The Perfect Beat

WHO KNEW THE 90'S WOULD BE THAT ADDICTIVE

It was bright and sunny outside when I woke up this morning. I decided to do my laundry because I didn’t want to waste the sunshine to dry my clothes outside the garden. I was almost done hanging my clothes on the clothesline when I got frightened by the scream that suddenly came from behind me. It was Damien, why that psycho almost gave me a heart attack. ‘Aren’t you supposed to come by my house at three? It’s only 10 o’clock, you need to fix your watch’ I told him with a agitated tone of voice as I hung the last shirt in the bin. He moved beside me and lifted the bin from the ground. ‘There isn’t any problem with my watch, it’s you who has a problem’ I was bombarded by what he uttered. Have I done something wrong? Did I forget to give something back? Or even worse -- Did he found out that I have feelings for him?. I was panicking inside without even showing it. ‘Why me? I didn’t do anything wrong, I’m basically an angel’ I crossed my arms and leaned on the post just so he wouldn’t notice that I was getting anxious.   
    He chuckled as he slowly step up to me. ‘I agree, you are an angel and maybe that’s why you wouldn’t want me; a little devil to step into your backyard at this time of day. Well I better get going then’ He gently place the bin in front of me and started walking slowly towards the gate. I cut him short as I shouted ‘No! Don’t leave!’. He turned around with a grin on his face. Man, is he handsome as hell. ‘You sure you wanna let the devil in?’ he sternly asked. My hands instantly turned into a water fall after hearing his deep and manly voice. I wanted to kiss him right this second but I held back my urge to do so. ‘You’re not a devil, obviously. You’re a freakin’ God!’. I gasped, tell me I did not just say those exact words in his face. ‘Well, I would never see myself that close as to a God possibly just a demigod but thanks for the compliment’ he smiled as he placed his hand at the back of his neck. ‘Yeah, let’s go with that’ I grabbed the bin as fast as I can and was headed straight to the door. Damien was right behind me and said ‘If you really didn’t want for me to come by your house without telling you first hand, It’s okay. I’ll stop because you seem to be unease earlier’ He was heading inside the kitchen when I stopped him ‘No, I mean I just ...’ I was having trouble finding the words to say, I took a deep breath and continued. ‘I’m sorry if you felt you weren’t welcome here because of me. Okay, you can come by anytime you want. We’re so close that we’re practically siblings now. Mi casa su casa’. He gave me the sweetest smile and headed to the cabinet and took a skillet. ‘Don’t worry I’ll be the one cooking for today’ he then started to prepare all of his ingredients and luckily my dad just bought some groceries yesterday. I didn’t know what got into me, wanting him to make an appointment first before coming over when I am dying to wanna have to see him every single day.
   Minutes later I heard someone say ‘Now, what’s that delightful smell?’ It was my dad coming down from upstairs. When he saw me in the kitchen cooking he quickly came up and asked in disbelief ‘I didn’t know you knew how to cook. That looks good sweetie’ I just giggled and said ‘I’m just helping, I’m not the one who’s cooking this.’ My dad gave a confused look at me then Damien came out while carrying the eggs he got from the pantry. ‘Well I wouldn’t be a good chef without having the best sue chef in town. Good morning Stan’ he said as he stood by next to me and continued cooking. ‘I’ll set up the table then’ My dad uttered as he got out the plates and glasses. ‘But this is just the aromatics. It’s still going to take like 50 minutes.’
My dad was still learning about this cooking stuff that he thought it’s just gonna be a quick recipe. Thinking he would just fry something up given by Damien’s age and that he has servants to do the work for him. He though he was still learning, well he was wrong. We were so used to eating ready to cook meals from the grocery store that we didn’t know it would take that long. He cooked something called ‘Adobo’ he said it’s a filipino dish that he learned from his half filipino grand father when he was still alive. It’s made with pork or chicken simmered in soy sauce and vinegar with loads of black pepper and crushed garlic. This was the first time dad and I got to try this dish and let me just tell you it was absolutely, spectacularly delicious. It was packed with flavor, was a bit spicy but the heat was bearable. ‘You need to teach me how to cook this.’ Dad said to Damien and he agreed to; saying that he would love to teach him the recipe and other filipino dishes that he knows. ‘You heard that Emma? I’m telling you, never let this one go. He’s a keeper.’ We were both dumbfounded and I got a little embarrassed thinking about what Damien would think. ‘Even if she’d hate me for life I’d still cook for her and send it to her house. You would miss my cooking so bad after this and I don’t want to upset you twice.’ he said jokingly as he put his gaze on me. ‘I could cook for myself too you know. I just need to watch some tutorials on youtube and a little practice. I bet I’ll even be better than you.’ I uttered as if I was challenging him then dad interrupted ‘No chance honey, I get the feeling that he’s the better cook here’ I immediately turned to him and asked who his real child was because he was taking Damien’s side very often these past few days.
