New York
October 2016
It's already 3:00 PM, and Thirdy is assisting Loel because sobrang frustrated na si Loel sa niluluto niya.
Bea is in her room. They didn't eat lunch because they were still full from all the taste-testing, especially Bea. Elmer and Det aren't home yet because of work.
After a few hours, someone knocks on Bea's door.
"Sis, what do you want for dinner? Chef will cook it na. He needs to go to the gym at 7:00 PM."
"I'll go down," Bea says, hurriedly putting on her house slippers.
When Bea reaches the kitchen, Loel sighs. "Yikes. People who are in love are weird."
Bea sees Thirdy laughing with the helpers. "Hi," she says. The helpers greet her back before leaving to give the two some space.
"Doc, what do you want for dinner? I'll cook it now. If it gets cold, ask them to reheat it, okay?" Thirdy asks.
"You're not going to eat dinner here?"
"I usually do, but busog pa talaga ako," Thirdy says, forgetting for a moment that Bea understands Tagalog if it's spoken slowly.
"What's busog again?" Bea asks, looking toward the helpers for help.
"Ay nako! Loel is good at speaking Tagalog naman, ah."
"I can't speak Tagalog during missions or in the hospital. Plus, I only have one Filipino friend in med school, and she didn't speak that much Tagalog when she was with me, even though she grew up in the Philippines," Bea explains, sounding like she's playfully blaming her friend.
"Okay, I'll teach you some words."
"Oh, okay. Three words per day?" Bea suggests.
"Deal. Let's start tomorrow. Cookies, ah," he reminds her.
"Yes, Chef! You cookie monster," she teases.
Thirdy begins preparing the oven. "Baked crabs, right?"
"Yes, please."
The helpers assist Thirdy in cracking the crabs while Bea stares at him.
"I won't do the same thing I did yesterday. This is a new recipe. I'll add lemon and crabsticks, and I'll also bake mussels. I'll make corn chowder, too. Okay na ba 'yun?"
"Hello, Beatriz?" he adds when she doesn't respond.
"Oh. Yeah. I eat everything naman," Bea says, snapping back to her senses.
Thirdy starts working his magic in the kitchen while Bea watches his every move. When the chowder is done, Thirdy takes a spoon and approaches her.
"Taste it," Thirdy says, holding the spoon out. Bea instinctively opens her mouth and takes a sip.
"Wow. This is good," Bea says, blushing furiously.
Why did he do that? I can taste it on my own, Bea thinks, though she's secretly feeling the butterflies.
When Thirdy finishes, he instructs the helpers on how to reheat the dishes. He cooked a large portion so that Det, Elmer, and the helpers could all eat, too. He removes his apron and prepares to leave.
"Thank you, Chef! Hatid?" Bea asks, proudly showing off her Tagalog.
"No need. Go back to your room na. And no, 'di ka pa rin magaling mag-Tagalog," Thirdy teases.
"Nah. I insist. And yeah, I know that."
They walk to the front porch to wait for Thirdy's cab.
"Thank you so much. I had fun watching you."
