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“After I left because you were too stubborn to promote a woman, I was out of work for months. With your shitty references, I had to work in a fucking doughnut shop. You ruined my life, Magnus!”
Magnus snorted. “You think I didn't promote you because you're a woman? That had nothing to do with it.”
“That's bullshit, Magnus. Never once in your career have you ever promoted a woman.”
“You're not a very good reporter either. Then again, you're not too focused on the facts. My current sous chef is named Veronica. She started out my line making bloody salads. She worked hard and learned. All you ever did was bloody talk about how you thought things should be done.”
At her silence he went on, “Now that you royally fucked up my relationship, is that going to get you the promotion you wanted? Will you sleep better at night now knowing she won't even answer my calls?”
“I won't feel guilty about this, Magnus. You were an arrogant asshole and you haven't changed a bit. So, fuck you.”
“I don't want you to feel guilty about this. Clearly it was a long time coming. Every time you get that satisfied little smirk on your face, thinking about how you fucked up my relationship, I want you to remember this, though. I didn't bloody promote you because you weren't a leader. You're supposed to lead by example. I run a tight ship and demand the best from my workers. I'm also the first to get there and the last to go home every day. I give my best every single fucking day I'm in the kitchen. I would do just about anything to make sure that the kitchen is running well. As for your bad reference I'd like to remind you that you walked out on me mid-shift in a tantrum. In the decade or so that you were waiting to get your revenge on the big bad misogynist, it didn't occur to you that you might've been the problem?
That is why you would have been a terrible leader. It was obvious then and clearly that hasn't fucking changed. So why don't you stew over that for the next decade or so?”
Magnus disconnected the phone, and was tempted to throw it at the wall. Instead, he took a deep breath and checked the time. Then he dialed Caroline once more and was sent immediately to voice mail.
“Fuck!”
Yep. That pretty much summed up everything.
****
“Look, Magnus. Enough is enough. You've been bouncing between angry and depressed for the last week and a half. What gives?” Veronica asked.
“Bugger off,” he said, as he frenched a rack of lamb. She continued to watch him until he finally stopped shearing the meat and sinew off the bone long enough to give her a glare. “I mean it!”
“Put the damn knife down and talk to me, Magnus. You're starting to scare me.”
“Don't you have some bloody work to be doing?”
She gave him one last disappointed look and then said, “Yes, Chef.”
Goddammit. She'd only been trying to help.
He worked, watching her for the next few minutes. Her usual sunny countenance was gone. She looked... hurt.
Now he felt guilty on top of every other fucking thing he was feeling right now. Rubbing his forearm against the bridge of his nose in frustration, he yelled. “Veronica. Walk-in. Now.”
“Yes, Chef,” she answered, setting down her own knife and heading toward the walk-in cooler.
He followed her in and said, “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be a prick. Caroline and I split up. I'm hanging on by a bloody thread. Please don't badger me about it.”
“Oh God, I'm sorry. I hadn't seen her around, but I didn't realize. What did you do?”
Magnus glared at her. “See. This is what I meant. I don't want to—”
“You're a mess, Magnus. You're snapping at everyone. You're not paying attention. You cut yourself the other night. When was the last time you did that?”
He responded to her question with one of his own. “I think she might have been gone by the time you started, but you remember the stories about Kathleen Church, right?”
“Uhm, yeah. She was a cautionary tale. I got most of the story. What does she have to do with any of this though?”
“Well... the other day, she interviewed me. She's a food writer now. She was perfectly friendly. I thought maybe she'd gotten over the whole business. Obviously, she moved on to something she's more suited at, right?”
Veronica gave him a cautious nod.
“She took the information I gave her, what she probably overheard at the party, and made me look really bad. She basically quoted me as saying that the whole menu and drink pairing was my idea, that I had worked on the drinks because the flavor combinations were off. She made it look like I tore apart Caroline professionally. And personally. I'm sure you heard about the scene at the party, right? Her parents showed up. They're not nice people. It was pretty nasty. Kathleen said that I called it embarrassing and inappropriate in the workplace. None of that is true.”
