Chasing Daisy

loudly.
    ‘What’s this?’ I can’t help but ask.
    They both look sheepish. ‘Oh, it’s nothing. Sorry, I didn’t know anyone was there.’ They both grab their bags and hurry out of the kitchen.
    ‘Do you know anything about a shouting match earlier?’ I ask Holly.
    ‘Simon and Luis,’ she replies without a moment’s hesitation. ‘Luis has taken a drive for another team.’
    I slam my knife down on the counter. ‘Seriously?’
    ‘Oh for God’s sake, go and talk to him,’ she snaps. ‘What have you got to lose?’
    I scrub my hands and wipe them on a tea-towel before stalking determinedly out of the kitchen, ignoring her satisfied smile. I jog up the stairs and pound on his door, then push it open before he even has a chance to answer. He’s sitting on a chair with his head in his hands and looks up at the loud interruption.
    ‘You took it, then?’ I ask.
    ‘What?’
    ‘The drive for the other team.’
    ‘Oh, yeah,’ he replies dully.
    ‘Heard about your shouting match,’ I explain.
    He raises his eyebrows and looks away. ‘We weren’t arguing about that.’
    I regard him with interest. ‘What, then?’
    ‘I can’t believe he fired you,’ he replies.
    ‘Oh, that,’ I dismiss him. ‘I’m not surprised. I told you what my father was like.’
    ‘Simon’s a bastard for not standing up to him.’
    ‘Forget about it. I’ve had enough of all this anyway.’ I wave my hands around the room.
    ‘Have you?’ He frowns. ‘I was thinking you could come with me?’
    ‘No. I don’t want to be a bun tart anymore.’ I take a seat on a chair next to him.
    ‘You seem surprisingly okay about it.’
    ‘I am. I just wish I’d sorted myself out and resigned before my father had a chance to stick his nose in. At least I’m not going back to New York, which is what I’m sure he’s expecting.’
    ‘What will you do?’
    ‘I’m going to look into catering colleges.’
    He stands up, going to his team carry case. I watch, intrigued, as he pulls out a green folder and hands it to me.
    ‘What’s this?’
    ‘I tried to drop it to you at HQ last week, but you weren’t there.’
    I open it up and pull out application forms for London catering schools. I stare at them, feeling utterly astounded. I can’t believe he went to that effort for me.
    ‘Thank you.’ I look up at him as my eyes fill with tears.
    ‘Hey, don’t get upset.’ He sits down next to me and puts his hand on my back. I stare down at the forms as my stomach is overrun with butterflies.
    ‘What are you doing tonight?’ Luis asks casually.
    ‘I don’t know.’
    ‘Will you come for dinner at my house?’
    ‘Your family’s house?’ I double check.
    ‘No, my house, but my family is going to be there. My mum is cooking dinner for us all,’ he explains. ‘I know she’d like to see you again.’
    ‘Does she even remember me?’ I’m pleasantly surprised.
    ‘Oh, yeah. She warned me not to mess you around.’
    My face breaks into a grin. ‘She didn’t?’
    ‘She did.’
    ‘How did she even know . . .’
    ‘That I had the hots for you? Come on, that must’ve been obvious.’
    These are not the words of someone who thinks I’m just a Screwdriver, even I can see that.
    ‘I’d love to come,’ I tell him.
    ‘Cool.’ He smiles at me as the butterflies go into overdrive, but he doesn’t attempt anything. It’s funny how sometimes the second kiss comes so much harder than the first.
    He picks me up in his yellow Ferrari.
    ‘No way,’ I exclaim. ‘You’re really letting me near it?’
    ‘You can drive it, if you like.’
    I burst out laughing. ‘You’d let me behind the wheel of this thing? Are you mad?’
    ‘Why not? Don’t you have a driving licence?’
    ‘Barely. I got driven round in limos when I lived in New York.’
    He rolls his eyes at me and grins. ‘Get in, then.’
    ‘I knew that’d change your mind.’
    ‘No, you can drive it later if you want to.’
    ‘What if I scratch it?’
    ‘Just get in and shut the door,’ he jokily snaps.
    He drives me north out of the city until we reach a small airfield.
    ‘What are we doing here?’ I ask, perplexed.
    ‘You’re not afraid of flying, are you?’
    ‘Luckily, no, otherwise I wouldn’t enjoy my job very much.’
    ‘Good.’
    Twenty minutes later I’m wearing earphones and I’m strapped into the front seat of Luis’s private helicopter. He’s next to me in the pilot’s seat.
    ‘I cannot believe I’m letting you fly me around in