Recipe for Love

CHAPTER Twenty-Three





CHER WAS PARTICULARLY WAG-like and charming in the limo that picked up the three female contestants and took them to the hotel where the photo shoot was to be held. The press conference and party were going to be there too. She patronised Becca in a way that made Zoe squirm but as she had her own internal maelstrom she couldn’t do much to help, apart from the occasional sympathetic smile. Her feelings were so mixed up. She was going to be seeing Gideon, which was at once tremendously exciting and completely terrifying. Would she get a chance to speak to him? And, most importantly, how would he take the news that she was being blackmailed by Cher? She wished now that she’d taken the bottle of Rescue Remedy her mother had tried to press on her. What she really felt like was a tranquilliser. Maybe someone would offer her some brandy. Gideon would be furious. But he had a lot to lose too. Why oh why hadn’t they been more careful?

‘I’m going to get used to this lifestyle!’ said Cher, stretching her long, perfect legs in front of her. ‘After this competition, some of us are going to be stars!’ She said the word with an ecstasy that made Zoe squirm. A glance across at Becca told her she felt the same.

‘You might not win, Cher,’ said Becca boldly. ‘And we’re chefs, not models.’

‘I might not win,’ she agreed, ‘but it’s unlikely. The thing is, your nerves will get the better of you and Zoe – well, she’s not really up there, is she? And as for not being a model, I think I could quite easily step sideways into that role.’

‘That’s not fair!’ said Becca. ‘Zoe’s done brilliantly!’

‘But not as a cook. She’s just a jolly coper, the helper in times of trouble, making cupcakes, being a little star, doing good deeds wherever she can. What this competition wants is a Michelin-standard chef, not a glorified Girl Guide.’

Zoe cringed in her seat. Cher’s cruel statements were usually easy to dismiss but that hit home. She had been the helper – she liked to help! She also liked the challenge, the problem-solving. Maybe she’d been wrong to give in to this instinct. Maybe it marked her out as unprofessional. But, really, that wasn’t the point. Her biggest, hugest, life-changing error had been to get into bed with one of the judges. She could be worthy of three Michelin stars right now but she still couldn’t cook herself out of this particular hole.

‘Becca is that standard,’ Zoe said, forcing herself to say something to hide how ghastly she was feeling. She may be out of the competition but she could still root for Becca. She deserved to win it anyway.

Cher shook her head sadly. ‘Nerves,’ she repeated. ‘They will get to you, won’t they? Think of cooking for all those top chefs, under the lights, the eyes of the world on you. Your hands will sweat; they’ll slip on the knife. You might actually cut yourself.’

‘We’ve been cooking like that ever since the start of the competition,’ said Becca, ‘it’s no different now. The best chef will win. And don’t forget Shadrach. He’s always cutting himself but it doesn’t stop him cooking amazing food.’

‘But messy. He won’t win when his station is such a muddle.’

As Cher’s station was always immaculate Zoe really hoped this wasn’t true.

‘You can’t know that,’ said Becca. ‘It’s the food that counts. He could easily win.’



To Cher’s delight and the others’ consternation they were made up before the photo shoot. But in spite of her inner turmoil, Zoe did find it rather fun and strangely relaxing.

All three girls were seated in front of a mirror and each one had a make-up artist hovering over them. Mentally awarding herself a saucer of cream, Zoe couldn’t help thinking that Cher’s Botox looked stiff and fake now she could see her reflected in the mirror.

‘Tell me, Cher,’ she said, deciding she liked cream. ‘Why did you decide to have Botox? Were some little worry lines, possibly about the competition, creeping in?’

Cher wasn’t remotely embarrassed. ‘Oh no, nothing like that. I just wanted to look my absolute best. Because my appearance is important to me.’

‘But you’re only in your early twenties!’

‘And your point is?’

Zoe gave up. Cher obviously thought there was nothing strange about injecting toxins into your skin even if the flaws it corrected weren’t visible to anyone else. ‘And do you feel it helped?’

