His Sensible Taste (SPG)

Chapter 1

On a rainy evening, a woman was running away in her melancholic tears. It was the most painful of her entire life. It was like the universe was against her this time. She was just running and running. She had nowhere to go but to be soaked in the rain. She was thinking, no one will be on her side anyway. She had no one to lean on to. She only had herself.

As soon as she reached the end of the street, she stopped running while sobbing on her own without anyone to comfort her. Her heart is aching for all the things she has discovered. Her knees suddenly quivered until she collapsed to the ground and sat there.

How pathetic was she to think that her love will stay by her side? She didn't know that the table has now turned upside down, not in her favor anymore. The most painful of it all, she saw him kissing another woman and smiling without knowing she was there watching them from afar. It took her for a moment before she could swallow everything in an instant. It was too painful to bear all that she has witnessed.

The scene was stopped as a remote suddenly appeared and a hand pushing at the pause button. A sniffing sound, then, followed.

Cheska wiped her tears as she looked at the woman on the screen of her TV. She was watching this Korean Drama Series over 3 times now, yet she was still hooked on crying at this part. She didn't know but her heart really sunk at the part where this woman was crying because his boyfriend chose to love another woman that she only met from his trip to another country. The woman is a second lead in the Drama Series, Cheska knows that, but she couldn't help but feel pity towards her. All the woman did was wait for her boyfriend to come back to Korea but instead, she discovered that he's already loving another woman.

"Seriously? That KDrama series again, Cheska? Are you planning to buy all of the tissue papers inside the mall?" asked her little brother named Kevin who just climbed from upstairs holding a bunch of academic books. His hair is straight and his locks were covering his forehead. He wore his eyeglasses and frowned at his sister and the crumpled tissue papers she wasted on the table.

Cheska just rolled her eyes at her brother. "Why do you care? I bought them myself!" she complained.

Kevin just stuck his tongue out to his sister. "I'll tell Toni you're crying over that series again!"

"Hey, you punk! Get back here!"

****

Manic Monday. Rush hour, rushed orders. The sound of the knives speeding up to chop vegetables and meat was the music Cheska wanted to hear whenever she goes to work. Well, manic Mondays don't differ from any days in a week. It was always busy in Sensible Taste, especially at their branch. In this half-a-million filled city called Makati, doing her job as the sous chef of Sensible Taste is the most important of it all.

She is good at her job. Her co-chefs inside the kitchen would always look at her in awe as she starts to prepare her station. They would look at her in amazement while she flawlessly put on her apron and chef's hat. She does mostly all the sautéing and creating all the sauces for the menu.

As Cheska was gracefully doing the sauce for the Tagliolini Pasta, the most expensive pasta Sensible Taste has ever offered for their customers, her co-chefs were already whooping at her silently. As she placed the pasta on an expensive gold-filled plate, she put the special sauce on top of it. She also topped it with two pounds of fresh lobster and finished with black truffles.

"I'm so blessed, Chef Cheska is my colleague," said, one of Cheska's co-chefs. It was Chef Bryan. He's in his plus-size body and Mongolian eyes. He just smiles while looking at Cheska gracefully doing all her work.

Chef Gian nudged him. "Yeah, I agree. She's pretty, too. Does she already have a boyfriend?"

Chef Bryan nudged Gian back and frowned. "Haven't you heard?" he hissed. He, then, looked around and whispered in Gian's ear. "She's dating Chef Toni!"

Gian gasped silently and watched his gesture. "Is it?"

"Oh, come on! Didn't you know that? They're already dating like 2 years already," Chef Bryan hissed.

Looking back at Cheska, they were still watching her every move with awe in their eyes. After achieving such a beautiful pasta main course, she brought the dish to the receiving area on top of the silver platter with an angelic smile on her face. Another chef, then, transferred it to a movable table and covered it with a round silver cover.

After that, the Head Chef named Toni Tuazon came out of the kitchen and was the one to deliver the main dish to the VIP customer that occupied the whole branch only for this day. Toni was wearing his Chef's hat and his neat gray apron. He is a tall guy with a fair Asian complexion and chinky dark brown eyes. When he faced the VIP, he bowed his head and opened the cover for the man to see the dish.

"Hmmm... what a dish! I love this one..." commented the man who was seated at the table with a beautiful and sophisticated woman. The man is in his 40s. He is well-known in the city. He's a businessman and he always chooses Sensible Taste whenever she dines out.

"This is our main course for this morning. Tagliolini Pasta topped with two pounds of fresh lobster and finished with black truffles," Chef Toni introduced the dish to the man. After that, he served the dish after the diner staff cleaned the table. He placed the plate at the center of them and waited for the two to taste the pasta.

