by Rye Hart
Even with the increased workload, our food had never been better.
The lunch service was just ending, and things were quieting down in the kitchen. Amber and Danny were arguing which was better, Pink Himalayan Salt or French Grey Sea Salt.
“Himalayan salt is better for you,” Amber insisted.
“Maybe, but French Grey tastes better,” Danny replied.
“Don’t you nerds have anything better to talk about?” I asked, butting in to their debate.
“Maybe you could settle the subject for us,” Amber said.
“Yeah, you can be the judge,” Danny said.
I shook my head, but I couldn’t suppress a grin. “The diners don’t give a damn what kind of salt we use. All that fancy stuff is just for people with too much money and too much time on their hands.” They both looked disappointed that I wouldn’t engage in their discussion. I couldn’t leave them like that. “You two need to grow up and get it together. And realize that the best salt is Mediterranean Sea Salt.”
Danny’s eyes bulged out of his head. “What?” he exclaimed.
Amber looked straight up offended. “Are you serious, right now? ”
I walked away, smiling. That ought to keep them busy.
I poked my head out into the dining room, taking count of the customers still sitting at tables. Someone by the front door caught my eye.
A well-dressed man was speaking to the hostess. She was pointing back toward the kitchen. I assumed he wasn’t a customer and that he wanted to see me.
I walked over to him. “Hi, can I help you?”
“Luke Harrison?” he asked.
“At your service.”
He extended his hand to me. “I’m Martin Franklin.”
He looked to be in his mid-fifties with an expensive haircut and an even more expensive suit, although, he didn’t wear a tie. This was probably his version of casual.
“Nice to meet you, Sir,” I said, shaking his hand.
“I assure you. The pleasure is all mine.” He flashed a smile that seemed genuine. “I represent the people at Halcyon.”
“Halcyon, the restaurant?”
“Yes, that’s the one. I was hoping I could speak to you and Amber Foster, if she’s here today.”
At the mention of Amber, my defenses went up. “What’s this all about?”
“I promise you, it’s nothing bad. But I was hoping to talk to you both at once. Would that be possible?”
“Sure thing. Let me show you to my office.” I left Martin in my office and grabbed Amber.
His face lit up when he saw her. “Oh, good. You’re here. Martin Franklin.”
He thrust out his hand and Amber shook it.
“I guess you know who I am,” she said.
“I do. You’re the reason I’m here. I represent the restaurant Halcyon.”
Amber’s face fell, although I had no idea why. Her body stiffened, along with her tone of voice. “What do you want?”
Her behavior was odd. She was never rude to anyone, and this man had been nothing but friendly since the moment he walked in. Something else was going on here.
“Please,” I said. “Let’s have a seat, Amber, and listen to what Mr. Franklin has to say.”
“Yes, thank you,” the man said. “The people I work with and I have been following the success of your restaurant. We’re not the only ones, I’m sure. Ever since Emery received such glowing reviews recently, everyone I know in the industry is talking about you.”
I nodded. “That’s nice of you to say, but I’ve been keeping my head down and focusing on the food for years now.”
“That’s no doubt the reason for your exceptionally high ratings. In fact, these newest ratings are the highest Emery has ever received. In all three reviews, each critic noted that a major contribution to your recent success was your newest chef.” He nodded in Amber’s direction. “In light of that, I’m here to make you two an offer.”
I shook my head. “I’m not selling the restaurant, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Oh, no. Nothing like that. There’s no delicate way to say this, I suppose. I’m here to offer Amber a job.”
“Not interested,” Amber said flatly.
I leaned forward in my chair. “Are you seriously trying to steal my chef right in front of me?”
“I understand what I’m asking is somewhat inappropriate, but I wanted to include you in the discussion specifically because we’re not trying to steal your star chef. If Amber decides to come work with us, we want everything to be above board and friendly.”
“I told you. I’m not interested,” Amber said.
Martin reached into his briefcase and withdrew some papers. “Well, you say that, but you applied to work at Halcyon quite recently.”
“That was before she started working here,” I said.
“Actually, the date of her application is after she began working at Emery.”
I felt like I’d been punched in the gut. I glanced over at her. “Is that true?”
Amber looked at me. “Yes, but it was my first week here. Before, well, you know.” She turned back to the older man. “I’m no longer interested.”
Martin nodded. “I respect your decision. All I ask is that you let me relay the offer. That way I can go back to my partners and say I tried.”
“Fine,” Amber said, waving her hand dismissively as her cheeks burned pink.
“So, we are opening up a new restaurant in Portland. The sister site to Halcyon. We’d like Amber to be our new executive chef.”
“What?” I asked, surprised.
“Yes, she would design the menu from top to bottom, choose her own staff, and make a name for herself. She would, of course, be compensated extremely well.” He handed her a slip of paper.
She looked at it in surprise. To her credit, she passed the paper over to me so I could see it, too. It was an insane amount of money. More money than I’d ever be able to pay her here.
“And for you, Chef Harrison, we realize that we’re asking a lot from you, yo agree to let us take your chef. We understand you still have a considerable amount of debt for this restaurant. My partners and I would be willing to pay off that debt, in exchange for your cooperation.”
