Free In Denial by Nigel Lampard Page B

wouldn’t be so rude as to ignore my customers, I do have other things to do. As you can see the restaurant is full and there are other people I should be attending to.’
    ‘ More important than me, you mean?’
    Christina looked at Sunnie who was already over half way through her champagne. ‘Probably, yes.’
    Peter Walker laughed. ‘You’ll change your mind once you hear what I have to say.’
    ‘ I’ll be the one to decide whether I change my mind or not, Mr Walker.’ She put her flute on the table. ‘Now, what do you have to say?’
    ‘ I like directness.’ The smile disappeared when he saw Christina’s expression change to one of annoyance. ‘Sorry,’ he added holding up his hand. ‘I came this evening because your restaurant was recommended to me and secondly because the name intrigued me. Colombo Dragon is an interesting but simple combination and I presume, as with your cuisine, the idea was to bring together Chinese and Sri Lankan cultures.’
    Christina watched him for a moment. ‘That was the general idea but I still don’t see -’
    ‘ Christina … may I call you Christina?’
    ‘ That is my name.’
    ‘ Peter.’ He smiled. ‘I like what I see, Christina, and I think - no I know - that we can do each other a number of favours.’
    ‘ Such as?’ She noticed that Sunnie was yawning and looking around the restaurant at the other customers.
    ‘ Expansion and consolidation.’
    ‘ Sounds like a contradiction to me.’ Christina slowly sipped her champagne, trying to hide the sudden interest Peter Walker had generated in her. Since marrying Joseph she’d been the dutiful wife and mother. She hadn’t objected to either role but she felt very frustrated at times, wanting to, but not openly admitting, she would have given anything to become involved with Harrison, Pennington and Yong Inc.
    She had to bite her tongue on many occasions when she could so easily have put the right words into her husband’s mouth. The deaths of two of the partners, although most regrettable, gave her the opportunity she had always wanted. Joseph had recognised in her the need to do something and she had grasped the prospect with open arms and mind.
     
    *  *  *
     
    Three months earlier her first Colombo Dragon was launched with great ceremony. Her first night was for very special invited guests and not just ones she thought might spread the word. It was a great success and the reaction to the hot buffet which provided the best of Sri Lankan and Chinese cuisines was a tumultuous success. The accolades were still being rung when at nearly two o’clock in the morning she closed the doors on the last of their guests.
    ‘ Well,’ Joseph had said, taking her in his arms, ‘could you have asked for anything more?’
    ‘ It was free. Tomorrow evening will be the acid test.’
    She need not have worried. By eleven o’clock the following morning every table was fully booked for the first week and into the next. Word had certainly got around very quickly and the response was beyond her wildest dreams.
    ‘ I can’t believe it,’ she exclaimed, clapping her hands together.
    Joseph beamed at her. ‘You make me feel like an amateur.’
    Christina sensed that her immediate success should be tempered with an understanding that her businessman husband would have to feel involved. She clasped his hands in hers. ‘Without you, darling, none of this would have been possible,’ she told him. ‘It was your foresight that saw the possibility.’
    ‘ That’s as may be but -’
    ‘ There are no buts. The Colombo Dragon is here to stay.’
    Joseph became pensive. ‘What is the collective noun for more than one dragon?’
    Christina looked at him. ‘I’ve … I’ve no idea. A coven? A brand? I’ve really no idea. Why?’
    ‘ Because that’s what you’ll have soon. You’ll have a collection of Colombo Dragons.’
    ‘ They’ll be as much yours, Joseph, as they will be mine.’
     
    *  *  *
     
    And now there was