Chasing His Kickass Luna Back Chapter 391

Abby

“Abby, I have to tell you something.”

I look up from the table I’m cleaning to see Karl standing next to me. He’s got his phone in his hand and a dish cloth draped over his shoulder; we’ve been cleaning the restaurant frantically today in preparation for the grand opening, which is tomorrow.

“What’s up?” I ask, returning my attention to my work.

Karl sighs. “Abby, I just received an email from my father; those foreign diplomats are changing the date of their visit. To tomorrow.”

My eyes widen slightly, and I straighten, looking at Karl. “But tomorrow’s the grand opening,” I say quietly. “They weren’t supposed to come until the day after tomorrow.”

“I know, but…” Karl rubs his hand along the back of his neck and shakes his head. “I’m sorry, Abby. This meeting is non-negotiable.”

Hearing this news makes my chest clench. Karl is supposed to be my sous chef for our grand opening. We’ve been planning this for weeks, and I need him by my side.

“Look,” he says softly, “the meetings should only run until eight. I can come after that.”

But I shake my head. “You’ll be exhausted from being in meetings all day. It’s not fair to you.”

“Really, Abby, I can—”

“It’s alright, Karl,” I say, managing a small smile. “I’ll be alright tomorrow. Just worry about your meetings.”

Karl sighs again. “You sure?”

“I’m sure.”

…

As it turns out, I wasn’t so sure. Yesterday, when I told Karl that I could handle myself at the grand opening, I had high hopes.

But now, as I frantically dash back and forth in the kitchen while the orders continue to flood in, I feel like I’m barely treading water.

“Abby,” one of the servers, Penny, says as she walks in, “table five dropped their pizza on the floor. They asked for a new one. Should I charge them?”

“We’ll let it slide on opening day,” I say as I wipe several beads of sweat from my brow with my sleeve and shove another pizza into the oven. “What toppings did they order?”

“Margherita,” Penny says.

“Okay. Let them know it’ll be a ten-to-fifteen-minute wait.”

“That long?” Penny asks, shooting me a worried look.

“It’s as fast as I can go, Penny,” I retort, maybe a bit more sharply than I meant to. “Let them have a round of free drinks to make up for it—alcohol excluded.”

“Will do.”

Penny rushes out of the hot kitchen, and I’m left alone again with only the sound of my own frantically beating heart to keep me company. The dishwasher I’ve hired, a teenage boy by the name of Ralph, isn’t exactly the chattiest; and besides, he’s swamped as well.

It’s not that I’m unhappy, though. Tonight’s grand opening has been a raving success; my pizza shop has only been open for a couple of hours, and I’ve already served at least two hundred guests by now. Not a single dish has been sent back so far, and the servers have been coming back with nothing but compliments from the diners.

But I’m absolutely, utterly swamped. Now, more than ever, I’m missing my team. Not only do I wish that Karl was by my side right now as my sous chef, but I wish John and Anton were here to banter over ingredients.

I wish Daisy was here to handle customers with ease, without having to ask me permission for every little thing.

I wish that Chloe was here to do tricks at the bar, and I wish that Ethan was here to help keep everything running smoothly.

But, alas, this is the downside of opening a new restaurant with an all new team.

My head waitress, Penny, is doing a good job, although she’s a little on the shy side; the bartender, Stephan, is moving drinks steadily but not with as much charisma as I would hope; the front-of-house manager, Ariel, is incredibly smart but afraid to act without asking first.

They’re all great, really. But it’s not the same, and it’s going to take some getting used to. And tonight, it’s a reminder that my old team, my friends, are far, far away from me when I need them the most.

Or at least, that’s what I thought.

“Need some help?”

A familiar voice suddenly snaps me out of my trance, and I whip my head around, my eyes widening when I see Karl standing in the doorway, dressed in his apron with a bandana tied around his head.

“Karl!” I cry out with relief. “It’s only five o’clock! I thought you—”

“Wow. He had you fooled, didn’t he?” Chloe asks, stepping around him.

“He really didn’t tell you?” John chimes in.

It’s all I can do not to shriek out loud, because behind them enter the others: Daisy, Anton, and Ethan. They’re all here. I can’t believe it—it’s like I’m dreaming.

“What the hell, guys?!” I yell, rushing around the line to pile into a massive group hug with everyone. “What are you doing here?”

“Karl asked us to come just a little bit early for the wedding,” Anton says, rolling up the sleeves of his pristine chef’s whites with a grin. “And I suppose for a little free labor, too.”

“Hey now,” Karl laughs. “Not free. Everyone is getting paid in cash, room, and board for the next week and a half.”

“I can’t believe it.” There are tears in my eyes, and I quickly wipe them away with the back of my hand. “You guys are really here.”

“And it seems just in time,” John says, gesturing to the growing pile of orders on the line. “Let’s get to work.”

Before I can even say anything else, the team jumps into action without any instructions; John and Anton jump behind the line and begin cranking out orders like it’s nobody’s business. Chloe joins Stephan at the bar and helps him handle the growing line of customers attending happy hour. Ethan meets up with Ariel to give her pointers, and Daisy takes on the job of bussing tables.

And Karl joins me behind the line, a grin on his face.

“Well?” he asks as we begin to chop, stir, and spread pizza dough. “Surprised?”

“You dog,” I tease. “You told me you were gonna be in meetings all day.”

He smirks, looking handsome as ever with his bandana tied around his forehead. I missed seeing him like this, especially with a little flour on his nose. “Sorry we’re a little late,” he says. “I had to be there for when they landed.”

“How long have you had this planned?” I asked.

Karl’s smirk turns into a grin. “Since we moved here.”

Before I know it, the night is turning into a flurry of activity. The banter flies like old times, orders come in and out like clockwork, flour dusts our faces, fragrant spices fill the air. In all of the hustle and bustle of moving here and getting the new restaurant running, I forgot how much I missed this.

But I know now that I’ll miss it even more when it’s over.

“So, you guys are all staying until the wedding, huh?” I ask, glancing over at John and Anton as we methodically prepare pizzas, appetizers, and desserts like we’ve been doing it for our entire lives.

John grins. “Is that a problem?”

“Not in the slightest.”

I turn and slide another pizza into the brick oven with a satisfied sigh.

It’s only seven o’clock by now, and the grand opening has turned into an even better night than I ever could have hoped. Not only is all of the food turning out great, but my team is here by my side. That alone is enough to make my heart feel as light as a feather.

At least, until Daisy walks in with a wide-eyed look on her face.

“There’s a critic here. He wishes to speak with you.”