A Fine Wine (2)
'Nurse,' he told her. 'This burger tastes like salty cardboard, the chips are like soap, the peas are tasteless and hard and the orange juice is like old vinegar! Don't you have any fresh food here? Are you trying to play some kind of joke on me or what?'
The nurse took away the food and he was brought a salad instead. Once again, Daniel Appleby complained that his food had no proper taste. The nurse had the food checked by the manager of the kitchen. The manager said it all tasted fine.
'That manager's tongue must be made out of rubber,' Daniel replied in disgust.
The doctor was called and tests were made immediately on Daniel to see if anything was wrong. There was something wrong. The accident had caused some bleeding in Daniel's brain. It had damaged the part of his brain that controlled his sense of smell. The result was that Daniel had almost completely lost his ability to smell things. Because the sense of taste depends very much on smell, all he had now were three basic tastes: salt, sweet and bitter. He couldn't taste anything else. He could still enjoy the colour and feel of food, but none of it would taste of anything more than those three basic tastes, no matter what the food or drink was. That's what the doctor told him.
But, apart from that, he was fine.
'Of course I'm fine! Now can I go home?' he asked, impatiently. The doctor told him he could and that was what he did.
But this time he went home on the bus.
The first thing he did when he got home was book a table at his favourite French restaurant. He did not believe for one moment that his famous nose and tongue were no longer as sensitive as they used to be. It had only been a minor accident. No, a good meal, a glass of good wine and he would soon be back to his old ways. As for hospital food, well... everybody knows what that is like: it always tastes disgusting. In fact, cardboard would be an improvement on that awful rubbish.
After a bath and a shave he was all ready. He put on his favourite clothes, including his spotted tie and red jacket. He was looking forward to his meal. As always before eating out, he drank nothing stronger than water - he did not want any other tastes to spoil the sensitivity of his tongue. He had also arranged to meet Justin, his immediate boss and one of Happimart's chief marketing managers. Justin had left a message on his answerphone. He wanted to know if the Bordeaux business with old Colbert had been successful. Well, he would tell him the good news over a delicious meal.
They had the best table, the one overlooking the river.
Daniel recommended the veal with truffles and new potatoes in garlic butter. But first they must have Henri's famous onion soup. Henri was the best maker of soups in the business. The restaurant had brought him all the way from Provence in France just to make soups for them.
When the soup arrived, he waited for Justin to taste first. They had both turned down an aperitif and had drunk only mineral water to begin with. They had their wine glasses filled with wine from Burgundy, but they would only drink it after the soup - they didn't want to spoil it.
Justin tasted. He was a tall man of about thirty-five, with neat blond hair and a body which had once been fit but had got fatter with lots of good food. He wore an expensive suit and had the look of a man who was used to getting his own way. He was almost as fond of good food and wine as Daniel. In fact, it had been Justin's idea to produce Dinner Party for television with Daniel as one of its stars.
'Daniel, my dear boy, this soup is fantastic! Henri has never made better!'
Daniel smiled. Good old Henri! He took a spoonful of soup and put it into his mouth. He waited a moment for the heat of the soup to go down a little, while his tongue took in the flavour.
Salt!
All he could taste was salt! It tasted so terrible that he nearly spat out the soup.
Justin noticed.
'Daniel - whatever is the matter? Are you all right?'
Justin, he observed, had already swallowed two spoonfuls of the soup. Justin's taste was almost as expert as Daniel's, yet he had liked it. Could those doctors have been right? Had he really lost his famous sense of taste?
These thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant. This was hardly the time to admit anything about the loss of his sense of taste - not to a man who was going to give him a job that depended on it! He would have to pretend nothing was the matter. After all, Henri's soup could always be depended on - it was always excellent.
'Er... nothing,' he told Justin. 'Just a little something in the throat. This soup is delicious, do finish it.'
Justin smiled and finished his soup. He then praised the Burgundy, a wine that was a particular favourite of Daniel's, though tonight it tasted like warm vinegar as far as he could tell. In fact, it tasted so horrible that he had to try very hard not to spit it out. But he drank it.
They talked as they ate and Daniel told Justin about old Colbert's wine. Justin seemed delighted and was looking forward to tasting it. He asked Daniel to bring some to the Happimart office the next day for a tasting of some of the new wines Happimart had recently bought. Justin liked to try all the new wines before they went on sale, and it was a good way for Happimart's wine tasters to practise. Justin also knew that Daniel loved to show off in front of the other tasters. It was expected.
