Chapter 0258


    Abby


    The smell of roasted coffee beans and fresh pastries fills the air as I step into the brunch spot where


    Chloe, Lea and I meet up once a week. It’s been a tradition of ours for years, and I’m d to have


    things back to normal now that the cook-off is over


    Normal.


    The word feels foreign. After losing the cook-off, followed by Karl’s departure, ‘normal’ feels like


    something strangely new now. It’s weird how things can go precisely back to the way they were before,


    only for it to feel entirely different than ever.


    It’s been two weeks since Karl left and since I lost the cook-off, and time feels like it’s both standing still


    and moving too fast all at once.


    I feel like I’m lost in a mountain of paperwork and managerial duties, half-finished wine bottles and


    crumpled books. Right now, my life feels unendingly, irrevocably boring.


    And maybe ‘boring’ is exactly what I need right now.


    “Hey, Abby, over here!” Chloe’s voice cuts through the low hum of chatter and clinking silverware. I


    wave, spotting her and Leah at our usual table by the wide bay window.


    As I navigate my way through the tables, I rehearse my spiel in my head—because I know they’ll ask. I


    haven’t set foot in the kitchen for more than five minutes at a time in the past two weeks. Instead, I’ve


    been upying myself with managerial duties at the restaurant, spending the days in my office.


    I know that they’re worried about me. It’s probably why they reinstated our brunch tradition—as an


    intervention of sorts. But I can’t go back to the kitchen, not now. Maybe not ever.


    I slide into the booth, offering a weak smile. “Morning, you two.”


    Leah’s eyes are warm but searching as she looks up from her menu. “How are you holding up? With


    the Alpha partying up, I imagine Karl’s been on your mind.”


    I stir my coffee, amazed at my friends’ inability to give me a moment to breathe before the probing


    begins. “I’ve been busy, you know, with the restaurant. Karl’s got his own life, and I’ve got mine. So,


    you know, he’s not on my mind. Not at all, actually.”


    Chloe frowns slightly, the way she does when she suspects I’m lying, which I am. “He hasn’t tried to


    contact you?” she asks.


    The question lingers in the air, heavy and unwanted. Thest time I spoke to Karl was the morning after


    our almost-hookup. I can still feel the sensation of his fingers on the small of my back, his breath on my


    ear.


    “No,” I say, setting down my spoon with a clink. “He hasn’t. And why would he? We’re both busy


    people.”


    I can tell they’re not convinced. Chloe and Leah exchange a nce before Leah reaches across the


    table, her touch gentle on my hand. “You know, Abby, it’s okay to miss him. And it’s okay to be upset


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    about the cook-off.”


    I retract my hand, wrapping it around my mug instead. “Honestly, guys, I’m fine. I’m just... reassessing


    things, you know?”


    “Reassessing?” Chloe says. “Is that your new term for hiding in your office and refusing to cook?


    Reassessing?”


    “But you love cooking,” Leah interrupts with her eyes wide. Read at NovelDrama.Org