Yes Chef, No Chef

chapter Twenty Six



Katie was outside in her garden hanging wet jeans onto the aerial drier when she spotted her next door neighbour across the small wall between their gardens.

“Hi there,” he called to her. “When are you going to come over to the plot to order some vegetables? I’ve got some fantastic courgettes at the moment – how about later this afternoon?"

Courgettes would be great for her seafood buffet she thought wandering over to accept his invite. Sam, she guessed was in his early forties, had peppered grey hair, sparkly blue eyes and a cheeky-chappy smile that reached from ear to ear, and when Lisa had bumped into him getting out of her car one day she'd said he could give George Clooney a run for his money any day.

“Courgettes? They might be just what I’m looking for,” she said.

He grinned at her while staring at her legs. “Yeah, and the tomatoes are fab at the moment as well…”

Smiling she took his business card and pushed it down into the back pocket of her skimpy denim shorts. “Sounds good,” she said. “Around three o’clock?”

Katie hadn't noticed any women going in or out of his flat so presumed there wasn't a ‘Mrs Sam’ anywhere in the vicinity which did seem a little strange because he was a gorgeous looking guy. Surely he must at least have a girlfriend she mused returning to the kitchen to plan the menu for the following night’s seafood buffet. She was making the buffet for a friend of Lisa's called Andrew who was having a divorce party on board a privately hired boat on the Thames.

When Lisa had rung last week to ask if she wanted the buffet booking she’d been delighted and had burst out laughing when Lisa told her the only way she’d accepted Andrews invite was if it included Katie and Sarah too.

“Just think of all those gorgeous guys on board that boat,” she’d said longingly.

“Wow! Thanks, Lisa. I’d love to do the buffet.”

Lisa had continued. “Andrew’s an ace in public relations; he’s well connected in the London business sector, and knows some very influential people. So, make sure you bring plenty of business cards with you.”

Sitting with a coffee at the kitchen table she chewed the end of her pencil and made a list of the seafood arrangements she wanted to do and the ingredients she’d need.

She thought again of Lisa sighing with dread at having to tell her about Adam and knew her friend’s reaction would be a bolshie, couldn’t care less attitude but moreover knew that when Lisa was alone she might be upset. At the moment though Lisa was in Prague at a work conference and because she didn’t want to tell her on the mobile decided to wait until tomorrow night at the party.

The night before she’d called at Sarah's and told her what she'd learned from John and Sarah agreed it had to be the same guy called Adam, and that Lisa certainly needed to be told. And when Katie had whinged about having to tell Lisa, Sarah had wrinkled her nose and gave her a ‘now you know what it feels like’ look. But she had offered to help when telling Lisa and Katie had driven home feeling happier knowing she had Sarah’s support. Before reaching Grafton Road however, she’d spotted her older brother Jack and his little boy Thomas on route from the cinema.

When she’d pulled over, Thomas had tapped on the window of the car and when it rolled down he’d stood on his tip-toes and rested his little chin on the edge grinning at her with a big gap where his front tooth had once been. A rush of tenderness had swept through her while she’d listened to his story about the tooth fairy and how the next morning there’d been a pound coin under his pillow. She loved Thomas dearly and whenever she heard him call her Aunty Katie it made her insides melt. He wasn’t strictly her nephew because Jack was living with a nice woman whose husband, Thomas’s father, had been killed in Afghanistan but she liked to think of herself as his adopted aunty.

“Where’s Uncle Tim?” Thomas asked. “Can I come to stay at your place again?”

Katie had felt such a sharp pain in the middle of her chest it had nearly choked her but she’d swallowed hard and gently stroked the side of Thomas’s silky smooth cheek. “He’s not with me anymore, sweetheart, but you can come to my new flat very soon and we’ll think of some new games to play.”

Jack had gazed sadly at her with the same tender eyes of her father making her feel more desolate than she had for weeks. When she’d pulled up outside her front door she’d remembered the weekend Thomas had mentioned and how she’d stepped in at the last minute to babysit. At first Tim had been disgruntled when their weekend plans were turned upside down, but by the time Jack had returned to collect Thomas he’d fallen completely under his spell and was loath to see him go. Later they’d cuddled up on the settee and decided how many children they were going to have and even had a competition to see who could choose the silliest names for boys and girls.

Finishing the coffee she got up to look for her boots sighing wistfully at the thought of having a son with Tim and how he’d probably turn out to be a little boy with the same dark thick hair and green shining eyes as his dad, and wondered now if she would ever have any children. Automatically she rubbed her flat stomach trying to imagine what it would feel like to have a baby growing inside - her biological clock was certainly ticking she decided, but shook herself out of the reverie, grabbed her bag and headed out to the car.

