Secretly Married (English)

Chapter 29

On one of the rare mornings when Kent wasn't just arriving from a shoot and actually slept at home, Phoebe woke up and got up before Kent could knock on her door. She was happy because she knew that Kent was in his bedroom. She wanted to make something special for this rare day, so she got up early.

"Good morning, Manang," she said with a huge smile.

The old lady laughed. "You're up early."

"Of course!" she said. She took the box ofpancake mix from the kitchen cabinet and started reading the instructions on the box.

"You want me to make that for you?"

"No, Manang. I want to make something for Kent," she said. "Maybe you should take the morning off, Manang. I can handle this, promise."

"Phoebe . . ."
"No, please. I insist." After a few more of this exchange, the old lady gave in and went into the living room to catch an early morning show. As soon as Manang Lourdes left, Phoebe went to work on the pancake.

It was a lot more complicated than she expected. Phoebe never really worked much in the kitchen, so she had no idea where the pots and pans were and, of course, by consequence, the measuring spoons and cups. Soon enough, she was fumbling in the kitchen— dropping pots, pouring too much water into the bowl, and accidentally spilling half of the pancake mix on to the table. When she was able to mix the batter together, she poured some on the heated pan. But it was too hot.

Kent chose that very moment to appear in the kitchen. Phoebe heard his voice just as he was coming down the stairs.

"Manang, something's burning. Is Phoebe up?" "Oh no!" the old lady exclaimed.
She and Kent appeared in the kitchen just as

Phoebe held the handle of the pan at arm's length and ran water over it on the sink.

Kent snorted, rubbed his forehead, and shook his head as he approached Phoebe, took the pan away from her, and turned off the faucet. He put the pan on the counter and turned to Phoebe with a smile. She had her head down, embarrassed.

"Hey, are you trying to burn the house down?" he asked with a smile as he took her in his arms and squeezed tight.

"Sorry, I didn't know the pan was too hot—" "Haha, it's okay." Phoebe couldn't look at him. She felt so stupid for thinking she could handle it.

Kent let her go and then started moving around the kitchen. Soon enough, Phoebe had a bowl of cereal in front of her and a glass of orange juice.

"Next time, just get me a bowl of cereal," Kent said, laughing. Phoebe laughed, and together, they had the first breakfast they've had together in a long time.

Kent had another shoot that afternoon, so he missed lunch and afternoon classes. Phoebe went to lunch with Jhone, who, she was surprised to find, was in "nodding terms" with Harley.

"So you're friends with Harley now?" Phoebe asked as they set down their trays on the cafeteria table.

"Well . . . there's something that you need to know," Jhone said. She was so serious it was kind of funny.

"What, Jhone, you're pregnant?" Phoebe joked. Jhone smirked at her. "No, this is serious." Phoebe squinted and looked closely at her friend. "Hey, Isabelle." She looked up and saw Harley, setting his own food tray on their table as well. "Jhone, hey," he said as he sat down beside her.

"What's going on with you two?" Phoebe asked.

"Well . . . ," Jhone began, and then she looked over at Harley. He nodded at her. "The thing is, you won't talk to Philip, so we did."