When Lucas and Mari finished buying their items in the grocery store, the two return to Lucas's car and then left the place after placing all the items inside the car. Since Mari's place is just near the area that it was just a very short ride. Lucas parked his car first so that he could help Mari take her grocery bags to her apartment which is on the fourth floor of the apartment building.
"Thank you for helping me" Mari thank Lucas when they reach the door of her apartment.
"It is my pleasure to help you and sorry for teasing you a while ago"
"teasing me? oh! Do you mean about going out?"
"yes, it's just that…" Lucas just doesn't know how he would explain to Mari. Yes, he is attracted to Mari but he is not sure yet about how he truly feels for Mari. He doesn't want to take his feelings lightly and later on hurt Mari. He wanted to make sure first that he likes her so much that he would love her and not hurt her.
"don't worry about it *giggle* I am the one who should be saying sorry. I'm sorry for reacting that way but I just want you to know that I don't take relationships that lightly and to answer your question of whether or not I have a boyfriend. I don't have one and I don't plan on having one anytime soon. Maybe once I've met the man who will make me happy and who will love me a lot then I will let him have my heart but for now, I am still adjusting my life here so I am more focused on work than looking for a boyfriend. I hope Lucas understands it and will not tell anybody about it, please?"
"I understand, don't worry I won't tell anyone about it."
"Thank you, I'll see you again tomorrow Lucas"
"yes, see you tomorrow then" Lucas went on his way to leave Mari when he notices another woman behind him. He got shocked when he saw her but ignore it and made his way towards the elevator. Mari on the other hand was opening her apartment door when she saw her roommate and friend Jessa who just got back from work.
"Hey, welcome home," said Mari to her friend. The two greeted each other first before they decided to go inside their home. Mari looked at the elevator wherein Lucas was still standing there. She told her friend that she will be back and not lock the door, she left and just went to where Lucas is. She accompanied Lucas until the elevator arrived, they talk about a few more things while waiting. Unknown to them, Jessa was looking at them suspiciously.
When Mari got back home, Jessa was standing at the entrance of their apartment which shock Mari. Seeing her friend looking like a mad mother who caught her daughter sneaking out at night made her wonder what is happening.
"What is going on?" asked Mari as she looks at her friend.
"care to tell me who is that man? Is he your boyfriend? And since when did the two of you started going out?" Jessa began her interrogation towards her friend.
"What? No! He is my colleague. Rather he is the sous-chef of the restaurant that I am working at." Mari got the feeling that Jessa would press more on this matter if she won't answer her straight.
"Really? He looks at you like he is your boyfriend you know and why is he here anyway?"
"He helped me buy the grocery items and gave me a ride home as well. Anyway, why are we having this conversation here at the entrance? You seem like a mom who caught her daughter doing something illegal or something like that"
"well, my dear friend, I am not your mom but! I am just curious you know. That man was so handsome and the two of you look like a couple a while ago. I even thought that 'finally my friend got herself a boyfriend!' But to my disappointment, he isn't."
"Yes that is right, he is not so sorry to disappoint you" Mari had enough and went inside their house.
'Why not go out with him then? You two look good together and it seems like he cares about you too." Jessa continued with her curiosity.
"You know that I will not date anybody just because we look good together. I want my future boyfriend to love me and not cheat on me you know" Mari just answers her friend while she arranges the grocery items that she just bought. Jessa helps her as well while continuing to ask her questions to satisfy her curiosity.
"Well, it's not like you've dated before that you are afraid of being cheated by your future boyfriend. Girl! Remember you got zero boyfriends since what? Since forever? NBSB, remember? You got to experience life! Give those man who likes you a chance to express their love to you. If and only if one of them cheated on you then I can understand why you are so afraid of dating." Jessa is aware that Mari is one of those women who are so beautiful but got no boyfriend since birth. She is not that choosy but she is afraid of experiencing a man cheating on her with another girl. She had a few times of mutual understanding with some of her guy friends but it did not reach the point of them being an official couple. Mari then became labeled as an 'untouched Maiden' during her high school years. She didn't really like that title but she can't do anything about it.
"I know, I understand where you are coming from so just this time let me be alone until we got used to living here in Country A. We just arrive here like two weeks ago so adjustment is what I need and not a boyfriend yet"
"Alright, alright! But once we've adjusted you won't reject my invitation on going to some bars and such ok?" Jessa might be a little pushy but she only wanted what is best for her friend.
"ok, but won't that boyfriend of yours get angry when he got to know that you are going to bars? Or to be much precise, man-hunting?"
