"Giorgio, you could have fallen. Why did you climb the tree? Thanks to this young lady that she was right here to help you in time before I came." The father patted the boy's head. "Thank the pretty lady."

The man they met was genteel and very subtle with a clean-shaven face. He had light skin, jet black hair, and sunken eyes. His dimples had been deep as he smiled and would make the observers get attracted to it. He wore a simple off-white s.h.i.+rt and blue jeans, and a pair of sandals. The boy got his dimples from his father, but her eyes had been cocoa brown and he had light brown skin.

The boy partly looked up at Beauty, "thank you, Miss pretty lady for saving me." The boy was so polite as he smiled at her shyly. Their way of talking informed the rest that they could be Italian or Spanish.

"Thank you, Miss. I'm Dino Bastianich and this is my son, Giorgio."

Before Beauty could speak, Clarence unexpectedly blurted out, "Dino Bastianich you say? The Dino Bastianich, the well-known chef of Italy?"

"Hahaha, that's exaggerated. Totally pointless t.i.tle. Not that famous but yes, I'm a chef from Italy. Honored to meet someone who is aware of my ident.i.ty. And who might you be and this lady whom I'm indebted for saving my son?"

"I'm Clarence Peres and this is Beauty Ferol, my girlfriend. We are both partic.i.p.ants in the upcoming Open Culinary Compet.i.tion. Oh, by the way, this is Sean Ferol, her brother. I'm a fan of yours. I followed your blogs and recipes online."

The boy was attentively gazing at him. All of a sudden, the boy said, "I noticed your face on TV."

Everyone's attention went to the boy. "I definitely saw you this morning in the television. Miss pretty Beauty was there too." His whole face lit up as he stated her name while he keenly stared at her.

Chef Dino appeared puzzled.

"Actually, she is one of the regional champions of the Regional Culinary Compet.i.tions nationwide that's newly concluded. Probably that's the late telecast you saw," said Clarence.

"Really? Impressive. Congratulations," said Dino.

"Thank you, simply tried my best however still lacking. I a.s.sume your dishes should be extra impressive," said Beauty.

"Don't look down on yourself. As long as you did your best, and the rest is insignificant. Come, permit me to thank you properly. My wife's brother opened a restaurant over there." He pointed an exclusive restaurant with the signage Margherita. It's only ten steps away from where they had been standing.

He brought them in and a female wearing a Filipiniana gown came out from an office. She had black hair down her shoulders and eyes matched the boy. Her face had this generous smiles, with her high cheekbones and tanned skin.

"What happened to my little Giorgio?" She enclosed the baby in her hands and kissed the infant all over his face.

"Yuck, gross, quit it, Mama." He pushed his mom and withdraw from her embrace.

"Dear, meet Beauty, she rescued Giorgio from falling from a tree."

"What? Thank you, thank you very much for saving him I don't know what more to say. Thank you." She continued to shake her hands. Dino noticed this and felt sorry for Beauty. His wife was so protective of their only son and this was the way she normally expressed herself.

"This is Rosa, my wife. She grew up here but she's also Italian. Dear, they are also chefs and Beauty won a cooking contest."

"Really? Nice, nice, come, come, take a seat. Merly, carry some juice here and some sandwiches."

They had been speaking non-stop while Clarence and Beauty enjoyed listening to them. Sean left an hour after.

While talking, Beauty recalled her challenge of making pasta. Beauty gathered her courage and said, "Chef Dino, I hope you won't mind however can you do me a favor?"

"What will that be?"

With a sheepish grin, she said, "Can you train me how to make pasta noodles? The Italian way if possible."

"That's all? Sure, however, you need to be here early morning. That's my schedule for making pasta."

She was so grateful and excited that he didn't reject her request. Clarence was happy for her. This was her longtime wish, to be mentored by a chef one on one and not just any chef. She would be studying from a well-known person this time.

Rosa was also blissful to hear she would be coming to learn for days. She was elated to have a female companion inside the all-boys kitchen. None of the two visitors knew that.

There was another inspired fan of Beauty who was overexcited to hear she would be coming every day, the little boy Giorgio.

He sat beside her while staring at her the entire time. Her fragrant smell, beautiful eyes, and sweet smile were etched in his young mind.

He was imagining she was once sitting beside him and talking to him sweetly. Suddenly, they were standing in a big dance hall. Then his clothes transformed into a black tuxedo with a pair of short pants, and she was in a blue nightgown caressing her bodice down to her ankle. They danced without care while others had been staring at them enviously. He was so radiant. He wished it would last.

About the other guy, Clarence, he noticed the infatuated eyes of the young boy. He never considered having a child as a rival. He was upset that while it's convenient to halt a young man's advancements toward Beauty but to shun a child, who was the son of one of his favorite chefs, was pretty troublesome. This boy might ask an awful lot of her time. He couldn't be that selfish to stop Beauty from coming just because of this.

He thought, why was his girlfriend attracting guys around her along with this young boy?

"Well, that's it. Beauty, I count on you tomorrow then. Don't be late, 3 sharp at dawn. Clarence, great meeting you," said Dino.

Clarence clasped her fingers to his with their palms touching and smiled at the boy.

Infatuated Giorgio didn't see anything but only Beauty at this moment.