"It's not Julian," Yuki said quietly, opening the door. "He left Krystal."
"Good. Fucking bastard! What the fuck?!?! First my aunt, now me? Is he trying to fuck my entire family?"
"That was his original plan, yes," Yuki said, sitting down on the chair next to my bed. She spent the next ten minutes telling me about the conversation she had with Julian in her office, including his original plan to have sex with as many women in my family as possible just to get at his father. "But he abandoned his plan."
"What? He seems to have moved on with it quite well, I'd say. Or did you miss the part where it's become common knowledge that he's fucked me three ways from Sunday?" I said, fresh tears streaming down my face. My sobs intensified, and I heard Yuki get up to pat my back. Another presence was in the room, and I turned my head to see Mom standing there. "Oh Mama . . ."
"Shhhh, it's all right," Mom said, coming over and hugging me. "I already sent Gina home, telling her she's not welcome here right now. Oh baby, if I'd known . . ."
"I suspect that Miss Aksoy wanted to surprise you with the knowledge," Yuki said quietly. "In some of the things she said after she became aware of Krystal and Julian's relationship, she sounded vindictive."
"Gina's never been the nicest of people, but she's never been like this before," Mom said. "Yuki, what's this about you knowing about Julian's actions?"
Yuki explained it again, starting from when Julian knocked on the door of her office. She ended it with Gina dropping her bombshell on the back lawn. "I know this is hard to believe, Sandra, but I believe him. Julian may have started with evil intentions, but he did truly fall in love with Krystal."
"And how would you know?" Mom replied. "Yuki, you are talking about one of the most deceitful, lying men I've ever known."
"I've known him longer, and spent more time with him than you have, no offense Sandra. I've seen him scheme, scam, and screw up time after time, each time walking away without a care in the world other than causing more trouble. And I also saw his face in my office today, and again on the back lawn. I know it seems strange, I know I sound crazy, but it is true. Julian fell in love with Krystal, and didn't mean to hurt her."
"Then why didn't he tell me?" I wailed, fresh tears coursing down my cheeks. "Why?"
Mom went to hug me again, while Yuki stood quietly in the middle of the room. When my sobs had calmed down again, she looked at me with tenderness and affection. "This may cost me my job at the manor Krystal, but I must say it. If you were in Julian's shoes, what would you have done? How many of your former lovers have you told him about?"
"Yuki, get out," Mom said. "I'll speak with my husband when he comes home, but consider yourself on two weeks notice."
Yuki nodded, a tear trickling down her cheek. "As you wish, Mrs. Castelbon. I shall be in my quarters if Mr. Castelbon wishes to contact me."
Yuki left, leaving just me and Mom. I cried some more, wiping at my cheeks, until I was hollowed out, my eyes burning and my face puffy. "Mama . . ."
"Shhh, it's okay baby," Mom said, holding me close again. "You relax, or at least try to. I'll talk with John; we'll take care of all this. We'll get through this somehow."
I stayed there, lying on my bed with my head in my mother's lap, until the sun went down, and the pain in my stomach was replaced by a deeper pain in the black space that was my heart.
Chapter 22
Krystal
I knew I shouldn't have been on the line. I'd just gotten back to Chicago the night before, hadn't slept in two days, and had barely eaten as well. I was bleary eyed, running on fumes, and my mind was not in the right place it needed to be to keep up with the pace and the pressure of the line at Alinea. I should have called off, regardless of whether Horst and Shannon would have been slightly upset or not.
Instead, there I was, in my whites, trying to work the meat station. Prep had gone okay, after all slicing six ounce steaks and tying strings around fillets is stuff even a child can do. Even the start of service wasn't too bad. While it was a Friday night, we were in a rare period where there wasn't much going on in Chicago. The Cubs and White Sox were on road trips, basketball hadn't started, and the Bears were still in the preseason. Most of the universities were still on summer vacation, and even the business cycle was down. Everyone was resting up before the push into fall.
Also working in my favor was the Alinea menu cycle. Shannon liked to change menus on the seasons, and we were still a few weeks out from the change from the summer menu to the fall menu. As such, most of our regulars had already eaten what we had to offer, and so the start of service was slow.