"I don't know. Political ambition? Building a power base? Something calculated." Kira took the registration forms. "But you actually just care about the vendors. That's... refreshing."
"Is it?" Marron felt oddly self-conscious. "It seems like the baseline for being a decent person."
"You'd be surprised how rare 'baseline decent' is in this city." Kira stood, tucking the forms into her bag. "I'll have these filed by tomorrow. Put me down for five vendor partnerships. And Marron? Thank you for organizing this. Even if it doesn't work, thank you for trying."
After Kira left, Marron sat in the cafe for a few more minutes, processing the conversation.
Building a power base. The phrase stuck with her. Was that what she was doing? She didn't think so—this felt like crisis response, not ambition. But she was definitely becoming more visible. More connected. More... significant.
The System chimed softly.
[Recruitment Progress: 6/10 chefs committed]
