Authors: Roxanne Regalado
He went home after walk in the park with Furball. He then took a shower and dressed up in his sleepwear, he proceeded to write down concepts about his future restaurant. He also looked for telephone numbers of the engineer and the interior designer that he would employ to build and design his future restaurant. He already decided the menu of his restaurant. Their specialty would be Chicken Condon Bleu and Buffalo Wings. They would also offer lots of kinds of vegetable salads, potato salad, fresh fruit salad, blueberry and strawberry cheesecakes, chocolate cakes, fresh fruit shakes, iced coffee float, fresh fruit juices and gelato. He almost couldn't fall asleep because of excitement.
Since he couldn't fall asleep, he decided to turn the television on. It was a talk show and their guest is none other than the most in demand woman of the moment - Ms. Violet Sanders.
"So, here with us is Ms. Violet Sanders, and we all know that she is the owner of Cuisine - a restaurant located at the heart of this city. She will cook for us tonight what we call the Aglio Olio pasta. Basically, the ingredients are pasta, olive oil, any kind of herb of your choice and Parmesan cheese", said the talk show host.
"All we have to do is to boil water and add pasta and wait until the pasta is soft enough to be eaten but not until it's too soft. When it's done, just drain the water and put the pasta in a bowl. Mix the olive oil, the herbs, the Parmesan cheese and put them on a serving plate. Now, toast two slices of buttered bread preferably French bread and add it to the plate. This goes well with a glass of lemonade of mint iced tea. It's so delicious, simple, easy to cook and the ingredients are just readily available from the supermarket", said Violet.
"It's very delicious indeed and we thank you Violet for joining us tonight on our show. Hope that we can have you here with us again soon", said the talk show host after tasting the Aglio Olio pasta that Violet just finished cooking.
"Wow, this woman is just incredible", he said to himself after turning off the television and falling asleep.
The next day he contacted the engineer that would design the building for his new restaurant.
"Hi there, good morning Mr. Santos, I would like to hire you to design a building for my new restaurant. It would be two stories tall. I hope you know how important this is for me", said he to the engineer.
"Yes, I know. I am very happy and grateful that you have chosen to hire me to build your restaurant Mr. Rafael. I would do my best for this job, so that you will not regret your decision of hiring me", said Mr. Reyes, the engineer.
"My budget for the whole building would be fifteen million pesos, so I hope that you could work around that", said he to Mr. Reyes.
"Sure, I will. When would I start working on this project, Mr. Rafael?", asked Mr. Reyes.
"That would be next week, Mr. Reyes", he told the engineer.
"Great. I'm so excited to get this project started", said the engineer.
"Yeah, me too. So, I guess I'll see you next week Mr. Reyes. It has been nice talking to you about the project", said he to the engineer.
After talking to Mr. Reyes, he checked his watch and realized that it's already lunch time. Since he is too lazy and tired to cook, he just proceeded to open a can of Spanish Sardines from Violet's deli. It tastes so good, he thought after eating it with rice. He then poured himself a glass of lemon iced tea from the glass pitcher in his refrigerator. Once he's done eating his lunch and drinking his iced tea, he proceeded to feed Furball with the dog food that he bought from the supermarket yesterday. He also poured fresh water for Furball in his water bowl.
After that he went to his bathroom to take a bath. Then he dried himself and put on his pants and shirt. He is now ready for another photo shoot with Violet. This time, she is endorsing sexy underwear and sleepwear.
Again, he is awed at how beautiful she is. He looked at her from head to foot and saw how perfect she is. She is indeed one of the most beautiful women that he has ever seen. Her hair are perfectly straight, colored golden brown, glistening and shining while cascading past her shoulders like a waterfall. Oh, how he would like to smell her hair. He is so sure that it would smell as good as it looks. In fact, he is now addicted to her smell, the smell of her perfume. She just smelled so good that he could not forget how she smelled. He would like to buy her perfume, so that he could smell it every time and everywhere he goes.
"Hi Violet! I'm wondering what your perfume is. I know that it may come out weird, but I really like the smell. I wish my girlfriend would smell like the way you do. You just don't know how I like the smell of your perfume", he told Violet.
