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Kia spotted Mark and Nina in the courthouse hallway as soon as she and Sullivan arrived.

“Let’s huddle in a conference room for pregame,” Nina said as they crossed the glistening floor to the escalators.

“I thought we were going up against each other,” Kia said to Sullivan.

“Not since you two decided to throw yourselves on your proverbial swords.” Nina rolled her eyes. “God, you’re perfect for each other.”

In an elegant, windowless conference room near the courtroom, Nina took the lead.

“How are we feeling?” Nina went on without waiting for an answer. “Let’s get the nerves under control.” Nina took in a deep breath and beckoned them close with a hand wave. “Come on, just a few deep breaths.”

It was a helpful exercise since Kia had forgotten how to breathe.

“The time is going to fly by,” Nina went on.

“I need your full focus. We’ve been over this before.

Mulroney is going to try to trip you up.

Take you off your game. Don’t take the bait.

We want you to tell your love story, but we don’t want you getting all emotional.

Emotional means there’s lots of words spilling out.

Emotional means mistakes. We don’t want that.

” Kia and Sullivan nodded their understanding.

“Just answer the question asked and no more,” Nina said.

“We got it,” Kia and Sullivan said in unison.

“This is Mega Eats’ shit show, so Mulroney will present his case in chief, and then we’ll present ours. Mark and I agree when it’s our turn, Kia will testify first and then Sullivan.” Nina looked at her watch. “We’d better head in.”

The bailiff unlocked the courtroom and they took their seats at counsels’ tables.

“All rise. The Honorable Judge Edward Harper presiding,” the bailiff boomed.

“Please be seated.” The judge shuffled some papers on the bench and adjusted his glasses. “Are there any prehearing motions this morning?”

The attorneys all said no.

“Is everyone ready to proceed?”

Nods all around.

“Thank you, Judge.” Mulroney stepped forward, looking determined.

As Mulroney presented his case, Nina and Mark, ever vigilant, raised appropriate objections, strategically disrupting Mulroney’s flow.

Finally, Mulroney rested his case. He had a satisfied look on his face as he fake smiled in Nina’s direction.

“Respondents, call your first witness,” the judge said.

“The defense calls Kiana Jackson to the stand,” Mark announced.

Kia had taken to heart the lectures about courtroom decorum: nothing distracting.

She wore professional attire: a fitted blazer in a rich shade of emerald green paired with a flowered pencil skirt.

Beneath the blazer, a crisp white blouse provided a clean and classic contrast. She’d even bought a pair of sleek, black stiletto heels that added a touch of elegance and height to her usual glittery appearance.

Simple yet elegant gold jewelry adorned her ears and wrists, adding a subtle sparkle without being too flashy.

And, of course, she wore her wedding ring.

Mark started with a basic question.

“How long have you known Alice Sullivan?”

Kia took a breath before answering.

“Since I was twenty.”

“How long ago was that?”

“Almost ten years.”

In the conference room, Kia had felt so nervous the room had gone fuzzy.

Now that she was on the stand, looking out at the courtroom, she felt completely calm.

She was here to tell the judge how she felt, how she’d always felt.

Despite Nina’s warnings, her emotions bubbled to the surface, her words laced with protectiveness for her culinary arts school rival and ride-or-die.

“How long have you been in love with Ms. Sullivan?”

“I fell in love the day she walked into the practice kitchen at school.”

She looked at Sullivan. Sullivan crossed her hands over her chest, as if sending Kia a hug. That part could have been for show, but the look in her eyes had to be sincere. Kia saw the same joy and desire she felt. I love you.

“Where did you meet?”

“We met at the Jean Paul Molineux School of Culinary Arts in New York City.”

“What were your first impressions of Ms. Sullivan?”

“The first day when she walked into class, I wanted to be her friend.” Kia spoke slowly.

“She walked in serving all this nineteen twenties lesbian swagger, then all the guys fell for her because she was so effing cool. Every time she’d go out with one of them, I’d be jealous, and I’d go back to the practice kitchen and try to make a better beef Wellington than Sullivan.

Whatever she was good at, I tried to be better.

People at school didn’t get that that didn’t mean I didn’t like her.

It meant I adored her. She inspired me to be my best, just like she helped me see how important it is to preserve this land.

I think love means trying to be your best for the person you adore.

