Priyesh smiled and said, his voice low, ‘There’s a joke in there somewhere.’
‘Charlie, I’m just stepping outside. Won’t be a minute,’ Penny said quickly, before saying to Priyesh, ‘Come with me.’
She led him to the back porch of the pub, which led out to the steps and the car park.
‘Charlie was listening,’ she said, as way of explanation.
‘I’d imagine so,’ Priyesh said. ‘I long ago tried to side-step the prying eyes and ears of the village. Sometimes I throw them a bone. A bit of gossip to get their teeth into. I wonder how long it will take for everyone down at The Boot to know I’m here,’ he added, referencing the other pub in the village. ‘I have to confess I tend to head in there myself when I’m hungry for a bit of village chatter.’
‘Listen,’ Penny started, not sure what she was going to say next. Maybe: sorry about that hand-job I gave you, I can see how you might have the wrong impression. Or, I hope the stain came out of your suit. Or, I am not emotionally mature enough for this conversation, please just cease to exist. She wasn’t, of course, proud of herself.
‘The party,’ Priyesh said, instead. ‘It took me by surprise.’
Penny nodded. ‘Me too.’
‘And I’m not sure what the etiquette is for that situation—’
‘Me neither.’
‘But, your note was …’
‘Yeah.’
‘So the flowers are to say thank you for your thank you. And as a gateway to ask if, perhaps, should your schedule permit, you’d consider letting me take you out for dinner. I’d very much enjoy getting to know you.’
‘Expensive way to get tossed off again,’ Penny kidded.
‘What?’ said Priyesh.
‘I was being silly. Sorry. I’m embarrassed, I think.’
‘Embarrassed,’ repeated Priyesh, colour rising to his cheeks.
‘Oh!’ said Penny. ‘Not because – not because of you. Embarrassed by me. That I … you know. Did that. And—’
‘Right,’ said Priyesh. ‘I’ve misread this, then.’ He said it as a statement.
‘No!’ Penny exclaimed. ‘None of this is your fault. I’m just worried, is all, that work and play shouldn’t overlap, and that we have a professional relationship. I overstepped a boundary. I think I behaved improperly.’
‘That was the thrill,’ Priyesh said.
Penny didn’t know what to say to that. Before the party she’d thought he was uptight and boring, but now, after getting better acquainted, he was playful and provocative. She felt nervous around him, actually – his grown-up-ness and his manicured beard and the respect he obviously had for himself. And his directness, too – a man who said what he wanted and knew the diplomatic way to go about getting it was very attractive.
‘Yes,’ she settled on, grinning, now. ‘I suppose it was.’
‘I know every place worth eating at in a fifty-mile radius, and exactly what wine to order when we’re there. Plus, maybe there’s something in it for me, too …’
‘And what’s that?’ Penny asked.
‘I love learning about food. If we went out to dinner, maybe you could broaden my culinary horizons somewhat.’
‘You’re only in this for your taste buds?’ Penny said, eyebrows raised.
‘Penny, I find you incredibly interesting and largely elusive. I’m in it for you. I’ve been trying to pin you down for months.’
Penny’s jaw fell slack in disbelief at what she’d just heard.
‘Really?’ she said, incredulous. And then before she could probe him any more she was distracted by a car pulling into the car park whose driver looked very familiar.
‘What the hell!’ said Francesco, walking towards Penny and Priyesh. ‘Look at this place!’
‘Francesco!’ said Penny. ‘You’re here!’
‘I’m here!’ said Francesco, grinning. ‘Are you happy to see me?’
Penny went in for a hug, not knowing what else to do. ‘Of course I am!’ she said. ‘Francesco! My old friend! My buddy! My chum-diddly-chum-chum!’ She may as well set the boundary early on, she figured.
The pair pulled apart and it seemed to be only then that Francesco noticed Penny had been stood with another guy.
‘Sorry, man,’ he said to Priyesh. ‘Hi. I’m Francesco, an old friend of Penny’s.’ It wasn’t lost on her that he’d used ‘friend’ to describe himself. That was good. He knew where he stood, then.
‘Priyesh,’ said Priyesh. ‘The wine supplier for The Red Panda. And I was just in the middle of asking your friend out to dinner …’
‘Oh,’ said Francesco, taken aback. Penny grimaced guiltily.
