Chapter 9: Vivian

Flipping over her wrist to check the time, Vivian rushed towards the packed train station. She cursed herself for muting her phone last night and forgetting to turn it off. Now she was late.

These past two months have been hectic. After the first couple days, she managed to get hired at an upper scale restaurant. Vivian made sure to do her research on the place beforehand and was pleased to see their good treatment towards female chefs.

Her grandma had also called to check up on her last week, hurt that her grandchild didn't have the time to call her. Vivian had apologized profusely, but she still insisted on taking a trip to the city. And Vivian was late.

She craned her neck, trying to look above the dense crowds of people. Scanning the monitors above, she found the platform that the bullet train had arrived on and shoved her way over.

Vivian's heart was beating furiously and her palms began to sweat. The humidity and heat were already nearly unbearable but the hot air and crush of people was not helping. She was worried that her grandma may be overwhelmed by the crowds, being in an unfamiliar environment. What if she fell over and people just kept on walking. What if someone pushed her onto the tracks and—

"Girl, get rid of that expression. The police might think you stole something and chase you down." A disgruntled voice came from the left.

"Ah," Vivian let out a relieved smile, "Nai Nai!" she reached out and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Yes yes." her grandma patted her on the back, "Thank you for leaving me here in this hot, gross box you city people call a train station. A proper one would be open air and no walls, so the nice breeze can be felt inside."

Vivian reached for her grandma's luggage and began leading her to the exit, "There wouldn't be much of a breeze in the city though, the buildings are too tall."

"And that's the problem." Her grandma sniffed disdainfully, looking around at the bustling street "No sun. No wind. Just the dirty smell of gasoline and stinky sweat."

"You didn't have to come, you know?" Vivian reminded, "If you had waited a few more weeks, I could have taken a break and visited you instead."

"So long." Her grandma threw her a look, "It's been three months and you only called me every couple weeks."

"Because you call me every other day." Vivian ushered her onto the bus and guided her to a seat.

"Hmph." Her grandma looked out the window. "If I didn't call you, would you have even called me?"

"Of course." Vivian smiled.

Her grandma looked at her face in scrutiny. Finding no faults, she turned back towards the window and Vivian heaved a sigh of relief. She was always like this whenever Vivian would go off to college, so she should't have expected now to be any different.

It wasn't surprising though, living in the countryside could be incredibly lonely. That was part of the reason why she had taken care of Vivian in the first place.

Emma was waiting for them when Vivian rang the doorbell. She tossed open the door before the bell had even stopped ringing and tugged Vivian's grandma in, leaving her with the luggage outside the door.

When Vivian had situated her grandma's belongings in the guest room, she came back out to see the two chatting comfortably, cups of tea steaming on the table in front of them.

"You're all set, Nai Nai." Vivian plopped down on the armchair across from them and sighed, basking in the cool air conditioning blowing across her face.

"Mmh." her grandma hummed in acknowledgement.

"How was your ride over?" Emma asked Grandma.

"Oh it was lovely." she responded, "So much faster than what we had back in the day."

Vivian scratched the side of her head, remembering the rant that her grandma had entered on the way here. She had managed to tone out most of it but she wasn't going to forget the vivid descriptions of the horrors her grandma saw on the train over.

Toilets getting clogged. People getting motion sickness. Babies wailing.

She shivered thinking about it.

Then, her phone vibrated with a notification. Vivian picked it up and scanned through the text. "Oh, the manager is calling me back. They're short on people tonight."

"Go, go." Her grandma shooed, "Don't worry about us. I'll be staying for a bit anyways."

"Mmh." Vivian reached over and hugged her grandma, "We'll spend time together later."

"Good luck!" Emma called after Vivian as she left. It had become her custom to do that every time she headed out for work. It seemed to be working so Vivian was happy to hear those words.

Her new workplace wasn't as far as the previous one, but it was rush hour and Vivian had to forgo the air conditioned bus to make it on time. Sweating profusely, she whipped her hair into a ponytail and fanned the back of her neck once she got into the locker room.

"Hey Vivian." a chef greeted when they saw her walk in, " I thought you took a day off today?"

