Maybe Jiro had lied. Maybe he’d ghosted me. Maybe he was in trouble. I didn’t know yet.
But what I did know, what I could control—was the restaurant. My restaurant. The thing I’d bled for, broken for, fought Reina for. It was still mine.
If Jiro wanted to walk away, fine. Let him.
I had bigger fish to fry.
I made my way to the subway, eager to get back to my apartment pronto. I was fired up and ready to get to work. As I stood in the carriage, watching the doors close, a familiar face appeared in the crowd. A blip.
Reina.
My breath hitched as I pressed a hand to the window, but the train had already pulled away. The blur of her face disappeared into the crowd like it had never been there. My pulse thumped in my ears.
It couldn’t be.
But the cold twist in my gut told me it was.
8
That same night, I went to the restaurant, thinking work would take my mind off Jiro and refocus me on my business. I couldn’t be more wrong.
The place was a dead zone. Bacteria couldn’t thrive even if it wanted to. By 8:00 p.m., I sent my sushi chef home, telling him I wasn’t sure when I’d need him again. He quit on the spot.
“It’s a good thing you didn’t tell the server to come in tonight,” Miki said, standing in the dining room, hands on her hips.
“I didn’t have a choice. She texted earlier. She quit.”
“Really?”
“I don’t blame her. There’s no work for her here. And besides, no one wants to be around me right now.”
“Hey, I’m around you. What am I… chopped sushi?”
I thumbed my phone, skimming for new messages.
“Don’t think I haven’t noticed you checking it every five minutes. You’re texting Jiro, aren’t you?”
“I can’t help it. I need to know.”
“And do you?”
“No.”
“We agreed we’d put all our energy into the restaurant. I can’t do it by myself. For this place to work, it needs you, Akiko. Fully focused.”
“I know, it’s just… it’s eating at me. It’s not like him.”
“Maybe it’s not. Maybe it’s his father. Maybe he made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.” She said it in her best Marlon Brando impersonation.
I laughed at her puffed cheeks. “Entirely possible. But you’re right. I can’t keep obsessing over Jiro. I need to refocus on the business and take responsibility for this place. I’m the reason it’s empty right now.”
“Hey, the economy isn’t that great right now,” Miki said, trying to sound encouraging. “People aren’t eating out that much.”
“I appreciate the kindness, but this is my fault,” I said, gesturing around the room. “I’m the Ono in Ono Omakase. No one else to blame for its downfall. In fact, I’m making an executive decision right now. Miki, I want you to go home.”
“What? Why?”
“This restaurant is mine,” I said. “I built it out of blood, sweat, and everything I had. If it’s dying, it’s going to die with me here.”
