FreeNovel
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.”
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtEnter title…
“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
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmso 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 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!”
“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.” Coոtent of Drаmаոovels.cоm
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.
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