"I'm not meditating for a girlfriend. Come on. Why would I do that? But I'm 26 now and never have one. Or how about Beauty, hehe."

"You dare?" Clarence challenged him with a grim face.

"No, Boss. Can't you take a joke? Boss, please, I'm an only child. Whenever I'm home my Ma has been asking time and time again on when will I ever bring home a girl."

Beauty stepped in and heard Ronald's last sentence. "What? Just bringing home a girl? Then I'll go then."

Both instantly shouted, "NO", "Not you."

"Hey, you two, why not me? Am I really that bad looking?" Beauty was sulking now. Clarence pulled her to sit beside him, pus.h.i.+ng Ronald to the other edge of the bench.

"Beauty, you're beautiful but Ronald is supposed to bring a girlfriend, not just any girl."

"Oh, I see. Sorry for speaking without hearing the whole conversation."

Seeing the way Clarence held Beauty's hand, the more Ronald got jealous. "Gee, you two are so sweet. Are you now both in a relations.h.i.+p?"

"No, not really." Beauty shyly pulled her hand from the man's hold.

Facing Ronald, he answered confidently, "we will be in the future, so I'll introduce girls to you, but I won't promise anything. You have to work hard for it."

"OK, fine and thanks in advance. You better make sure our Beauty here is happy or else I'll punch you. Don't make her cry or hurt her. I, Ronald, will make you sorry if she cries because of you. You get that?"

"I can a.s.sure you, I won't make her cry." Both men were talking back and forth, neglecting the girl who was the topic of their discussion.

"You two . . . grrr, talking as if I'm not around. And you?" She stood up and angrily pointed her finger at Clarence. "You seemed so confident to make me say yes to you."

"Come... sit down, calm down. I told you I'll wait. Don't mind his words. Relax, see the breeze is so cool. I'll miss this place. Such wonderful memories." He spoke softly while his left hand grabbed her right hand then pulled her down to sit beside him again. As she sat, she shook his hand off his grasp. The atmosphere between the three drastically changed. They fell silent. The wind blew on their faces.

Minutes pa.s.sed. Beauty's head fell on Clarence's shoulder. She fell asleep. Clarence placed his left arm on her shoulder to steady her body. He felt satisfied with their kind of relations.h.i.+p for now. She was no longer too distant from him after learning his feelings. He could also show his affection openly. As of the moment, he threw the 'Your Romeo problem' on the back of his mind, believing a solution would show itself in the future. That's what he thought.

Minutes after, Ronald's head fell on Clarence's other shoulder as well. He shook it off waking the sleeping man, who drowsily looked at him. "Just lie down somewhere. There are more free seats around."

After hearing his Boss' words, he stood up then went to another empty bench to sleep.

. . . . .

In Cebu Prestige Hotel, their bags were taken by a bellboy. Clarence brought them to the hotel's exclusive restaurant, only hotel guests could come and dine. They sat at a table good for four at the corner. The table was made of redwood polished well reflecting your face like a mirror. The chairs were made of same quality. There were already plates, napkin covered spoons and forks, and a clear tall gla.s.s. The waiter took the extra plate and etc. The whole place was plainly for a buffet, but extra orders in a menu were also available.

"Come, bring your plates with you. Let's eat first." Clarence declared while helping Beauty with her plate.

"Wow, only a few are eating here but lots of food." Ronald was glancing around as he followed the other two ahead of him."

"This is a restaurant serving only the hotel guests. It's still 11:00 before lunch, the other guests will arrive anytime soon. Just help yourselves. You can come back if you need more. . . you want this?" Clarence explained while helping Beauty with her servings. She just stood beside him while he was putting the food to her plate first then his own afterward. His left hand was holding his plate while the other was doing the serving. He was so caring and everyone saw that, making her embarra.s.sed.

"How about me? Give me a few slices of that," said Ronald.

"You can handle yourself...Do you want more sauce?" He answered the other guy while continually serving Beauty.

"Clarence, just let me do it. It's so embarra.s.sing, people are watching," whispered Beauty to Clarence.

"So what? I want to do this. Well . . . give me your plate and go get some sweets and fruits you like."

Beauty obeyed silently and took another plate. She was self-conscious about the way he gave her so much care and attention while some guests would smilingly look at her and Clarence. The truth, some of these people knew Clarence. This was the first time they saw him serving a lady personally. While looking at Beauty's shy face, they smiled and nodded with approval.

"Well, Clarence, you brought a special lady with you. Later, your Mom and Dad will go bonkers seeing this beauty. What's her name?" An elderly man approached Clarence as he was on the way to their table.

"Oh, hi Mister Moya, glad to see you here. Don't you have a meeting now?" Clarence avoided the elder's gossipy mouth.

"It's still lunch time, the meeting will be later."

"Okay, nice to see you. Good eating." He went straight to their table then placed their plates. He went back beside Beauty and hurriedly brought her to their table.

"Let's eat and leave this place as soon as we can," Clarence said after Ronald sat down.

"I want to eat more." Ronald felt bad leaving soon when he had not gotten his fill yet.

"You can stay but don't answer unnecessary questions from people you don't know ." The two wondered why but didn't ask. Yet, they were curious.

"Oh, I change my mind, we will wait while you eat more. Honestly, I didn't know but seems there's a meeting happening here. These people sitting here are mostly my parents' a.s.sociates. These are members of the culinary organizations in the Philippines. They can be friendly but there are a few whom you shouldn't trust. Like that guy earlier. Any gossip about me will be his meal to ruin my parents standing in this circle. In fact . . . my parents might be here as well."

After saying the last sentence, his parents came in and spotted them. Claire walked fast as if running toward them with a big grin.