Ana said:
“If Daniel fires you, I walk.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Do not.”
“Why?”
“Because you have two kids.”
Ana stared.
“Exactly.”
“So don’t use my situation to blow up your life.”
“What if it’s also my situation?”
Naomi looked at her.
Ana continued.
“What if the only difference is he didn’t bet money on whether I spoke Spanish?”
Naomi had no answer.
The door opened again.
Chef Laurent Besson entered without knocking.
He looked furious.
“Naomi.”
She stood.
“You did not leave building?”
“No.”
“Good.”
He looked at Ana.
“You recorded?”
Ana blinked.
“How do you know?”
“Whole kitchen knows.”
He held out his hand.
“Do not delete.”
“I won’t.”
“The owner is coming.”
Naomi frowned.
“Which owner?”
“Allison.”
That mattered.
Allison Greene rarely came at night unless something serious happened.
She owned sixty percent of the restaurant and had built it over fifteen years from a much smaller place downtown.
She was not famous publicly.
Within hospitality, everyone knew her.
Chef continued.
“Whitmore called her.”
Naomi’s stomach dropped.
“What did he say?”
“I do not know.”
“Probably that you sabotaged his business dinner.”
“Chef—”
He lifted one hand.
“I heard what happened.”
“How?”
“My sous-chef was serving next table.”
“He heard bet.”
“He saw tray.”
“Also restaurant cameras.”
Naomi looked up.
Cameras.
Of course.
Service entrance.
Main dining room.
No audio at most angles, but the physical interaction would be visible.
Chef said:
“Do not resign.”
“I wasn’t.”
“Good.”
Then he left.
Ana exhaled.
“You know when chef gets Frencher, somebody dies.”
Naomi laughed despite herself.
That helped.
Twenty minutes later, Allison Greene arrived wearing jeans, a navy coat, and no makeup.
She walked directly into the office where Daniel, Naomi, Ana, and Chef waited.
Whitmore had already left.
Not quietly.
He had told three people he would “own this place by breakfast.”
Allison closed the office door.
“Naomi.”
“Yes.”
“Tell me exactly what happened.”
Daniel started:
“Allison—”
She looked at him.
“I asked Naomi.”
He stopped.
Naomi told it.
No performance.
No adjectives.