The second was a recent graduate who spoke English, Japanese, and Korean.
Imani insisted that every employee receive proper credit for their work.
She remembered too well what it felt like to have expertise dismissed because of the position someone held.
At first, she continued working occasional shifts at Kintsugi Sky.
Not because she needed to prove loyalty.
Because she loved the people there.
Mr. Nakamura offered flexible scheduling.
Li-hua insisted she was working too much.
And the younger servers began asking her questions about international business, languages, and professional education.
She answered when she could.
One evening, a nineteen-year-old server asked how she'd learned Japanese.
Imani smiled.
“Very badly at first.”
The young woman laughed.
“Seriously?”
“Seriously. I made mistakes constantly.”
“What changed?”
Imani considered the question.
“Practice. Good teachers. And eventually realizing that embarrassment wasn't going to kill me.”
The server grinned.
Then asked whether learning another language could help her career.
Imani nodded.
“It can open doors. But you don't need another language to deserve respect in the job you already have.”
For a moment, the young woman stared.
Then smiled.
“Thank you.”
Imani watched her return to work.
For several seconds, she thought about the night Walter Sterling humiliated her.
The laughter.
The money.
And the strange expectation that reading Japanese would somehow transform her from a person who deserved ridicule into a person who deserved admiration.
She understood now that both judgments began with the same mistake.
They treated dignity as something a person had to earn through an impressive accomplishment.
But she had deserved respect before anyone knew she could read Japanese.
The language hadn't made her worthy.
It had simply given her a way to expose something important.
Nearly a year after the dinner, Walter Sterling returned to Kintsugi Sky.
This time, he arrived without an entourage.
No cash.
No cameras.
No elaborate display.
Just an older man in a dark suit carrying a small envelope.
He had contacted the restaurant in advance and requested a private conversation with Imani, if she was willing.
At first, she considered declining.
She didn't need another apology from him.
She'd already received one through counsel, and the financial arrangements had been resolved.
But something about the request seemed different.
Walter wasn't offering a contract.
He wasn't requesting her appearance at a corporate event.
And he hadn't suggested that meeting him would improve her career.
He simply asked whether she would allow him to apologize face-to-face.
Imani agreed.
They met in a small private dining room.
The walls were decorated with simple Japanese artwork.