What I Failed to Do

Chapter 5

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

Saint's POV

Chimon and I had finished preparing the ingredients that Perth had asked us to put together and were chilling in the living room watching TV while we waited for him to return.

We didn't have to wait long.

Less than halfway through the evening news, the front door burst open and Perth and his younger brother Marc came in.

I was very tempted to ask Perth whether Marc was his full or half brother, or maybe even stepbrother, because not only did they not resemble each other in any way, Marc who was the younger one was taller than Perth.

"I'm sorry to keep you guys waiting," Perth said as he dropped his car key into a copper bowl in one corner of the kitchen counter. "It turned out that my trip was wasted. The kid... I mean the guy who got injured was actually an adult who discharged himself after his treatment. He did so even before Marc and I arrived at the hospital."

"Well, at least all is well," Saint declared, standing up from the sofa. "How else can I help you with the dinner preparations?"

Perth surveyed all the ingredients that were laid out on the kitchen counter.

"Actually, just sit back and relax and continue to watch TV," said Perth. "I will now start cooking. I usually prefer not to have someone looking over my shoulder while I'm cooking."

"Okay, thanks," I said as I settled back into the sofa beside Chimon.

Soon a delicious smell wafted from the kitchen to the living room.

"Marc!" we heard Perth calling his brother.

Marc stuck his head out of his bedroom.

"What?" he asked, looking a little annoyed. Perhaps he was in the middle of a video game and didn't like being interrupted.

"Come out here and help me set the table!" Perth said.

I stood up from the sofa and walked over to the kitchen.

"I can help you with that," I offered Perth.

"Thanks," Perth said. Then he turned to Marc who was already in the kitchen.

"Take out four plates from the cabinet and set them on the table with the utensils," Perth instructed Marc.

Then Perth turned to me.

"Would you mind taking out the tall drinking glasses from the other cabinet and pouring some mango juice into each glass?" he asked.

"Sure," I replied. "Where can I find the mango juice?"

"It's in a glass pitcher inside the fridge," Perth replied. "It's been there since this morning so it's now well chilled."

In the meantime, Perth had poured the contents of the dish he had cooked into two wide and large bowls.

"What is this dish?" I asked.

"It's called shrimp etouffe," he replied.

"How did you learn to cook this dish?" I asked.

"My uncle owns a Louisiana style restaurant downtown," he replied. "I did a summer job there during my college days."

"Yum yum yum!" Chimon exclaimed as he approached the dining table. "Whoever you end up marrying will be one lucky person!"

That made Perth blush. But wait, he wasn't looking at Chimon. He was looking at me.

Suddenly I felt some butterflies fluttering around in my stomach.

"Let's all sit down and enjoy dinner!" Perth invited, motioning for me to sit beside him.

I did so.

Chimon ended up sitting beside Marc.

We had barely finished dinner when Chimon's phone started to ring.

"It's my older brother calling," Chimon said to all of us. "Please excuse me."

"Yeah, I will be home soon," we heard him say on his phone. "Why, is there anything going on?"

A brief pause before we heard him say, "How did it happen? Did you have yourself treated at a hospital?"

Uh oh, I hoped it wasn't something serious.

"Okay, wait for me," we heard Chimon say before walking back to the table.

"I'm afraid I will have to run," he explained to Perth and me. "My brother said he got hit by a motorist while he was driving himself back home on his motorbike. He said it wasn't serious so the hospital discharged him after treating his knee wound but he forgot to stop by the hospital pharmacy to pick up his prescription pain medication so he wants me to pick it up for him."

"No worries," said Perth. "Go ahead and take care of your brother."

I noticed that Marc was looking down at his plate with a very worried face.

I wondered why.