Note: Hello! Chapters for this part will be labeled quite differently, and if it looks familiar, yup I was inspired by how noodlesbychi labeled her chapters on Cheese.
Prompt from @dragonmomma18 - thank you for giving this to me and I apologise if it's not exactly faithful to the prompt you gave.
~maia~
---
"Ang sarap talaga dito."
Rj Faulkerson said to his friend, Jerald, in between bites of his favorite dish from this restaurant.
"Oo, masarap nga. Pero Pare, kailangan bang araw-araw tayong mag-breakfast dito?" Jerald asked.
Rj frowned at his friend. "Hindi naman tayo nagpunta dito pag Sunday." It was true, though. They had been back every day in this restaurant for breakfast for the past two weeks. He first discovered how good the ham and cheese omelette was, then he's been requesting different types of - spanish, BLT, german, in a bag, vegan - until he got tired of researching and just let the chef decide for him.
"Purgang-purga na ako dito, Pare," Jerald whispered, not wanting to be disloyal to his business. The food was great, but he needed a change. Rj, though, still wanted the same thing over and over.
Rj and Jerald were college best friends and, eventually, business partners. Together, they were on their way to putting up their third hotel in Luzon and were looking to expand to the Visayas. However, for Rj, their first hotel would always be his favorite.
He initially wanted to just put up a restaurant, but with the location he obtained, his family suggested to make it into a hotel. When he got in, there were no hotels yet at this booming city, yet there were already a number of foreign offshore service companies that were in the area. The market study proved that he would make a profit, so he went ahead with it after he got enough investors.
The restaurant was making a name for itself, as well, much to Rj's delight. The buffet was something that catered to the young professionals and expats and was received very well. They recently added a new chef, who had just moved back from New York, and business had gotten even better.
"I have to meet our new chef pa pala," Rj mentioned. "Si Ms. Amy nalang ang pinag-interview ko dun."
"Okay lang yun. Trabaho naman ni Ms. Amy yun," Jerald said.
It was true, being the HR head, it was the role of Ms. Amy. However, Rj liked getting to know the people who worked for him and made sure he got some face time with everyone - from his one-downs to the wait staff.
For now, he turned back to his breakfast. A ham and cheese omelette. "Sarap talaga!"
"Yung totoo? Gusto mo lang malaman sino gumagawa niyang peyborit mong omelette eh."
Rj grinned. "Masama ba? Nakaka-addict eh. Gusto ko lang magpasalamat dun sa gumagawa nito para sa atin. Anong masama dun?" He ate again. "Kung pwede lang pakasalan ang pagkain, ginawa ko na dito sa omelette na'to."
*
"Uy, Maine!"
The restaurant's newest chef turned to see the restaurant manager approaching. "Sir Ryan! I'm so sorry I'm late today. I had trouble with my Uber and my car is coding today."
"Okay lang. Kaya lang nandiyan na si Boss, nagtataka bakit wala pa yung breakfast niya. Alam mo naman favorite niya yung luto mo," the handsome fellow said.
"Yes po. Sorry, sorry. Does he have any preference for today?
"Surprise him daw," Ryan chuckled. "He wants to meet you pala. He normally interviews everyone who works for him and for some reason your application got through without an interview with him - scheduling conflict."
Maine worried. "Naku, will they fire me po because of an irregularity in my hiring?"
"Ha? Hindi. Hindi ganun si Boss. Pero gusto ka lang niya makausap. Ganun lang talaga patakaran niya. Ise-schedule ko nalang ha? Sasabihan kita kung kailan," Ryan reassured that there was nothing to worry about. "Sige na, pakibilisan nalang yung kay Boss, nagmamadali yata eh."
She made quick work of the order and had it out in record time. She also made a mental note to do research on the big boss.
Maine berated herself for not knowing enough about the owners of the hotel chain she applied to. After coming home from the States, all she knew was they she wanted to work at once because she wanted to support herself and move to a place of her own. She loved her family, but after working abroad for a number of years, she couldn't imagine moving back to the family abode. So, when the job interview and subsequent offer presented itself, she grabbed it.
Thankfully, she wasn't asked too much about the company that owned the hotel, so she got by with a basic knowledge of it, but now that she would be meeting the boss, that won't do.
Ryan walked in again with a grin on his face a bit later. "Patok na naman yung omelette! Tuwang-tuwa si Boss! Good job, Maine."
"Thank you po, Sir."
"Babalik daw siya dito in a few days. Surprise mo daw ulit siya ng bagong omelette recipe."
Maine smiled, but her brows furrowed. "Umm, Sir? Puro omelette lang ba gusto ni Boss? Marunong naman po akong magluto ng ibang pang-breakfast?"
Ryan chuckled. "Omelette ang gusto eh. Hayaan na natin."
She found it strange, but shrugged it off. Okay, siya naman ang boss.
*
That night, Maine looked up the company history to prepare for her meeting with the owner. According to Ryan, it would be held in two days after the other investors check in the hotel for a meeting. Maine and the other chefs were also asked to be on call for those few days.
She typed in "RFJ02 Holdings Corp" and went to the corporate profile.
Owner: Richard R. Faulkerson, Jr.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
This can't be right.
No.
Maine double checked the page and searched other news articles to make sure that this was the owner of the hotel chain.
Same results.
She recalled back in freshman college, before she moved to the US.
A tearful Rj pulled off his glasses and wiped his tears away violently. Pouting, he stuttered and tried to get out his message to her. "Sige, kung ayaw mo na sa akin. Okay. Break na tayo. Pag tagal, you'll see. You were wrong to break up with me."
"Rj, please understand."
"No. Bye Menggay."
Maine buried her head in her pillow. That meeting might just turn out bad after all.