Love inspires us to be our best. At first love makes you look at each other. Then it makes you look out together.”

“Objection: these musings are irrelevant,” Mulroney said.

“Sustained. Please stick to the question, Ms. Jackson.”

“Your Honor, Ms. Jackson’s comments are relevant. They speak to the heart of Mega Eats’ accusation that she isn’t in love with Ms. Sullivan,” Mark Bretton said.

“Objection is sustained,” the judge said with an unnecessary rap of his gavel.

Harper was definitely in Mega Eats’ pocket.

Somehow that didn’t frighten Kia anymore.

If Sullivan heard what Kia said next and celebrated it, that was all that mattered.

In fact, the love Kia felt was so deep, so much a part of her, there was a way in which it didn’t matter whether Sullivan shared her feelings.

Of course, later, if Sullivan didn’t share them, she’d be devastated, but for now, there was nothing truer than what she was about to say.

Unfiltered, unvarnished fact. And she felt the wild, glittering exuberance of asserting her truth. I am me. I am real.

“During the time you and Ms. Sullivan were out of touch, how did you feel about her?”

“I thought about Sullivan all the time. I had this dream that we’d meet again.

She’d see me and she’d say, I always loved you, Kia .

I didn’t date people because it’d fu—mess with the fantasy.

If I was with someone, I wouldn’t be available if I met Sullivan on a busy street in New York…

or at a meeting at a grange hall in Oregon. ”

Mulroney stood up. “This is all very romantic, Your Honor, but—”

“Yes, it is very romantic,” Kia cut in. “And Sullivan is even better than I realized. Back then I thought she was cool. Now I know she’s so much more than a hot, rizz chef with amazing knife skills.

She’s everything. And if you’re going to sue me, don’t pile on with you’re not in love with her .

I will not be unrequitedly in love for my whole life and then get sued for not being in love.

Do you know how many girls I could have hooked up with if I wasn’t dreaming about Sullivan all this time? ”

“Objection!”

“Sustained.”

“State the basis of your objection, Mulroney,” Mark Bretton snapped.

“Indecent—”

“That’s not an objection.”

“I will hold you in contempt, Mr. Bretton, if you continue like this,” Judge Harper said.

Bretton sent Kia a better tone it down look. She’d already said her part, and her words had landed the way she needed them to. Sullivan was beaming, still clasping her hands over her chest. Nina must be rolling her eyes on the inside.

Sullivan took the stand next.

“Ms. Sullivan, please tell the court about the inappropriate communications Mega Eats initiated with you without the knowledge or consent of your attorney,” Nina began.

She shot Mulroney a look that could have frozen the CO 2 right out of the atmosphere and then set it on fire.

“Mega Eats sent someone to my restaurant. He contacted me outside of the official settlement negotiations.”

“And what did this representative from Mega Eats say?” Nina asked.

“He suggested that I say my marriage to Kia Jackson was fake, that Kia was using me, and I was duped. He said they would release me from all blame if I did this. And if I didn’t, I’d end up here, at risk of losing everything.”

“For the record, Your Honor, I’ve filed a bar complaint against Mr. Mulroney for permitting this likely violation of the professional rules of conduct,” Nina said. “I find it very unlikely Mr. Mulroney was unaware of this contact. So, Your Honor, you can see what we’ve been dealing with.”

Harper glanced at Mulroney with a disapproving glare.

“Now, Ms. Sullivan, during your courtship with Ms. Jackson, did she make any false representations about herself?” Nina asked.

“No.”

“How about any other material fact to induce you to marry her?”

“None.”

“So you weren’t scammed?”

“Objection. Leading,” Mulroney said.

“I’ll rephrase, Your Honor. Tell us about your awareness of the circumstances surrounding Ms. Jackson’s marriage proposal.”

“She wanted to marry me.”

Sullivan was sticking to Nina’s no-extra-information rule.

“Were you always in love?”

“Interesting question. Complicated answer. Back in school I wasn’t interested in love, so I didn’t see it sneaking up on me.

I liked going out. I liked flirting with the guys in our program.

But you know what I loved more? Cooking with Kia.

The more time I spent with Kia, the more I’d rather stay up all night cooking with her than go out to a bar with someone else.

I had fun with Kia. Kia inspired me to be my best. She had my back when I forgot an ingredient or was about to miss a step in a demonstration.