Reviewing restaurants is normally a safe pursuit, but Lorne and Catherine face torture and death when they try to unravel organised crime's infiltration of the fine dining scene.
Their longstanding friendship deepens when they meet again seven mont...
At the Roederer stand, Richard poured Lorne and Catherine flutes, then pointing under the table, he silently mouthed, "Crystal." They smiled back and nodded, then after raising their glasses in a toast to him, they headed to the centre of the ballroom. "Seems the 2006 Crystal has arrived," he said as they paused to taste and survey the layout.
"You always do this, don't you?"
"What, stand in the middle of the room?"
"That, and a bubbly."
"Helps me plan my tasting strategy." He took a sip from his flute and looked at her. "My God, you're gorgeous."
"You're a damned gorgeous hunk, yourself. What's your strategy today? Do you need to taste anything?"
"Besides you?"
"Fuck!"
"That too."
"Too public here for that." She looked up at his face and offered an impish grin. "You're making me cream."
"Good thing I've worn my double-breast."
"You're not?"
"Am so."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
She looked at his blazer front and giggled. "You hide it so well."
"Always had to around you."
"Fuck!"
"Okay." He smiled at her and pursed his lips.
"Hot in here, isn't it?" She took another sip of her Champagne.
"You two seem friendly," Cynthia said as she neared.
They turned to greet her. "So, how was the public opening?" Lorne asked as they fait la bise.
"Busy. Very busy. We had huge Twitter traffic, glowing reviews on all the online sites. The place is fully booked — a few tables available at unfashionable hours a week and more away..." She paused to look at them, then grinned. "But you guys. When you left Thursday evening, the fire in your eyes."
Catherine chuckled and winked at Cynthia. "We've been busy doing research for my writing."
"The steamy scenes?" She looked at Lorne and shivered. "How exciting. Very exciting..." She trailed off and shook herself. "Great to see you've finally nabbed him."
Cynthia laughed and hugged each of them in turn, pausing for a long while with Lorne. "I've always thought you two were made for each other." She nuzzled into him. "Do you have any clones?"
They stood chatting for a while, Cynthia setting up a lunch date with Catherine on Friday, before she headed off to taste.
"Cynthia's been a dear friend almost forever — my only close girlfriend. We've always shared everything — well nearly." Catherine took another sip of Champagne. "She knows of my frustrating relationship with Nathan, but I'm surprised she never told me about her hots for you."
"Because it never went anywhere except in her mind."
"But you dated, didn't you?"
"She asked me out many times, but I accepted only twice. She rang none of my bells." He chuckled. "But God, did she try."
Catherine snuggled up to him for a hug. "My my, that's obvious this way, isn't it?" She laughed and wiggled into him. "I'm sure she didn't miss it."
"We should go taste the Crystal. Richard will be disappointed if we don't." He led her back to the Roederer stand.
Richard watched them approach. "So good to see you two together." He reached down to the ice tub beneath the table and motioned them to the curtain at the back. "Shipment's delayed clearing through. Another week. We had this couriered."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
He unzipped the foil, undid the cage, eased the cork out and poured generously into fresh flutes, including one for himself. "To you two... Wow, we always said you two belong together."
"It's obvious?"
"The blind might miss it. No, they'd pick up the vibrations." He laughed and raised his glass to them.
She blushed as she looked at her glass to assess the mousse before taking a sip. "How's Marion?"
"Great, she's loving her retirement. She'll be here a bit later to help when the crowd thickens. She'll be excited... Wow!"
While the other two chatted, Lorne quietly spoke his tasting comments into the note app on his iPhone. He clicked off and pocketed it, then took another sip. "Great year. Have to go back a long way to find one as good. The price remaining the same?"
"We're still managing to hold it under three hundred. Not much margin left for us. Mostly prestige now."
Richard stoppered the Champagne, and he walked them around to the front of the stand. Lorne took another sip of Crystal. "What else should we look at? I need to find a few more low-end wines for a summer sippers piece I'm writing."
"We've samples of the new vintage of the Primitivo and the Sangiovese over there." Richard pointed across the room. "The shipment should be clearing in two or three weeks. They'll tell you where to go next. Great seeing you. So happy."
Over the next two hours, Lorne and Catherine spent more time talking with friends and colleagues than they did tasting. Few missed the new relationship. "I've never spent so much time to get so few tasting notes."
She squeezed his arm and laughed. "But you were always so focused on tasting before, Lorne. Get all your tasting in quickly before you began to socialise."
"Yeah, I guess. Like a one-program automaton."
"I learned to wait until I thought you were finished before I approached."
"Your approach always finished my tasting and started other things. I looked forward to it. How did you know when I had finished?"
"Middle of the room, looking around."
"Yeah, I guess. That's what I did when I was trying to decide what to do next."
"It seemed always to be with me. We'd stand there and share notes, discuss the wines, then head over to tables to re-taste, re-assess. I was constantly in awe of your passion for wine, the fire in your eyes as you spoke of it and of the people who made it. The rambling wine discussions we had, refining my knowledge and creaming my panties."