‘I’ll leave you two to catch up,’ Priyesh said. ‘Francesco, what a lovely surprise for a friend. Penny?’
‘Huh?’ said Penny, discombobulated by Francesco’s arrival and somewhat turned on by Priyesh’s charm, and class, and apparent unflappability. Had he really said he’s been trying to ask her out for months?
‘Perhaps you’ll call me. You have my number.’
‘Oh, she doesn’t call people,’ Francesco said. ‘It took me a long time to persuade her to get on the phone. She’s a texter.’
‘Very well,’ Priyesh said. ‘Either way, Penny, I have a favour to return.’ He winked after he said that, and Penny knew exactly what he meant and it made red blotches flare up her cheeks. Such a polite man, suggesting such dirty things!
‘Thank you again for the flowers,’ she said. ‘I’ll call,’ she promised.
‘Nice to meet you,’ Priyesh said to Francesco, heading down the steps and towards his car. Francesco looked from Penny to the back of Priyesh’s head.
‘Is that the guy you’ve been seeing?’ he asked. ‘Why are you only going to dinner with him now?’
‘None of your business!’ Penny replied. ‘But also, no. It’s not. Priyesh is a … different man to the one I told you about. Back off.’
Francesco held his hands up in surrender. ‘Backing off, your honour,’ he said. ‘Boundaries firmly established.’
‘Sorry,’ Penny said. ‘I didn’t mean to snap. I’m flustered you caught me flirting. That was mean of me.’
‘It was,’ Francesco said. ‘And you’re already forgiven.’
‘Thank you. So, you really quit your job?’
Francesco grimaced. ‘Not my finest hour. But yes. I took my knives and got out of there before I could piss him off any more,’ he said. ‘Can I interest you in my pastry skills? I heard a rumour you might be going for the Bib Gourmand and little old Chef Cipolla might be able to help.’
‘I can’t believe you’re here,’ Penny said. ‘Just like that.’ She loved that he was. She loved that a part of her old life was in her new life, and that Priyesh had just asked her out, and that sometimes, when she least expected it, everything could feel do-able and light and fun. Francesco had once told her she over-complicated things, and in that moment she resolved to herself not to do that anymore. Francesco was here, and he was her friend. That was that.
‘I should have called on the way here,’ he said. ‘For a minute it almost looked like you had forgotten I was coming.’
‘No!’ said Penny. ‘I didn’t forget! I just, well, Priyesh …’
‘Handsome man,’ said Francesco.
‘Is it weird if you know I’m dating somebody else?’
Francesco looked in the direction Priyesh had left in. ‘Nah,’ he said. ‘I’m just happy we’re talking again.’
‘Well,’ Penny said. ‘Good.’
‘I’m excited to meet everyone properly,’ Francesco declared. ‘Everyone you’ve talked about, everyone you’ve done impressions of down the phone,’ he said.
‘Don’t think I’m getting soft or anything,’ Penny said. ‘But it might be nice to share it all with somebody, actually – to show somebody who understands how hard all this is, what we’ve achieved.’
‘Excellent!’
‘So what’s next? Did you really just ask me for a job?’
‘Who amongst us does?’ Penny laughed. ‘That’s supposed to be the fun of it, apparently.’
Penny left Francesco in the bar chatting with Charlie, who commented as Penny passed back through to the kitchen, ‘You left here with one and came back with another!’ Penny rolled her eyes. Charlie made it sound as though she was collecting men. She wasn’t, obviously.
‘Francesco is my friend,’ Penny said, as way of explanation. ‘F-R-I-E-N-D.’
‘The friend you talk to every morning when you’re prepping?’
‘Yes,’ said Penny. ‘Exactly that.’
‘Uh-huh,’ said Charlie, and Penny didn’t know what that noise was exactly supposed to mean. Hadn’t Charlie been all for Francesco’s friendly visit?
