My Bodyguard

Chapter 12.1 Spaghetti bolognaise

She walked inside and looked around. 

The apartment was huge, and had a view of the garden, but it was so.....so bare. 

There was essential furniture only. A giant sofa in the sitting room and a dining table with matching chairs in the section. 

There was a modern kitchen and a superb sound system, and that, basically, was that. 

So, this is where he lives. 

There was little in the way of decoration, only objects that were useful. 

It looked, she thought, like a temporary place. 

As if he was renting and about to leave at any time. Transient and temporary. 

As if anyone at all could have been living there. For there was nothing of Matteo within its four walls. 

"Umupo ka," he said. "Can I get you a drink?"

She didn't refuse. "Oo, please."

She sat down on the sofa, leaning back and trying to relax, but feeling about as relaxed as someone on a Buzz interview.

"Matagal ka na bang nakatira dito?"

"Wala pang isang taon." He could see her frowning. "You like it?"

"Ako.....ah, oo. Oo.....kahit na medyo simple."

He opened a bottle of red wine, poured out two glasses and handed her one. 

His mouth softening in a smile. "I'm cooking spaghetti bolognaise, Italian style. Not the Filipino sweet style spaghetti you buy in Jollibee."

She was impressed yet not surprised at his self-sufficiency. 

"I hope na magugustuhan mo ang aking pasta. That's what's on the menu tonight. You can lay the table while I prepare the food." 

He leaned over and pulled a bottle of virgin olive oil off the shelf in readiness. "Tonight ikaw at ako lang, and that full moon out there."

"Come Sarah, let's step out and drink this on the balcony, shall we? The evening is quite fresh." He escorted her out onto the wide balcony overlooking a garden.

"Ang ganda ng garden," she murmured, staring down at manicured garden, and the flowerbeds and trimmed hedges. Listening to the soft sound of water pouring from a fountain.