"Come on, Mom, what are you talking about? I only wanted to help her after what happened. How can I be attracted or even fall in love with a very fat girl?" Clarence countered his mother with a fl.u.s.tered face.

"Very fat girl?" asked Clyde. "We saw a not so thin and not so fat cute Beauty there. Here, look at the pictures we took," added teasingly by Clyde as he handed over his DSLR camera to Clarence.

Clarence looked at the pictures and could not even recognize Beauty. "Which one is her?"

"What? I thought you've met her," said Clyde.

"Dad, I'm not pretending here. I mean it. I don't recognize any Beauty Ferol here base on what I remember."

"This girl, the one wearing a chef outfit with a red scarf. She likes the red color a lot. She wore something red on her almost every day." Claire said beside Clarence's left shoulder while pointing Beauty's face being zoomed out.

Clarence was dumbfounded seeing the girl wearing a chef hat with pinkish cheeks and a cute smile. Her body stats could not be seen for she was wearing a white chef outfit with an ap.r.o.n on her waist. Somehow, Clarence can clearly see that she was no longer the fat girl she saw before.

"So?... what do you think? Isn't she cute?" teased Claire while looking at her son's blus.h.i.+ng face.

Clarence coughed twice before closing the camera viewer. "I agree, this girl is cute, but are you sure this is Beauty Ferol? The Beauty Ferol I saw before who was the cla.s.smate of Chevy?"

"That Beauty Ferol you are saying is living in Camotes Island with her grandparents, right?" asked Claire.

"Yes" replied Clarence with certainty.

"Then how many Beauty Ferol is living in that small island coincidentally? Do you think there be more than one?" added Claire.

"Ah?... who knows?" Clarence answered with a pondering face but surely avoiding the obvious.

"Oh? Is my son avoiding to admit the truth? She's cute now, right?... Hmm?" Claire winked at her son with a wide grin on her face.

"Encourage her to join the Open Culinary Compet.i.tion. Tell her that she needs to only get the recommendation letter from the mayor there so she can attend the Regional trial in Cebu City. If she wins the regional then you will pay for her national compet.i.tion registration and her airfare. Make her submit her personal profile online straight to the compet.i.tion website." Claire told Clarence with a commanding voice which he could not refute while pacing back and forth in front of the two men.

"What? I'll pay for all of it?"

"Of course, you even gave her 6000 pesos more for the photos, so why can't you afford just for a measly 500 pesos registration fee and 3,000 for airfare?" Claire left the office after telling Clarence that 'we know what you did' tone of voice. Clarence looked quizzically at his Dad who just shrugged his shoulders.

Suddenly, the office door opened and Claire's head popped out. "Oh, by the way, you're joining the compet.i.tion as well." Closing the door again, she left merrily with a big grin.

A compet.i.tion was made annually to encourage the new generation of chefs to be found. Background or educational attainment was not important in this Open Culinary Compet.i.tion. As long as one knows how to cook and from 17 to 25 years old then one had a chance to showcase one's ability.

The prize for winning in the regionals will be provided by the Local Culinary a.s.sociation which was a trophy, prize money, and a certificate.

For the national, will be 50,000 pesos cash, a plaque, and for a chance to join the Philippine Culinary Dream Team Training Camp. Being in the camp was a chance to be sent to the international compet.i.tion if chosen by the coaches. A lot of young budding heart who loved to cook vie just for a seat, so much more to become a national winner and international representative.

. . . . . . . .

Night time, Clarence was sitting in front of his laptop on the table beside his bed. He was brooding on how to break the news to Beauty. He knew she would be glad to join but for him to be one of the contestants as well, can he tell Beauty that he was 'Your Romeo'?

This alias, too, was a headache. It was only made impulsively by Chevy as a prank. At that time, Clarence was contemplating with a guilty heart on how to communicate to Beauty while hiding his ident.i.ty, then Chevy just manipulated the keyboard and opened a new email address. He also went along thinking that there would not be a chance for them to meet personally but fate was playfully teasing them of all things.

"I never imagined that she is this cute when all those fats melted away. She became slim just less than three months. What strong determination, only a few were able to achieve that. I hope it was me who gave her inspiration to lose weight." He was looking up the ceiling with his two opened palms interlocked together supporting the back of his head. His mind was full of the girl's face on the picture. "I better ask Dad for a copy for each of her pictures in that photo alb.u.m. . . . I really regretted not going there when Dad invited me. I could have seen her personally without her knowing it was me. . ."

He was silent for a while then realized something and softly spoke, "Oh my, this is bad, I think I like her now."

After realizing his own feelings, Clarence just shut his laptop, went to bed then closed his eyes while the cute face of Beauty lingered in his mind until he fell asleep.

The next day, Beauty received the shortest email she got from Clarence.

(Join this. Get the mayor's recommendation letter. https://culinary.org.ph/Open_Culinary_Compet.i.tion/)