Cher was indignant. ‘Of course it helped! Duh! Look!’ She pointed to her forehead. ‘No lines!’

‘No expression!’ put in Becca, who’d gained a lot of confidence during the competition.

‘Frowning’s very over-rated,’ said Cher, with a little moue of temper. ‘Can we have false eyelashes if we want them?’

‘Anything you like,’ said her artist. ‘You’re the client.’

‘I’m Susy,’ said the girl assigned to Zoe. ‘What sort of look would you like?’

‘Hello. I usually go for quite a natural look.’ Zoe was feeling that her make-up application skills were hopelessly amateur.

‘You have really great hair! Are those curls natural? Amazing. So many girls iron their hair these days. Such a shame.’

Zoe might have imagined it but she thought Susy glanced at Cher in a disapproving way.

‘Maybe, as it is all a bit special, I should have a more dramatic look than normal?’ Zoe looked at Susy appealingly, hoping she’d tell her what was best.

‘We can do that. A sort of enhanced natural, and you could have a few false lashes at the end of your own for added oomph, if you’d like that.’

It was with Becca that the change was most dramatic. She never wore any make-up but she’d given her artist free rein and while it wasn’t overdone, she now looked like the pretty girl she was and not the anxious mouse who had first turned up as a competitor. The new look added to her confidence too. This young woman wouldn’t succumb to gamesmanship.

In spite of her limited range of expression Cher managed to show displeasure at Becca’s transformation; she wanted to be the prettiest, and not have a rival in the glamour stakes.

‘And now, ladies, if you’re ready, we’ll do the photo shoot.’ A glamorous girl in the skinniest jeans and the highest heels that Zoe had ever seen outside a celebrity magazine smiled approvingly at them.

Zoe longed for Mike and the friendly team they’d got to know at Somerby. These people were nice enough but they were strangers. The others had begun to feel like part of the family.

‘I don’t remember there being all this non-cooky publicity for other cookery comps,’ she muttered to Becca. ‘You only ever saw them in their whites.’

‘This show is much bigger than anything they’ve had before,’ said Cher. ‘My uncle told me all about it. We’re going to be stars.’

‘I’m sure we’re not,’ said Becca. ‘Unless we win, and we can’t all win. And even then, we’ll only be famous for five minutes, and only because of our cooking.’

Cher gave her a knowing look which said, ‘You know nothing, sweetheart.’

Zoe followed the others to the set-up for the photo shoot. It was a fake kitchen, with a big range cooker, lots of copper pans and jugs of herbs, right in the middle of the work surface. Pretty but really irritating if you actually had to cook there, she decided.

‘Now we want you all together to begin with,’ said the girl in charge. ‘Come along, Shadrach, we’ll have you in the middle, surrounded by the girls. That’s right …’

It took for ever. At one point Zoe found herself lying on her tummy with her legs bent up and her chin in her hands looking – there was no other word for it – cute.

Cher excelled at it; she revelled in the attention and adored every extravagant request.

‘I think if they asked her to sit on the hot stove with her legs apart, she’d do it,’ said Shadrach.

‘I need a drink,’ said Becca, ‘and I don’t mean water!’

‘We’ve just got a few shots for magazines to do now. All of you sit on the sofa together,’ said the girl on the stilt heels, still upright, still in charge.

Zoe found she got used to smiling to order. After nearly an hour though her jaw was beginning to ache and her top lip kept sticking to her teeth. But at last they were released and glasses of champagne were put into their hands.

‘Just a little time to wind down before you go home to get early nights before your big day,’ said the girl in spiky heels. ‘Or you won’t sleep!’

Zoe had just come out of the loo before their taxi arrived to take them back to their hotel when she saw Gideon. He saw her at the same moment and they moved together like magnets hardly aware of the people milling around in between.