"Ash? I didn't know you would be here today. Mia asked me to come in. Something about being short some hands tonight?"

"Oh yes we are." Ash said, "Some company rented out the place tonight to host some kind of party and several of the chefs called in sick this afternoon."

Vivian was curious which company rented out the restaurant. It must be a large one, since dining at the restaurant was already quite pricey. But it wasn't any of her business, she was just here to make food.

When there was finally a lull in the courses, Vivian found Mia looking around for her.

"I'm really sorry about asking you to come in on your break." she said, breaking out in apology, "I'll pay you overtime for this and you can have tomorrow off as well."

"That's great." Vivian said. "Thanks."

"No problem. Really though, I just came in here to avoid going back out."

"Why?" Ash poked their head around Vivian's shoulder. "Are they shitty customers?"

"Don't call the customers shitty." Mia reprimanded automatically. "They are just very demanding."

"Ooh, entitled assholes. How original." Ash snarked. "Not like we don't see them everyday in this kind of restaurant that caters to these people."

"At least you're not the one dealing with them." A server popped their head in and looked at her pointedly. Sighing, she nodded and turned back to the two, "Well, I have to go back out there again. I swear, if they complain about the ice one more time…" she muttered while walking away.

"Glad that's not me." Ash stretched and looked at Vivian. "Do you think we can steal a few of the desserts?"

"Maybe. I dare you to." Vivian raised her eyebrow in challenge. Everyone knew how protective the head pastry chef was over their desserts. No one was allowed to be near them when completed and he watched them like a hawk while they were cooling.

"Bet." Ash clapped their hands together and eyed the cooling racks.

They started towards them but jumped when a loud bang came from behind. Vivian snapped her head to the source.

Mia had burst in, face pale. "They're asking to see all the chefs and there's nothing I can do to stop them."

"What happened?" the sous chef, Gabriel stepped forward and asked, "There should have been no problems with the food."

"One of them is having an allergic reaction." she responded.

"Has the ambulance been called?"

"Yes, and the Epi-Pen was injected but the CEO is beside himself." Mia shuddered, "He's the head of a news company and we are so getting bad press for this."

"How could they blame this on us when they were the ones who booked last minute and didn't inform us of an allergy." He clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction.

Mia shook her head helplessly, "Follow me. Don't say anything unless talked to. Keep your answers short too."

They shuffled out, silent. Vivian clenched her hands together. She should have stayed home today. The one day Emma's luck ran out, she stifled a laugh.

Ash nudged her with their elbow, shooting her a questioning look.

Vivian shook her head and faced forward. The tables were abandoned, everyone gathered around the center of the room.

A man stood up. Vivian recognized him as Carina's father. He didn't look much different from how she remembered him: greying hair, hard wrinkles, and eyes that bored into your mind.

His eyes seared the chefs lined up in front of him. The manager stood off to the side, biting her lip. "These are all the chefs that were on duty, sir."

"Hmm." He paced in front of them. "Which one of you was in charge of making the fifth course?"

"Uh sir," Mia interrupted, "A kitchen doesn't work like that. One person isn't responsible for one whole dish. You—"

"Silence! he roared, "Don't talk back to me like that."

Mia threw a helpless look to Gabriel who rolled his eyes in response. Stepping forward, he inclined his head to Carina's father, "Mr. Camilla, we deeply apologize for the error caused by the kitchen. The lack of knowledge on our part is entirely our fault."

Mr. Camilla looked pleased at the quick apology, nodding his head.

"We should have properly asked for permission to do a thorough background check on the two hundred employees here in the two hour notice we were given that your company was renting out our restaurant."

Vivian dug her nails in her palm. She elbowed Ash who was turning red from trying to hold in their laughter.

"On top of the sudden reservation and menu that we had to prepare per your request," Gabriel continued, "and informing our other valued patrons that were looking forward to dining here for months. Speaking of which, you were the one who personally ordered these dishes. Shouldn't you have known of your daughter's allergy?" he raised an eyebrow at Carina's father who looked flustered.