The afternoon sun streamed through the windscreen of the car when she drove out to the garden plots listening to Joe McElderry’s CD of classical music. She had a list of vegetables she needed for the buffet but wondered if she should start to order carrots and onions on a weekly basis. It would be cheaper and more convenient than buying them from a supermarket she reasoned, and of course it would also mean gazing into Sam’s twinkling blue eyes when he delivered them. "Bring. It. On," she whispered to herself - Lisa was right it was high time she had a little fun in her life and found something, or someone to make her smile again.

By the time she reached Sam’s address the sky had clouded over but it was still warm and she climbed out of the car to head towards what she assumed was his plot. The white vest she wore was a little too tight and she wriggled trying to pull it down to meet the waistband of her denim shorts. She knew it was strained tight across her chest but then pulled her shoulders back with an air of confidence and repeated Lisa’s favourite saying - if you’ve got it flaunt it.

The large well planned vegetable plots stretched further than she’d imagined and at the side was a long greenhouse where she presumed Sam must be. Sauntering casually towards it she relished in the feel good factor and how nice it was to be outside in the fresh air rather than being stuck in a stuffy office building.

This was definitely one of the perks of self-employment she decided calling out a greeting, “Hellooo, are you there, Sam?”

He popped his head out of the door and walked towards her grinning playfully and she noticed how tanned his arms, face and shoulders were, which she supposed was typical for gardeners who worked in the open air all day.

“Hi,” she said walking along the gravel path towards him and brushing his cheek with a kiss. “Lovely place. Is it all yours?”

“It sure is," he said. "Glad you could make it.”

He extended a hand and pointed to where his boundary line started and finished, and told her about his future plans to buy another area for a fruit orchard.

“Wow!” she said. “That’s impressive, growing fruit and vegetables isn’t as easy as everyone thinks it is.”

He smiled his thanks and nodded. “Tell me about it,” he said with a sudden frown creasing his brow. “It certainly wasn't easy at first and I only started with a small allotment intending to grow my own vegetables. It was more for something to do than anything else because I'd been made redundant.”

Heavens she thought, here was another person’s life being turned upside down with this bloody recession and nodded sympathetically as they fell into step with each other.

He continued, "And, at the same time because the monthly wage packet had stopped coming into our bank account my long suffering wife ran off with her physiotherapist.” His cheeky grin disappeared and a haunted expression settled on his face.

"Oh dear," she murmured.

Visibly he shuddered, as though the memory of her had left a nasty taste in his mouth. "But there again, in another way she did me a big favour," he said, and touching the side of Katie’s shoulder he beckoned for her to follow him down the length of gravel path towards the greenhouse. While they walked he explained which local companies he was selling his produce to and the areas where he delivered his vegetable boxes. She nodded her head while listening and by the time they reached the greenhouse door his cheeky grin was back in place.

He made a dramatic bow allowing her to step inside before him and she giggled with pleasure. The greenhouse was old with a few small panes of glass broken in one corner and two long benches which ran either side. There was a vast array of vegetables on the nearest bench and she inhaled the different fresh aromas of home grown tomatoes, cucumbers, spring onions, Vichy carrots, and green beans.

"Mmm, lovely smell – you don’t get this in a supermarket," she commented, looking around and immediately felt the hot, damp atmosphere.

“Of course not, most of the vegetables are shipped and flown into the country which is a terrible thing to do to them. They probably get jet-lagged just like we do.”

She giggled. “This all looks wonderful,” she said pointing at the vegetables admiring them and him at the same time.

He set down a large wicker basket onto the bench. “Thanks, I thought I’d make you a basket of vegetables as a belated flat warming present.”

She was taken aback by his kindness. “Hey, that’s great. Thanks very much.”

“No problem,” he said grinning, “I suppose most people would give you a bottle of wine but these will last much longer.”

"Yeah, the way me and my friends drink you're probably right," she agreed laughing.

He began explaining which vegetables were his best and the ones he’d had problems with and she leant against the bench watching him snap tops from the carrots and put them into the basket. Then he collected handfuls of the other green vegetables and set them in a row along the bench placing them from the largest down to the smallest.

“You see, the cucumber is the longest and thickest but naturally, it’s far too big,” he said stroking the length of it and dropping it into the basket. He raised an eyebrow and gave her a smouldering look. “And, of course the sugar-snaps and green beans are too small and thin to be any real use…”

She couldn’t quite make her mind up if he was flirting with her or just teasing her in a playful manner? Her white vest began to stick to her back and she anxiously made a comment about it being hot and muggy.

Ignoring the trite weather comment he picked a courgette up. “But, these little beauties just keep on coming, so big, and so fast – there’s no other squash plant grows like courgettes do.”

