“He’s already in my head,” I say before I can make the sentence prettier.
Sophie goes quiet.
I hate that more than I’d hate a lecture.
Finally, she says, “Then make sure he doesn’t get into your work.”
“That’s the only thing I’m certain about,” I say.
“Meet him,” Sophie says.
“Hear whatever he needs to say. Then call me before you decide anything that involves your body, your career, or your dignity.”
I almost smile. “That’s a wide category.”
“With you? Tragically wide.”
“I’ll call you.”
“You’ll call me before,” Sophie says.
“I’ll call you before,” I say.
The call ends with Sophie still looking unconvinced, which is fair because I’m unconvinced by myself in several important areas. The hotel room settles around me again. No Diana. No Sophie. No one else’s voice telling me where the lines are. Just me, the card, the laptop, and the truth.
I trusted my eye last night. I trusted my palate. I tasted the meal before I knew the room had become personal, and the food was exceptional before Damien Holt became Damien. That has not changed.
The food is the food. Damien is something else. I’m going to keep those two things in their correct boxes if it’s the last useful thing I do as a working critic.
I email Diana to confirm the framework. Then I confirm the sit-down request through Palate’s editorial assistant, keeping every word clean, formal, and dull enough to be safe.
Then I return to the document.
Maison Holt — Working Notes
I write the first paragraph.
I delete it.
I write another.
I delete that too.
By the fourth attempt, the sentence finally stops flinching.
Maison Holt is a forty-cover restaurant built around restraint, precision, and a rare confidence in what the plate does not need.
I read it twice. It holds. Diana said be careful. I’ve been careful my entire professional life. I built my career on being the most careful person in any dining room. I look at the document glowing on the screen. Being careful around Damien Holt is considerably more complicated than being careful around a restaurant. I save the file, then I close the laptop.
I’ll figure it out.I always figure it out.
Chapter Sixteen
Serena
Iarrive early because I always arrive early. I tell myself it is professionalism, which is mostly true. Early gives me time to read the room, choose the chair that lets me see the door, settle my breathing, and become the version of myself who knows what belongs in the work and what does not.
Today, early also means I have ten minutes to stop thinking about Damien Holt’s hands before Damien Holt walks in.
