#Chapter 35: Karl''s Idea


    Abby


    I weave through the tables, greeting my customers. A lot of my regrs are here tonight, and I stop at


    Emily’s table. She’s here with her friends, Lunas like her. I know most of them from when Karl and I


    were married.


    Emily looks up at me, and I ster on a smile. “Hi, dear,” she says, her tone as patronizing as ever.


    Text property ? N?vel(D)ra/ma.Org.


    “Wonderful food tonight.”


    She gestures to her empty te, and I wave over Freddy. He walks to us. “Clear these,” I say. He nods


    and takes their tes away.


    “He’s yummy,” one of her friends says, watching him stride away.


    “He sure is,” Emily agrees.


    She looks up at me and I force a smile. “Is there anything I can get for you guys?”


    “No, dear. We’re just finishing up our drinks.” She lifts her martini to her lips and takes a sip.


    “We were just talking about the Alpha party,” her friend Lauren adds. We used to make polite chit-chat


    with each other at Alpha events. Now she looks at me like I’m miles beneath her. It makes my anger


    re. Luckily, I’ve gotten good at hiding my feelings, and I don’t think my smile changes when my gaze


    “Oh, that should be fun,” I say.


    “It’s really too bad you won’t be there,” Emily replies. “We miss having you at all these events.”


    I seriously doubt she misses it at all. I don’t bother to tell her she might actually see me there. I’m


    assuming Karl still ns to take me, but I haven’t inquired recently. We’re not exactly on good terms


    right now, and the thought of attending a stuffy party with him doesn’t sound all that fun. But a bet is a


    bet, and he stuck to his word; he won.


    I wonder what they’ll think if they see us there together. Will they think we’ve reconciled? I don’t want to


    give the wrong impression because that’s never going to happen, especially not after what he did.


    “Yeah, it is,” I say. “I’ll leave you guys with your drinks if there’s nothing I can get you.”


    “Thanks,” Emily says, giving me a false smile.


    I turn to walk away, but I’m still close enough to hear Lauren’s cutting remark. “Oh, how the mighty


    have fallen.” One of them giggles. “Karl really did a number on her.” If only they knew he was working a


    few feet away, cleaning dishes.


    I square my shoulders and move on to the next table. Thatst remark stays with me as I finish my


    rounds and walk back to the kitchen. It was a well-aimed blow. Karl really did do a number on me, and


    now here he is, finishing what he started.


    He nces up when I walk in, and I narrow my eyes at him. His eyebrows go up, but he turns back to


    his work. I really can’t stand how attracted I am to him, it’s almost like my anger heightens it.


    ___


    Karl


    I turn away from Abby’s cutting re and stack the tes in the sink. Jack pulls the nozzle down and


    starts rinsing one of the tes. Until they bring a new stack, there’s really nothing for me to do. I’m still


    not allowed to use the big-boy equipment.


    In all honesty, I’m getting tired of shoveling food into the garbage, but I know better at this point than to


    one of these days. I always knew that she would rece me, eventually, but I hoped that it wouldn’t be


    so soon. I need time to make sure that I set things right with her before she decides to put me on the


    chopping block.


    “I’m going to take a quick break,” I say to Jack. He nods. Things have slowed down a little, so it doesn’t


    matter if I disappear for a few minutes.


    I wander into the breakroom, going straight for my locker where I keep my phone. There’s a satisfying


    click when I unlock my locker, and I pull my phone out.


    One of the good things about doing a menial task is that it’s given me a lot of time to think. It suddenly


    came to me while I was pushing bits of steak into the garbage earlier. That the one thing Adam loves


    as much, if not more, than Abby is his job. He’s obsessed with it. He has to be. You don’t get that kind


    of sess without being a bit of a workaholic.


    Adam’s obsession is the perfect thing for me to exploit. And if Adam goes for it, he doesn’t love Abby


    nearly as much as he should. It shouldn’t even be a choice. If he agrees to leave her, then I’d really be


    doing her a huge favor.


    I call Jimmy. The phone only rings for a few moments before he picks up. “Hello.”


    “Hey, Jimmy. I need you to do something for me.”


    “Anything.”


    “I need you to track down some ingredients.” I list them off and wait as Jimmy writes them down. “You


    think you can do that?”


    “No problem. Is there anything else you need, Alpha?”


    “That’s everything. Get going on that right away.”


    “Sure thing.”


    I hang up and shove my phone back in my locker, ignoring the million messages from my secretary.


    She knows I’m working, and that I’ll get back to her when I can. There’s nothing from my Beta,


    Christian, so things must be fine.


    A new sense of hope takes root in my gut as I return to the kitchen, where a new stack of tes waits


    for me on the counter. As I begin scraping off the leftover food, I can’t help but smile slightly to myself.


    Once I’m able to get Adam out of the picture, I’ll find a way to make things up to Abby. From there, who


    knows? Maybe it won’t be so hard to get her to fall for me again. I know she still has feelings for me.


    Judging by the way she keeps looking at me, there’s something other than anger going through her


    mind. There’s something heated in her gaze.


    My smile widens slightly. Things are going to work out for us. I just know it. We’re meant to be together.


    It’s only a matter of time before we find our way back to each other.