Chasing His Kickass Luna Back

Chapter 0213

Abby

Vanessa walks up to me, her heels clicking softly on the tile floor. The room slowly begins to pick up its

volume again, but I feel lost in a giant void.

“Are you okay, Abby?” Vanessa asks, her voice pulling me back to the present.

“I-I’m fine,” I murmur, although the words feel like a complete and utter lie. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to

cause a scene.” I glance at Karl, who's standing a few feet away, watching intently.

Vanessa smiles, a soft, empathetic curve of her lips that immediately puts me at ease. “Don’t be sorry.

The culinary world isn’t exactly a bed of roses for women, you know? We’re already at a disadvantage

just by being female chefs.”

“That shouldn’t be the case,” I find myself saying, a hint of bitterness in my voice. “Skill and talent

should be what matters, not gender.”

Vanessa nods, her eyes meeting mine with a look that speaks volumes. “You’re absolutely right. But

sometimes the world doesn’t operate the way it should.” She hesitates for a moment, as though

contemplating whether to continue, then seems to make a decision. “Let me tell you a story.”

She leans against a nearby table, crossing her arms as she gathers her thoughts. “Years ago, when I

was climbing my way up the ladder, there was a male chef—I’ll call him Mark—who couldn’t stand me.

Not because I was better or worse than him in the kitchen, mind you, but simply because I was a

woman. And a black woman at that.”

“That’s horrible,” I say, my heart sinking at the thought of facing such blatant discrimination.

“Oh, but that’s not even the beginning of it,” Vanessa says, her voice taking on a grim tone.

“One night, during a critical review from a food critic, Mark sabotaged my dish. He swapped the fresh

herbs I’d prepped with ones that had turned, ruining the entire dish. The critic got sick. It was a whole

thing.”

“Oh, no,” I gasp. “Did he get away with it?”

Vanessa nods. “He did. At the time, nobody believed that he could do something so petty, and I didn’t

have the evidence to prove it. No one wanted to listen to me, the black female chef. I was a nobody, a Material © of NôvelDrama.Org.

woman in a male-dominated field. But you know what? In the end, it didn’t matter.”

“How can it not matter?” The words tumble out before I can stop them. “He sabotaged your career!”

“No, Abby,” she says, shaking her head. “He tried to sabotage my career. There’s a difference. What he

did was a setback, no doubt about it, but it wasn’t the end of the world. I picked myself up, dusted

myself off, and got back to work. And today, I’m far more successful now than he ever became.”

Her words hang in the air between us, heavy but also strangely uplifting. For a moment, I’m

speechless, too caught up in the raw emotion of her story to formulate a response.

“And you know why?” she continues, her voice softer now but no less intense. “Because I didn’t let his

petty actions define me. I defined myself, through hard work, resilience, and a refusal to be put in a box

just because of my gender and my race.”

Her eyes meet mine, and in that moment, I feel as though she’s more than just an idol for me. She’s a

fellow woman, an ally, a mentor. “And you can do the same, Abby. You’re talented, passionate, and

more than capable of standing on your own two feet. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

I’m on the verge of tears, but I’m able to fight them back thanks to the strength I see in Vanessa’s eyes

and the conviction I hear in her voice.