Hell's Kitchen: The Truth Behind the Papa Louie Universe

Chapter Twenty Three

The sun was out for the first time that week, though the windows were still speckled with the raindrops of last night's downpour. The rain had already impeded on the last few days of the cherry blossom season, and the wind and the weight of the water had caused most of the petals to fall early. A few still clung to the window, and more clogged gutters and street drains, but very few remained on the trees.

It had been beautiful, and it still smelled nice, the sweet floral scent mixing with the rich earthy smell of rain. This rain she admired. It made her understand how people could love it so much. The kind where the sun sometimes shone through a pleasantly cool drizzle, creating a rainbow... or beading on spring flowers... sporadic bursts lasting only a couple minutes, providing some relief from the increasingly hot days... The rain of a few months ago was incomparable. It hardly deserved to even be called the same thing.

The air was thick, often, which she didn't love, but it was crisper today. Olivia's kitchen, as always, displayed the sun beautifully. The window framed it like a picture– and it was early, too, for the sun to be out. A sure sign of the spring that Akari had tried and failed to push away her melancholy about. It was almost May, for goodness sake, and she was still clinging onto the winter, as though maybe she could claw her way back in time. Slow it, at the very least... The changing weather was such a blatant symbol of her diminishing time. It made her heart heavy, no matter how she enjoyed it.

She needed to get over it. The sun was beautiful, not malicious. It wasn't the fault of the sun, and the rain and the heat. There were croissants from the store, and the cat she shared with her girlfriend napped peacefully on the couch, and she was already ready for work, with several minutes to spare before she left. She had time– both this morning, and in general– to enjoy herself, and she should take advantage of that.

"There's jam in the fridge, by the way." Olivia was pouring a second cup of coffee.

"The berry one?"

"Mhm."

She didn't need the jam. She'd used honey and banana slices, which she hadn't tried before. Croissants seemed almost too sacred for that– they were for toast, were they not? But it was really good, and she was reaching for a second one when Olivia's phone rang loudly, startling both of them.

"Hello?" Olivia mouthed an apology, and Akari shook her head briefly, gesturing that it wasn't a problem.

Akari could hear the faint voice on the other end, but couldn't make out any words.

"Are you serious– oh my god?" Olivia looked shocked, and it sent a flutter of worry through Akari.

"I'm so sorry Val– how...? No, I understand... do you need me to do anything? Come up today?"

Val was her boss at the boutique, so surely not everything had gone to shreds– at least, no one was dead . Probably.

"Yeah, I understand– okay, thanks for letting me know, then. I'm so sorry that happened. Yeah, I can't believe it either. Yes, goodbye, Val. Talk to you later."

Olivia seemed more sad than scared now, and Akari shot her a look as she hung up the phone.

"The shop burned down. Like caught on fire. Overnight."

"Oh." Akari didn't know what she was expecting, but it wasn't that.

"Just, gone, like that," she snapped her fingers, "They got the fire under control before it could spread anywhere, but it was like, to the ground, practically."

"Is everyone okay?"

"Yeah, no one was hurt, thank god, but... I just can't believe it. It's insane."

Olivia had taken her to Valentina's once, when they'd gone up to Portalinni together. It wasn't the most standout moment of the trip– Akari had mostly seen it as an interesting way to get to know Olivia better, and a brand-new shop wasn't quite as... telling.