Chapter 21
Elodie gasped. With one question, Travis had skewered both the things that made her happy. Was that true? Had Mal needed her to get this job? Is that why he was working with her? Is that why he was flirting with her? The world seemed to drop away in front of her.
Then Mal said, ‘Neither. I mean, both. Whichever way round it is. I’m flirting with her because I fancy her. I’m working with her because she’s really really good at her job and probably the most organised and determined person I’ve ever met. I don’t know what this is all about, Trav, but I like Elodie and don’t think you should be undermining her like that.’
Elodie took a few steps forward until she was at the door to the pantry.
Mal turned his head and spotted her. ‘Elodie,’ he said. The surprise on his face was genuine. He’d had no idea she could hear him. Everything he’d just said, he’d said not knowing she was there. He meant it. He fancied her and he respected her. And just like that, she fell in love with him.
She gave Travis a triumphant glare. He scowled and stalked out of the pantry with the champagne.
‘You heard?’ Mal said, as he pulled off his gloves and mask.
She put her bag of cake stuff down carefully, then marched up to him, took his face in her hands and kissed him firmly on the mouth. ‘I heard.’
‘Well,’ he said. ‘I guess you don’t mind that I like you for your competence as well as everything else.’
She grinned at him.
Before she could say anything there was the sound of running feet. ‘Elodie. Mal.’ Marty practically skidded down the path. ‘Saffron is looking for you. She wants to cut the cake early.’
Elodie let go of Mal. ‘Let me get the knife.’ She had wrapped the beribboned knife in a couple of carrier bags and hidden it under a pile of cake boxes. It was never a good idea to leave a big knife lying around.
‘I think we’re nearly done here now, right?’ she asked Mal.
‘The hot food is all out. It’s just keeping the drinks circulating now. One of the guys has to go in about twenty minutes, so I’ll go take over from him. Marty, could you stay here and just keep an eye on things?’ Mal took the hairnet off and smoothed his hair, pulled up into a severe top knot, back into place.
‘Yes! A chance to put my feet up,’ said Marty. ‘Of course. Of course. You two kids have fun out there.’
Elodie shook her head at him, but she couldn’t stop smiling. Her hand brushed against Mal’s as they stepped outside together. For a second she wondered about kissing him again. But no. She didn’t have time.
‘Come on.’ She led the way, carrying her knife with her.
It wasn’t hard to track Saffron’s progress; a cluster of people followed her. A photographer and videographer and goodness knows who else. When she saw Elodie she beckoned her over.
‘This is Elodie,’ she said.
‘Oh, from videos of the cake shop,’ said one of the women. ‘Your cakes look delish.’
‘You’ll get your chance to taste one soon,’ said Saffron. ‘Elodie made that ah-mazing cake over there.’
Everyone turned to look at the cake and Elodie felt a flame of pride.
‘Is everything ready for us to cut the cake?’ Saffron said.
‘Yes. I have the knife here—’
‘Oh no, we need to get some good footage of it first. Some clips with the guests around in the background, to intercut with the close-ups from earlier.’
One of the women with cameras went off to film the cake, while the other stayed with Saffron.
‘Excuse me,’ said another guest to Elodie. ‘Do you have a business card or something I could take? I saw that you do retirement cakes …’
‘I do cakes for just about any occasion.’ Elodie fished out a card from the stash she had in her pocket.
‘Do you always hire the hunky waiters too?’ said a slightly older woman. ‘And are they single?’
‘They’re not really waiters.’ Elodie smiled. ‘They’re guys from Jamie’s gym. And no, some of them are taken.’
‘What about that one?’ said the woman, pointing to where Mal was standing next to the cake, talking to one of the videographers. With his tailored shirt and black trousers, he looked incredible. The videographer said something and laughed. Mal smiled calmly and took a small step away.
‘That one’, she said, with a satisfied little smile, ‘is definitely taken.’
Mal shifted his stance a bit. He was being a human barrier to give the videographer some time to get the footage she needed. She seemed to be swapping between the professional camera and an iPhone. He looked over his shoulder to check if she was okay.
‘Hey.’ Someone poked him, quite hard, in the ribs.
‘Ow. What the—?’
It was Leon. Who seemed angry. And drunk. That didn’t bode well. Mal swallowed down his sense of unease. ‘Oh hi, Leon. I didn’t know you were here today.’
‘Well. Saffron is a client, so she invited me.’ Leon swayed a little. ‘But no points for guessing why you’re here.’
‘I’m working, actually,’ said Mal. ‘I’m part of the catering team.’
‘You’, said Leon, ‘are up to your old tricks again. You couldn’t bear to see that Elodie liked me, could you? You had to go and drive a bloody …’ He made a weird hammering motion with his hands. ‘A bloody wedge between us. You bastard.’ He jabbed at him again.
Mal put his hands up in front of him to stop the jabbing. ‘Leon. I think you—’
‘You’re jealous of me and you didn’t want me to have her. Did you?’ Leon shouted. ‘You absolute bloody bastard. I hate you.’ He stood square in front of him, pulled both his elbows in, and lashed out.
The strike was unexpected. It probably wouldn’t have been a strong one, but Mal was so surprised that anyone, even Leon, would punch him in the face like that, that he didn’t react fast enough. Leon’s fist caught him under the jaw and made his head snap backwards. Mal staggered back. Unfortunately, the videographer was just behind him. He tripped over her foot and went down, arms flailing, straight onto the cake.
The impact knocked the breath out of him. Then the world seemed to be raining cake and sugarcraft. He tried to get up. Leon landed on top of him. Another punch. This one connected properly and his mouth was suddenly filled with the weird combination of blood and cake. He caught Leon’s arm before the next punch landed, but Leon had a hand free. He grabbed a handful of cake and shoved it into Mal’s face.
Mal spat out the fondant and sponge into Leon’s face, caught the other arm and forced him back. Jake appeared, grabbed Leon with expertise learned from his university job as a bouncer and hauled him off. Mal scrambled to his feet. Everyone was staring. Despite the no-photos rule, phones were out. The videographer was also filming. He looked up to see Saffron and Elodie both staring, their faces masks of horror.
Mal turned round to see what was behind him. The cake was smashed to bits. He turned back to apologise to Elodie.
‘You always hated me. Always wanted what I had.’ Leon got loose. Before Jake could catch him again, he threw a slice of quiche at Mal.
Off to one side, a voice shouted, ‘Food fight!’ and all hell broke loose.