Abby

As Karl speaks, my fingers worry the hem of my white chef’s coat, now no

longer pristine but splattered with sauce and tiny stains and the remains of

haphazardly cooked meals. It feels like a perfect representation of my inner

world right now: once untarnished and lily-white, but now stained and weathered

from the trials I’ve been through today.

We’re still standing in the supply closet, and the air feels thick. Karl is standing

over me still, his hand pressed into the door next to my head, sandwiching me

there with his body.

Enter title…

My wolf stirs ever so slightly, but now is not the time; I just found out that Karl

tried to talk to the judges for me, and I’m not sure how to feel about it.

“Abby…” he begins, his voice trailing off for a moment as his eyes search mine.

Finally, he pushes away from the door and crosses the small room, running his

hand through his hair for what feels like the millionth time in the past few

minutes.

“Just tell me, Karl,” I murmur, blinking away the tears that are threatening to

spill.

He pauses, then draws in a deep breath, and turns to face me again. “Abby,

yes, I did talk to Logan; but I never tried to bribe anybody. I hope you can

believe me in that regard.”

because despite the whirlwind that this competition has become, I

Karl has no reason to lie to me right now. His integrity is

he promised all those weeks

why talk to him? What did you

a deep breath, and I can tell

incredible chef, Abby. The best here, without

don’t deserve the

The word hangs

tightens, and he looks away for a

faces me again, it’s as though

something that he wants to tell me but he can’t get

out.

about you, Abby. He

that you are

competition. That’s it.”

heart races, and I don’t know what to say. There’s a profound

itself around my

to talk to Logan, but also dread

Karl can say

this

happened with the sous chef?” I ask, my voice barely

whisper. “What happened, really?”

was tampering with the ingredients

truffles. I caught him in the

hand, but I swear, Abby, I never laid a

know he’s telling the truth; Karl, despite all

sort of

especially not

the guards didn’t believe you?” I

shakes his head. “The guards think I’m lying. The sous

footage looks… Anyway, it

I won’t be here

the floor unblinking, staring at my

to life again: “Contestants, this is

the stage in two

can say anything, Karl’s hand reaches out and

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