“You said the magical words that triggered Pavlov’s dog in me.”
I took the orange juice from her and hugged and kissed her. “Thank you for coming.”
Miki must have seen the guilt dripping off my face. “Akiko, we may have bumped heads the last few weeks, but you’re my best friend. I’ll always be here for you.”
“Thank you.”
Miki made a beeline to my kitchen to fetch two champagne flutes and mixed up round one. We spent the next hour eating and drinking mimosas while we talked about everything, unless it had to do with work or my Reina sightings. Those were off the table.
We were laughing so hard, catching each other up on our stories. It was just like old times.
“I can’t believe you flashed that guy your thong.”
“Not only did I do that, I told him if he wanted to kiss my ass, he needed to get in line.”
“You didn’t.”
“I did… though he was kind of cute. Maybe I jabbed a bit too hard.”
“It takes a strong man to handle you. If he backs down that quickly, he’s not right.”
“Exactly. If he can dish it out, he better be ready to take it.”
We clinked our glasses.
We lounged on the sofa, laughing, until Miki gave me a look I knew too well. Even with the laughter, we couldn’t avoid the elephant in the room.
“The business, Akiko.”
“I know. It’s in trouble. And it’s my fault.”
Miki said nothing and took a sip of her mimosa.
“Oh, so you agree?” I said in mock surprise.
“Well, I’m not gonna fight you on it. But seriously, Akiko. I totally understand that you have a lot to deal with, but we can’t let the restaurant fail. You, me, and Jiro have worked too hard. And we’ve seen what we’re capable of. The only thing standing between us and a Michelin star is?—”
“Reina?”
“Well, I was gonna say us, but we can add her to the mix.”
“Things were going so well, and then… her! But I swear, I’m not making this up.”
“Akiko, I don’t think it’s healthy for us to sit here and debate whether your sightings are real or not. Here’s what I do know: You beat her once. You can beat her again.”
I’d never looked at it the way Miki put it.
“Think about what you survived. What you and Jiro both survived. Technically, one of you was supposed to be dead.”
“Actually, we both were slated for the chopping board.”
“But you survived. And not only did you survive, you put on your big girl pants and opened Ono Omakase. And look at what you were able to accomplish in such a short time. Of course the haters are gonna hate.”
“You know what, you’re right. I did beat Reina.”
“Smacked her upside the head.”
“I destroyed her.”
