Rachel had no intention of apologizing to, or comforting June, because her apology and consolation would only make feel more miserable. She didn’t want to upset or sadden June with half-baked consolation as her teacher.
Rachel had to tell her the truth.
“What do you want to be? You said you wanted to be the head of Rose Island, right? That’s my position. Look at me. Jun. Do you think I’m enjoying the title of the head of Rose Island or I’m struggling desperately to survive with that title?”
June was speechless the moment Rachel said that. But she could not stop being angry. Even though she was upset, she could not find the right response to what Rachel just said. Like Rachel said, she had been struggling throughout her life. Although she was at the top of Rose Island, it didn’t give her stability.
“I know how hard you’ve been living.in fast lane. You’ve been spending all your time trying to realize your dream until now. Of course I understand you might have thought all your problems would be solved the moment your dream comes true. But let me tell you this. You can’t achieve what you want.”
“Do you know what I want?” June asked in a low voice.
Rachel looked at her quietly. She didn’t want Rachel’s answer like that.
June said slowly, “When I first came to Rose Island, I had a crush on you, not Daniel. Your life was so dazzling to me because you sacrificed your soul so as not to be buried in the light shining brightly from the chef you loved. So I decided to live like you. If you could do it, I could do it, too. I thought so, I believed so, and I made up my mind to live like you. And soon I came to love Rose Island.”
All the chefs at the venue held their breath, listening to June’s monologue. They watched the tow giant chefs’ conversation, the clash of their emotions and thoughts, as well as that of their ideal and reality.
June continued, “This beautiful restaurant you created, this beautiful Rose Island… I wanted to run this restaurant, so the whole world knows it. I wanted to make it bigger, more beautiful, and make it mine while growing it.”
“That’s your excessive greed. The head of Rose Island is in a position to represent others, not to satisfy your greed.”
“Why can’t I be greedy?” she shouted hysterically. “I’m not trying to be a pilgrim to this place! I’m not trying to meditate at this place! I’ve come running to this place with the goal of getting to the top position so as to own this restaurant. How can I accept your decision that I can’t retain this top position for long?”
When she shouted, they had goosebumps. Even though she didn’t direct her despair and resentment at them, they felt her glance was too cold. Even those who were filming this competition were overwhelmed by her resistance rather than admiring it.
Rachel quietly said, “Let me tell you this again. You have to stay alert while you’re doing your job as the head of Rose Island. The taller the tree, the easier it will break. The moment you fail to stay alert, you collapse. You have too many fantasies for this position. Happiness doesn’t come from your position.”
“Do you think I live for happiness? I live for my ambition and greed. If I had been bound by things like happiness, I wouldn’t have kicked off that idiot in the first place!”
Saying so, she pointed to Dave, who seemed embarrassed by her unexpected finger-pointing.
But she didn’t even look back at him.
Rachel said in a tired voice, “Okay. Let’s talk about your ambition. In fact, you shouldn’t care about the moment of verification that comes every four years. If you can’t overcome it, you should think of giving up this position from the beginning. This position comes with your responsibility as well as your honor. It’s natural you should feel a great sense of responsibility. So you had better think you should have this vetting process every four years.”
“At the end of the day, I can’t be the owner of Rose Island, right?” Jun asked in a frustrated voice.
Rachel said, “Was I your owner? Or was I the owner of Rose Island? No. I’ve never been the owner of Rose Island. Even if you steer a car, it doesn’t make you its owner. June, all of the chefs here are the owners of Rose Island. That’s my position, and I won’t change it in the future.”
June didn’t answer. She suddenly had a headache. Even though she was upset, she couldn’t really understand what made her upset. She could not figure out how to respond to this unexpected development.
But Rachel already sized up what June thought about.
“You didn’t despair because you couldn’t be the king of Rose Island. You didn’t want to be the king or president of Rose Island, but you only pursued your ultimate dream. June, my dear love and student, I have no choice but to tell you this now. You have a distorted dream.”
At that moment June felt as if her heart stopped for a moment, for she felt her life was denied by While June could not properly respond to her, Rachel who she followed and respected during her life.
While June could not properly respond, Rachel continued, “Even if I don’t impose four-year restriction to this head position, you can’t stay with it forever. You won’t be able to satisfy your greed, and people won’t rate you highly just because of your position. You have to keep trying harder. You won’t be able to rest, just like me.”
Having said that, Rachel bit her lips.
June looked at her blankly. Why did her words sound more shocking to June than any other thing she mentioned? Was it because she believed that she could stop pursuing her ambition any more once she achieved the goal of becoming the head of Rose Island? Could she really end her life that she led fiercely as if to live each day like one week?”
‘Did I really have such vague hopes?’ June asked himself.
But she could not answer because she could not think straight.
Rachel didn’t look at June anymore.
Instead, she turned to everyone and opened her mouth.
“I think many of you are on the same page as June. Well, I understand. People want to stand on top of people, and the moment they get on top of everyone, they think all their problems will be solved just like I did before.”
Rachel took a breath. To be honest, she wasn’t quite sure what she was going to say. But she had to pretend she was confident because she had to give some guidelines to her students, young and old, who had been looking up to her.
Rachel continued, “But you will soon find out that being above somebody else would not really mean anything. Actually, you guys were cooking for a position that didn’t really mean anything. But at the same time you were also doing it for the most important thing. In other words, you participated in this competition to select our new chief. You are here to select somebody who can lead you. It is the last pride we have as chefs that the criterion of the selection is not determined by politics but by cuisine.”
If Rachel only thought about the political aspects of this post, she would choose June without any question. No chefs from Rose Island could beat her as far as political skills were concerned. But they didn’t want to have an entrepreneur rule over them. What they wanted to have as their new leader had to be a chef like them. In other words, somebody who could cook better than themselves.
“Don’t look for happiness in success. There is no happiness or unhappiness in success. Success is just success. Many people told me I lived a successful life, but I spent my life more in sadness and inferiority than joy.”
It was something only Rachel could say. Since she assumed the head of the best restaurant in America, what she said was convincing and persuasive.
“So, don’t be sad about your failure today. Don’t be sad that you can’t stand above others. What makes you unhappy isn’t your failure or position. It’s because you’re looking for unhappiness.”
Rachel raised her hand and said, “Look at him!”
She was pointing at June.
Watching her with sad looks, Rachel said calmly, “Even if she has won this competition, she looks more sad than any of you, right?”
“Realy?’
Whens he said that, someone asked in a stupid voice.
Obviously the chef didn’t immediately understand what Rachel was talking about.
But it was clear what she meant.
“The winner of the competition is June.”
Rachel mentioned the surprising results, as if she talked about the dinner menu nonchalantly.
She mentioned it casually as if it was not a big deal. Winning or not, being the head of Rose Island or not, or success or failure didn’t seem to mean a lot to her.
“June. You’re going to lead us from now on. You’ll set our direction. So, brighten your face because you are now our leader.”
They didn’t choose her to make her lead an easy life or put a badge on her shoulder to make her feel comfortable. Customers are cold-hearted. They never return to the restaurant that doesn’t serve delicious food.
June was now in charge of serving them delicious food just like any other chef.
So she had no time to complain. Whether she complained or not, customers would come on time when it’s time to eat. So she had to prepare because she was a chef.
The reason she became their chief was not because she was burning with her greed, but because she was a chef.
