I Don't Deserve Love: Alternate Ending

Chapter 27: Bentos and Bus Rides

Sluggishly I fumbled around, feeling for my alarm. Finally, I found it and switched it off, groaning slightly. It was so warm I wanted to just snuggle up in my blankets and close my eyes, but a vision of Nathaniel's happy face flashed through my mind and I sat up, rubbing my eyes sleepily. I glanced at my clock, wincing at the neon numbers showing 4:45 am.

"Opal, are you awake?" Auntie opened the door, peeking into my room. I blinked slowly while stretching.

"Yes, I'm up, Auntie."

"Perfect! Let's get started then."

I followed her into the kitchen where she had already laid out all of the ingredients we had bought last night; they covered the entire counter space and I blinked in shock.

"Wow. We're going to fit all of this into three bento boxes?" I asked in disbelief and Auntie laughed.

"Let's get cracking! Why don't you cut and blanch the asparagus. I'll start washing the rice."

After washing our hands I set to my job happily, first putting a small pot of water to boil then sprinkling in a healthy amount of salt. Then I cut the bottom of the asparagus stalks off and began cutting them into five equal pieces.

"Ah, this brings back memories! I haven't made a bento in so long," Auntie said happily and I smiled over at her.

"Did you make them with your mom?"

"Sometimes. Usually my mom would just make them for me, but she taught me a few tricks. I could have lived off her tempura shrimp easily, but I could never make it right. I wish I could taste it again."

We worked in silence for a little while, as I listened to Auntie's rhythmic rice cleaning and I chopped the asparagus.

"Do you miss them? Your parents?" I asked quietly, worried that I was prying. I remembered the first time Auntie had come over she had told Father that their parents had died several years earlier. Auntie brought her hands out of the pot, flipping the water off as she looked out the window above the sink with a thoughtful expression.

"Yes, I do. They were killed in a car crash just after I had been accepted into college. My dad had been very successful so I didn't have to worry about money... but I would have given up all the money in the world for them to have been there when I put out my first fashion line. I was thinking of them the whole time I created it."

Auntie looked down and I quickly went over, wrapping my arms around her shoulders. She brought one hand up, resting it on my arm. We stayed that way for a few seconds until Auntie straightened her shoulders and patted my arms.

"But you can't change the past, Opal. All you can do is make the most of every single day. And today we are going to make delicious, to-die-for bentos!" she exclaimed with gusto.

I laughed and nodded, giving Auntie one last squeeze before turning back to my asparagus pieces. I picked up all of them except for the very tips since those needed less time to cook, and dumped them into my now boiling water. I covered the bowl and set a timer for two and a half minutes.

"So, after I blanch the asparagus what should I do next?"

"Let them cool, start heating a frying pan with olive oil, and get the bacon out of the fridge," Auntie said as she placed her cleaned rice into the rice cooker. She hit a button and turned around to view the ingredients across the counter.

Auntie directed me in making the side dishes and she focused on making the fillers for our onigiri as we waited for the rice to cook. Once it was done, Auntie showed me the proper way of making an onigiri. She scooped some warm rice into her hands and sprinkled black sesame seeds on it, placed a filling into the middle, and then molded it skillfully into a triangular shape. For the final touch, she wrapped a piece of toasted seaweed that she called nori on the bottom.