Mia turned her eyes towards the ceiling, and sneakily stuck her thumbs up at Gabriel. "Mr. Camilla, when you came to me for the reservation, you insisted on having this entree and I recall distinctly that you insisted upon this dish even though I had told you that we were low on shrimp and our supplier wasn't coming until the end of the week."

"I have no idea what you mean." he blustered, "This is your restaurant, your chefs poisoned my daughter. I want everyone fired!"

"In fact," Mia continued, ignoring his outburst, "I believe I had you sign an agreement to say that you would reimburse us on our troubles to find enough fresh shrimp to feed so many in such a short period of time.." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Will you be reimbursing us for the damages caused if all of our chefs were fired as well?"

Sirens blared outside the restaurant, interrupting Mr. Camilla who was about to defend himself.

Vivian curled her lips in a sneer. She never liked that man, that slimy snake. He had a reputation that preceded him and many rumors that were always covered up. The few times that she had met him, he had tried to hit her up and pay her, and not only when he was drunk. Thankfully when she had to attend those things, Marcus kept a close enough eye to deescalate the situation.

He was a master at talking himself out of situations and throwing around his money to fix problems. Given the chance here, he would have definitely done the same here, if Mia and Gabriel were not as good of a tag team as they were.

Watching the drama unfold between them and Carina's father, Vivian nearly forgot about Carina herself until the paramedics arrived and carried Carina out on the stretcher.

Mr. Camilla immediately rushed to her side, stroking her hair and whispering words of comfort.

The kitchen staff dropped their jaw at his change in demeanor.

"What a two-faced snake." Ash muttered.

Vivian nodded in agreement, and craned her neck to see how Carina was faring. The medics hadn't put an oxygen mask on her and she seemed to be conversing well enough with her father. As far as Vivian could see, the reaction was itchy hives on her skin, not nearly as terrible as her father was making it out to be. Well, she thought, it was his fault and he was probably looking to pin the blame on us.

Mia and Gabriel were discussing things off to the side, too far for Vivian to eavesdrop. However, she was close enough to hear snippets of what Mr. Camilla was saying to Carina as she was getting wheeled out to the ambulance.

"...everyone is against you, they're jealous of the life you live, the life that I provide for you…"

Carina was nodding slowly, rubbing at her arms.

"...listen to me...like your mother…" he was getting further away and despite straining her ears, Vivian couldn't hear anything else he was saying.

"Didn't you tell me that eavesdropping was bad?" Ash leaned over and whispered.

Vivian had indeed said that to her a week ago when she caught them pressing their ear against the manager's office. "This is different."

"Because it's you?" Ash raised their eyebrow.

"Because they're walking right past me."

"I was walking by the door then!"

'Oh sorry, I didn't realize that you walk with your ear on the wall."

Ash shoved her lightly, causing Vivian to stumble out of line.

At that moment, Carina's father had come back and his eyes zeroed in on her. Vivian pushed Ash back and squished back into line but the damage had already been done.

"Who are you?" he grabbed her arm, looking her up and down appreciatively.

"Let me go." Vivian tried to tug her arm away, but he gripped harder, causing her to wince in pain.

He leered, pulling her closer, and squinted at her face, "Wait a minute, I recognize you. You're the whore that seduced Marcus to chose you over my daughter."

Ash, who had been standing behind Vivian turned and snarled, "What the fuck did you say?" They pried his hand off of Vivian's arm and tugged her behind them. "If someone says let them go, you let them go"

Mr. Camilla tilted his head up, "And what qualifications do you have you tell me what to do, you tramp. I can get you fired."

"Who's getting fired?" Mia had finished her conversation and looked at Mr. Camilla, raising her brow. "Are you trying to fire one of my employees?"

"This one was extremely rude," He pointed to Ash. "And this one I believe is not fit for such a job. I can help you find another place to work that is more suited to your looks."

Vivian shrunk back, disgusted. She felt like something was crawling on her skin and for a second, she wished Marcus was here. Then she hated herself for thinking like that. She could deal with this.

"I think you were the one being rude." Vivian snapped, stepping out from behind Ash. "Mister." she added as an afterthought.

