Should We Love Again?

Chapter 1

A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

Frank's POV

Because of the pandemic, my parents' business was teetering precariously. We needed to do something if we needed to keep the business on steady feet.

Then my father thought of something. We did not have to fold up the hotel business but we could diversify.

That same day that my parents and I huddled over our business situation, my father called up my grandfather. He did not exactly explain to me what transpired in their conversation but he instructed me to tell the truck driver to go over to the next city where my grandfather's warehouse was located.

Soon I found out that we were buying fresh, frozen, canned food items of all kinds from my grandfather's warehouse at original prices so that we could resell them with profit. Since my grandfather was a supplier to different business institutions in his city and further beyond, we were not going to encroach on his territories. We were going to supply various establishments farther away.

And that was how my previously peaceful and uncomplicated existence got thrown into total emotional chaos.

I was scheduled to sit down with several finance managers to sign contracts with them to be their exclusive supplier for their food delivery needs and one of the establishments I needed to go to was the St. Alphonsus Monastery (A/N: this is a fictitious name of a monastery, author does not know if a real one exists).

As I was driving through the busy motorway, I started wondering whether the almost two hour drive to the monastery was worth the gas expense. Going back home would make the trip a four hour trip. Was a chunk of the profit that we hoped to make get spent on gas consumption?

I decided to throw the worry out my car window. There was no going back now. My father had made the decision so I had to back him up through thick and thin.

I saw the monastery sign from afar. I drove up close to the gate where there was a metal stand and pressed on the electronic buzzer.

"Name and destination, please" I heard a voice from the speaker.

I gave my name and the reason for my visit.

After a few seconds, the tall wrought iron gate started to slide open and I drove into the spacious parking lot.

After parking close to the lobby entrance, I got out of my car and walked into the lobby where a young man in a postulant's habit sat behind the desk. (A/N: for those who might not be aware of it, a postulant is the very first step to the priesthood, after which if the postulant passes the rigorous training, he goes into the second step of being a deacon. Several years after training in the diaconate phase, he goes through a regency period before declaring to the congregation that he will accept the rites of holy ordination into the priesthood for the rest of his life.)

Before I could approach the desk, the postulant pointed to a sign in the lobby. The sign said "Every visitor is required to wear a mask."

"Sorry," I muttered before digging into my pocket and taking out my light yellow surgical mask. I then walked up to the desk and gave the postulant my name.

The postulant went through some names on his clipboard and then said, "Go down this hallway. His office is the first door on the right at the end of the hallway."

I thanked him and made my way to the finance manager's office as the postulant instructed.

I knocked briefly on the door and when I heard someone call "Come in", I pushed the door wide open.

The friar in a chocolate brown habit stood up from his desk when he saw me at the door.

I held on to the door knob to steady myself.

Never in a million years did it ever occur to me that I would meet him again.