"Hello, I'm Amy and this is my twin sister Mary." Amy and Mary simultaneously bowed their heads. "Your name is Tina, right? Nice to meet you! And wow! You are gorgeous."
Seeing the reaction of these twin sisters, Tina smiled thinly.
"Wow. Thank you." She quietly mumbled, "As you know, I am Tina Alford. It's nice to meet you too."
Amy and Mary nodded and stood a step further. They glanced between Tina and Tom for a while, each seemingly pondering over something. Suddenly, they stared at him with a strange look.
He looked at them, pondering something for a second, before realizing something.
"Ah, right. Umm, Tina?" He approached his step sister and stepped forward, placing his hands on Amy and Mary's shoulders. "These girls are my girlfriends... I mean, both of them, so..."
Of course, this had been sorted out already and was well accepted by the twins. The problem was his step-sister. Would Tina be okay if he publicly announced that they were his girlfriends?
Tina showed her surprise. From Amy and Mary's stunned face, it wasn't only a performance from her.
But her expressions quickly returned to normal.
"Brother... Are you sure you're not pranking me right now?" Tina asked him with a calm voice.
It's subtle and full of respect, no coldness that he normally associated with her.
Not entirely satisfied with his previous answer, Tom decided to go straight up to the point.
"Mary and Amy are my girlfriend. No prank."
Tina took a silent stance once again and looked at both Amy and Mary. Her eyes gazed past them, seemingly looking into the world, before returning her gaze on them. She nodded.
"I will believe you." She said to Tom. "But I would like a moment of discussion. Is it fine with you? With Amy and Mary, I mean."
"It's okay with me." Amy said with a light heart.
"I am fine too." Mary smiled.
His step-sister remained silent for a bit, simply staring at them, studying their faces. But soon, she smiled.
"Please, follow me. I will also show you your room later." She said in a soft tone. "And brother, your room is still the same as before. I'd like you to rest, but... Father said to tell you to go to the restaurant straight away, so..."
"Got it. I'll start right now." Tom didn't dawdle or stand silent. He moved his legs and immediately headed to the beach located nearby.
The distance between their house and the beach was only five minutes. Arriving there, he could immediately see the scenery his family had passed down through generations.
A line of square-shaped wooden tables with corresponding four chairs were a distinct feature, surrounding both sides.
But most important of all was the open kitchen and the ocean view. Many guests had always lined up to ask for a seat here as its views and sunsets and sunrises were greatly sought out by tourists.
Tom walked closer and saw a man in the open kitchen. His hair was almost the same color as him, only messier, more casual, and carefree. Just looking at it, anyone could tell his rebellious trait.
He was Tom's biological father, David Alford.
"Dad." Tom greeted him first.
As he approached the restaurant, the older guy, dressed casually with black T-shirt and gray apron, turned to him. A large smile spread on his face and the older guy waved his hands.
"Son! Look at how good you've been! Looking a little bit bulky and sharp. A college debut? Or having a girl or two has been working on you well, hmm?"
David proudly cackled while waving his knife, making Tom a little nervous. Yet he kept his cool and didn't bother to be nervous over the slightly dangerous tool.
His dad had always been like this; proud, reckless, energetic, and a jokester. Still, there was no other person that he would feel more grateful for.
"Well, the last one might be the one that changed me a lot. We will talk about that later." Tom took an apron and wore it immediately, "What should I do here?"
David hummed to himself and pulled Tom's shoulder.
"Your job today is the simplest one."
"Is that so?" He crossed his arms, assuming a pose of greatness, "Name one and I will surpass your expectation."
"Okay, Mr. Wonderboy." David nodded his head, grinning before grabbing a pair of knives. He looked at Tom from head to toe and added.
"Today is a big day, so make sure every young girl who crosses this restaurant's path returns from us with your awesome look. Hahaha, be a poster boy for tonight. I never thought I would ask you this, but get us more customers!"
Their short conversation ended as David swung his knife and carved an onion into dice in less than ten seconds. While Tom was still staring at the way he held the knives, his father immediately turned around to focus back to his work, grilling and frying the meat.
The enticing, mouth-watering aroma of meat sizzling on the grill, with the mixed scent of teriyaki, quickly drew the attention of several people at the nearby table, attracting more customers to fill the emptiness. The part-timers ran to greet and take their orders.
However, the restaurant wasn't full yet. It was his job to get more customers using his improved look.
Sighing, Tom went to the front to get some customers' attention. He thought this was also a good chance to find the disguised person who was actually not a human.
Shortly after becoming their poster boy, a couple of women, who looked like new students in college, already reached their restaurant and looked around, chatting merrily. Some even tried to start a conversation with him.
"Hey, are you single? How about going with us instead of posing here?"
"I saw you on my way here? My friend and I are alone. How about accompanying us?"
Naturally, he turned them down, using his girlfriend's reasoning. A few did not take his refusal well and left in a loud voice.
Still, it didn't discourage him and continued the operation. The sun reached the highest point and many people visited for lunch. He used
─Ding!
─Appraisal Result
Name: Yuriko Katase
Age: 27 years old
Race: Human
Condition: Healthy
Personality: Insatiable, Kind, Pleasant and Lusty
Title: Chef wife, Excelling cook
Yuriko Katase's Secret: She's on a cheating vacation with her boss
─Ding!
─Appraisal Result
Name: Irene Wood
Age: 18 years old
Race: Human
Condition: Healthy
Personality: Uptight, Arrogant, A perfectionist
Title: Best First-rate, The first in everything, Strict
Irene Wood's Secret: She has a wild fantasy that her father killed her boyfriend and stored his corpse in a barrel