Whisked Away

Chapter 2: New Faces, Old Ties

The kitchen buzzed with energy as pots clanged and orders barked out like a military drill. Sky wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead, pulling her apron tighter around her waist. The savory section of the restaurant felt like a battlefield compared to the careful, measured pace of baking. Every second counted, and though she missed the precision of pastry, there was something about the heat and chaos of the line that had started to grow on her.

"You good over there?" a deep voice called out, snapping her from her thoughts. Sky glanced to her left to find Kito watching her with a smirk that said he had been watching her struggle for a while.

"I'm fine, just getting used to this," she said, flicking her wrist as she tossed vegetables into the pan. She could feel his eyes on her, assessing, like he was peeling away layers of her calm exterior to see the real her underneath.

Kito had only been here a few weeks, yet he had already become the life of the kitchen. The tattoos that snaked down his arms and peeked from the collar of his chef's coat, combined with his unorthodox approach to cooking, had made him somewhat of an enigma. His past was something of a mystery, though there were whispers of his struggles outside the kitchen—stories of him bouncing from place to place, leaving a trail of chaos wherever he went.

But it wasn't the rumors that drew Sky's attention. It was his energy, his confidence, and the way he made cooking seem less like a job and more like an art. The contrast to Kenji was stark. Where Kenji was steady, solid, and predictable, Kito was electric and unpredictable.

"I see you're more of a pastry girl, huh?" Kito teased, leaning on the counter beside her.

Sky laughed lightly. "You could say that. But savory has its charms."

"You sure? Looked like you were ready to throw in the towel earlier."

She felt a smile creep onto her face, despite herself. "Well, thanks for the help with that prep earlier."

Kito waved a hand dismissively. "Eh, no big deal. We're all in this madness together, right?"

Sky nodded, feeling that strange pull between them growing. She quickly turned her attention back to her station, the intensity of the kitchen matching the growing tension she tried to ignore.

But the conversation with Kito lingered in her mind, even after the kitchen had quieted down. When she finished her shift, her phone buzzed with a message from Kenji:

Kenji: "Practice ran late. I'll pick you up in an hour?"

Sky: "Sounds good. I'll be at the back."

Kenji had always been reliable, never a minute late, and always the perfect boyfriend. Everyone in her life loved Kenji—her parents adored him, and her sister, Ash, practically treated him like family. There were days when it felt like she and Kenji had been together forever, like they were an old married couple that had skipped the honeymoon phase entirely.

That was the problem, wasn't it? They were too perfect. Too predictable.

When she finally stepped out into the cool night air, Kenji's familiar car was parked by the curb. He waved with a bright smile as she walked toward him. Everything about him—his clean-cut look, the easygoing charm—was so different from Kito's rough edges.

As Sky slid into the passenger seat, Kenji leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "Tough day?" he asked, his voice filled with his usual concern.

Sky smiled, grateful for his steadiness but unable to shake the thoughts that had followed her out of the kitchen. "Just a long one. How was practice?"

Kenji launched into a story about his latest volleyball game, filling the car with his usual energy and enthusiasm. Sky listened, nodding at the right moments, but her mind wandered. She couldn't help but think about Kito—how effortless it had felt talking to him, how he had seemed to understand her frustrations in a way that no one else had.

And that scared her.

She wanted to tell Kenji, but how could she? How could she explain that everything was fine, but something still felt... off?

As they drove home in comfortable silence, Sky's phone buzzed again, this time with a message from Kito:

Kito: "Still alive after the shift? You didn't look too bad for a pastry girl."

Sky's heart skipped a beat. She glanced at Kenji, then back at her phone. A simple message, but somehow it felt like more.

She didn't reply.