“FYI, she fired Koji,” I said.
“What? I just hired that guy. You know how hard it was to find someone to meet her standards who didn’t cost an arm and a leg?”
“She said he wasn’t up to par. As her boyfriend, you need to do something. I’m not getting through to her, and I’m her best friend. She’s yelling at me every chance she gets.”
“You don’t think I’m trying? We’ve been fighting a lot lately about the business.”
“How did we even end up here?” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Six months ago, we were unstoppable—on the rise as the best up-and-coming restaurant in Japan. And now?”
“And now we’re losing money hand over fist,” Jiro said as he stared at the spreadsheet on the laptop. “If we don’t turn this around, there won’t be a restaurant. We’re hemorrhaging cash.”
I stomped my feet and groaned like a little girl throwing a tantrum. “Please tell me I’m still getting paid next Friday.”
“Uh…”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Jiro. I have rent due, bills to pay… I need to eat.”
“Don’t worry, Miki. You’ll get paid. I promise. But I’m just letting you know now, if we continue on this path, we’ll all be out of a job.”
Just then a scream echoed through the restaurant.
“Akiko!” I popped out of my chair and ran out of the office, Jiro right behind me.
We burst into the main dining area. Aya and Riku were sitting at a table, both with their AirPods in, eyes glued to their phones. We hurried to the kitchen. It was empty. But the back door, the one that led into the alley, was wide open.
That’s where we found Akiko, lying on her side in the middle of the alleyway.
My first thought was that she’d fallen.
Jiro helped her to her feet and cradled her in his arms. She was breathing hard, hyperventilating and crying at the same time.
“What happened, Akiko?” he asked, looking down at her hands. Both were scraped up from the fall.
“It was her. She attacked me.”
“Who?”
She looked up at Jiro, forehead wrinkled. “Who? Reina, that’s who! She pushed me from behind and then ran off.”
Jiro and I just stared at her, speechless.
“We’ve gone over this, Akiko. Reina’s dead.”
“How do you explain the reservation she made six months ago? The person on the security footage that looked just like her, huh? And what about all my sightings of her following me, taunting me from the shadows—and now, this attack. Look!”
She pointed at the side of the building.
Jiro and I both turned.
There was nothing there. Just an empty wall.
“There was a message. I swear there was. Written in huge letters on a giant piece of paper. It said, ‘You took from me. I take from you.’ I saw it when I came out here to empty the trash. She must have taken it with her when she ran off.”
“Let’s head inside,” Jiro said gently, ushering Akiko toward the door. “Miki, we should shut down for the night.”
“No, it’s still early,” Akiko said. “We have guests.”
“Akiko, the restaurant’s empty.”
