Page 14 of Confetti and Confusion

‘So, Millie.’ Imogen swivelled round in her chair to face her, her pale blue eyes crinkling with interest. ‘What’s going on with you and Zach? And don’t say nothing because I’ve seen the way he looks at you.’

‘What do you mean?’

Heat seeped into Millie’s cheeks and she shot an anxious look at Ella who simply offered her a shrug and a calm smile in return.

‘You know exactly what I mean,’ laughed Imogen, warming to her mission of interrogation. ‘In fact, I thought you two were never going to climb out of that ditch you ended up in yesterday. You both looked very comfortable lying there with your arms wrapped around each other, his lips inches from yours. I definitely sensed a sparkle of electricity between the two of you. Are you…’

‘Hey, hey, leave the girl alone, Immie!’ Harriet giggled. ‘Can’t you see she’s uncomfortable? Just because you’re all loved-up with your handsome prince doesn’t mean we all want to start feathering our love nests.’

‘But she wants to…’ teased Carla, eyeing Millie carefully before raising her camera lens and taking a quick snap.

Fortunately, Ella decided it was time to come to Millie’s rescue before she melted from embarrassment. ‘Girls, girls. It’s six o’clock. I think the guys will be wondering where you’ve got to if you don’t get a move on. Weren’t they expecting you at the Blue Orchid at five thirty?’

Imogen took the hint. ‘Why don’t you join us, Millie? You’d be very welcome You too, Ella and Denise. The drinks are on Alex and I as a token of our appreciation for everything you’ve done for us today.’

‘That very kind of you, dear, but look, that’s my Henri.’ Ella indicated the tiny red Fiat struggling to make its way up the steep driveway to the villa, a familiar calypso tune thrumming from the open windows. ‘He’s come to take me and Denise home. I’m sorry, Millie. I’m afraid we’re going to have to leave you with the clearing up.’

‘Oh, don’t worry. It’s definitely my turn.’

Millie waved off Ella and Denise with Henri and then watched the three girls tumble, laughing and giggling, into their hire car for their trip down to Soufrière and their rendezvous with the men.

She made her way from the courtyard back to the kitchen and surveyed the workbenches. A long sigh escaped her lips. It would take her until bedtime to wash everything up and return it to its allocated space ready for the next day. After consuming two of Denise’s potent rum cocktails, her head felt like it had been stuffed with cotton wool so she decided her first job should be to make a cafetière of her favourite Blue Mountain coffee.

After a couple of gulps, she felt her energy seep back into her veins. She filled a bowl with soapy water and knelt down on the floor, her buttocks high in the air, rocking from side-to-side to the reggae rhythms blasting from the radio as she washed the marble floor tiles until they shone.

‘Great view! Do you welcome all the Paradise Cookery School’s guests like this? I’m not sure it’s the best marketing strategy if you want repeat bookings. What do you think, Binks?’

‘Woof!’

Chapter Seven

Millie scrambled upright too quickly and had to grasp onto the countertop to stop herself from falling. She had been working non-stop in the humid kitchen for eight hours with only a short break for a couple of cocktails. Her stomach rumbled in objection to the lack of consideration for lunch and she rubbed her palm over her eyes to erase the stars that were floating across her vision.

‘Hey, are you okay? Here, why don’t you sit down for a minute.’

‘I’m fine. It’s just been a really long day.’

‘Looks like you’ve been experimenting with culinary pyrotechnics! How can so few people make so much mess? When I offered to help you tidy up earlier I didn’t think the place would be taken over by a bunch of baboons enjoying their annual picnic.’

Millie tried to assess the disarray through Zach’s eyes. The demonstration bench where Ella, Denise and Imogen had spent the day preparing the replacement wedding cake was spotless. Every mixing bowl, spatula and whisk had been washed, dried, and returned to its rightful place in the cupboard, and the marble worktop had been wiped down until it sparkled in the last rays of the setting sun.

The chocolate cakes sat in descending order on a wire rack to cool beneath three huge glass domes to prevent them from becoming a passing mosquito’s gourmet evening meal. She knew Ella and Denise had also whipped up the three varieties of buttercream, which would be piped into rosette swirls the next day before the final embellishments of chocolate hearts and butterflies were scattered on the sides.

However, when Millie swung her gaze to the benches on her left and right where she had instructed Harriet and Carla in the art of creating cake pops, it was a completely different story – more in the horror than the romance genre. Whilst the cake pops were safely stored in the huge SMEG freezer, there were cake tins, spare lollipop sticks, snail trails of chopped hazelnuts, splodges of cocoa powder, and discarded coffee cups and cocktail glasses cluttering every available inch.

‘It’s not that bad. I’ve seen worse.’

‘Now why doesn’t that surprise me?’

Millie flicked the end of a tea towel at Zach’s smirking face and experienced a swift arrow of desire jettison into her lower abdomen when he grabbed her wrist to stop her. He really was extraordinarily handsome, with his tousled ebony hair and eyelashes the colour of liquorice which, being blonde, she would give her eye-teeth to possess. Her fingertips tingled at his touch as she took in the dark golden hairs rippling over his forearms.

For several delicious moments she held his gaze, enjoying the way her heart fluttered against her ribcage and electricity reverberated in the space between them along with the heady fragrance of his lemony aftershave. However, what really ignited her senses was the way Zach was looking at her and the most natural thing in the world was to take a step forward to meet his lips. Unfortunately, her sudden movement dislodged a pyramid of china plates and, as if in slow motion, she watched a glass measuring jug tumble onto a pan handle which then catapulted its contents into the air, landing with a splatter at Binks’ feet.

‘Woof!’ declared the delighted spaniel, licking up the surprise gift of chocolate cake crumbs.

Millie raised her mortified eyes to Zach and waited for the inevitable pronouncement on her lackadaisical approach to culinary orderliness. She saw the corners of his lips twitch then he crumpled into laughter. She paused for only a couple of seconds, then joined in, laughing with him until tears sparkled on her lashes and the tension that had been building all day evaporated.

‘Oh my God. Millie, you are a complete liability! I have no idea how you manage to get through the day at Café Étienne without causing complete uproar. You must work with people who have the patience of a saint. What on earth have you been baking in here this afternoon?’

---