The Turnover [EDITING]

Chapter 4

“Sean only comes for the food,” Paul interjected.

“Admit it, Paul,” I said. “You like having him around because you like having a guy your age at the dinner table.”

Paul shrugged, and went back to eating more chicken.

A few minutes later, talk around the dinner table went back to Paul and his lack of kitchen skills. 

“Corned beef is the only thing he can do well,” Neri said. “Corned beef with cabbage. Corned beef with potatoes.”

“Corned beef with cabbage and potatoes,” added Eloisa. “That’s my favorite, and we don’t even celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.”

“That’s what I keep telling John Paul,” said Pappy. “He won’t have a love life if he does not learn how to cook soon.”

 Paul shook his head. “Enough about me,” he said. “Monica, do you know how to cook?”

I cleared my throat. “I’m more of a baker, actually. Ever since I graduated from the culinary academy, I’ve done more baking than cooking.”

“But you do cook for your Tita Violet, right?”

“Sometimes,” I answered. “Nothing too fancy. When I’m not too busy, I make sinigang with salmon bellies for her.”

“Where do you get your salmon bellies?”

“The supermarket,” I said. “I rarely have time to go to the wet market.”

“Paul knows how to shop at the wet market,” Neri interrupted. “He knows how to buy rice and bargain for vegetables, but ask him to cook—“

“I said enough, Neri,” he answered.

Now I was growing suspicious. What was this family trying to tell me about Paul?

Eloisa stood up from the table. “I’m getting the dessert out of the fridge,” she said. “Monica, would you like to help me out in the kitchen?”

Gladly, I wanted to answer. “Sure, I can help you out. Pappy, Mommy G—“

“Go help Eloisa,” Pappy answered. “We’re excited about dessert.”

“What is going on?” I asked Eloisa. “Please don’t tell me they know about me and Paul.”

“I didn’t tell anyone,” she answered. “It’s just that Paul usually doesn’t invite people to have dinner with us.”

“Has he done this before?”

She let out a heavy sigh. “You asked the other day if he’d been involved with another girl.”

No. “I guess.”

“Well, the last time Paul invited someone to have dinner with us… she said ‘yes’ to him.”

 “Ex-girlfriend?”

“Ex-fiancée.” She took out her dish from the refrigerator. “It’s a long story.”

The alarm bells started to ring in my head. I had to wonder what kind of unfortunate creature would agree to datePaul, let alone marry him.

“So let me get this straight,” I said. “Paul used to bring his girlfriend over for dinner?”

“Yes.”

“Were they together long?”

“Since their first year in college,” she answered. “Love at first sight. Kind of like me and Sean, except more conservative.”