But Sam?
She just sat there. Silent.
That’s when I knew.
She knew about the inspection.
She was the one who did it. Her eyebrows were furrowed like they always were when she was up to something.
Chef Reynard had been on the phone earlier that morning, talking about the missing inventory, saying that he planned to check bags after our shift. But I hadn’t thought anything of it.
There was no reason for me to.
But Sam had overheard. When we were changing into our uniform in the locker room she smacked my arm to make me stop talking so that she could hear what Chef was saying.
But… Sam? Would she really do that to me?
Or was my imagination just running wild because the thought of me losing my job was so… close?
I felt the knife twist before I even knew it was there.
I stood up, my throat closing.
“I…” I couldn’t even get the words out.
“I should go…”
Chef Reynard didn’t say anything. He just looked at me for a moment, his eyes softening.
I wanted to cry. I wanted to curl into a ball and just cry for a few hours.
My career, everything that I had worked so hard for, was over.
I turned toward the door, my heart shattering.
“Stop, Kera,” he said.
I turned back, blinking through tears.
Chef Reynard reached into his pocket and pulled out a small ultraviolet flashlight.
The room went still again.
“There’s a security measure in place,” he said, his voice even. “I have marked all the caviar jars with an invisible, transparent ink, one that leaves residue on anyone who touches it. This is the new batch, and no one has worked with these yet, so only the person who stole the jar would have the stuff on their hands.”
A ripple of murmurs swept through the staff.
He held the jar under the light, and sure enough, a faint, glowing mark was smeared along the lid.
“We started doing this a few years ago when we had another case of sticky fingers.
One of our waiters was walking away with our caviar and bottles of champagne, ready to sell on the internet.”
Then he turned the light to his hands. They were clean except for his fingers, where he had held the jar moments before.
His eyes met mine, and he almost smiled.
“Everyone, hands out. Now.”
One by one, we stretched our arms out as he held the light to them.
Nothing.
Nothing.
Nothing.
Dirty nails.
Nothing.
Then…
A faint glow appeared on someone’s fingertips.
That’s when the entire world tilted.
Sam.
The soft blue stain lit up on her skin, it was unmistakable.
A choked sound left my throat. My best friend, my sister, sat there, caught red-handed.
Chef Reynard stared at her in disbelief.
“I need you to explain yourself,” Chef said.
“I… Chef…” Sam tried to say, her face drained of color.
“I never thought someone would do this to their best friend,” he said quietly.
Then, his voice hardened and his face darkened, anger taking over.
“You set her up? You set Kera up?
You were willing to destroy her career for a promotion?”
Her mouth opened, desperate.
“Maybe someone else touched it before me… and I touched something they touched.”
Chef Reynard didn’t even blink.
“Just go, Sam.”
I watched her grasp for anything to save herself. But there was nothing.
She knew it.
I knew it.
She stood abruptly, her chair scraping against the tiles. Her eyes flicked to me, just for a second.
And in that second, I saw something that made my blood boil.
Sam didn’t think she’d get caught.
She wasn’t sorry.
She was angry.
She stormed out, and just like that, she was gone.
The room was silent.
I was still shaking. I felt betrayed and hurt, heartache worse than I’d ever felt before.
“Kera,” Chef Reynard said.
“I meant what I said,” he continued. “I don’t tolerate thieves in my kitchen.
And I couldn’t believe that it was you. I just… couldn’t. Let’s go to my office.”
We went to his office.
I followed him quietly, my hands still shaking.
“Kera,” he said, sitting down. “I didn’t want to believe it because I had just drawn up something for you. But I need you to know that I don’t tolerate people who betray their own.”
He placed a single piece of paper in front of me.
A contract.
“You worked your butt off for this place, my girl,” he said.
“I’ve noticed it from the beginning. And you’ve earned your spot as head chef.”
I took a deep breath.
“I had nothing to do with Sam’s actions,” I said. “Absolutely nothing.”
He smiled and held a pen out for me.
And I signed my name.
After my shift, I stopped at a food truck on my way home, trying to wrap my mind around everything.
How was I going to go to our apartment and face Sam?
I wanted to slap her for almost costing me my job, but I was also worried about what she was going to do next.
I had been saving over the years. Sam had not, wanting to spend everything on clothing and alcohol. I highly doubted she had any savings, or at least enough to get by until she got a new job.
But I shouldn’t have worried.
When I walked into our apartment, Jenna, our roommate, was sitting on the couch playing video games.
Sam was nowhere to be seen.
“She’s gone,” Jenna said, pausing the game.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“She’s gone. She packed up, and some guy named Dylan came to help her take her things. She said to tell you that she wanted more for herself and that she needs to find her happiness out of your shadow.”
What the actual heck?
“Thanks, Jenna,” I said, flopping down on the couch next to her.
“What happened?
She got fired? She quit?”
“How about I tell you tomorrow?” I asked. “I just want to get into bed.”
I was devastated, but I had never felt the way I had before.
There was so much anger and hurt. Pain that demanded to be felt.
If this is what Sam was truly capable of, then maybe I was better off without her.
Source: amomama
