Roadtrip Day 2
Location: San Lorenzo Village, Angeles City, Pampanga

Alex's POV:

"Come on, Alice. It's not your fault that our dish doesn't work out with the visitors..."

Danica and Claire has tried all night to calm Alice down...as she cries continuously in our food truck.

"No...sniff...please...sniff...leave me alone...sniff...I need some space...sniff...and please...sniff...don't try to put the blame...sniff...away from me...sniff...it's my fault..."

Given up by Alice's emotions full of regret...Danica and Claire comes out of the food truck, saddened and concerned about her.

"It's no use, we did absolutely everything to cheer her up." Alice's best friend, Claire, told me. "Alex, you're the only one who can resolve this problem."

"Bu-but..."

"Alex, I know you're the one who motivated her to pursue her passion for cooking." Danica faintly smiles at me. "There's no going back, you need to keep her back together...and start over again."

"...sigh...OK." I make a deep sigh and agreed. "I will do whatever it takes..."

I walked into the food truck alone...feeling a somber mood...as I sit at the passenger seat beside Alice...who is slumped down because of hours of crying...with swollen eyes, she looked up at me...

"Huh...sniff...why are you here...sniff...I told you that...sniff...you should leave me alone...sniff...it's all my fault...MY FAAAULT!!! HUHUHUHU!!!"

But instead of complying with her, I just make a smile...trying to cheer her up...

"But...what makes you say that it's really your fault? We created that dish together, you know...so it should be OUR fault!"

"Huh?! What's makes you say that?!?!" Alice shouted at me. "I'm the one who gave the idea to make the halu-halo for the visitors! I didn't know that they didn't have a taste for those sweets! Besides...I screwed it up...I switched the ice cream into one made of coconut milk...I thought they will like my unique twist but...I was wrong..."

"But...I said before that it's totally fine, right?" I refuted back at her. "I mean...you have a creative imagination...and you have all the knowledge when it comes to cooking. Bad things doesn't happen to humiliate you...that really happens to help you refining your skills..."

"YOOOU!!! YOU'RE SIDING WITH THOSE...STUPID VISITORS?!?! NOT TO MENTION THAT YOU'RE THE ONE WHO DOUBTING MY COOKING!"

"Huh? No...I don't mean to do that! You know that I don't have the same knowledge as you...remember, I only cook fast food!"

"You know what...sniff...this has just got worse...sniff...so please...sniff...leave me alone..." Then Alice slumped her head to the steering wheel. "Don't worry...sniff...I will pack things up tomorrow...and go home. We won't push through with this...ugh...ill-fated road trip..."

Sigh...here we go again...this is the third time Alice is so depressed...the first is on our first meeting...while recalling how her family left her; the second time was yesterday...when she doesn't have a customers...and now this. I didn't have a choice, do I?

Well...Claire told me about her best friend Alice's secret...that she once eats fast food even she really hates it. And now I'm wondering...if I want to make Alice somewhat happy and forget this awful experience of hers...I need to tell her...my long-kept secret...

I walked towards our "empty" refrigerator, opened it...and pulled out...a secret compartment. The compartment has a spare set of ingredients just in case Alice broke down. My long-kept secret is...I cook...another dish...other than fast food.

I took out all of the ingredients from the compartment and put the wok into the stove...this is the first time I will use this. I slice onion and garlic into bits...and immediately put it on the wok to sauté it. When the spices are cooked, I put in next the large bowl of fresh chicken...and two cups of water. Simmering for a few minutes, I added soy sauce, bay leaf, black pepper, potatoes...and finally my secret ingredients: cider vinegar and mashed pork liver.

"Umm...Alex, what are you doing here?" Alice turned her head again and asked me. "I told you to go out of this truck and leave me alone!"

"Umm...sorry, I just wanted to cook something that we would eat when we go home tomorrow..."

I waited for my cooking to finish...the scrumptious and delicious scent of my mystery dish filled the truck...attracted the cry-baby Alice to stand up and walk towards me...

"Huh? What are you cooking here?" Alice wipes tears around her eyes and asked me.

"This is what we will gonna eat when we go home..."

Alice Flonne's POV:

I stare blankly...as Alex puts on...well, whatever he is cooking...into a plate of steaming rice.

"But for now...how about you try it for a while?" Then, he offered the dish to me. "You didn't eat dinner with us...so here...eat up."

