Chasing His Kickass Luna Back by Jane Above Story

#Chapter 66: Practice Makes Perfect
Abby

My office is silent as I scroll through the new emails that have landed in my inbox. My fingers drum on

the desk, anticipating the one email that I’ve been waiting for the most—the details of the upcoming

cooking competition.

And then, there it is, bolded and marked with high importance: Cook-Off Competition Details.

Taking a deep breath, I click on it.

The email is concise but packed with information. Attached to it is a long list, detailing every possible

dish that might come up during the competition.

My heart rate quickens as I scan the list. Some dishes I recognize, ones I’ve made a thousand times

over in my career, but others are unfamiliar, exotic even, presenting challenges I’ve never faced before.

I won’t know which three dishes I’ll be asked to prepare on the spot. Which means only one thing: I

have to practice all of them. Every single one.

Grabbing a notepad, I jot down a list of ingredients I’ll need for the more exotic dishes, then turn my

attention to the restaurant’s supplier portal, adding item after item to the shopping list. The ingredients

range from the ordinary to the obscure. Each addition of expensive truffles, caviar, and fresh scallops

makes my anxiety spi ke.

How can I perfect so many dishes in such a short time?

Once the orders are placed, I stretch and push back from the desk, glancing at the clock on the wall.

It’s getting late, but there’s no time to waste. Without a second thought, I pull my hair into a messy bun

and prepare to head to the kitchen to get started.

Before I can leave, however, a sudden page over the intercom draws me from my task.

“Abby, can you come up front for a moment? I need help with the register.” It’s Chloe, her voice

strained.

head to the

she fiddles with the register. “Hey, what’s going

mutters, her fingers hovering over the register keys. “It’s been

evening.”

start navigating through the system.

machine whirrs back to life, responding as it should.

been holding.

have to do all

reassuring smile.

head. “No, that’s it. But…” She hesitates, her eyes flickering with an unspoken

about the other night… I shouldn’t have snapped at you. Especially

the counter, crossing

your best

get

words sting, echoing the fears I keep buried deep down, but I push them

remember? Learned my lesson

to happen again.”

“but it’s just… you deserve so much

him hurting you again.”

gently squeezing her hand. “I appreciate your concern,

don’t need to be monitored or told what

holds my gaze for a beat, a mix of

reluctant nod. “I understand.”

my voice

back to my office, Chloe’s words reverberate in my head.

another part is frustrated. This

tightrope, balancing between concern and independence, friendship

this to strain my friendship with Chloe.

I want—no, need—her to trust me, to trust my judgments and my

all those

got my heart broken. I’ve grown, learned, and changed. Why

of my friends just see me as a fool who would so easily fall

guy that’s bad

into my office chair, though, a thought comes to mind. A

Karl’s hands on me, the taste of his lips. Our intimacy in the

spoken about.

horrible, delicious mistake. And

…

fallen quiet, with the last employees heading home for the night.