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.

my laptop with a sigh, I head to the bar where Chloe is standing.

with the register. “Hey, what’s going

hovering over the register keys. “It’s

evening.”

the system.

back to life, responding as it should. Chloe releases a

been holding.

I’d have to do all the

a reassuring smile. “Anything else I

it. But…” She hesitates, her eyes

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

against the counter, crossing

she insists, her eyes earnest. “I’m your best friend, Abby,

I don’t want to see you get hurt again, fall

I keep buried deep down, but I push them away, offering

“Chloe, I already married Karl once, remember? Learned my

to happen again.”

just… you deserve so much better, and I can’t

him hurting you again.”

reach out, gently squeezing her hand. “I appreciate your concern, Chloe, but I’m

and I don’t need to

mix of emotions swirling in her eyes, before she gives a

reluctant nod. “I understand.”

you,” I say, my voice soft, before

my way back to my office, Chloe’s words reverberate in my

but another part is frustrated. This

between concern and independence, friendship and

strain my friendship with Chloe. Our bond means more to me than she

need—her to trust me, to trust my judgments

all those years

broken. I’ve grown, learned, and

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

guy that’s bad for

though,

hands on me, the taste of his lips. Our intimacy in the kitchen, which we

spoken about.

horrible, delicious mistake. And it

…

since fallen quiet, with the last employees