"Is this it?" Lea asked as they entered the Ricky's private kitchen.
Landon smiled. By the looks of Lea, he could tell that it didn't meet her expectations on how it would look like. "What were you expecting?"
"Well, since he's a big time chef like you, I thought it would be fairly large and be full of cutting edge gears," Lea honestly expressed.
"Disappointed, huh?" Landon pulled one of the wooden island chairs and offered it to Lea. "This kitchen wasn't like this before." He dragged another one and sat on it. "Ricky has already remodeled it – move a wall here, cut an opening there – certain moves that allowed the space to be more visually open and would allow him to move freely," he added.
"Efficiency?"
"As a professional, we, chefs, work with what we have. What we always wanted in a kitchen is to take the least amount of steps possible." He stood up and walked toward the refrigerator and gently tapped it. "The closer this thing is with the other cooking surface, the better." He smiled.
"Does that mean that the fridge is the most important thing in the kitchen?"
Landon shook his head. "Nope." He walked toward near the center island and placed his right hand on the cutting board. "This is the ground zero of the kitchen. Everything flows from it. This cutting board is the center of this kitchen world." He then pointed the fridge and other kitchenware as he mentioned them accordingly. "The flow is from the fridge to the cutting board, to the range, and then over to the sink."
"I see. So is this true to all chefs? How about your kitchen?" she curiously asked.
"Mine is a bit complicated."
"How come?"
"The hotel's kitchen is the same."
"How about your place?"
When Lea noticed that Landon was hesitant to answer, she immediately apologized, "I'm sorry! I shouldn't ask that."
"It's okay. It's just that our kitchen, through time, has already accumulated meaningful memories. Besides, I'm not creating new dishes at home."
"Work is work, huh?" Lea tried to shift the topic. She felt stupid for not keeping in mind what Shira had found out about him. Her logic seemed to be off tangent tonight as she just kept on saying things without thinking on how the other person might feel.
"I think we should get started, if not, we might get some words later."
"I believe so."
"So, what do you want to serve?"
"Oh no! No way! I would just help you. I'm not the one who had been branded as the famous and eligible bachelor chef here. You're the chef. You should have plenty of recipes in your sleeves."
"Famous and–"
"Please forget what I've just said," Lea pleaded as she tried to compose herself due to embarrassment from what she just blurted out.
Landon smilingly nodded. "Alright then. Que Sera, Sera, whatever will be, will be..."
"Whatever will be, will be?"
"Yeah! Doris Day? 1955?"
Lea crossed her arms. "I know that. My parents owned a radio station. And by the way, it's 1956 not 1955." Lea mockingly smiled as she felt herself relax a little.
"My mistake." He then turned his back on her and opened the fridge. "Let's see now. What do we got here." He surveyed the content of the fridge and glanced back at Lea. "This should work." He grabbed some of the berries, strawberry, blueberry and raspberry and showed them to Lea.
"What are you going to do with those?" She gave an indifferent shrug.
Landon shook his head. "You would be the one who would make a dessert out of these." He smiled.
Lea bristled. "Wait! What did you say?"
"You would be making the dessert out of these berries."
Lea pointed at herself. "Me? You're kidding right?"
"Do I look like I'm joking?" Landon suppressed a laugh.
"Hell no! I'm just here to learn and at most help you. Rinse things here and there. That's it."
"Exactly! That's the point. You're here to learn. And the best way to learn is doing it yourself."
"No way!" she quickly refused. "I'll just watch you. I can learn also by just watching you as well." She raised her hands, creating a wall between them.
"Don't worry! It's an easy dessert to make. Besides, it doesn't involve fire." He placed the berries in her hands, got the other ingredients in the fridge and placed them on the island. "I would guide you how," he added.
When Lea perceived that she wouldn't able to win over Landon's persistence, she stood up and placed the berries on the island, "Okay, fine! What do you want me to do?" She put both of her hands on her hips.
Landon smiled, feeling a surge of relief on convincing her easily. "You could start by wearing this." He showed her an apron he just grabbed and helped her tie it on her back.
Lea wasn't sure what to think, other than being still. She didn't move an inch after she wore the apron and Landon was helping her tie it. She couldn't say a word as well. Lea remained silent as she tried to calm herself. She was simply shocked by what he did.
Not wanting him to see her reaction, she walked away from him and asked, "What's next?"
"Then wash the berries," Landon instructed as he pulled a knife and placed it on the cutting board.
When Lea was done rinsing the berries, she turned around and was about to give them to Landon, for him to work on his magic but he just smiled at her, reminding her that she would do all by herself.
"Cut the strawberries," Landon motioned toward the knife and cutting board while sitting comfortably.
"You won't really help me, would you?" Lea mockingly asked.
Landon simply nodded, thinking how nice it was to be in a kitchen again. He may not be doing the work, at the very least, he was able to give instructions and teach someone how to do a dish.
