had come together to support Flynn, the restaurant looked busy and the atmosphere was jolly.
Nancy directed the team as the food began to make its way to the customers and the camera was rolling inside the restaurant. For the next five minutes everything went swimmingly, with a mouth-watering aroma from Gianni’s delightful dishes wafting through the restaurant and The Lakehouse looking very much alive.
Hearing a tut from the next table, Ella looked over towards Tiffany, who promptly scrawled something on her notepad then tapped her watch. ‘Have they gone to France to crush the grapes to produce my Chablis?’ She turned towards Ella, who quickly looked over towards the bar. Amy had put the drinks order in and Ella the food order, but they both must have automatically assumed the other one would have served the drink from the bar.
Facing a stony-looking Tiffany, Ella hitched the biggest smile on her face and collected Tiffany’s drink before placing it on the table. ‘I’m so sorry for the delay, and I have to say, I’ve just been admiring your handbag, it really does matc
h your suit. You have exquisite style. You must turn heads wherever you go.’
For a split second Tiffany looked perplexed, maybe she wasn’t used to people being nice to her? After the initial shock had worn off, she brushed the lapel of her jacket and said, ‘What, this old thing?’ but Ella could tell that Tiffany was secretly delighted. She thanked Ella for the Chablis without making any further fuss.
‘You’ve got her eating out of your hand – good work,’ whispered Callie as she walked past carrying a tray of drinks. ‘Management team next for you.’ She winked.
‘Kill them with kindness,’ replied Ella, but thinking about what Callie had just said. She knew that Callie was only joking but it definitely gave her food for thought. Why couldn’t she work her way up to the management team? There was absolutely nothing stopping her from reaching the top if that’s what she decided she wanted to do.
Ella quickly returned to the kitchen. There was something smelling delicious as she walked up to the serving pass but the atmosphere felt charged and reminded Ella of the programmes she’d watched on TV. The sous chef and kitchen assistants were running around preparing meals so fast that Ella felt dizzy watching them. Gianni was shouting orders and everyone else looked frazzled and this was only at the start of the shift. Ella handed over another order when she spotted Amy.
‘Is that Tiffany’s food? We left her drink on the bar by mistake, but I think I’ve smoothed the way.’
Amy put her hand up to her chest. ‘That’s my fault – I just thought you’d serve the drink, but it is my table. Tiffany’s meal is just coming on the pass now. I’ll take it out.’
Gianni’s voice boomed over his sous-chef and assistants. ‘Will you two stop chatting and get the food out? Table four is ready.’ Gianni sounded stressed as he wiped his forehead with a tea towel. That was Isla’s table. Ella didn’t take Gianni’s comment to heart – that was also part of the job. Knowing his bark was worse than his bite, she gave Gianni a smile and his expression softened as he shook his head with a slight smile on his face.
Walking towards Isla’s table, Ella spotted Roman for the first time since he’d been summoned into Flynn’s office. Looking at her watch, she saw he’d been in there for nearly an hour. The TV crew had moved outside and Ella could see Flynn had gone to join them. Just as she was about to walk through the doors towards the kitchen, Roman caught her eye. Ella gave him a little wave and he tried to smile but didn’t look happy at all. Ella guessed he’d had a dressing down from Flynn for being late this morning. She watched as he walked off up the stairs to the rooftop terrace. After Ella grabbed the rest of the food for Isla’s table she too headed towards the rooftop. When she reached the top of the steps she found Roman was staring out at the white chalky cliffs towering over the water and watching the spectacular waterfall trickling down the mountainside. Hearing someone behind him, he spun round to face her. Immediately Ella noticed his face was almost as white as the envelope he was holding in his hand.
‘Are you okay?’ she asked. ‘What happened?’
‘Not really,’ he replied, his voice shaky. He held up the envelope. ‘This is what happened, my official written warning for being late today. I really can’t afford to lose this job, but Flynn’s right – I’m not being reliable and he can’t have someone on his team who’s a liability.’ He gave Ella the envelope and she cast a quick glance over the letter inside.
‘He’d already given me a couple of chances and this morning, of all mornings, I let him down. He’s right, he doesn’t need me adding to his stress.’
Ella handed the letter back. ‘Why were you late today? What’s going on here, Roman? Because Flynn is a decent guy, and if you had a good reason, he would understand and I know he’d help you in any way possible.’
Roman turned his back on Ella and stared out over the water. They could see Wilbur in the distance heading towards Heartcross.
‘I need this job because it’s easy, not mentally taxing. I have the wind in my face, and it helps to keep my head in a good place.’
Ella stood by his side and also looked out over the water. ‘Have you told Flynn what’s going on?’
Roman didn’t look at her. ‘I can’t. I just can’t, Ella.’
