AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“So I finally got to eat at Hyperion last night.” Kylie smiled. “You know Hope and I got thrown out of there a few days ago.”
As if they didn’t know? It was on social media, as I could have predicted. So far, I’d had no blowback from the incident. “How was it?”
“So good. The best food ever.” Kylie winked at me like we shared the same joke. None of it was funny, but sometimes I lived on another planet from the rest of them. That was fine. Story of my life.
“It was,” my friend Jessie piped in. “The best lobster risotto I’ve ever eaten.”
I sighed. Yes, this could get worse. I loved nothing more than food. Truly. It was the single biggest joy in my life outside of my nephew and my sisters. I supposed I’d put my brother-in-law in there too. He was pretty cool.
“Hope, are you listening?” Kylie touched my knee.
No, I really wasn’t. I got to my feet. “Sorry, ladies. I think I’m not feeling well tonight. I’m going to go. Enjoy the food. See you later.”
I turned and walked-slash-ran from the restaurant before any of them could stop me. I hustled to the car, directing them back to Hyperion. Max had said that I couldn’t go inside or be in his alley. Nothing said I had to obey his orders, after all.
I just had to wait for the garbage to go out.
It didn’t take long. Dano, the nose ringed guy, came out a few minutes after I arrived. I jumped out of the car.
“Hey, Dano.”
The shocked man turned to stare at me, his mouth falling open. “You again?”
“Yes, right, me again.” I rushed over. “I know I’m not supposed to be here. I get it. I’m going. Here.” I handed him a hundred dollars with my business card. “That’s for you texting me, at the number on that card, anytime the restaurant needssomething it can’t get. Okay? Like the peaches. I’ll get it for you. Can you do that? Hundred dollars every time you do.”
He stared at the money and then back at me. “You’re serious?”
“As cancer and a heart attack. Yes, it’ll be our secret. I’ll never tell Max who told me. Can we do this? Our little secret.”
Dano shrugged. “It doesn’t seem like a bad thing.”
“It’s not. Your chef is just being stubborn. I want to help.”
He was quiet. “He is stubborn, but I heard you’re why his last restaurant failed. I think he called you a meddling nuisance.”
“Well, that was nicer than he had to be. Look, have you ever screwed up so badly that you didn’t think you’d ever make it better? That’s what I did. But I want to try. This is a small thing.”
Dano pocketed the money and my card. That was when I knew he was going to do it. “I’ve fu—screwed up a lot. So, yes, I get it. I do. I’ll help.”
I’d never felt so relieved in my life. “Thank you.”
I rushed back to the car. Max couldn’t catch me, or he’d ban me from the whole street.
I leaned back in my seat. The smell from Hyperionhad been fantastic. My stomach grumbled. I’d never get to eat his food, and that was a huge bummer.
When I got dropped at home, I tried to only lock the door once. But my head wouldn’t clear until I’d gone three more times. I was stuck at four. As long as it was four, I wasn’t calling the doctor. I took a long breath.
This night called for romantic comedies and ice cream. Who needed dinner when I could skip right to dessert?
My phone dinged. It was Bridget.Something is going on with you. You still haven’t told me what you did.
I texted back fast.I don’t want to. How are you?
I’ve had five bad dates in the last three weeks. I swear I’ve done something karmically to only meet terrible men.
That was probably true. Bridget’s dating life often seemed almost unreal. She was beautiful and smart, not to mention she absolutely wanted to find a true partner for life. I was never looking, not lately, and Layla was off the market. It seemed ridiculous that Bridget couldn’t find someone, since she tended to massively succeed at everything she tried to accomplish.
Hang in there. Somewhere in Hong Kong is a man worthy of you.