'Why, of course,' Daniel answered. But he was beginning to be afraid. The veal which Justin was now finding so tasty was just a salty piece of soft stuff in his mouth. He might just as well be eating the insides of a cushion. But he dare not tell Justin. The thought of attempting a wine tasting - an occasion he would normally look forward to - now filled him with fear. He would need time to do something. He had to act quickly.
'But wouldn't it be better, Justin, if we had the wine tasting at a later date?' he suggested.
'Daniel, my boy, why ever would you want to do that? Don't you want to show off your abilities to your employers!' The way Justin emphasised the word employers sounded almost threatening. Justin was not used to his arrangements being disturbed. If Daniel had a reason to change his plans it had better be good.
Daniel had to think quickly. He knew that Justin wouldn't want him on his television show if he knew about his problem; he might even find a reason to make him leave Happimart completely!
An idea formed in Daniel's mind, a desperate one but it came out of his mouth before he could stop it.
'Er... to give us time to bring over our new employee, Monsieur Colbert,' said Daniel. 'Old Colbert makes some of the best wines in the world; perhaps he would be a good man to test out our wines, as well as myself. After all, if he is to supervise our new vineyard it would be a good idea to get his expert advice on other wines, wouldn't it?'
Justin sensed that something was not right but didn't know what it was. He didn't really like Daniel but had always respected his abilities as a wine taster, even if he thought Daniel was greedy, with too high an opinion of himself. But, of course, if he wasn't able to do the job any more then there was no reason to keep him on.
'Why, Daniel, I never thought I'd hear you tell me that you valued somebody else's opinion above your own! You must be losing your abilities!'
'Not at all!' Daniel thought that old Colbert was sure to have a good nose for wines - in his business he had to have. He could simply agree with everything Colbert said. That would stop people finding out about him and save him from a huge embarrassment. He could pretend there was nothing wrong with him and just judge wines on their colour and feel - you could tell a lot about wines that way if you knew what to look for, as he did. Yes, he could use old Colbert to get him out of this mess until his sense of taste got back to normal. But that would be soon, he was sure.
'All right, Daniel. I'll leave the arrangements to you. Bring him over, fix a date and I'll get the wines. But Daniel?'
'Yes, Justin...?'
'Don't make a habit of this. OK?'
Daniel went to see the doctor again. He had been certain that his condition was just temporary but now he wasn't so sure. Would he ever get his sense of smell and taste back to normal? He had to know - his future career depended on it.
'There's no way of knowing, Mr Appleby,' said the doctor. 'In most cases I'd say no, but your brain suffered very little damage. It might recover, but I can't be sure. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful than that.'
That evening at home Daniel did something he very rarely did: he got drunk. He got drunk at home on brandy he could not taste.
The next morning he had a terrible headache and he stayed at home.
Daniel Appleby had to face the fact that his future now depended on Colbert. He didn't like the idea, but maybe he could use him. After all, he had saved his vineyard for him; it would go on making his beautiful wines. The fact that the old vineyard was now owned by Happimart and the old man was now just an employee wasn't important.
At least, Daniel didn't think so. And if he could get the old man to help him, nobody need know about his loss of taste. 'Surely,' thought Daniel, 'old Colbert could understand the pride we wine tasters have in our profession? After all, he's a proud man himself, in his way.' Daniel guessed that Colbert - like most wine experts - would love to try what other wines were on offer. In any case, he knew that Colbert would be needed to instruct Happimart specialists on the methods he used to produce his wine.
Daniel decided to risk it; he would tell Colbert everything about his accident and his loss of taste. Besides, Colbert owed him a favour, didn't he? But, just to be sure, he would tell him that he would get him sacked from his new job if he didn't help. He couldn't refuse then. He would get on the telephone and speak to him right away.
No problem.
The next few days saw Daniel Appleby busily making arrangements over the telephone with old Colbert, who agreed to be there in two weeks.
Thank goodness!
A week later Daniel got a phone call from Justin. He had just tasted some of old Colbert's wine and he was very excited about it.
'Daniel, my boy, I knew it must be good because of what you said but I never realised it would be this good. Once we start producing this we'll create a whole new market for quality wine - everybody will want it! And you must get Monsieur Colbert to bring any more of these wonderful wines he may have - the man is simply brilliant! You are a clever old thing, Daniel! But then you are the best in the business - Happimart is lucky to have you! I am looking forward to meeting Monsieur Colbert next week! I've invited people from the television company, photographers from the best newspapers - everybody! Don't disappoint me, Daniel because this is going to be big!'