The Little Paris Patisserie. Julie Caplin

me if I don’t get up.’

      ‘Looks … uncomfortable,’ she said suddenly realising that she wasn’t behaving normally at all and trying not to look at the top of the cast where it met his pants. What was wrong with her, for goodness’ sake.

      His mouth thinned but he didn’t acknowledge her comment. ‘I, erm … your stuff. I brought it. Where do you want me to put your case?’

      Sebastian closed his eyes as if summoning up some patience and then glanced down at his leg.

      ‘Sorry, you need me to unpack it for you,’ said Nina

      ‘It would help,’ he said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. ‘Did you bring my laptop? Phone charger? Can I have those first?’

      Nina brought the case over to the second sofa and opened it up.

      ‘Jeez, Nina.’ Sebastian scowled. ‘Why did you stuff everything in there? Those shirts were freshly ironed. They look like they’ve been used to wipe the floor.’

      He had a point, and they sort of had but before she could apologise or explain, he carried on, ‘If you’re going to throw a temper tantrum every time I ask you to do something you don’t want to do, this isn’t going to work. I need someone to help me, not a spoilt prima donna who throws her toys out of the pram when things don’t go her way. I knew this was a mistake.’ He threw his arm over his face.

      Nina whirled round, feeling her nose flaring. Possibly her most unattractive trait, but it only ever happened when she was really cross. And now she was really, really cross.

      ‘I appreciate you don’t have a particularly high opinion of me, Mr She’s-the-last-person-I’d-want-to-help but I’m not that petty. I didn’t do it on purpose. The stupid case just popped open by itself.’

      ‘One, you weren’t supposed to hear that comment and I’m sorry, it wasn’t terribly tactful. And two, yes that case does that,’ he bit out, ‘which is why I specifically told you to bring the holdall.’

      ‘So because I wasn’t supposed to hear that comment, it makes it alright?’ said Nina through pinched lips. ‘And two, I’m not sure you were that specific.’

      ‘How much more specific do you need than, make sure you bring the leather holdall on top of the wardrobe? The one with—’ His face tightened and his eyes narrowed. ‘Nina. This is never going to work. You might as well pack your bags and go back home.’

      For a minute she stood, clenching her hands into fists feeling wrong-footed and foolish. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. This was supposed to be her showing everyone that she could stand on her own two feet.

      ‘Look, I’m sorry. It’s my first day here. I was rushing. I can take your shirts back and wash them. It’s not the end of the world.’

      ‘No, it’s not,’ he agreed with a wince. ‘It’s inconvenient. It means I have to get housekeeping to do them for me and I’m already pushing it on the favours front with my mate Alex, who’s the general manager here.’

      ‘He must be a really good friend. This looks expensive.’

      ‘Like I said, he’s doing me a favour. He keeps an eye on me, otherwise I’d still be in hospital, so I don’t like to take advantage. He’s a busy guy, with this place to run. I told him the cavalry was on its way, which is why I was keen for you to get here.’ He looked pointedly at his watch.

      ‘I’m sorry. Have you been on your own all day?’ Now she felt bad. ‘When was the last time you had anything to eat or drink?’

      ‘Last night,’ he said curtly. ‘But it’s fine, it’s a hassle to pee.’

      Ah, so that explained his surliness. That, Nina, could cope with. She knew what hangry men were like.

      ‘Information I could do without,’ said Nina crisply. ‘However, you probably need to eat something to keep up your strength.’

      She picked up the room service menu. ‘What do you fancy?’

      ‘Surprise me. I don’t really care. I’m bored with hotel food.’ His listless sigh made her stop and study him more carefully. He didn’t look great at all.

      She sat down on the sofa opposite with the menu in her hand and even at that distance there was a distinct whiff of unwashed male. A part of her could have revelled in seeing Sebastian at such a disadvantage for once in her life, but the good part overruled all the petty, stored-up grudge-y stuff.

      ‘You need to eat,’ she said, softening her voice. ‘I know you probably don’t feel like it and I’m hardly medically trained, but I do think it will help. How about an onion soup? That’s quite light.’

      ‘I don’t need a nursemaid,’ he snapped, the listless droop vanishing in seconds. ‘I need some practical help. I’m not that hungry but you can order some food although it would be more helpful if you could unpack my stuff for me.’

      ‘Wow, these look great,’ said Nina studying the mood boards propped up on two flip chart stands, relieved to find an impersonal opening topic. She’d unpacked Sebastian’s clothing as quickly as she could, hanging up the crumpled shirts and hoping the creases might drop a little.

      She looked closer at the various designs for restaurant interiors.

      ‘The first two are coming along.’ Sebastian scowled. ‘Although, we still haven’t quite got it right for the bistro I’m putting into the patisserie site.’

      ‘It all looks very chic and trendy.’ Not quite her cup of tea but judging from the success of his restaurants in England, Sebastian knew what he was doing.

      ‘That’s the plan.’

      Nina nodded and was relieved to hear the knock at the door announcing room service.

      Taking the tray from the waiter, she awkwardly realised she needed to tip him when he loitered for a second. Dumping the tray on the coffee table she got out her bag and fished out a couple of euros handing them to him. When she turned around Sebastian was wriggling like a worm on a hook, trying to reach the tray but unfortunately he had slid too far down the cushions to get enough purchase to push himself up again.

      ‘Here, let me,’ she said unable to bear watching him struggling any longer.

      ‘I told you, I don’t need any help,’ he said, swiping at the sheen of sweat on his forehead.

      She ignored him and went around the sofa and hooked her arms underneath his and around his chest to help him sit upright again. As soon as she touched him, her heart bounced uncomfortably in her chest as a flood of memories collided in her head, leaving her with a familiar sense of inevitability. It seemed as if Sebastian still had the physical power to affect her. She gritted her teeth. In future she’d be sure to keep her distance.

      Despite his protestations that he wasn’t hungry, the soup disappeared pretty quickly. No sooner had he put the soup bowl aside, he picked up his laptop and the papers she’d brought.

      ‘Right. We might as well get started. Do you have pen and paper?’ he barked.

      ‘No, I arrived today. You said the job would be two days a week. The course doesn’t start until Wednesday. I thought you just wanted me to bring stuff over today.’

      His mouth snapped shut as if he’d thought better of what he was about to say.

      ‘Count this as the clock starting from now. Take one of those.’ He nodded at a foolscap pad. ‘There’s a lot to do before the course starts and unfortunately, I’ve been busy with the plans for the first two restaurants, so I hadn’t done anything before…’ He indicated the cast, his face signalling disgust. ‘You’re going to have start from scratch. It’s a seven-week course, which will be a full day every Wednesday but I’m going to need you to work the day before to get everything set up. Over the seven weeks we’ll look at different pastries and the techniques – except, I’m still thinking about the