"Slu—" Mr. Camilla started.

"I will not be firing any of my employees tonight, Mr. Camilla." Mia cut in with a blunt tone. "In fact, my staff has come to a consensus that you and your company will be banned in the foreseeable future. Your conduct is extremely disruptive and damaging to the reputation of our establishment."

His face reddened. "You're going to regret this." he snarled.

Vivian couldn't help but notice how his employees had long left the scene and the few that were remaining looked as if they wished they were anywhere but here.

A paramedic came back inside and led Mr. Camilla out to the ambulance. The remaining employees trailed behind and as soon as they left, the manager turned the lock and flipped off the restaurant sign.

"I hope he never shows up again." She leaned against the glass doors, slumping down.

"Isn't he the CEO of a big media outlet?" Vivian piped up, "Won't you be worried about the bad press he can churn out about us?"

"If he does, it'll only lower his credibility when we pull out the evidence." Mia shrugged. "It's a pain but we're used to dealing with customers like that." she paused, "That's not really a good thing, is it?"

"Oh." Vivian breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Ash. "Ash, are you alright?"

They waved a hand arily, "I've dealt with worse."

"But are you alright?" she persisted.

Ash rubbed the back of their neck, "Well, it sucks that people are still like this." They shrugged, "But I take it in stride now."

Vivian pursed her lip, dissatisfied. She had only known Ash for a couple months but it didn't mean that she wasn't close enough to want to protect them from the less than honourable people in the world.

The rest of the shift was uneventful, cleaning up and preparing things for the next day. Vivian yawned as she hopped onto the bus, slapping her card on the scanner. It seemed as if the people from her past life were getting drawn into her path, despite the effort she put into leading a normal life. She was even distancing herself from Marcus, who had the higher chance between the two of meeting Carina and her father. But they ended up in front of Vivian instead.

Maybe she should have moved back to the countryside, start a small restaurant with homegrown vegetables from her grandma's farm. That sounds nice.

Opening the door to the apartment, Vivian was shocked awake by the yelling in the apartment. The coffee table was scattered with cards and snacks. Sitting around the table were Emma, Luca, and Vivian's grandma with quarters piled next to them. Well, more like just Emma and Vivian's grandma. Luca had a pitiful few and as Vivian walked in, he slid the rest of his meager pile over to grandma.

"Who's winning?" Vivian took a seat next to her grandma.

"Of course it's me, silly girl." her grandma said, gesturing to her tall stack of coins. "Did you have dinner yet? I made some noodles. There's extra in the pan."

Vivian's eyes lit up. "Yes, I want it." She hurried over to the stove and grabbed a pair of chopsticks, digging in. Her grandma had made her favorite noodles, the perfect thing to end the day with. She brought it back to the couch and watched them play.

It was a tradition every time they went to visit grandma to play cards. The gambling was a bit they threw in recently, but it only made the game more fun.

"I think I might be winning now." Emma said, scrutinizing her pile and comparing it to grandma's.

She slapped down her cards, "Think again."

"Damnit!" Emma tossed her cards in the air and shoved the pile to grandma. "You always win."

Grandma just laughed, heaping up the coins in front of her.

"I should learn not to play." Luca rolled his head back onto the couch, "I don't know how she does it."

"It's a secret." Grandma winked at Vivian. She had learned not to bet against Nai Nai long ago. It was never in her favor.

Whenever she lost one, which was often, her grandma would make her cook a meal. Vivian hated it at first, since she had to do everything from get the ingredients, prepare them, and then wash everything afterwards. But it did end up working out in the end, so she couldn't stay resentful.

In her past life, she had moved with Marcus across the country a year after they got married to expand his business. It made it difficult for them to visit each other. She knew that her grandma was still alive when she died in her last life, and regret washed over her when she realized her grandma had to bury her too.

Her eyes snapped open. If Marcus was still alive when she had already traveled back, wouldn't that mean that their old world was still continuing? Is this an alternate timeline or universe? Vivian groaned and burrowed her face into the pillow. When you're trying to sleep is the worst time for an existential crisis.