ILYSB (it hurts)

sneak peek

Present Day, 2021

I don't know what I did in life to deserve breakfast in bed with the hottest chef in the planet but insists on feeding me the shittiest food ever.

"Now, now bub. I call this the "Pregnancy Gourmet" that I'm planning to add to the menu but before that, I need someone to taste it." He smiles at me as he sets down a tray full of toasted mini brioche buns with weird toppings.

Of course, it's me whom he wanted to taste his food experiment. I almost hesitate to pick up something. His ideas and mine of what food should taste doesn't really coincide.

I look like a mess in the morning but I don't want something even messier in my mouth. I look down at my plate and see combinations of food I never thought would fit in anyone's palate. I look darkly at him, looking handsome with his purple fuzzy sweater, a grin on his face, looking so proud with what he just prepared for me.

"Toni, can't I have a decent pancake? Why would you feed me shit like this?"

He gasps and feigning hurt but picked up one mini brioche with some weird topping and put it against my mouth. I shake my head but he would give me hell for it the whole day so I just succumbed.

The texture isn't right but the taste, I can tolerate.

"Now, that's avocado and ketchup with some sesame seeds."

And now I wanted to puke. I grabbed the glass of milk that came along with the tray and chugged it down.

"No more! For fucks sake, Toni. Take this away. Are you torturing me?"

I gag and wanted to puke the brioche I just swallowed. Antoni is fond at innovating his food. He always crave change and he welcomes it. But sometimes I can't quite figure out what's going through his mind. We've been living together for four years now and still, I don't fully understand him.

I walked in the kitchen, pulled a mug from the cabinet and poured myself some fresh brewed coffee. One thing I'm very thankful for is when he prepares food, it will be the best meal you'd ever had. Sometimes his weird antics kicks in.

"Oh! The peanut butter and lime tastes good."

I shake my head and bunch my hair in my hand and pulled my hair tie over it. 

"I don't need that visual in my head, Antoni. Stop."

He sets down the tray on the counter and takes a seat beside me. I love his cooking more than anything else but sometimes he's getting on my nerves with his innovation.

"Remember fashion week?" He whispers to me like it's something necessary.

I nod, gulping on my coffee like some thirsty old man. I hate Fashion Week but I always get invited to it. One of the regrets I have in life is getting a job related to the spotlight. And the curse of that is you get invited to high-end events like this to put you more on the spotlight.

"We get front row tix!" He stands up and twirls in the middle of the kitchen.

I roll my eyes at him. He's too excited at how those overly priced dresses look on some model. I can't really blame him. He's been working so hard at the restaurant and this is one of those times he get to live a little.

Last year, we travelled across Italy to research on pasta, tomato sauce and the best cheese. As much as I loved travelling with him, it tires me just thinking about getting on queue for my luggage.

"Can't you go alone? I want to sleep." I rest my forehead against the cold marble counter and contemplate on my life until my phone rang loudly across the room.