"Huh? Are you just trying to convince me to push through with our road trip?!" I asked him angrily. "Whatever you do, I won't be convinced! I will never show my cooking skills ever again!"

"What are you talking about, Alice? I'm just wanna ask for a comment about my cooking."

...sigh...I cannot reject this cooking, do I? With Alex looking at me, smiling...I try to eat...from apparently a freshly-cooked adobo. One bite...and suddenly...I imagined myself into a different world.

Aaah...the tanginess and sweetness of the sauce blends together...thanks to spices, cider vinegar and pork liver. The sauce is also thick too...but it penetrates right into the chicken. Usually, adobo sauce doesn't make it right into the deepest meat...making it tasteless and dull. But, in this case...oooh!!! I never felt this adobo dish so good!

But wait a minute...do Alex cook this?!?! I thought that...

"Wow, Alex! I never thought that you cook such a wonderful dish!" I began to smile at him. "I always see you cooking fast food, you know?"

"Yeah...but that's my secret...that's the only homemade cooking that I know." Alex explains to me. "But listen, Alice. Do you remember what I said when we first met: To continue to make people around you happy with your cooking, whatever the consequences may be?"

"Yes, I know...but..."

"People has different tastes on food, so don't expect that everyone will accept anything you want to offer them...like those visitors earlier who doesn't like our halu-halo." I listened to every word Alex says. "But Alice, you have an extensive knowledge about food and stuff, you just need to use it wisely...for example, what do the customers really want. It may be difficult, but when you get a hang of it...it will be easier to improve your cooking."

"Yeah...thanks for the advice,Alex. But...I'm still ashamed...I let James down...I failed to do what he wants...and now...I'm ruined..."

"No, you're not, Alice! Hehehe!" Suddenly, I hear a familiar voice. I looked outside of the food truck...and I saw James smiling at me. "Mistakes do happen , you know? But it doesn't mean you're out of the race when you make mistakes! It's part of life, buddy. And mistakes make your life a little bit better!"

Alex accompanied me out of the truck...where I saw James, along with Claire and Danica...

"Hey there, Alice! Hehehe!" My best friend Claire giggled at me. "To make you a little bit better, I brought James out to talk to you!"

James walk towards me and give me the tray of the leftover halu-halo that we make earlier...

"Our visitors may not like your halu-halo...but me and my family does! This desert is named halu-halo because of the different ingredients that it has...same with your passion, buddy. There are people with different preferences with food, one kind may like your food, others may not...but when you learned to blend them together by trying new dishes you never cooked...you will achieve sweetness, I assure you of that!"

James then commented about the desert. "That's what you do with your halu-halo. I know all of the ingredients, but when I tasted it one by one...ugh...I can't take it! However, when you mixed it all...you make the sweetest desert that I've tasted! Well, because you added sugar, milk and that unique coconut milk ice cream! So cool! Hehehe!!!"

Finally, as I receive the tray of my halu-halo, he told me this: "Alice, you and your friends have a bright future ahead of you. Don't stop your passion already for I know that there a lot of people that can be smiled by your cooking. And as a reminder, I give you the rest of your halu-halo...the sweetest desert that I've ever tasted!"

Fully motivated by all of what I've heard...I just hugged James tightly...

"Thank you, James. Thank you for reminding me for what I really am! I promise, I won't let you down! Hehehe!"

And after all has said and done, with a big smile on my face...I turned to my rival...and my friend, Alex, and hold his hand...

"Alex...thank you so much! I'm very grateful that you're always on my back...guiding me back to where I should be. Hehehe! You're really serious about my passion, huh? Hehehe!"

"Yep, but cooking an Adobo for you doesn't mean I will give up on my expertise on fast food?" Alex winked at me and boasted.

"Yeah, right! Hehehe!" And now, for the confession... "Alex, I just want to tell you about something. Dare to listen to me?"

"Of course, Alice! What is it now?"

"Umm..." But my blushing face restrain me to do so!

"Huh?"

"Aah...eeh..."

"Come on, Alice. Just let it out!" Alex smiles to calm me down. "Don't worry, I won't bite! Hehehe!!!"

Motivated by his smile...I make a deep breath and...

"ALEX! I LIKE YOU!!!"

Lady Rin's Note:

Special mention to MiyukiYusuzuki ,

Yuki-chan, good luck sa exam mo! ^^