Cheska and the rest of the chefs inside the kitchen were closing their eyes while they wait for the VIP guest to tell his feedback. Her heartbeat started to rise abnormally. She had never felt this nervous before. It was her first time cooking the most expensive pasta in the country so it was really a tough job to mimic the taste she remembered when she visited a restaurant in Manhattan. It was during their vacation that the company encouraged her team to visit a particular restaurant that serves a $2,000 pasta called Tagliolini.

The taste of pasta never left her mouth after that first bite. It was an honor for her to taste such an expensive pasta. Other sous chefs around the world could not perfect. After a week of practice, as it was the CEO's challenge for her to perfect the dish, she had no other choice but to take on the challenge.

"Hmmm! Lovely! I love this pasta. Who made this? I want to commend the chef to my friend, the owner of Sensible Taste," the VIP guest finally said.

Cheska screamed internally as her team members cheered with her. They were all too happy to hear the man's commendation about the dish.

"Her name is Chef Cheska Samaniego, sir. Remember her?" Toni asked.

"Oh! That beautiful chef!" the man laughed afterwards. "Of course, I know her! She's the best in this place. She cooks good dishes here, just like you!"

Toni smiled and nodded politely. "Thank you, sir. Shall I call her?" As the man nodded, Toni started to clap his hands three times, and Cheska was already pushed out of the kitchen to meet the guest.

Cheska shyly came out and smiled sheepishly at them. She bowed her head and greeted them with a smile. "H-hi! I am Sous Chef Cheska. We are very honored that you liked the dish. This is the first time we have offered this in our branch and we are glad that you're the first one to taste it," she said.

"You are right, honey!" the woman butted in. "I've been to Manhattan before and I have tried this dish but getting a taste of it now, I felt like I'm not going to travel there just to get this food on my plate. I love the savory taste in my mouth. It's a whole lot of different tastes. It was like Sensible Taste has made its trademark into this dish. I love it!" she added.

Cheska's eyes widened in awe as she heard those words from the woman. Her heart is fluttering in amazement.

After the day's work, Cheska is finally ready to get home. The sun has already set all over Makati and Sensible Taste is already closed. She walked closer to Toni who was busy changing his uniform into a white shirt. "How's your day?"

Toni sighed. "I'm burnout. I need to rest."

Cheska frowned. "That's sad. I was about to ask you out tonight," she said as she mischievously smiled. That smile faded when Toni shook his head, still being serious.

"I don't think I can. Besides, you're already full of yourself. You've been complimented by the guys earlier. They would plan and start to date you. I am not needed here..." he said and was on his way out of the restaurant.

"Hey, wait up!" Cheska ran fast to keep up with Toni. Her chest is beating erratically again. Whenever her Toni is like this, she's starting to feel that stress again. She's afraid he might block her out for a week and she'll do everything she could just to win his heart back. He was always like this when he's getting jealous over someone Cheska is talking to. She ran and blocked his way. They stopped a few strides away from the restaurant while other establishments were already closing down their roll-ups.

She could see Toni's blank expression as he looked away and waited for her to explain.

"I'm sorry, okay? I was just...happy. That we made a good team inside Sensible Taste. Don't you know that? I always admired you for being so cool and relaxed during work. I wanted to be like you that I ended up doing the things you wanted me to. But, I don't know... what's so wrong with receiving a compliment from others? It's not as if the compliment is really for me. It's for ST!" she reasoned out.

Toni scoffed. "I don't know, Chess... this is nuts. I mean, it's always like this. I've never been this jealous of my exes before."

"So, what? Are you going to compare me to them now?"

Toni laughed again and shook his head.

"What is wrong with you?"

Toni flinched from her and shook his head. "You know what? Let's just call it a day. I'll just talk to you tomorrow," he dismissed her then left quickly as if Cheska was just a shadow ready to disappear after he's walking away.

Cheska just scoffed at his antics and laughed wryly. What have I done wrong? Why was I always wrong?

****

"And now we're back! Welcome to Sweet Talk Show!" the host named Lila enthusiastically said on TV. She was seated on a comfortable sofa while facing the camera. "Here on set is a man full of talents and charm. He is well-known for his charismatic smiles and gestures that we see on TV everytime a TV Ad plays after this show." The audience laughed at her words. "And because of his success in business, his company became the talk of the town, especially about food. Coffees? Milk teas? Pasta? You name it! He offers them all. Please welcome... Ricky Villaverde, the man behind the success of Sensible Taste!" she finally introduced her guest.