After she’d given instructions to the pot-wash, Ollie, on what needed doing to close down the kitchen until evening service, Penny kept Francesco waiting for a minute longer to slip into the kitchen office and look in the supplier’s book for Priyesh’s number. She flicked through the heavy binder of business cards and price lists, finding his details handwritten in her uncle’s cursive at the back. It had a landline number and a mobile, so Penny dialled his mobile. She needed to focus on the idea of somebody other than Francesco. If he understood that she was seeing somebody else, she knew he’d be respectful of that. Not that she was going to use Priyesh. She’d been a bit silly with him at the party, but the way he looked at her afterwards, how he came to the pub and brought flowers and didn’t get frustrated when Francesco turned up and interrupted them – that was very attractive. He was a proper man, and Penny knew in her heart she deserved to spend time with a proper man like that. What they’d done together had certainly been spontaneous, but she wasn’t going to over-think – that’s what she’d pledged to herself.
Penny also wasn’t going to fall back into Francesco’s arms because he was here, either – he’d kissed somebody else, when she’d not even been gone thirty seconds. She didn’t even care why, now. Yes, they’d had chemistry, but hadn’t she proved she could have chemistry with other men, too? In London it was as if she would never be fancied again until Francesco came along. Maybe she’d talked herself into liking him more because she was afraid she’d be left on the shelf forever. But here, in Derbyshire, it was different. Here, she magically had choices – Thomas had shown her the area and been open-hearted and kind. Priyesh was straight-laced and serious but playful and sexy too. And he wanted to take her out! So out she would go.
Priyesh picked up the phone. ‘Hello, Ms Bridge,’ he said, his voice brooding.
‘Hey,’ she replied. ‘I’m sorry we got interrupted. It’s a yes to dinner. Of course it’s a yes. Just let me know where to be and when, and I’ll be there.’
‘I’m thrilled to hear it,’ he said. ‘Sunday night. I’ll pick you up at 7 p.m. Dress code is smart.’
Penny went back through to Francesco and Charlie in the bar.
‘Right then,’ she said, clapping her hands together. ‘Shall I give you the grand tour?’
17
It was almost maddening how easily Francesco slipped into Derbyshire life. Penny had agreed to give him a job after catching Paul trying to pass off a Waitrose cheesecake as his own. It was all very straightforward: Francesco came to visit and charmed everyone with his easy ways and helpfulness and had sat and rubbed Penny’s feet at night after service, telling her over and over what a brilliant job she was doing. Penny had told him she was going to go out with Priyesh, and the foot-rub was merely a friendly one, and Francesco had promised to honour that. The next morning, Penny had caught Paul in the act and asked him how long he’d been doing it – using shop-bought products as his own – hoping he’d say it was a desperate one-off for a reason that would never crop up again. He didn’t. It turned out he’d been doing it for years and, as such, Penny fired him on the spot with a one-week grace period in which he would be paid but not required to show up. He didn’t put up a fight. Francesco found a house for rent in the village, and started that day.
‘I’m Bib Gourmand-level good, you know,’ said Francesco, once it was official. ‘And I know that you’re Bib Gourmand good, too. And the atmosphere here, the décor, the service? It’s going to happen, you know.’
‘Don’t,’ said Penny. ‘That’s not the objective!’ She broke into a smirk. ‘Well, unless it happens, in which case it was in the plan all along. I wish we got alerted if they were coming, or told in advance. It’s so maddening that there’s no way to prepare. Apparently you only know they’ve been if you get a letter after to say they want to give you the award and include you in the guide.’
‘Evening pasta date to celebrate always being ready?’ Francesco said. ‘After service?’
‘You’re cooking, or I am?’ Penny said.
He looked at her. ‘My friend,’ he said. ‘I am, of course.’
‘Just checking you still like me enough to feed me.’ She grinned at him. ‘But … could we do tomorrow? I have a date tonight.’
‘Oh, I see,’ Francesco said, teasing. ‘Lining us all up back to back, are you?’
Penny rolled her eyes. ‘I can cook my own pasta, you know.’
‘No, no,’ insisted Francesco. ‘I can be your second choice. You. Me. Tagliatelle. Tomorrow after service.’
‘It’s a date,’ she said. ‘Well. A non-date.’
Francesco beamed. ‘Penny, it’s cool. I’m just pushing your buttons,’ he said. ‘Tomorrow is fine.’
‘This is beautiful,’ Penny said to Priyesh over the last of their wine at a local country hotel bar. ‘I had no idea this was here.’