I shook my head in disgust. “My cooperation? I don’t own Amber. She can make her own choices. It sounds like you’re trying to bribe me to convince her to leave. Well, I’m not going to do that. And frankly—”
Amber cut in. “And frankly, we’re done listening to this. You’ve said your piece. Now I’ll say mine. This place is my home. I don’t care how much you offer me. I’m staying right here.”
“Your loyalty is admirable.” He stood up, preparing to leave. “However, if you’d like to think it over, you have a week to decide. Then we will be forced to interview other candidates. Thank you for your time. I’ll show myself out.”
Martin Franklin left the office, but the ghost of his offer still hung in the air.
“You know, Amber. If you want to take the job—”
She interrupted my words with a kiss, her hands so soft on my face. “I’m not going anywhere. Don’t you worry.”
Amber moved to leave, but then she turned back with an odd expression on her face.
“What’s wrong?” I asked her.
She shook her head in disgust. “Mediterranean Salt?” she asked. “Really?”
I laughed despite the heaviness in my heart.
She turned and left my office, still muttering under her breath.
I was left alone, thinking about the offer Amber had just received.
It really was a great opportunity for her, the kind of job offer some chefs waited for their whole lives. Amber was still so young, she would have a long and amazing career ahead of her if she took the job.
Of course, I didn’t want her to leave, but some things are too good to pass up. But Amber had rejected the offer without hesitation. She hadn’t turned him down because it was a bad offer. She’d turned it down be
cause she didn’t want to leave me and Emery behind.
I loved her for that, but it made me feel guilty as hell. I had no right to hold her back. She might never get another opportunity like that one. I didn’t want her to ruin her life over me. My baby girl was worth it, but I wasn’t.
I sat in my office for a long time, wrestling with my feelings. But no matter how hard I tried to figure things out, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do.
CHAPTER TWENTY - AMBER
The following evening, I headed over to Luke’s after work. He’d been at work all day, but I’d had the day off. Instead of relaxing, I’d spent the whole day stressing over the job offer from Halcyon.
It wasn’t the offer itself that concerned me. I had no intention of taking the job. What worried me was Luke’s reaction to the offer.
We hadn’t discussed anything after Martin left, but I got the feeling that it was bothering Luke. He’d been quiet and distant for the rest of the day. When I asked to spend the night with him again, he told me he was too tired.
Maybe I was seeing things that weren’t there, but my gut told me something was off. In either case, my plan was to make it clear to Luke later that night that I wouldn’t jump ship, no matter what kind of offers I got.
I rang the doorbell, trying to quell the butterflies in my stomach. Emery answered the door. The sight of her smile set my mind at ease.
“Amber! Come in.”
“Hey there,” I said, following her inside and shutting the door behind me. “I have a question for you.”
“What?” she asked, giving me a quizzical look.
“Have you been behaving yourself?”
“Of course.”
“Are you sure?” I put my hands on my hips.
“Yes, of course.”
“Good,” I said, and reached into the bag on my shoulder. “Then I can give you this.”
I pulled out a pink unicorn stuffed animal. I’d seen it when I was out shopping early that day, and it reminded me of Emery’s night light. I knew I couldn’t leave the store without it.
Emery’s face lit up brighter than her night light. I handed her the plush doll, and she hugged it to her chest. “Thank you, Amber.”
“You’re very welcome, kiddo. I’m glad you like it.”
“I love it,” she said.
Seeing Emery happy lit a warm glow inside me. It was always rewarding to do something nice for someone else, but this was more than that. Emery and I shared a bond. Jamie was right. She reminded me of myself when I was younger. So anytime I could make her smile was extra special to me.
I knew just by being around her, Emery’s spirits were lifted. The feeling was mutual. She made me happier, too.
I felt an intense gratitude that Luke and Emery had come into my life. I could have ended up anywhere, working at any of a hundred other restaurants, working for any number of different bosses. But somehow, I’d ended up exactly where I was supposed to be.
Luke walked into the living room, his hair still wet from the shower. “Emery, honey, please go to your room. I need to talk to Amber.”
“Okay,” Emery said. She turned and hugged me. Her little face looked up at me. “I’ll see you later, Amber.”
I nodded. She bounded off to her room, leaving Luke and me alone.
“Is everything okay?” I asked. I could tell from the stormy look on his face that it wasn’t.
“Amber, we need to talk.”
My stomach churned with anxiety at those four horrible words. ‘We need to talk.’ No conversation that started that way was ever good. It was never, “We need to talk about how much I love ice cream.” Or, “We need to talk about how sexy you look in that dress.” It was always serious, and it was always bad.
“All right,” I said, taking a deep breath to steady myself. “Talk.”
“Maybe we should sit,” he said.
“Maybe you should just say what you have to say.” I felt so intensely defensive.
Luke sighed and looked away, unable to meet my gaze. “We can’t see each other anymore.”
I knew the conversation was going to be bad, but I didn’t think it would go full blown nuclear. His words hit me like a kick to the chest, making it hard to breathe.
