“Precisely.” Landon grinned and picked up the first email. His smile disappeared, and he sat up in his seat. “What is this?”
“It’s an email from the owner and baker of Comfort Zone, Aubrey Choi, requesting a second chance. She claims the cake you ate was a special order for a little girl’s birthday, but her part-time employee accidentally served it to you.”
Aubrey.She had continued to invade his thoughts while he was abroad. She was bold, sweet, and bursting with life. The sex was amazing, but their conversations in between had beenequally memorable. He’d been seriously considering returning to Weldon to find her, but Craig saved him from that potential disaster.
Aubrey Choi, the owner of Comfort Zone, and his Aubrey, the goddess in bed, were one and the same. Panic filled his throat. Had she seduced him to get a positive review? It wasn’t the first time a restaurateur had tried to bribe him. He’d rejected every last one of those overtures, becausewhat the literal hell?Those people had demagnetized moral compasses.
He took a deep breath through his nose. As his initial shock receded, logic regained control of his mind. Aubrey never once mentioned Comfort Zone or her profession. She couldn’t have known he was the customer who’d eaten the peculiar cake. And he definitely hadn’t seen her at the bakery. As farfetched as it sounded, they had met by pure chance. A food critic and a baker. It was fucking serendipity.
Even so, they’d slept together, and he couldn’t address the unfortunate cake mix-up without putting his reputation on the line. Landon never got involved with a subject of his review. He’d worked too hard and sacrificed too much to risk compromising his professional reputation. The opinion of a critic who could be bought—with money or sex—held no value. If he reviewed Comfort Zone again, his readers would know he’d broken his no-second-review rule, and that would draw unwanted attention to him and Aubrey, which would beg the question of why her and why now.
“I put you on the spot to write that review, so I didn’t bother you with it, especially since these kinds of complaints usually die down after a while. But in this case, every sugar-loving citizen in Weldon must’ve emailed me. This is not going away quietly.” Pulling up the nearest chair, Craig dropped a stack of files to the floor and sat down in its place. “I know you don’treview the same restaurant twice even if the magazine’s policy allows it.”
“You’re right.” Landon sighed, dragging his fingers through his hair. “I never review the same place twice.”
“But Ms. Choi’s story is pretty compelling. With a six-year-old girl and a teenage part-timer to corroborate it?California Coast Monthlycould become the Grinch who stole Weldon’s favorite baker.”
“This isn’t the first time we’ve had restaurateurs beg for a retraction or a second chance. The magazine will have no reputation to save if it backpedals on every negative review.”
“If you’re willing to take another trip to Weldon for a second review, I’ll write an editor’s note, explaining that it’s a onetime exception to the rule.”
“That’s only going to create a slippery slope. We’ll be bombarded with complaints regarding the exception.You did it that time, why not us?”
“You were reluctant to write the review in the first place. Why are you being so stubborn now?”
“I have my reasons.” The last thing he needed was to embroilCal Coastin a scandal because of his personal life.
“Be reasonable, Landon. I looked into her story, and it checks out.”
“I can’t.” He hated not being able to retract his review. Aubrey was an amazing woman, and she deserved better. He could only hope his review would fade from everyone’s mind soon so she could go on with her life.
“This isn’t a request, Kim.” Iron laced Craig’s voice. He rarely pulled rank on him.
“My answer is still no. It won’t do the magazine any good.” Landon arched his eyebrow and allowed a cocky grin to touch his lips. “Do you need my resignation?”
“Asshole,” Craig said, dropping his boss voice. “You know you’re too damn good to lose.”
“Just trust me on this.”
“At least tell me why.”
“No.” Landon wasn’t dragging his friend into his moral dilemma. His headbutting emotions were already more than he could handle.
3
Aubrey was losing hope along with her customers. At two o’clock, people should’ve been scrambling into Comfort Zone for their sugar fix. But with the drizzling rain outside, even the locals took their goodies to go, and only the strains of her favorite eighties’ music filled the empty bakery.
She plopped into a cozy stuffed chair, exhausted from taking inventory of Comfort Zone’s new location before opening the shop in the morning. Ed’s Diner, a Weldon institution, served its last short stack six months ago. Aubrey was devastated when Ed decided to retire and hang up his apron, but he’d encouraged her to expand Comfort Zone and relocate to the diner. She was scared at first, but her excitement had grown until there had been no room for fear.
The diner was clean and well maintained, and she could use most of the appliances included in the lease—like the stainless-steel countertop and sink, the stove top, the double-door fridge and freezers, and the dishwashers. But she still had to add a couple triple-stacked convection ovens, two stainless-steel worktables with casters, a dozen full-sheet bakery racks, and a loadof commercial-size cooking tools to supplement her existing ones.
The money she’d set aside for the new kitchen was enough to cover the appliances and part of the contractor and labor fees, but she had counted on the profit from the current store to help pay for the remaining expenses, as well as fund some light interior renovations for the storefront.
With diminishing out-of-town customers and a nearly complete stall of her online sales, she might not have the funds to finish the renovations in the ninety-day tenant improvements period. Once she hit the ninety-day mark, she had to start paying rent, according to the contract, even if the shop wasn’t open. Except there was no money. She was going to lose her security deposit, and Comfort Zone would be finished.
Spread thin and torn around the edges, Aubrey couldn’t stop herself from pulling out the tattered pages ofCalifornia Coast Monthlyfrom her apron pocket.It’s like pressing and prodding a burned spot on the roof of your mouth with your tongue.Worrying the spot made it hurt more, but she just couldn’t leave it alone.
The Pitfalls of Brilliance By Landon Kim