"hey! He is not my boyfriend! Plus he can't bring to break up with his girlfriend so he has no right to stop me from flirting with other guys" Mari is aware that Jessa was having a little secret affair with her sous-chef from her last workplace in their home country. That guy was the one who flirted first with Jessa even though he got his long-time girlfriend. The two started their secret affair or relationship after a few months since Jessa started working in that place. At first, Jessa denied it but when she, later on, feels like she is falling in love with him that she asked him to break up with his girlfriend. Being told that he will break up with his long-time girlfriend made Jessa happy but it has been a few months and yet he still hasn't broken up. Jessa left the country without telling him or rather she left a small message telling him that she cannot wait anymore and gave up.
"if you say so, but did you ever meet the girlfriend?"
"yeah, he introduced her to me two days before I resigned. He called me numerous times after that, he thought that I resigned because he introduced his girlfriend to me but that is not even the real reason though" Jessa started to ready the ingredients that she will be making for their dinner. Today was her schedule to prepare dinner, just like how they scheduled the weekly grocery shopping they also made a schedule on who is going to prepare dinner each day as well as who will clean up the dishes. As for who will clean the whole apartment they've decided to just do a monthly general cleaning wherein they should both have the same day off.
"Wow, the nerve of that guy. Did he even think that his girlfriend might hurt you if she ever discovers your relationship with him? How could he do that! It's the good thing that you didn't tell him you left the country." Mari decided to help out Jessa as the two of the talks and the more she hears about the guy with whom Jessa had a secret relationship, the more she gets irritated.
"yeah, but he knew that I have a plan in going here in country A. He even asked which agency did I use to get here and I think he also plans to go here just to be with me. But as long as he and his girlfriend haven't broken up yet, he can't go here. That is how clingy his girlfriend is."
"wait, What?! You told him the name of the agency?! What if he went here, what will you do?"
"if he followed me here then that only means that he had finally broken up with his girlfriend. If he did then, I might go out with him again and we would be an official couple." Jessa smiled as she had thought of that happening in the future. She knew that the guy would follow her in country A since the two of them kept on communicating behind the back of Mari.
"Are you for real? You're getting back with him?"
"That's right, I like him, Mari. If the two of us became an official couple and stayed here in this country then I hope we could also get married in the future. That is how much I like him or rather I love him. Will you support me with this" Jessa faced Mari as she was so sincere in what she is telling her. She knew that her relationship with that guy started as a mistake but all she wanted was to be with the man she loves.
"*sigh* do I have a choice? Of course, I will support you but if he ever tried to cheat on you then leave him. He cheated on his girlfriend with you remember? It's not that I am bad-mouthing him but I just want you to ready your heart if he ever did it again. Ok?"
"Ok! Thank you, Mari! You're the best!" Jessa hugged Mari so tight as she thanked her for supporting her relationship. She can see in her friend's eye that she is only concern about her. She felt so lucky to have Mari by her side, they might have just been a friend for two years but they became best of friends.
Both Mari and Jessa are done eating their dinner as well as cleaning the dishes. Mari was the first to take a bath since Jessa told her that she still needs to do something. After her bath, Mari saw her phone blinking which indicates that someone left her a message. When she check it out, It was a message from the group chat with her co-worker in 'LOIS'
She saw one of Lucas's messages with a photo of her inside the grocery store. She didn't know that Lucas took a picture of her while she was choosing what to buy at that time. Everyone replied to that picture, asking if they were on a date or something in which Lucas answered with a no and told them the truth. Mari then tags Lucas with the message that Lucas was her stalker. Everyone reacted with a laughing emoji or a word with a lot of Haha. She likes everyone in her workplace, they are all nice people. They treat her like a little sister aside from those who like her as a woman.
