Stella Newman - The Happiness Recipe

Oh, but this new man is sexy. I don’t normally fancy bald men but this guy has got something. He looks older, early forties, with a little bit of stubble, but not contrived or manicured stubble; just a little ‘I Am Not A Corporate Man’ stubble. Universe: please let him be the new pizza developer. Please: give me one tiny break.

Tom greets me with the softest handshake in Christendom. It’s like trying to grasp onto tofu.

‘Hey, Su-Su-Sudeo.’

‘Hello, Thomas.’

‘Tommo, not Thomas!’ Tom likes to be called Tommo, or Ton of Fun Tom. He turns to the guy next to him who is fixing me with very blue eyes and an intense stare, to the point where I’ve started to blush. ‘Let me introduce you to our new development chef who looks after our diet ranges. This is Jeff.’

‘Jeff. Jeff the chef?’ I say, holding out my hand and stifling a giggle.

‘You think that’s funny?’ he says, shaking my hand firmly. ‘The cleaner on the fifth floor’s called Katrina.’

‘Really?’

He nods. ‘And when I lived in New York I had a doorman called Norman.’

‘You’re making that up,’ I say.

‘True fact,’ he says, grinning. I sneak a glance at his wedding finger. Yay! No ring.

‘We used to have a gardener called Norman!’ says Tom. ‘That was in the old house. When we moved to Oxshott my mother had to let him go.’

Jeff raises an eyebrow at me. ‘Shall we head to the kitchens then? I’m sure you can’t wait to see the product,’ he says, with a trace of sarcasm.

‘Oh no!’ says Tom. ‘I really wanted to show Susie my slides that set up our brand rationale positioning.’

‘Uh-oh, Thomas. Is this another one of your Death by PowerPoints?’ says Jeff. His tone is light, but Tom bristles nonetheless.

‘This is a mega-strategic, super-high-profile, game-changing project. A lot of rigour’s gone into the thinking.’

‘Mega-strategic and game-changing? That sounds very important indeed,’ says Jeff. ‘I thought we were just trying to flog some pizzas?’

‘You don’t have to see the presentation, Jeff. I can take her through the slides and we’ll meet you in the kitchen after?’ says Tom.

Jeff looks me straight in the eye. It is a look filled with conspiratorial naughtiness. You and I are the same. We are not like Tom. Let’s have some fun.

‘I’ll come with you,’ says Jeff. ‘I might learn how to be mega-strategic and game-changing. But will it be quick? I’ve got another meeting at 10 a.m.’

‘That’ll be fine,’ says Tom.

‘Can you do me one favour though, Tom?’ says Jeff.

‘What do you want?’ says Tom warily.

‘Can we do your presentation over coffee in the canteen? The fluorescent lighting in those meeting rooms makes me lose the will to live.’

Tom weighs this up as if it’s a trap. He takes a breath, then nods. ‘OK. I’ll go and fetch my laptop and meet you guys up there. Grab me a soy chai, would you Jeff?’

‘Will do,’ says Jeff. ‘Take your time.’

We walk through the building to the central lifts. Somehow it feels like we could be on a date, walking in the park rather than in a concrete office block with giant photos of grey, veiny prawns bearing down on us. There’s a crackle of something between us that feels almost visible. I know it’s ridiculous, we only met a few minutes ago, but he is most definitely flirting with me. And not just normal flirting. Mega-strategic, game-changing flirting. Flirting in a way that is totally caveman and presumptive: I, Man, flirt with you. I fancy you. You, Woman, flirt back. You fancy me. Let’s go to the toilets, take our security passes off, and take it from there.

Of course this is probably all in my mind and yet …

‘I like your earrings,’ he says. My hand immediately moves to my ear, and I find myself twirling with my hair.

‘I’ve forgotten which ones I put on,’ I say. ‘Are they the amber ones?’

‘They’re a sort of moonstone,’ he says. ‘They make your eyes look more blue than grey. You’ve got those sort of eyes that change depending on what you’re wearing, don’t you?’

I am definitely not imagining this.

‘So is it Susie with an ie or with a zy ?’ he says, as we get in the lift.

Lift, for once, could you please get stuck, please? I’ve been trapped in these buggers at least once a year for six years, and never, ever with anyone remotely attractive.

‘Susie with an ie ,’ I say.

‘I once went out with a Suziii who spelt her name with three Is. She used to put little flowers instead of dots on them. It was never going to work out,’ he says.

Aha! Proof that he’s straight too. Excellent. ‘So is it Jeff with a J or a G?’ I say.

‘J, like Jeff Bridges, though obviously he’s got a bit more hair than me. Have you seen The Big Lebowski ?’

‘Like ten times,’ I say. ‘I think The Dude is based on this guy Sam who I work with …’

Jeff laughs a low, deep chuckle. ‘And there’s me thinking The Dude was based on me.’ he says. ‘Did you see that film the Coen brothers did a few years back, the Western?’

‘ No Country For Old Men ?’ I actually thought it was a touch over-rated but it looks like Jeff loves it, so I don’t want to say I didn’t like it …

‘No,’ he says. ‘I thought it was over-rated. I meant True Grit , also with Jeff Bridges.’

‘Oh I loved True Grit , with the young girl with the plaits. So great!’

OK, enough of this time-wasting. I need to find out if he has a girlfriend. We’re now entering the canteen. Tom’ll be at his desk already, I haven’t got much time. I’d better ask some smart, open questions.

‘Do you go to the cinema much?’ I say. See if he replies with a ‘we’ …

‘Not as much as I’d like,’ he says. ‘You?’

‘Same. I don’t seem to have much time, you know, day job, and then I’m quite busy. With my friends …’

‘Yeah, I know what you mean. Work seems to take up far more energy than it used to when I was in service.’

‘The army?’ I say, looking at his chest. He’s so broad-shouldered, I could totally see him running through a muddy field in camouflage, carrying an injured colleague on his back to the medi-tent …

‘The army? God no. Why would you think I was a soldier?’

Because I’m totally carried away in some insane fantasy based on your fit body?

‘Me?’ he says. ‘I’m a total wimp. No, I meant service, as in restaurants. I used to run my own pub up in Suffolk. Local, seasonal food, nothing fancy. So, what coffee would you like, young lady? You’re not into this soy chai malarkey too, are you?’

‘Black coffee, thanks.’

‘Good, a proper drink. And any cake or a flapjack?’ he says, eyeing up the selection of goodies on the counter.

In all the years I’ve worked on Fletchers, neither Devron nor Tom has once offered me a piece of cake. I think I love Jeff. Or maybe I just don’t love Devron and Tom. Or maybe I just love cake.

‘That chocolate sponge looks delicious,’ I say. ‘But I can’t be eating cake for breakfast, it sets a bad precedent, don’t you think?’

‘Nonsense. A girl like you should totally have cake for breakfast! Besides, it looks like a giant Suzy Q.’

‘A what?’

‘A Suzy Q! Your name’s Susie and you’ve never heard of a Suzy Q?’ I shake my head. ‘Little American cakes, cream in the middle? Mos Def name-checks them? Go on, get the Suzy Q. You have to, it’s practically named after you. It’s your namesake. Your namecake.’

I let out a pathetically girly little giggle.

‘Go on, it’d be rude not to,’ he says.

‘Really?’