"Well, it's actually a body spray, it's Strawberries and Champagne by Victoria's Secret. Thank you so much for your compliments Jacob", said she to him. Does he already have a girlfriend? Oh my gosh, what an unhappy thought. She has this certain kind of crush on him. He is just so handsome, hardworking and dedicated to his job. She has observed that he had been never late in going to his job. She almost laughed remembering that her perfume made him faint. She reminded herself in her thoughts not to put too much perfume again.
Once they are done with the photo shoot, he went straight to the mall to buy the body spray. He was fascinated with all the perfume and body spray choices that were on display on the counter.
"I want Strawberries and Champagne by Victoria's Secret", said he to the sales girl who's assisting him.
"Here it is sir, it's your lucky day because this is a brand new stock, it just arrived yesterday", said the sales girl.
"Great, I'll get it then", said he to the sales girl.
While he is at it, he also bought a body spray, a facial cleanser and an astringent for himself. He then went home and cooked his favorite Carbonara for his dinner. He also made one glass of iced tea and placed it in the freezer ready when he will have his dinner later on. He then took a bath to freshen up himself and dressed up in his pajamas and shirt. Then he proceeded to the dining area of his house to have his dinner of Carbonara and two slices of toasted buttered bread on the side and a glass of very cold iced tea. After that, he went to feed Furball, gave him water and then washed and dried the dishes. He then went to bed and watched the news on television. Before sleeping, he smelled the Strawberries and Champagne and hoped that he would dream about Violet tonight.
He started the next day by taking his dog, Furball, for a walk. He tends to do this daily because he longs to be physically fit until he is old. After that, he came back home and made a fresh fruit salad - mangoes, apples, lychees, strawberries, raspberries, almonds and almond milk. He swore to himself that he would live a healthy lifestyle by eating healthy food eliminating fat from his diet, eating lots of fruits, vegetables and most importantly totally eliminating drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes. He wants to live until he is very old and gray not just for himself but for his future wife and kids as well. This fruit salad will serve as his lunch for today.
After eating the salad, he fed Furball, gave him water to drink and washed the dishes. He then decided to call Violet.
"Hi Violet, good afternoon. This is Jacob Rafael, I hope that I'm not disturbing you or keeping you from doing something important", said he to her.
"Well, it's your luck Jacob, I mean Mr. Rafael, as I don't have any commitments for today", said she to him.
"That's great, I'm so happy to hear that from you Violet. By the way, just call me Jacob. I was just wondering if you would let me take you out to dinner this evening. Well, you know, I'm on the process of setting up my own restaurant and I would like to talk to you about it. Perhaps you could give me some tips in building and operating a restaurant, you now I'm really new about this whole thing and I hope you could share with me some of your experiences", said he to her.
"Sure. I'd be glad to help you while you're starting to build and setup your new restaurant", said she to him.
"How about seven o'clock this evening, I'll pick you up at six thirty. You know, I don't want it to be too late for you to go home and I want us to be able to talk without worrying about the time", said he.
"Seven o'clock would be great. See you later this evening then" she told him.
"Ok, see you later, bye!", said he putting his cellular phone down.
"Well, it seemed like I got myself a date, Furball", said he happily while he patted his dog.
After talking to Violet, he called Fusion, one of his favourite restaurants.
"Good afternoon, this is Mr. Rafael and I would like to reserve a table for two at seven o'clock tonight", said he.
"Good afternoon Mr. Rafael, yes of course we would be glad to reserve a table for two for you Sir. That would be seven o'clock tonight, am I right Mr. Rafael?", asked the person on the other end of the line.
"Yes, you're right. That would be for seven o'clock tonight. And may I get your name please?", he asked.
"It's Peter Santos Mr. Rafael, I am the head waiter here at Fusion", said Mr. Santos.
"Ok then Mr. Santos. Well, just go there by seven o'clock tonight. Bye for now", he said and ended the call.
After making the call, he took a bath, dried himself and wore his clothes. He then went to the flower shop to buy flowers for Violet. He saw that there were lots of varieties of flowers in different colors that are there - roses, daisies, freesias, chrysanthemums, orchids, tulips, sunflowers and baby's breath.