A moment of silence took over the room. Neither one of them could think of a topic to talk about as Lea was busy cutting the berries. "How did you learn how to cook?" Lea asked.
"Well, I didn't have friends growing up--"
"How about Abby and Enrico? Aren't they your friends?" Lea interrupted.
"They are but when I was in New York, I grew up in the company of employees at my father's hotel. To waste time, I get to mess around in the kitchen. I learned by watching some of the best chefs in our hotel until I started experimenting with some of the ingredients available. From a mere child's wasting time, it ended up as my career." He stood up and got some of the sherbet glasses on the cabinetry.
Applying her learning in psychology, Lea sensed from Landon's facial expression that he was consciously skipping some of his memories. His eyes were as frail as he was. She, moreover, understood the sensitivity of the matter. She knew he had a good reason for doing so. Whatever they maybe, she hoped he could overcome them. "What's the name of your father's hotel?" she curiously asked.
"Regal Mansion," Landon answered.
Lea stopped from cutting and shockingly stared at Landon. "Oh, geez! The Regal Mansion?" she asked.
Landon simply nodded.
"Hold on," Lea said, thinking. "The one in Manhattan?"
"My father technically owned the biggest share within the franchise. The one in Manhattan is the first and oldest. Is there something wrong?"
"Do you know all the chefs in the Manhattan branch?" Lea sounded hopeful.
Lea was pumped up upon hearing him say the name of the hotel. It was the same hotel that the chef she was looking for used to work for. She thought it was a heaven's blessing knowing that the man standing in front of her is the heir of the hotel. She was hopeful at the same time anxious on what Landon would answer if she would ask him about the person she was looking for.
He tilted his head from side to side. "Ah most of them, I guess, before I permanently stayed here in Myrtle. Why do you ask?"
"Remember this morning when I told you that I was looking for someone?"
Landon nodded and wrinkled his nose. "Yeah, why?"
"The person I was looking for used to work at the Regal Mansion in Manhattan." Lea exhaled deeply as she felt a blood rush in her. "Do you know someone whom they used to call Chef Padroncino?"
Instead of answering her, Landon stood up, opened up the fridge and got two containers of sherbets, vanilla and strawberry. He placed them on the island and said, "Padroncino, huh?"
"Yeah, it's an Italian word for young master," Lea explained.
"Young master? Hmmm!" He sat back on his chair. "What if, let us say, I know that person, what do you want from that person?" He motioned at Lea to continue cutting.
"There was this wedding I have attended once at the Regal Mansion. That person made the wedding cake for that occasion. I'm hoping for him to recreate it..." She paused. "...It's for someone close to my heart." She glanced back at Landon. "So can you tell me who he is?"
"I know him but..." He expectantly looked at her in the eye. "I don't think that person would agree to do it." He pointed at the sherbets and motioned at her to place some on the glasses.
"Why not?" Lea started to scoop some of the vanilla and strawberry sherbets and placed them on the glasses.
"Because I can't and won't go back to Regal Mansion," he admitted.
Lea stopped what she was doing. "Wait, did I hear you correctly?" She pointed at him. "You're him?"
Landon nodded.
"Thank God! I finally found you." She had a big smile on her face. It was a smile of relief after almost giving up on searching for him. "It wouldn't be in Regal Mansion. It's in California. Please, say you would."
Landon silently just stared at her. Landon always had difficulty rejecting a request from someone even from a stranger. He couldn't stand facing someone pleading at him. If he could help in whatever way he can, he would. "Finished that first..." He pointed at the dessert she was preparing. "...Or else we would be hearing a lot of accusations later and let me first think about it." He showed a little beam.
"Thank you!" Lea happily expressed while finishing what she was doing.
"Don't thank me yet. I just said that I would think about it."
"At least you didn't say you wouldn't do it." She contentedly smiled at him.
Back at the open deck, Julie, who was intrigued about the relationship of Alfonso and Ricky, asked, "Why don't you just manage one restaurant rather having two different restaurants?"
"Let me answered that," Mavis volunteered.
Landon's friends just smiled. They knew Mavis knows the reason why. Such topic has been brought out several times in their Thursday night gatherings. He had already memorized their answer as he had always been with them.
"It's the chef's pride," Mavis answered and Landon's friends burst in laughter. "Am I wrong Uncle Al?"
"You're right." Alfonso winked at him.
Mavis was right. A chef has an unshakable pride of owning a restaurant. It's something, which a chef values the most. To some, it's their life. For others, it's their baby. Whatever they call it, all of the chefs would agree that owning and managing a restaurant has always been their pride and joy.
"What's taking them for so long?" Abby checked her watched.
"Maybe Lea has done it again," Julie sarcastically remarked.
"Let's hope not," Ryan grimaced.