A Very Good Place To Start

Nueve

"Casa Isabella does deliveries now?!" Her friend Carmen exclaimed in surprise. They've been friends since college which is primarily why she knows of the restaurant. She's primarily US-based but came home to oversee the construction of her resort which is spearheaded by Lea's firm. "Maloka ako! I've been craving for Tarta Santiago ever since I arrived but the waiting list is insanely long!"

Lea shrugs and says nonchalantly, "perks of being the owner's daughter," and chuckles, "but mostly because I'm the head chef's best friend."

Carmen's mouth forms an o and then a teasing grin. "You mean Christian, right?"

Lea nods and begins to unwrap today's food package.

"You know, you've known each other so long. Amazing how 'di pa rin kayo sawa with each other."

"What can I say? I'm a keeper," Lea says, which has her friend chuckling.

"Hay nako, if I hadn't heard you both say hindi kayo talo a lot in college, I'd think you're really in love with each other. Didn't you say that you are co-parenting and living together? Lei, are you sure na 'di talaga kayo talo?"

A bombshell of a question that almost threw her off her balance.

"Of course not!" Lea sputtered faster than expected. "Besides, it's Ian! I've seen him play with booger when we were 8."

Carmen chuckles and grabs Lea's fork to take a bite out of the dessert she opened first. "Sure, Lei." Lea's huffed and tried to dismiss it but Carmen was well aware of the red spreading across her cheeks. "You know what though? Sticking with someone for more than 30 years and mothering his child is nothing short of devotion, for someone not committed to him. At this point, kulang nalang ng contract and wedding ring because you guys are practically married anyway."

And it rings in her head the rest of the afternoon and the evening that followed. She hadn't really thought about how their arrangement would be perceived although to be fair, she's never really cared about what other people thought of. But Carmen had some very very valid points.

For one, she really is mothering his child. Two, they really are living together– granted it's not together. Three... and oh god this is something their parents would sometimes jokingly say but they do argue like an old married couple. For people from the outside who do not understand their arrangements (not like they're making an effort to actually make people understand), they are all but married on fucking paper.

Fuck, she curses silently at the quandary they have created. But then, an intrusive thought comes about: you did agree on marrying by forty.

Gaga, that was a joke, she scolds herself. But there must have been a devil on top of her shoulder who whispers: joke nga ba?

Though... would it be so bad?

SHOULD THEY END UP TOGETHER:

She'd probably end up designing their forever home and overseeing its construction... maybe in one of their more laid back properties... Tagaytay doesn't seem so bad but Ian once mentioned wanting to live in Baguio.

She will never get to skip lunch again because he would quite literally bring the kitchen to her.
She would most likely get dragged into weekend long rides along the most scenic highways which she enjoys if she is honest.

He will most likely tag along whenever she needs to go out of town. He does that a lot because he's just the kind of guy who loves outdoors.

She will forever get to keep her drinking buddy, and they'll get through life one bottle of vodka at a time.
She'd probably get into more kitchen incidents that he will have to get under control but that's his turf anyway.