"Yo, family's up."

Alessia's eyes caught Sydney's and she offered the woman a small smile. For a few seconds the action was returned.

The group filed into the room, "Oh my gosh, I smell...this looks so good!"

"Damn Sydney!"

"Okay," Richie pulled out a chair, excitedly, "What do we got going on over here?"

"Yeah, we got a stew," Sydney began to explain, which immediately drew Alessia's eyes to her, "Rice, plantains, and a little fennel salad."

"Alright I'm interested." Richie nodded.

Alessia pulled out her own chair, "Looks good," she smiled.

Chatter fluttered through the room, the tension of the kitchen slowing to a pause. Alessia tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, as it had escaped the loose ponytail.

"I don't eat pork."

Sydney shook her head, "It's not pork, it's beef."

"Well, it look like Pork."

"Alright, I'll start," Richie clapped his hands together, "I'm grateful for Phillip K. Dick. Fak, you're up."

"Me?" He exclaimed, not prepared to have been put on the spot, "I'm—uh that— I'm thankful for my cats, Ralph."

Tina arched an eyebrow, "They both named Ralph?"

Alessia shook her head with an amused smile, "Of course you would give both of your cats the same name."

"Yeah, well, it's just like easier like that," Fak defended, "Ralph and Ralph."

Laughter bubbled up in the room, and Alessia nudged Sydney's shoulder, "It's really good, Chef."

"I uh—um thank you," Sydney replied, a weirdly bashful smile tugging at her lips.

"Alright Tina, you're up." Richie stated.

"I'm grateful for all y'all motherfuckers." She replied, half-hazardously.

"Look at you, you fucking softy."

Alessia rose her hand, "I got one."

Richie laughed at the ridiculous action, "Go for it Cousin."

"I'm grateful that Carmy labeled the fucking spices." Alessia stated, lowering her hand back down by her side.

A small laugh escaped Sydney's lips, and Alessia smiled. Richie rolled his eyes at the Berzatto woman's answer.

"I guess I'm grateful that...Richie didn't come in here wearing that cologne today that he always be wearing. You know, it smell like a pine tree and shit."

Laughter filled the room and Ebraheim added on, "It smell like an onion underarm."

"Chef, you want a plate?" Sydney asked Carmen, and Alessia looked over her shoulder, now noticing the way that he had yet to even sit down.

The man shook his head, "All good, thank you Chef."

"Carm," Alessia spoke up, "You should really eat something..."

"I'm fine, Mae." He dismissed, his eyes pulling away from her and back to the window. The crowd was growing rowdy outside.

Alessia opened her mouth to say something else but her brother had already moved on to the next topic.

"Yo, cousin, cousin," Carmen pipped up, "it's getting crazy out there, can you give me a hand?"

"Nah bro," Richie dismissed, "This is on you. Yo, Tina how about these platanos though, right?"

"Yo, really?" Carmen's hand dropped back down to his side.

"Yeah, really. This isn't my house, remember?"

"I didn't say I didn't like them," Tina claimed, her eyes trained on the dish.

"She was just saying that she was gonna share them," Richie added.

"You didn't eat them," Sydney pointed out.

Alessia raised her eyebrows, "You should try em, Tina."

Tina only scoffed in reply, not wanting to step an inch outside of her comfort zone.

For the next several hours there was constant chaos, order after order coming through from the videogame people.

Alessia was sure that the day was never going to end, and yet here she was working with everyone to clean the kitchen.

Sydney peered over her shoulder, and then turned to Carmen, "Chef, do you want me to strain that oil for you?"

"No, no, I got it, thank you Chef."

Alessia rounded the corner a mop in hand. She swore that floor was never mopped back when Mikey was in charge, judging by the amount of gunk on the floor.

"Why am I using a toothbrush, Chef?" Marcus wondered.

"It's about consistency and being consistent." Carmen replied, "We can't operate at a higher level without consistency."

"I like this level." Richie announced and Tina nodded, "Me too."

"Yeah, well at the French Laundry, you know how much time we spent—"

"Well, go fuck your French Laundry." Richie interrupted, "stupid fucking name."

"Alright, then at Noma—"

"Oh and fuck your Noma too!" Richie rolled his eyes.

"System Baby!" Tina added.

"Noma's the shit huh?" Marcus inquired.

"The best," Sydney replied, just as Carmen was. Meanwhile Alessia nodded in agreement, a small knot beginning to form in her stomach.

The woman couldn't help but wonder what the hell she was doing here. How was her career supposed to grow at this place?

Alessia was slowly realizing she made the wrong decision, following Carmen.

"Teach you how to operate at a level you didn't even know you could operate at, Marcus." Carmen continued, "And just so we're clear, I wanted to work here. Mike wouldn't let me."

"No, no, no," Richie shook his head, "You went halfway around the world to learn all this fancy and useless fucking bullshit. I went to West Laurence Avenue and learned every lesson."

"West Laurence? You talking about DeVry?" Marcus asked.

"Exactly!"

"Oh DeVry. We're serious about success." Marcus mocked.

"Oh is that?" Richie approached the man, "Is that supposed to be fucking funny?"

Alessia rolled her eyes as Richie wrapped us arms around Marcus.

"No seriously, where else are you supposed to learn crucial database management specialization  skills? While..."

"I would never need to learn that," Sydney looked at him confused.

"Definitely not Noma!"  Richie finished proudly.

"I would legit do anything to go to Noma." Sydney shook her head.

Alessia sighed, dropping the mop back into the bucket, "Me freaking too."

"And eat bugs??" Richie asked, and Sydney shook her head at his idiocy.

"And be inspired, stupid."

Richie rolled his eyes, "Oh god, and be lame."

"Guys," Ebraheim busted through the door, "The loop ice cream machine is broken."

Alessia sighed, "Is there anything intact in this place?"

"DeVry teach you to fix that?" Carmen asked.

"You know what," Richie slung his towel over his shoulder, "Actually, yes."

"You graduated?"

"Fuck no." Richie dismissed.

Sydney faced the kitchen, "Does anyone ever order ice cream?"

"I forgot we had ice cream."

A car pulled up in front of the restaurant, and Alessia walked around the side of it, opening the passenger side door.

"Hi, Nat, um thank you for doing this." Alessia spoke softly, exhaustion pouring into her tone. She closed her door with a soft thud and her sister offered her a smile.

"You look exhausted, honey," Natalie noted, putting the car into drive.

Alessia scoffed, "Thanks, Nat."

A quiet sigh fell from Natalie's lips, as her eyes remained trained on the road, "Are you sure you want to do this tonight?"

Alessia nodded, "Yeah, I've been putting it off long enough already."

The truth was she was scared. Alessia knew that she had hurt Julia, the end of their relationship had been entirely her fault.

She wasn't quite ready to face the woman, despite the fact that it had been months since everything happened.

The blonde's eyes remained locked on the blur of buildings that they were passing by. An ever growing sense of dread filled her.

Natalie cleared her throat, "Is it a right or a left up here?"

"Right," Alessia responded, half-hazardously.

Natalie pulled the car to a stop in front of the far nicer apartment building, and then turned to look at her little sister.

"Ready for this?"

Alessia swallowed, unbuckling her seatbelt, "I don't think I ever will be...let's just get this over with."