For a moment the words hung in the air. ‘If you are not going to let us help you, we can’t do anything. You will end up losing this job, and for the sake of not talking to someone about it, is it worth it? You will end up losing everyone around you who cares – take it from someone who knows. All this secrecy is no good for anyone, it will eat away at you, and then it’s going to eat away at every relationship you have, and possibly that will include ours.’
Roman took a sideward glance at her. ‘Why, what do you mean?’
‘I lost all my friends, Roman, because of Alex, and I know this isn’t the same situation, but my friends warned me against him, they could see he was manipulating me, isolating me, and they wanted to help but I didn’t listen. I didn’t accept their help. Do you know what I did?’
‘No, what did you do?’ He turned to face her.
‘I cut myself off from everyone, I thought I was superwoman, I could handle it on my own, but there were days that I didn’t get out of bed, I lay there with the curtains drawn, my phone switched off. I never ate, barely washed and if it wasn’t for Callie I’d probably still be there. Whatever is going on, surely it can’t be as bad as that.’
He looked at her again.
‘People can help you, but if you push everyone away and keep it all to yourself, there will be consequences.’ Ella looked towards the letter.
‘I’m already living with the consequences. I’m sorry Ella, but I really can’t talk about this.’
But Ella wasn’t going to give up on Roman that easily. ‘Look, I’ve been hurt by secrets in the past and I would never go down that path again. Just for the record, I haven’t told a soul about the appointment card and I won’t. It’s your business, but please take the help whilst it’s being offered.’ Ella wished he’d open up, she could see he was hurting.
‘And who’s this now?’ he said, hearing someone coming up the stairs. They both looked towards the doorway and to their amazement, the TV crew and Callie walked on to the rooftop.
‘Here you both are… this is perfect,’ said Callie, looking towards Nancy who was nodding approvingly.
Ella and Roman shared a look that said they both had no clue what was going on. ‘I’ve just finished my break and need to get back to work,’ said Ella, remembering she’d just abandoned Isla’s table, and it may be her getting her marching orders at this rate. She took a step towards the stairs.
‘Stop right there! You aren’t going anywhere. What do you think?’ asked Callie, looking at Nancy again who was beaming.
‘Yes, they are both perfect,’ confirmed Nancy, looking through the lens of the camera.
‘Perfect for what?’ asked Ella, stringing out the words slowly.
‘A romantic meal for two!’
Roman and Ella looked at each other then back towards Nancy, who pointed to the table that was laid out on the balcony overlooking the bay, which neither of them had noticed. All the tables had been pushed to one side except this one, which was laid with a crisp white cotton cloth, champagne flutes and a tea-light candle in a silver holder flickering away.
‘This is the perfect backdrop for the news report. All you have to do is sit down at the table, enjoy a meal and look like you’re in love.’
‘And they call this work?’ joked Ella, grinning at Roman. ‘So you’re telling me I’m getting paid to go on a pretend romantic date with a gorgeous man and eat the best food prepared by Gianni. I think I can do that!’
‘I’ll second that.’ Roman smiled, thankfully looking a little more relaxed. He folded up the envelope and slipped it into his pocket.
‘I knew they would be up for it.’ Callie clapped her hands together. ‘I’ve cleared everything with Flynn too, so you don’t need to worry, Roman. Wilbur has already set sail to Hea
rtcross and we should be all finished here by the time the boat is due to leave again.’
Even though Roman had received a written warning, Ella could see no one was treating him any differently. They were all so fond of him and he was part of The Lakehouse community, but if Roman wouldn’t open up to Flynn about why he was late for work, Flynn really had no alternative, he had to put his business first.
‘Okay, let’s get you seated,’ announced Nancy. ‘And look happy. I want you dreamy-eyed and pretend the cameras aren’t there. It’s as easy as that.’
Ella beamed as a make-up artist appeared from nowhere and began to powder her face. ‘Just taking away the shine for the cameras,’ she said, turning towards Roman who immediately put up his hand.
‘Not for me, I really don’t mind looking shiny,’ he said, clearly horrified by the idea of wearing make-up.
‘I think a little bit of blusher to those cheeks would do you the world of good,’ teased Ella, making her way to the table.
‘I think you shouldn’t think,’ he joked, pulling out a chair for Ella to sit down on.
‘And what impeccable manners you have. Thank you.’ As they both sat down Roman seemed a little more chilled out. Ella was hoping he’d at least have a think about what she’d told him and about the support she had received from Callie – and of course Flynn, who had given her this job. ‘What a way to start my first day!’
‘A date with me! I’m not sure who’s the lucky one – me or you.’ Roman’s eyes sparkled as Ella caught his eye.
The rooftop terrace was the perfect romantic location. The scenery was breath-taking and the table was all set up for luxury dining. Once the segment aired on the news, surely it would bring in some extra diners.
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