She shuffled from one foot to another becoming uncomfortable with the oppressive heat, her mouth was dry and she licked her lips feeling the stickiness of her lip gloss.

“Do you like courgettes?” he asked staring wantonly at her breasts. “Mmm, they’re definitely my favourites. It’s the perfect size and shape, almost phallic – don’t you think?”

Holding the bottom of the courgette in one hand he began to stroke it lengthways with his other hand and stared longingly into her eyes. “The skin is so soft and smooth and of course the taste is unbelievable.”

She felt mesmerised as she stared back into his eyes and shakily grabbed the bench to steady herself because her legs were trembling with desire. Yes, this was definitely a come-on and instinctively played along with him.

“Yeah, I suppose it’s true what they say that size does matter?” she tittered.

He threw his head back and roared with laughter. She was having fun and enjoying flirting with him which was something she hadn’t done for a long time. Looking at his muscular hairy arms and his tanned glistening skin she thought of how sexy and gorgeous he was, and swallowed hard with desire.

He stopped stroking the courgette and leaned in towards her tracing a finger down the side of her cheek and an aroma of rich, earthy peat filled her nostrils.

“You've no idea what fun you can have with vegetables,” he drawled seductively throwing the courgettes into the basket.

She felt dumbstruck and noticed out of the corner of her eye a small spider inching its way down the glass in front of the bench and although she wasn’t frightened of them at any other time she would warily be backing away from it, but she was so captivated by what he was doing she couldn’t move - her feet and body felt like they were cemented into the raffia matted floor.

He picked up two plump, orange tomatoes and cupped each one in the palms of his hands. “These are Juane Flammee tomatoes. They have the perfect small shape and firmness one would expect from a salad tomato but we must be extra careful with these delicate tomatoes.”

Tenderly he squeezed and caressed the tomatoes until she felt she was about to burst. The urge and longing to be touched flooded through her body, her blood seemed to be pumping through her veins with excitement, and she felt a small droplet of perspiration run down her neck and trickle slowly between her breasts. Staring wantonly at him she licked her dry lips again then saw him follow the trickle of perspiration with his sultry eyes. She was under no illusion that he was certainly up for it, and sweet Jesus, so was she.

“And the lovely sweet flavour is mild, and yet so intense,” he said slowly putting one of the tomatoes to his mouth and biting into it. Some of the red juice ran down his chin and a couple of the seeds dropped onto his black Vest. “Oops,” he muttered licking at the juice with his tongue.

Transfixed now she reached over and touched the trickle of juice on his chin with her finger and he leant forward to kiss her full on the lips. He tasted of sweet tomato and she groaned quietly while he gently eased her up against the bench and before she knew what she was doing all the weeks of pent-up desire flooded through her and she greedily kissed him back. He slid his hands around her and into the back pockets of her denim shorts and squeezing her buttocks gently he pulled her into him. She felt his urgency hard against her and moaned in anticipation when it stretched nearly to the hip pocket of his jeans.

“Oh God,” he breathed heavily, “I’ve been dreaming of these shorts since first thing this morning when I saw you in the garden.”

Whether it was the reminder that he was, in fact, her next door neighbour that snapped her out of the hypnotic state she wasn't quite sure but suddenly she pulled back from him. Starting an affair with her neighbour probably wasn’t the brightest idea she'd ever had and stuttered, "I...I'm just not ready for this, Sam. Sorry, I mean, well, s…sorry."

With one last squeeze of her bottom he reluctantly removed his hands from her shorts. "Hey, that's fine," he said stepping back from her. "Some other time?"

Sighing heavily he clicked his tongue with disappointment at the rejection and stood back to the bench busying himself with the basket while she felt her cheeks burning hot with embarrassment.

What the hell was wrong with her, she agonised and trying to get a grip on herself she pulled her vest down that had ridden up doing their snog. She was desperate to be with a man again and felt starved of physical and intimate contact but every time she got close to doing it she scared herself silly and backed off. Sighing, she wondered what Sarah's psychologist friend would say about her weird behaviour and then answered her own question with the obvious answer. Basically, she knew that although she was desperate for sex she still only wanted it to be with Tim.

She walked behind Sam feeling like a ridiculous silly teenager while he carried the basket of vegetables to her car and she mumbled further apologies hoping that what had happened wouldn't affect their friendship. He reassured her it wouldn't and she placed a weekly order with him explaining how she was going to shred some of the vegetables to garnish the seafood buffet.

Opening the car door for her and with his cheeky-chappy grin fixed firmly back in place he told her he really hoped they could meet up again sometime in the greenhouse. Giggling, she pulled away from the kerb and waved behind her shaking her head in amazement at his resilience.