The Detective: Frankiana

CHAPTER 2: Classic Beef Lasagna

Hannah crashed her body in the driver seat once she has entered her car. She admits it, it has been very tiring since her last partner, Detective Salazar, died in a shootout in an attempt to raid a warehouse thought to be a laboratory for Methamphetamine, better known as Shabu, owned by one of the most wanted high-profile criminals in the Philippines.

Detective Salazar has always been an inspiration to Hannah. She conceded to herself that maybe, just maybe, she's gotten her wit, stance, and kindness from her late partner whose persona almost seemed as if coming from a Hollywood action movie. Yep, that's how cool her partner was, and she thanks the universe for having crossed paths with the late Detective.

She breathed deeply for a few, got her sunglasses from the dash and proceeded to ignite her car. It has been one hell of a day and she convinced herself she needed good coffee, so she dashed off to the nearest Starbucks.

'Great. Just great.' she thought. Why the hell would she forget to not come at this Starbucks at three in the afternoon? It has always been full-packed here at these hours because of the students coming from Treston, an International College, nearby.

'If I was not that hungry, I could just easily go to another branch nearby. But well, I'm hungry as hell so there's no turning back.' She said to herself. She still has not taken her lunch and she was specifically craving for some Classic Beef Lasagna so it did not matter if there were lots of people inside, she'd probably just share a table with a stranger because she was very, very hungry and was salivating at the thought of the deliciously cheesy red beef sauce, béchamel, and gooey mozzarella cheese.

She headed to the counter and ordered a Grande Iced Matcha and Espresso Fusion and a Classic Beef Lasagna.

"I'm sorry miss but we have run out of Classic Beef Lasagna. The customer before you just bought it. Maybe that's why you may have seen it in the stands a while ago but it is really sold out." Anton, she read the barista's pin, explained to her.

'Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool your head.' She encouraged herself to not lose her cool despite having been turned down of her great lasagna craving. She has been craving for it since morning and disappointed was an understatement. But she sure was hungry as hell so she decided to order another pasta on the menu.

"Okay. I guess I'll just be having Penne Pesto with Mushroom instead." She said timidly at the barista.

"Sure. May I get your name please?"

"Hannah. Double N with the H."

"Okay miss Hannah. That would be 400 pesos." The barista said smiling, and she gave him her Starbucks card.

"Here's your receipt and your card, miss. Just wait for it at the bar. I'll just heat your pasta for a minute." And so she obliged.

She was carefully looking for a vacant spot as she waited for her order in the counter. She didn't want to sit near where groups of students were sitting together because she didn't want to be thought of as a loner. And she also didn't want to sit where couples were seated because she doesn't want to look like a third-wheel. So she proceeded to look for a table with only one occupant, and there she found just in the corner, a girl alone at a table, reading a newspaper.

'Okay, so I'll just sit in front of newspaper girl.' She said as the barista behind the counter finally called her name and handed in her order. She then made her way in front of 'newspaper girl'.

"Hey. I'm Hannah. Can I share this table with you?" she shyly asked the other but got no reply. She studied the girl behind the newspaper and grinned slightly. 'Naka Airpods pala.' She said to herself and proceeded to sit anyway which caused the table to move slightly.

The girl behind the newspaper adjusted her gaze to meet her eyes and blankly stared at her, so she smiled at the girl and said again, "Mind if I share?" as she then turned her head around the café to signify that there were no other vacant spot.

The other girl smiled and nodded lightly and then continued to gaze at the newspaper she was reading a while back. 'Hmm. Fair-skinned, chestnut brown hair, well-trimmed eyebrows, light brown eyes, pointy nose, light smile, beautiful face, well-done nails, black top, newspaper.' She mentally noted while eating, as if studying a target. 'Basing on her face, if she's not a foreigner, she's probably a half-Filipina like me.'

'TODS? Is that her name or what? and oh! Tall Hot Matcha and Espresso Fusion.' She mentally read the other girl's cup. 'But milk substituted with soymilk? Huh. Interesting. I should try that sometime.' She happily thought, but her observation was crashed when her eyes were directed to the half empty Classic Beef Lasagna. 'So she was the customer before me. Ugh. I was craving for that lasagna all morning!'

Her mental notes, side comments and chewing were distracted when the other girl folded the newspaper, thumbed her hair, grabbed her drink, and stood in her place. So Hannah diverted her gaze to meet the other girl's. "Let me excuse myself. I have to go now." The other girl said in a European accent, but Hannah couldn't distinguish if it was Swedish or Norwegian. The other girl was wearing a light smile, and was holding her cup up as if saying cheers to Hannah. Hannah returned her smile and nodded slightly. The other girl dismissed herself and Hannah followed her with her eyes as the newspaper girl headed to the magazine rack to return the newspaper she was reading earlier and walked through the door.

'A European accent, black leggings, black boots, courteous, stiff, and tall. Wow. She's hot.' Hannah smiled at the thought. It was as if the newspaper girl just came out of an International Spy movie. 'But she didn't even finish her lasagna.' She noted sadly. 'I have been craving for that all morning.' She noted again, emphasizing her thirsty craving.

Hannah finished her food, and just continued to observe everything that was going on inside the café until she had finished her drink.

She stepped outside the coffee shop and picked her phone out of her pocket. 'Hay nako. No texts or calls again.' She said to herself sadly at the thought of her boyfriend not texting or calling her. "Well, I should go surprise him though. I'll just buy him some coffee." She voiced out lightly and went back inside the coffee shop to buy her boyfriend a tall Hot Caramel Macchiato and a bagel.

After she got what she ordered, she went to her car and drove to her boyfriend's workplace in Makati.

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