“Hello?” I rushed out.
“Hey there, it’s Hannah.” Her upbeat voice came across the line.
“Oh, hey.” A big burst of air came out of me like a cough-laugh-bark combination. “I meant hi. Sorry.” Who laughed, coughed, and barked at the same time anyway? That thought really did make me laugh. My God, maybe I was losing my mind.
“You okay there? Did I catch you at a bad time?” my sweet friend and Abstract Catering sous chef extraordinaire asked from the other end of the line. Her gentle voice had a soothing effect, even over the phone.
“No, of course not.” With my free hand, I rubbed at the knot of tension that had gathered in my forehead. “I’m just laughing at my own ridiculousness. How are you, beautiful girl?”
“You’re too kind, Rio. And other than missing you, I’m doing good. Are you well? You’ve been away so long, and the last time we saw you at the kitchen…ummm…”
“Not my finest hour. I know.”
“No, no. That’s not what I was going to say.” She gave up a delicate snort. “I was actually going to issue my two cents about how Abbigail wouldn’t let up on you that day. But I guess we don’t need to go down that road again, do we?”
My smile was so sincere, actual tears crested over my bottom lashes and spilled down my cheeks. “I hope I can meet your parents one day soon. I really want to congratulate them on the fucking exceptional human being they made in you, Hannah.”
“Oh my God. That is the sweetest thing to say! Thank you!” She laughed a little more before saying, “I would love that. To introduce you to my parents, I mean. I would love to watch their faces, especially my mom’s, while someone paid her a compliment like that.”
“Oh yeah?” I returned, letting her hear my affectionate undertone. “That’s so cool. My mother would likely accuse me of paying the person.”
“Oh, grrr! So mean!” Hannah chuckled out but sobered very fast. She definitely picked up that I wasn’t laughing with her. At all.
“Yeah, well, my mom wasn’t the Carol Brady type, you know? But that’s enough of that bullshit too. Tell me what you’ve been up to. Tell me something freaking amazing, Hannah. Right now! I insist!”
Nervous laughter came over the phone. Maybe my mood swaps were freaking her out.
Dial it down, girl.
“Oh! I’m getting ready to take the exam for my ballooning license!”
Well, that sure had me sitting up straighter. “Your license for…what?”
“Ballooning.” There was a cute smirk in her tone. It had me grinning too, despite my confused scowl.
“Okay, hold up. You need a license to make animals with latex balloons, but literally any person with a functioning dick can forget to put on a rubber and father a child? I don’t know what more to say, Hannah.”
After indulging more laughter than my line probably deserved, she chilled herself out with a long, breezy sigh. “So, when are you coming back to Abstract?”
Once more, I fell back against the cushions. Wasn’t that the million-dollar question?
“You know, Hannah, I’ve had so much going on since that day, I haven’t given it a lot of thought,” I confessed. “But your phone call may be exactly what I needed at the exact right time.” I opened my laptop while we talked because I was embarrassed to admit I wasn’t even sure of the date.
“Oh yeah? How so? This sounds exciting!”
I joined her in another light laugh. Lord, this sweet girl. Hannah Farsey was truly sunshine personified, with a wholesomeness about her that was hard to come by in this decade. It was especially inherent in her voice, which had an alto and earthy tone to it, always making me think of bamboo wind chimes.
“It just may be,” I offered with more enthusiasm than I’d felt in a while. “I’ve been a little rudderless, you know? But I think coming back to work is exactly what I need. To get back into a routine.” I nodded while I spoke—agreeing with myself, basically, but that was okay. Someone needed to.
“Yay! I’m so happy to hear that. It really isn’t the same without you there. Abbi has been away too—you know, since the baby arrived.”
“Sure. Right.” I couldn’t manage more than one-word mutterings around the subject of Abbi right now. Somehow, at some point, she and I had to see our way back to some semblance of civilized conversation with each other. But not now. Not when scars were still raw for both of us.
But knowing she was still staying away, consumed with her man and her child as she needed to be, made it easier for me to think about physically returning to the kitchen. There was a lot of my heart and soul in Abstract, and I missed the creative challenge of reaching for new culinary horizons.
“How have things been going with the temp we hired?” I queried then. “Has she been doing a decent job? From everything I’ve been reading on her reports, it seems like you guys are handling everything just fine.”
Oh yes, the more I thought about this, the better I felt. This was exactly what I needed to do. Refocus my energy on something positive. What better place than the business I cared for in so many ways?
“Definitely,” Hannah assured. “But we’re only following a great blueprint. You and Abbi have everything down to a science. It’s just a matter of us executing the daily tasks, reordering supplies, and then handling any problems with the clients as they come up.”
“Have there been issues? I haven’t seen anything on that front that I can think of, but I figured I was being insulated from it.” With a hearty chuckle, I added, “Then again, I think Abbigail tries to keep me away from clients as much as possible.”
“Rio,” Hannah chided, though the soothing quality of her voice didn’t waver. “Why would you say that? No, never mind. If you wanted to tell me, you would’ve. But no, there really haven’t been any issues with the clients. I mean, that Viktor Blake is one creepy dude, but he’s always more interested in what Abbi has personally going on than our food service.” She let the comment hang in the quiet air between us for a few moments but then wrapped the topic with her typical diplomacy. “But that’s nothing new, from what I understand.”
“Yeah, that’s a long story. One you’re better off not knowing. Just trust me on that. In fact, you should probably stay far away from that guy.”
“Yeah, I hear that. Well, I’ll let you go. I’m glad we had a chance to catch up a bit, and I’m really glad you’re considering coming back.”
“Hey, Hannah?” I asked quietly before we hung up.
“Yeah?”
“Thank you for calling. You have no idea how much I needed to hear a friendly voice tonight.”
“Of course! I’m glad I did too. And you know, my phone rings too. So anytime you need a friend, you know where to find me.”
“All right.” I just smiled for a few moments, consciously holding on to the warm feeling I had. “Talk to you soon. Bye.”
After we hung up, I remained where I was. I sat and simply passed my phone back and forth between my palms. I never let go of my blissful—and thankful—little smile.
Hands down, Hannah was one of the best additions Abbi and I ever made to our business. If she ever decided to move on, we would be devastated. But it was a possibility for which we had to be prepared. She was a shining star in our industry, and we couldn’t hold her back. I’d likely be the first to push her on toward new frontiers. I’d miss her, for sure, but not just in the kitchen. Most importantly, I would desperately miss Hannah’s friendship.