NovelEnglish
Abby
The morning sun is barely peeking over the h orizon, casting a soft glow on the deserted streets as I
race
toward the restaurant.
Despite my exhaustion, I couldn’t sleep, and am currently running off of several cups of coffee. My
mind
races, replaying last night’s accidental revelation like a broken record.
I need to find Karl. Now. And even though it’s early, something tells me that he’s already in the kitchen.
I burst into the restaurant, my eyes scanning the empty tables, the bar, and finally landing on the
kitchen
door, where a dim light is shining through the small window. Pushing it open, I find Karl, knife in hand,
chopping vegetables with a newfound kind of precision brought about by his apprenticeship under
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“Karl, we need to talk. Now.”
Enter title…
He looks up, his eyes meeting mine, widening for a moment before narrowing with concern. “Abby,
what’s
wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I wish it was that simple,” I mutter, brushing a stray strand of hair out of my eyes from my mad dash
across the city. “We need to find those truffles. The competition—”
“I told you, it’s not happening,” he interrupts, his voice taking on a stern tone. “That place is dangerous.
I’m not going back, and I’m certainly not taking you there.”
“Karl, you don’t understand. I got an email last night.”
He pauses, placing his knife down on the counter. “An email?”
I nod, my heart pounding so hard I think it might pound right out of my chest. “From the cook-off judges.
I
wasn’t supposed to see it, but I did. They’re picking the truffle dish for the main course. If I don’t nail
that
recipe, I’m screwed.”
His eyes search my face, as if trying to decipher whether I’m lying or not before he finally sighs,
pinching
the bridge of his nose. “Abby, as much as I want to help you, I can’t. That place is the headquarters of
some dangerous people. They have guards, cameras…”
His voice trails off, lost in memories from last night that I can only imagine.
“Do you think I don’t know that? I know the risks, but I also know what’s at stake here.”
He leans against the counter, his eyes shadowed. “You might know, Abby, but you don’t understand. I
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nearly got caught. I had to jump into water just to escape. Whatever they’re hiding there, they don’t
take
kindly to people poking around.”
My mind conjures up a terrifying image of Karl, drenched and running, evading all kinds of danger. My
stomach churns at the thought, but I can’t let that stop me. Not now, not when I’m so close.
“I get it, okay? I get that it’s a life and death situation,” I say. “But I have to do this. Winning this
competition is…”
Karl’s face tightens in annoyance. “I know how important it is to you, Abby. But it’s dangerous. You
could
get killed.”
“A mushroom that could help me win this competition,” I whisper, my voice filled with a bitterness that
surprises even me. Content belongs to
Karl sighs. “You think I don’t know that? You think it doesn’t kill me to say no to you?”
“So that’s it, then? We just let this opportunity slip away? Pretend like we never got close?”
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