"I'll get twenty tulips that are colored red please. By the way, can you please add some baby's breath and make it into a bouquet", he asked the woman selling the flowers.
"Okay Sir. This will just take about five minutes to arrange", said the woman. She arranged the flowers into a bouquet and then handed it to him.
"Here it is Sir, the total cost would be a hundred and eighty pesos", said the woman.
"Okay, here's the payment. Thank you!", he said while handing her a hundred and eighty pesos and taking the floral bouquet from her.
After buying the flowers for Violet, he went to the mall to buy Violet a necklace - a thank you gift from him to her. He looked at all the necklaces that were on the display counter and one caught his eyes. It was a gold necklace with a heart-shaped ruby pendant. He checked the price and found out that it's not too expensive.
"I'll get that one please", said he to the sales girl. He paid for the necklace and had it gift wrapped. He chose the shiny red gift wrapper and a gold ribbon for Violet's gift. Once the gift wrapping was done, he headed back home. He fed Furball with dog food, made sure that there's water on his water bowl and then went straight to the bathroom to take a bath. He then dried his whole body with his towel, put on his gray slacks and striped multi-colored polo shirt, combed his hair and sprayed himself all over with cologne.
"Bye for now Furball", he called out to his dog. Just in time, because it was six o'clock when he checked his watch. He then locked the door of his house, went to his car and drove to Violet's house. Once he arrived at her house, he got down from the car bringing the floral bouquet with him and rang the doorbell.
"Hey, there you are. Well, can you come in for a moment? Do you want some coffee or something?", she asked him.
"Nope, I'm fine thanks", he said while sitting down on the sofa in her living room. "You have a beautiful house", he added while looking around.
"Thanks!", she said. Just then her mom and dad came out of their bedroom. "Mom and Dad, this is my friend David. He is my photographer for the photo shoot. David, they are my Mom and my Dad", said she to him.
"Nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Sanders", said he to her parents.
"Nice to meet you too, son", said Violet's Dad.
"I can see that you have some cats. How cute! What are their names?", he asked Violet.
"The brown one is named Ovaltine and the orange one is named Ginger. They were previously stray cats, but I adopted them. Aside from Mom, Dad and the cleaning lady who comes here about once or twice a week, they're my companions here in this house", she told him while putting on her Strawberries and Champagne body spray.
"Well, I think you are now all set to go?", he asked her. She looked beautiful, a plain red dress with belt at the waistline.
"Yes, I'm ready. Bye Mom, bye Dad!", she called out to her parents while they are about to leave the house.
"Bye Mr. and Mrs. Sanders!", Jacob called out to her parents.
"Which restaurant are we going to by the way?", asked she him while they are on the car.
"We're going to Fusion, it's one of my favourite restaurants. Aside from your restaurant, of course ", he told her.
"Yeah, me too. I like Fusion a lot. I used to go there a lot with my family and other times with my friends. I really like their food. I guess it's everybody's favorite restaurant ", said she.
"For me, it doesn't feel like a restaurant anymore, it's like my second home. Every time I go there, I miss eating my favorite food", said he.
The head waiter was already waiting for them by the time they arrived at the Fusion restaurant.
"Good evening Mr. Rafael and Ms. Sanders. Welcome back to Fusion. We are so happy to have you back here with us. Here is the table for two that we have reserved for both of you", said the waiter guiding them towards the table at the corner of the restaurant. He already knew Violet because she is a famous actress.
"I'm glad that you have chosen the best seat for us, Peter, thank you so much" said he to the head waiter.
"You're welcome Sir. So, here's our menu Sir and Ma'am. I'll be back in a few minutes to get your order", said the head waiter.
They both looked at the menu and decided what they want for their dinner. The head waiter came back to pour them a glass of cold water.
"I'll order Roast Beef with Mashed Potato on the side", he said to the waiter.
"I'll have Fish Fillet with Lemon Butter Sauce", she told the waiter.
"Oh, don't forget two cups of rice, Garden Salad and two glasses of Lemonade. For dessert, I'll have Blueberry Cheesecake to be served later after our meal", he told the waiter. "How about you, what are you going to have for dessert?", he asked her.