   He got silent for a while then swallowed what he was eating ‘Of course you’re my daughter but I’m just saying you still need a whole LOT of practice’ he laughed as if it was that funny. ‘Coming from someone who burnt an egg and the egg got stuck on a non-stick pan so he needed to throw it out and buy another one.’ I said mockingly. I could sense that Damien was about to burst out laughing but he was barely holding it in. ‘Okay! You see, I didn’t know how that happened the boy from the store that we bought that pan scammed me for sure. It wasn’t my fault I just know it. It’s a non-stick pan!’ he dramatically said as he swung his spoon everywhere getting drops of sauce on the table. Damien and I looked at him then each other and before we knew it both of us were laughing. Dad realized he got a little too dramatic about a pan that he burst out laughing as well.
  We finished eating. Dad took care of the dishes and I cleaned the table. Damien was in the living room going through dad’s old video game console. ‘Hey, does this still work?’ Damien asked. ‘Yup, wait for me in a sec I’ll turn it on for you’ Dad said as he was putting away the last dirty dishes in the dish washer. There were still some wire that needs to get plugged in but after a while the console turned on. There were multiple games that popped onto the television screen that we didn’t know what to pick so we asked dad what his favorite game was and we’ll try it. ‘Definitely Mortal Combat and it can be a two player game. Your mom and I used to play this whenever...’ He paused and before I could ask him about mom he got a call on his phone; it was from his office. ‘Really dad? On a Saturday?’ He briefly looked at his phone and uttered ‘Sorry kids but I gotta take this call. Enjoy the game.’ He headed upstairs in a hurry.
   That was the first time he talked about mom. I though I was about to get some information about mom today but maybe another time will come. At least a know that he still haven’t forgotten about my mom. I felt a hand on my shoulder. ‘Are you okay?’ Damien asked. I told him I was fine and went on to start the game. The game was fun, no wonder mom and dad loved this game so much but after 5 rounds we decided to pick a different game. There were so many choices that we didn’t even know where to start. Damien suggested the we go from A to Z and so we did. Some games didn’t have a two player option so we would just skip them. We got so hooked on the video game that we didn’t notice that it was about to get dark outside. I looked at the stairs and asked Damien if he noticed dad get down. He told me that he didn’t so I told him to turn off the game and I would go upstairs to check on him. When I got to his room I saw him on his laptop working. I knocked on his door and asked if he’s been working all afternoon. ‘Yes sweetie, the boss wanted me to present a presentation for him tomorrow. It was very sudden but I needed to do it.’ I approached him and asked ‘Isn’t that a little too much? I mean it’s a Saturday you shouldn’t be working.’ He took of his glasses and sigh ‘Work is work honey. One day you’ll understand.’ I asked him if he was done finishing the presentation but he still needs another two hours to finish and polish it. He told me to go out and just grab some food for us both because he said he already ate earlier that we just didn’t notice him come down. He didn’t want to disturb us because he saw that we were so focused on the game and he just let us be. ‘I remembered when I was playing a game and my dad was constantly asking me about something, I lost the game. Gosh, I resented him for 3 days and I didn’t want that to happen to us as well. Just being careful coz’ I don’t want you having a heavy heart because of me.’
Now that he mentioned that, now’s my chance to ask him about mom but after I asked him, his boss video called and I heard him say to my dad that he needs to finish the presentation right away. ‘Maybe some other time then’ I walked out the door as I can still hear his scolding him for taking too long.