From the backstage, a tall man came out and waved his hand to the audience as they cheered and clapped their hands when he soon came out. The smile on his face is the reason why those people were so eager to see him. He is really a charming guy. In his 30s, he still looked as young as a 20-year-old bachelor man. His curved reddish lips were one of the reasons his fans go insane. All the girls and...well... gays. He's the hot topic. Many magazines wanted to feature him since his success in his business last year as he opened 20 branches of Sensible Taste in all parts of Metro Manila. Now, he's ready to make his personal life be known in public. This talk show is the first one to have that chance.

"Hello!" he joyfully greeted the audience and the host. They made a peck on each other's cheeks and went on with the script.

Rico's jolly personally was so evident during the interview. He was never afraid to tell the whole audience that he's a proud member of the LGBT community. Everyone, inside the set and those who watched the talk show on live TV, even loved him more because of his openness.

Who wouldn't? He's very kind and open to his fans.

The host is now on with her final question. "I can't stop myself from gossiping and everyone's asking us about this," the host started. She looked at the camera and smiled. "This is actually the first time to feature Mr. Ricky Villaverde in our talk show. It is really an honor!" The audience whooped and clapped at her words. The host looked at Rico again with her serious face. "Now, going back. The people are all excited to know this. Are you currently dating someone?"

The sound of the cheering people started as the question of the host was heard. The loud sound echoed across the studio. Those people watching at their homes were also very excited to know Rico's response.

He went into silence. His heart is a bit jittery about the question. Should he answer?

You asked for this, Ricky. You don't have to hold back. You're already here, his inner self told him.

He sighed. He opened his mouth and was about to answer but a memory suddenly flashed on his mind...

Rico didn't believe he could have everything he wanted. He was just happy being the adviser of his two best friends named Lyka and Carmelli. He always had that hard time fixing their love lives and problems with their respective families. He would always help them gladly because he loves both of them.

He was already a well-established person in his early 20s yet he was so focused on his career as a chef and a businessman. He also helped Carmelli with her clothing line company as her business partner, but he's more focused on his own business he named "Sensible Taste".

His circle of friends already knew that he's a bisexual man. He wouldn't deny that. He has never thought of pretending to be straight or pretend to speak manly in front of other people because his family taught him to be proud of what he has and who he is.

It was a rainy afternoon and his first branch of Sensible Taste wasn't getting any customers yet. He was getting impatient that he had to yell at his team of chefs and employees for slacking off.

He called all his employees and they lined up in the dining area of the restaurant. Rico looked at his employees dressed in their gray uniforms as Chefs and dining crews with his serious and narrow looking eyes. "From now on, I don't want any of you slacking off your stations," he started. He walked to and fro of them. "I don't want to make this a little harder for us but I need a team with a competitive mind, body, and soul. Can we have that?"

"Yes, sir!" they all replied in unison.

"What's our problem that we don't have good sales this month? I don't think it's because of the food. We have what it takes to compete internationally." He held his chin while walking around, thinking about his new strategy. "Should I start firing an employee?" he asked as he turned to them with a spiteful look.

He could see how frightened were they as he said those words.

"S-sir Ricky..." the other employee pleaded. He is a dining crew. "I really needed this job. I'm the only one who provides for my family's needs. Please, sir..."

"Sure you do. No one's gonna leave this team. I'm only joking around." He faced them once again and started to speak again. "From now on, I want you all to restudy our operating procedures. You're all open to suggest anything that can improve our service. Kitchen team?" he called out.

"Yes, sir!"

"I don't want you to stop cooking and restudying our menu. During times like this, you should be able to submit another recipe for us to serve for the next month. I think we should embrace other pasta recipes. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Good! Any more?" he asked. Suddenly, his brows furrowed as his employees started to pucker up their lips as somewhat pointing in his direction. He was looking at them, puzzled, not until one of his chefs started to point his finger to him. Rico pointed himself. When the chef shook his head and pointed through him, that's when he turned to face his left.

Rico gasped as soon as he saw someone leaning toward him. Actually, he didn't know if he's still breathing.

A tall man about his same height was smiling at him charmingly. His hair is highlighted in coffee brown, a messy curtain haircut style. He has an earring on his right ear. He wore a simple gray shirt and brown pants. His hands were kept inside his side pockets as his dimples showed. His eyes were a mixture of Asian and European deep-set of chocolate eyes. His smile is cunning and sexy. It made Rico gulp. Heck, of course, he's attracted to men, but he can really stop gaping at them if he wanted to. He's a businessman after all. But, this guy in front of him is different.

His smile is charming and irresistible. He's also familiar. Rico sensed he had seen the man somewhere. He just couldn't remember.

"Are you done scolding them? You see, I really wanted to try your pasta recipes here. Can you serve one for me?" the man asked in his manly, sexy voice.

Okay. Rico could skip his meals for this day just to watch this stranger move his lips all the time.

-to-be-continued-