“Why not?” I whispered as tears filled my eyes.
“What’s going on between us, it’s not going to last. Better to make a clean break now.”
“How can you say that? Where the hell is this coming from? If this is about the job offer, you saw me turn it down.” The ball in the back of my throat swelled.
He looked at me then, his eyes full of pain. “It was a mistake to turn it down. You should take that job.”
“Fuck that job. I have a job. I’m happy right where I am. At least, I was until just now.” I touched my throat as my heart broke.
Luke shook his head sadly. “You don’t have a job any more. I’m letting you go.”
I threw my hands up in frustration. “What is happening right now? Why are you doing this?”
“The job offer got me thinking. Sure, you’re happy here now, but this won’t be the last time someone comes around and offers you a dream job. You said no yesterday. And you might say no tomorrow, and a year from now, but at some point, you’re going to want more for yourself. And you’ll say yes. And then you’ll leave. It’s inevitable. So better to do it now.” He put his hands on his hips.
I shook my head in confusion. “Do you even hear yourself? You’re afraid I’ll leave someday so you’re pushing me away today? That doesn’t make any sense. It’s like, oh, someday I might burn my hand in a fire, so let me just reach into the flame now and get it over with.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You may not understand but it makes sense to me. I know what it’s like to have someone leave. Someone you care deeply about. I don’t want to go through that again. And I won’t let Emery go through that again.”
“How fucking dare you? I would never hurt that little girl.” A tear rolled down my cheek.
“Maybe not,” he said. “This way, you’ll never get the chance.”
“Wow,” I said, shaking my head. “So, this is what you think of me? I thought we’d gotten close over the past few weeks, but you don’t know me at all.”
“Look, I’m sorry—”
I lifted my hand as my world shattered. “Save it. I don’t need your damn apology. You know, I can’t help but feel like there’s something else going on here. Something you’re not telling me.”
“I’ve told you my reasons.”
“You’ve told me some bullshit. You think you’re the only one in the world whose had their heart broken? Please. Everyone I know has lost someone they cared about. Or been abandoned. Or betrayed. No, there’s more to this. Things were going good with us.”
He drew himself up to his full height and glared at me with a cold, cruel look in his eyes. “Fine. You want the truth?”
Here was the bastard I knew so well.
“Yeah, you owe me that much before I walk out of here and never see you again.”
“The truth is that I want you to take the job so I can get the money to pay off the restaurant’s debts.”
I laughed bitterly. “There it is. There’s the cold-hearted son of a bitch I knew you were. How could I ever think you were more than that? How could I think I might actually—” I stopped and shook my head as another round of tears blinded me. “It doesn’t matter. Thank you, Luke. Thank you for being honest. And thank you for making it really fucking easy to walk out that door. Have a nice life, you miserable bastard.”
***
I managed to make it back to my apartment before I broke down sobbing. I wasn’t the type of person to cry over a man, but this wasn’t just any old break up. I’d lost everything. My man, my job, and even my relationship with Emery.
It was all so confusing. What Luke and I had felt real to me. It felt like he could be the one, the guy I spent the rest of my life with. I guess I’d been wrong.
There was no going
back now. I could never forgive him for what he said to me. He chose money over me, selling me out to pay his debts. And why?
Because he thought I was an asshole like Jen? That I would just ditch them when something better came along?
I could have shown him I wasn’t like that if he’d just given me the chance. Too bad he decided to throw it all away. Now he’d never know. Fuck him for that.
He seemed determined to spend the rest of his life alone.
“Have fun with that, pal. You messed up the best thing that ever happened to you. Hope you’re happy.”
Fuck it. I wasn’t going to sit here and wallow in self-pity. Luke could live that way, but not me. I opened up my laptop and found the number for Halcyon and called them up right away.
“Martin Franklin speaking.”
I took a deep breath to steady my voice. “Hi, Martin. It’s Amber Foster.”
“Amber, so nice to hear from you. Have you reconsidered my offer?”
“I have. I’ll take it.”
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE - LUKE
I sat in the kitchen at home, huddled over a cup of coffee. It had been two days since I’d broken things off with Amber, and I hadn’t been able to sleep much since. I yearned for her in way that I’d never wanted anyone else. I was completely in love with her.
I kept replaying the scene over and over in my head, wishing I’d found a better way to end things, wishing I’d said something less harsh, wishing I hadn’t been forced to hurt her so badly.
She’d thanked me at the end, just before she left. Thanked me for making it easy for her to leave. It was meant to be an insult, but she’d hit the nail on the head. That was exactly what I did. I made it easy for her to walk away, easy for her to forget me.
Pushing her away had been the right thing to do, but that didn’t make it any easier. I had to be cruel to be kind. She’d never know that, but that was the point. The burden of what I’d done was mine to bear, and mine alone.
Amber would be better off now. I hoped she’d accept the job offer with the Halcyon people. Not because of the money they offered me. I’d never accept it. I didn’t want their damn charity, despite what I told Amber. I would pay off my own goddamn debts one plate at a time.