"I guess I'll have Sans Rival, to be served later also. That's all, thank you", she told the waiter.
"Ok Sir, Ma'am. Let me just repeat your order. That would be Roast Beef with Mashed Potato, Fish Fillet with Lemon Butter Sauce, two cups of rice, one Garden Salad good for two, two glasses of freshly squeezed Lemonade, Blueberry Cheesecake and Sans Rival for dessert which is to be served later", said the waiter.
"Yes, you got it right", said they both.
"So, how long have you had your restaurant? Is it difficult for you as the owner of a restaurant? If it is, then which exactly is the difficult part?", he asked.
"Well, at first, when I was just starting out, it was a bit difficult especially when it comes to managing your employees. But, now I have employed a restaurant manager, so it's all running smoothly. All in all, I have twenty employees in my restaurant. Aside from the restaurant manager, I have four chefs - two for pastry, seven waiters, four kitchen assistants, one purchaser, one janitor, one dish washer and one security guard. The secret is to treat them all nicely and they will stay loyal to you and not look for other jobs", she told him.
"Wow, it seems like you got a lot of people working for you in your restaurant. Do they ask you for a salary raise?", he asked her.
"No, because I gave them a big salary from the beginning. I have already foreseen that if I give them a small salary to begin with, they will either transfer to another job or ask me for a raise. I don't want to keep on looking for another employee again to replace them, so I just gave them a big salary and I guess that's what made them stay with me for a long time and not only that, they're also doing a very good job. They are really serious about their job and their responsibilities. So far, I haven't encountered any major problems with running the restaurant", said she.
"Wow, that's good to hear that your restaurant has been running smoothly for some time now. I really admire how it seems that you are so very successful in all your endeavors. I mean, aside from running a restaurant, you are one of the busiest and most in demand actress and model at this time", said he.
"Yes, I guess I'm just so lucky and blessed. I just do my best in every endeavor and especially in my restaurant. Important thing is that you just have to make sure that everything you need is readily available. You also need to make sure that you're able to serve the food right away. You know how hungry people are always angry when it takes too long for you to serve their food. They also get angry and annoyed if the food is not available", she explained.
"Yes, I can surely relate to that. People, who are hungry, are in a bad mood and are quick-tempered. I'd be sure to employ a lot of chefs and kitchen assistants in my restaurant because I don't want people to complain or write something negative about my restaurant. I'd make the portions big as well to make sure that people will get the value for their money. Aside from the main menu, I will also make a menu just for kids, you know food like spaghetti and fried chicken, food that, I know, kids would love to eat", said he.
"Yes, that's a good idea indeed. I think I would do the same for my restaurant, since I like having kids eating there. It's good that you reminded me. How could I forget about the kids", said she.
They enjoyed talking when the food finally arrived. As usual, they were awed at how the food was presented in front of them. It took quite a long time for the food to be served, they we're so very hungry that they ate their food without talking to each other.
"Funny, how it seemed like we don't know each other while we we're eating", said he.
"I don't know about you, but I was really famished. Not to mention, it took quite a long time for the food that we ordered to arrive", said she.
"Yeah, but it was indeed worth the wait. The food was so delicious. Thank you so much for going out for dinner with me, Violet. And one more thing before I forget, I have a little token of appreciation for all that you have shared with me about your experience in running a restaurant. You are so very helpful indeed and I thank you so much for all the help that you gave me", said he to her while giving her the little gift box with the necklace inside.
"Wow, thank you too for this gift. Very thoughtful of you, I wasn't expecting it", said she. She opened the gift and saw the necklace. "It's just so beautiful", said she to him.
"Here, let me put it on you", he said and then went to her side of the table to put the necklace on her lovely neck. "It sure looks good on you especially that it matches the color of the dress that you're wearing right now", he said to her with admiration.
"It does look great with my dress", said she.
"We need the bill please", he told the waiter. They both went out of the restaurant after paying the bill.
"It was great to have dinner with you, Jacob", said she to him while they were going towards the car.
"Me too, I really had a great time. I hope that we could see each other again next time", said he.
"Yeah. I do too. I want to see you again soon", said she.