‘Hello, you,’ she said, breathless. All the love and lust she’d been telling herself wasn’t real more or less since she’d last seen him came flooding back. Then she remembered Cher. ‘Where can we be alone? We need to talk.’

‘And the rest!’ He laughed down at her, his eyes dancing.

‘Oh Gideon, it’s not that. I wish it was! I’ve got something I must tell you. But not here!’

He nodded. ‘I know a place. Follow me. In here.’ Gideon opened a door.

It was a small room full of stacked chairs and tables. ‘How did you know about this?’ asked Zoe, impressed.

‘I opened the door by mistake when I was looking for the Gents.’ His expression softened. ‘Oh Zoe, I’ve missed you so.’

He pulled her into a hug and for a while they stayed with their arms around each other, not even kissing. It was bliss. Eventually she pulled away and looked up at him. ‘I’ve got to pull out of the competition.’

‘What? Why? What are you talking about?’ He held her hands as if reluctant to let her go.

‘I don’t mean pull out really. I mean – deliberately fail.’

‘That makes even less sense!’ He was frowning now.

She moved away, aware that she was going to annoy him. She couldn’t look at him; she felt so ashamed, besmirched, by what had happened. ‘Cher has pictures. Of us. Together. She took them in the wood, during the foraging.’

‘So?’

She looked at him now. Why was he being so dense? ‘So? So she said if I don’t make sure I don’t win she’ll tell everyone that we’ve been having an affair. The show might have to be pulled for all I know. It’ll be tainted by scandal!’ Zoe fought not to sound hysterical but wasn’t doing a good job. She wanted to pace the floor to get rid of some of her tension but there were piles of chairs and tables in every corner.

‘But that’s blackmail!’

‘Yes! But we did have an affair and she has got proof. She’s in a position to blackmail me.’

‘Us. I was there too.’

‘And your career will be affected, won’t it?’

‘Yes, I suppose it will.’ He sighed. ‘But you can’t let this affect you now. You have a real chance of winning this competition.’

She shook her head. ‘I really should have thought of that before.’ Why, oh why hadn’t she controlled her feelings? What had been so wonderful now just seemed unbelievably sordid. Then she felt a flicker of anger. He should have thought of it. He was there too. He encouraged her!

Gideon pushed his hand into his hair as if to help his thinking process. ‘I know I’ve never shown you any advantage. That must count for something.’

‘Nothing is going to count against the fact that you’re a judge and I’m a contestant and we slept together.’

Gideon groaned. ‘There’ll be a way out of this, we just need to find it. Damn it. This is serious.’

‘The way I see it, I have two options. Either I can resign, but then all the reasons for it would come out – Cher would make absolutely sure of it – or I make a mistake with one of my recipes, and just lose.’ Zoe paused and looked up at Gideon. ‘I probably wouldn’t have won anyway.’

‘I’m not having it! You’re not throwing the competition because of Cher. She’s not above trying to seduce the judges herself. I happen to know!’

This made Zoe feel even worse. ‘Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get photographs of you in bed together—’

‘I didn’t sleep with her, you idiot!’

‘Don’t call me an idiot! You’re the one who can’t see what is so bloody obvious.’

‘Look, I’ll sort it! You’re not to pull out. ‘

‘I won’t pull out, but I will have to fail. I mean it. I’m not risking your career or the show.’

Gideon put his hands on her shoulders. ‘And I won’t let you. I can’t believe you’re prepared to give in to Cher like that.’

‘It’s my decision,’ Zoe said, trying to stop her voice wobbling. ‘You can’t stop me. I have to do this.’

‘Don’t be a fool! Christ, I’m disappointed in you, Zoe. I thought you cared about this competition.’ He looked thunderous, as if he wanted to shake some sense in to her.

‘Stop shouting at me.’

At that moment the door opened and a young woman came in, obviously staff. Gideon was still glaring at her and obviously angry, so Zoe took the opportunity to escape. She couldn’t deal with it any longer – any of it – least of all Gideon.