Chapter 11: An Encounter in the Kitchens
Late on a Thursday evening, the hotel's main kitchen was quiet. The dinner service had concluded, and the night sanitation crew was finishing their final wash down of the stainless steel counters.
Sienna walked through the quiet kitchen, holding a clipboard with the final sign-off sheets for the new ventilation system installation. As she approached the dishwashing station, she stopped.
Victoria was there alone, wearing a plastic apron over her simple uniform, carefully scrubbing a large copper soup pot that had been left behind by the evening prep team. Her hair was damp with steam, and her face was flushed from the heat of the water.
She didn't notice Sienna standing near the doorway. She simply kept working, scrubbing the stubborn burnt edges of the copper pot with steady, methodical patience.
Sienna watched her for a long moment. There was no theatrical drama, no complaints, and no audience for Victoria to impress. She was simply doing the work.
Sienna walked over, taking a clean drying towel from the shelf beside the sink. Without saying a word, she reached out and took the clean side of the copper pot as Victoria lifted it from the rinse basin, helping her set it on the drying rack.
Victoria froze, looking up in surprise. "Sienna..."
"It's easier if you soak the copper in lemon salt first," Sienna said gently, pointing to a small container on the prep shelf. "Removes the burnt oil in half the time."
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Victoria looked at the container, then down at her wet hands. She let out a long, quiet breath that sounded like a weight leaving her chest.
"I'm sorry, Sienna," Victoria said softly, her voice completely genuine. "Not because of the board meeting, or the court hearing, or the publicity. I'm sorry for what I did to you on that floor. I was cruel, and I was wrong."
