Slice of fortune

t bite w

interrogating the flavor. She wasn't accustomed to surprises, especially edible ones. Her world was built on control: multi-billion-dollar acquisitions, for

r of the business dinner at Cipriani. Ariana had planned to walk off a stressful call, clear her head. She hadn't planned for garlic-

and a chalkboard menu decorated with stars and doodles advertising the daily "Mood Slice." Toda

she s

enim apron streaked in red sauce, and her hair twisted into a defiant bun pinned with a spoon. She was focused, t

ered. A mom

eations?" she asked, a

lit her whole face. "I serve only what I'd f

he wasn't sure wh

eside her and slid it across

nd everything paused. Her boardroom palate didn't know what to do with the burst of salty

xpected," s

iping her hands. "We surprise people. W

r, intrigued.

ter. "I figured. You wear your la

grin deepened into something softer. There was no pretense b

ts to review, board reports to annotate, but her focus had wandered. The walls around her gleamed

e review described the shop as "Brooklyn's boldest dough den" and Riley as "a culinary

ive. She built em

king about flour-dusted sneak

ed, her playlist reduced to a hum. She scrubbed marinara

e door

ned-and

n Ri

The half-smirk that once meant

ugh?" he asked, walkin

you couldn't hold," she

ord is, you've been host

rking somew

u play with fire, things burn.

't need to. She simply stared

, Ri," he offere

the door

ays p

a ret

t her, and a subtle smil

as she tied her apro

rm they weren't a

ck for anchovie

eplied, sliding into th

dough across the table. "You'

t," Ari

ering beneath her composure. The oven buzzed. The street noise echoed through the open

" Ariana as

ingredients, give it heat, and it becomes s

ice dropped. "You make me forget

readable. But their eyes

riana took he

e she was

d time to understand

es. Two

t neither one h

across sidewalks lined with possibility. Behind her, Riley wiped down the counter, unaware of the quiet storm she'd stirred. In the months ahead, neither woman would forget this night. Not because of the anchovies, or the unexpected