Chasing His Kickass Luna Back by Jane Above Story

Chapter 103
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.

the bar where Chloe is standing.

what’s

mn thing,” she mutters, her fingers hovering over the

evening.”

and start navigating through the system. A few prodded buttons and adjusted

the machine whirrs back to life, responding as it should. Chloe releases a breath she’s

been holding.

have to

reassuring smile. “Anything else I can

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

shouldn’t have snapped at

against the counter, crossing my arms. “Chloe, it’s

not,” she insists, her eyes earnest. “I’m your best friend, Abby, and I’m just… I’m worried

get hurt again, fall

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

Karl once, remember? Learned my lesson the hard way. It’s not

to happen again.”

deserve

him hurting you again.”

squeezing her hand. “I appreciate your concern, Chloe,

my own decisions, and I don’t need to be monitored or told

my gaze for a beat, a mix of emotions swirling in her eyes, before she gives

reluctant nod. “I understand.”

you,” I say, my voice soft, before turning

to my office, Chloe’s words reverberate in

her concern, but another part is frustrated. This entire situation, I realize, is like walking

between concern and independence,

strain my friendship with Chloe. Our bond

same time, I want—no, need—her to trust me, to trust

the same Abby who fell for Karl’s charms all those

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

though all of my friends

guy that’s bad for

I sink back down into my office chair, though, a thought comes to mind. A

of his lips. Our intimacy in

spoken about.

delicious

…

has long since fallen quiet, with the last employees heading