Loretta decided to spend as much time as necessary preparing a meal for their Uzbek guest that evening. Her schedule was free, as many of her volunteer colleagues preferred to dedicate time to their families during the summer school holidays. She had renounced her career as a journalist, favouring housewifery and charitable voluntary work.
She wasted an hour surfing the internet, looking for Uzbek recipes, but the more she delved, the more anxious she became about obtaining the right ingredients and cooking them to perfection. Qamar would surely have exacting standards about his national cuisine, not to mention his experience eating in the world’s best restaurants as a fêted celebrity.
Having abandoned her pointless research, she opted for a traditional English meal, even if her choice o