A week had passed and it was the day of the big event that the restaurant will be handling. It was the wedding day of one of their loyal VIP guest, which made everyone in the kitchen all busy doing their jobs. However, since the wedding reception would take place around five or six that night that the manager suddenly allowed another reservation for fifty pax for lunch. The guest made a reservation two days before the reservation date. It was a good thing that the main dishes that they asked for were all on the daily menu. It would be a big problem if they asked for a different main dish for the whole pax since it is already too late to order different proteins for the main dish. Vegetables and fruits are a lot easier to order compare to meats and fish that needed a week to order not days. It was already eleven am and the whole kitchen was almost done preparing for the lunch reservation. The whole kitchen had been busy since six in the morning especially the cold station and dessert
While everyone was having fun conversing with one another as they eat their very late dinner. Michel, Allan, and Gino were just standing as they watch them all eat. They talk about the new restaurant that Gino had no idea where it is, they also talk about Gino's wife who is currently pregnant."How is Vanessa doing these days?" asked Michel to Gino"good, she's been craving a lot of different food nowadays and her mood swings are getting worse. She easily got angry at me when I didn't tell her about the new restaurant, which is the fault of your dear wife here who called Nessa about it" Gino pointed at Allan who called Vanessa, Gino's pregnant wife' a few weeks ago about the soft opening of the new restaurant."by the way, since the restaurant would be opening soon, what is the name of it? I never got to help with the whole process of it since I manage almost all the kitchen of 'LOIS' while you train your staff, Michel." They have a total number of four branches
Mari and Elena were called by chef Gino and chef Michel to let them know what will happen to the contest that chef Gino wanted to create. Lucas was beside Mari when the three owners were talking to the two. Elena was enthusiastic to let the chefs notice her since she knew to herself that Mari was able to get noticed even in her simple action. She wanted Mari to know that she is much more superior to her just because she started earlier than Mari, although the two of them have equal standing in terms of chef Gino's sight."Elena, you still have two weeks in the Hot or Meat station right?" asked chef Gino"Yes chef," Elena likes the Hot or Meat station, throughout her experience from her past jobs, she was always working as a line cook of the meat station. Which became her biggest advantage when she was assigned to that station. But aside from being a line cook she got very minimal to no experience to other stations
Michel finally arrives at the main branch of 'LOIS' where the competition that was arranged by Gino is being held. The arrival of Michel was the sign for both Mari and Elena to cook or plate their main entrée. They will need to serve it after 30 minutes, which is why Gino already told them that they could have the proteins pre-cooked ahead of time. Mari's chosen protein is beef while Elena's chosen protein is fish particularly salmon. "Alright, once the two of you are done plating your entrée bring it to the dining area for us to taste. The rest of you can go home or go in the dining area if you want to watch everything that will happen." Said Gino who let the two trainees know that they could start cooking their entrees and side dishes. As well as let the rest of his staff what they can do since their shift is already over. "yes, chef!" replied both Mari and Elena who are now cooking their dish. They would need to have three plated entrées for each of the judges whi
Mari and Elena are both done plating their desserts and was about to go outside the kitchen to present their desserts in front of the three owners. Mari's dessert has an ice cream that is why she didn't include it yet on her plate but instead, she would scoop it once it is her turn."Since we started with Elena a while ago, we will start with Mari this time. So Mari please present to us your dish" said Gino who is now eyeing the desserts that are in his trainees' cart or trolley. Mari nodded when she heard Gino asking her to present her dish in which she did so. Mari scoop her ice cream and place it on the side of her dessert and after that, she places some nuts on top of the ice cream. She then gave each of the owners a plate of their own to taste."There you have a two-layered Burnt Basque Cheesecake, the one on the bottom is chocolate flavor while the top one is a classic vanilla bean flavor. Then on the side is
Three days had passed and both Elena and Mari are done teaching their partners that are working opposite their appointed station. Mari's partner is Paul from the meat station. Paul is said to be the rival of Lucas in terms of their cooking skills, he is also an all-rounder like Lucas but since Lucas is now the sous-chef of the kitchen that he asked to be assigned to the meat station.Elena's partner Lily is the second best chef in the pastry station since the pastry chef was the number one in terms of experience and skills. Lily is also good friends with Elena, she also likes being with Mari since they can talk about pastry all the time as they both love making desserts. She treats Elena as her friend but her treatment with Mari is completely different since they became much closer after Mari was assigned to the pastry station. At first, she treats Mari like her little sister but when she saw how much Mari can relate to h
Everyone arrived at the house of Paul and at the same time the food that he ordered also arrived. Some of them started playing Beer pong while the others just sit in one side and chat with whatever topic they could think of. When Lucas arrive, he found them all in the living room chatting and laughing as they talk about things unrelated to their work. None of them wanted to talk about anything related to cooking nor working inside the kitchen since they do it almost every day."So Mari, Do you have a boyfriend? Or is Lucas your boyfriend?" asked Elena, her question gain the attention of almost everyone and that includes Lucas who just arrived. Lucas was getting his food when he heard the question of Elena and there he thought that is the main question that everyone wanted to know."What? How did you get to that conclusion?" Mari laughs a little when she answers Elena with a question."Well, I notice that you would always ride Lucas's car whenever you
It was already the third week of the month and there is only one week left until the competition between Mari and Elena ended. The restaurant had been very busy ever since the contest started, a lot of the guests wanted to vote for their favorite dish. Some of them repeatedly came back not just to vote but also to eat with their friends and family whom they came with. The competition attracted a lot more guests than expected and that also gave the restaurant's popularity a boost. Because of this, there was never a day without any reservations, this even includes the branches of 'LOIS' although they don't serve the dishes of Mari and Elena the staff there were aware of the effect of the competition going on the main branch. ---- Somewhere in one of the big company building in the city was the Ro Enterprise, on top of the building was the CEO's office. Inside the office were two businessmen who are also best friends to each other, talking about the businesses they had