‘Well, cheers to discovering new things then,’ said Priyesh, raising his glass to hers. ‘And cheers to that beautiful meal, too.’ He had a twinkle in his eye, and Penny understood exactly which direction the night was rapidly going to go in. He was a paradox: outwardly buttoned-up but underneath cheeky and provocative. She liked it. ‘I’m glad I got a taste of your maple-soy tofu. Never in a million years would I have ordered that myself.’
‘Tofu is so hard to get right,’ said Penny. ‘But I had a feeling they’d smash it here.’
‘I think my starter was my favourite, then your tofu, and then the dessert. I’m such a sucker for anything with passion fruit.’
‘And yet that is my least favourite fruit,’ said Penny.
‘Come on,’ uttered Priyesh. ‘You’re leaving that one wide open to some letchy comment about passion and its place in your life. Don’t make me do that.’
Penny laughed. ‘You’re right,’ she said. ‘That was short-sighted of me. I shouldn’t put you in any kind of position that means jokes about tropical fruit are on the table.’
‘I appreciate your understanding,’ Priyesh said. There was no denying that Penny was charmed by him.
‘So,’ she said. ‘I know all about how you got into wine because of your sister-in-law, and now I know about your affinity for war dramas, occasional show tunes and that you own two rescue cats that make your furniture smell …’
‘Hey,’ he responded. ‘You’re sworn to secrecy on the show tunes, remember. Nobody else needs to know that I cried at Billy Eliot.’
‘Got it,’ Penny sniggered, a little tipsy. ‘Tell me something that I still don’t know, though,’ she invited. ‘You’ve told me the top-line stuff, but what about your hopes and dreams and fears and loves and losses? You’re this enigma to me – and to everyone at the pub, too. Who is Priyesh … wait. What’s your last name, even?’
Priyesh smiled. ‘Jones.’
‘Priyesh Jones.’
‘You were expecting me to say Singh or Khan, weren’t you? Or Patel?’
Penny looked horrified. ‘No!’ she said. ‘No! Just because you’re …’ she didn’t know the right word. She was terrified she seemed racist, or worse – plain i
gnorant.
‘It’s okay, I’m just joshing,’ said Priyesh. ‘My mother is from India, and my father is from Coventry. Hence Jones, but with brown skin.’
‘Do you get on with them well, your parents?’
‘I do,’ said Priyesh. ‘I have a lot of respect for them.’
He didn’t ask her about her parents in return, and it occurred to Penny that he must know she didn’t have any.
‘I try to learn from them as much as possible, especially now I’m old enough to appreciate them – which already feels too late, to be honest. I don’t know where I get it from, but I can be very competitive. For a long time I thought it was more important to be right than to be kind, but these last few years I’ve really tried to practise the opposite. It’s more important to be kind than right.’
Penny nodded. ‘I’ve never thought about it that way, but yes, I think I agree. Anybody can be stubborn and hold their ground and get others to bend to their will, but the better person will do the kind thing? Is that what you mean?’
‘Exactly,’ he said, sniffing the Barolo he’d ordered that lurked at the bottom of his fishbowl of a glass.
‘And you said this past few years you’ve learned the difference?’
‘Yeah. Since my divorce, really.’
Penny nodded. He’d mentioned his marriage ending the other day, as well. It was obviously still painful for him.
‘I don’t still dwell on it, for the record,’ Priyesh added, as if he’d read her mind. ‘I’m very removed from the emotion of it, when I talk about how I used to be married. It’s fact to me now: I put my ego before my wife too often, and in the end it cost me. So now I try not to do that. In fact, your uncle was quite the clergyman to me when I was struggling.’
Penny brightened at the mention of Uncle David. ‘Oh yeah?’ she asked. ‘You talked to him about it all?’
Priyesh nodded. ‘I did. He’d cook for me and listen to me feel ashamed of myself. He really gave me his time – and Eric, too. They’re a great couple, aren’t they?’
‘So great,’ grinned Penny. She played with her wine glass as well, mirroring Priyesh without realizing. ‘They met when I was twenty years old, and right from the start it was like the clouds had parted and the heavens smiled upon them and—’
The Love Square Page 18