Together but Separate

Chapterp 13: Delicious Meal

Kate Rojas

I woke up early and took a shower before I went downstairs. I went straight to the kitchen. Good thing I found coffee beans, so I made coffee in the coffee maker.

While waiting for it to finish, I looked in the refrigerator for food I could cook for breakfast. I only found eggs and bread. They probably hadn't stayed much in this house kaya wala masyadong pagkain.

I cooked sunny side up eggs for Nicko, and I toasted the bread. Then I prepared all of them on the table with the coffee.

"Good morning!" I greeted when Nicko came in the dining room.

He looked so fresh from a shower. His hair was still wet, and I could smell his scent from where I was. He glanced at the food on the table before he faced me.

"Good morning. You prepared all these?" I nodded. "Thank you," he said then sat on the chair.

"You are welcome."

Naupo na rin ako sa upuan na nasa harapan niya. He started drinking his coffee.

"Pupunta ka rin ba sa hospital ngayon?" I asked as we were eating.

"Yes. You will too, right?"

"Oo."

"We can go there together, so you don't have to commute."

Tumango ako. "Pwede bang pumunta muna tayo sa grocery store? I want to cook something I can bring to your parents. I also need to buy some groceries for us. Wala na kasing laman ang ref."

"You don't need to bother cooking for us. We can eat outside or have the food delivered."

"But I want to. I want to cook something healthy for them, especially for your dad."

I saw his lips curved into a smile, but it instantly faded away. He nodded and said, "Okay. If that's what you want."

"Thank you." I smiled at him then continued eating.

After we finished our breakfast, we washed the dishes. Nicko volunteered to wash them because he said that I was the one who cooked the food, so he had to be the one who would wash the dishes. I let him do it while I was the one who wiped them dry. There was a dishwasher, but I did not really like using it.

While wiping the dishes, I secretly glanced at Nicko from time to time. I was amazed kasi parang sanay na sanay siyang maghugas. I remember he said before that he wanted few maids in the house as much as possible because he was not used to it. Maybe it was the norm here in Italy. They did not have a stay in maid. They were doing the chores by themselves because I did not see anybody in the house since I came yesterday.

Looking at Nicko, I could not help but to be amazed. As an heir of a wealthy family, he seemed very good in doing the chores. We were only married for three months, but I could tell he had a good upbringing. He seemed nice, humble and respectful. It was no doubt that he was also intelligent.

Sometimes, I wondered why he agreed to our set up. He was a complete package kind of guy. Many women would want to become his wife. Knowing how popular and wealthy he was, there were a lot of beautiful and successful women around him. I wondered why he settled on marrying me. I maybe successful in my business but compared to women inside his circle, I was a nobody.

"I am done."

I quickly looked away when he faced me. I pretended to be busy wiping the dishes.

"O-okay. Ako na ang bahala rito. Mauna ka nang mag-ayos." I cleared my throat because I sounded uneasy.