Dedicated to -Colden-Winter- _Wishyy_Starry_ Dropsy_Water

Customer of the Day: Danica May Soriano

Alex's POV:

"Huhuhuhu!!! What should I do guys?! What should I do?!" Danica came running into our store, crying.

"Huh? What happened, Danica? Why are you crying?!"

Danica turns to me and whispers something...something awful...

"I was just...sniff...fired from my work...sniff...because the restaurant...it was closed for good..."

"WHAAAT?!?! THEY'RE CLOSING!!!" I was startled by her revelation. "How could the restaurant be closed?! It was selling like pancakes when I left!"

"I don't know...it's so sudden..." Danica told me. "The only thing that happened was we just called by the manager and told us that the restaurant will be closed...I don't see any sign or premonition prior to this..."

"Oh...I see..."

"That's why I'm here guys! What should I do?!" Danica ask me with tears on her eyes. "I don't have a job anymore! If I don't have a job and a money to pay, I will be evicted to my house! I don't have enough money to go home! My home is in Mindanao! Please...sniff...please help me! Huhuhu!!!"

As I hugged Danica to console her up, I notice Alice cooking something in the kitchen! Huh? Why are you cooking?! What are you thinking?! There's a lady crying in front of us and you don't have time to give her advice...or just a consolation?! I didn't know that Alice is a little bit...umm...unconcerned about the feelings of others...

Anyway...I felt a delicious smell from what Alice is cooking...and based from it, perhaps she is cooking some giniling. I saw her putting some potatoes, carrots, soft-boiled quail eggs, and tomato sauce in a wok.

After a few minutes, her steaming hot cooking was poured into a plate along with a newly cooked rice. Alice then take a spoonful of her own giniling to know first if it is within her "standards". Satisfied by the taste...she finally placed the dish in front of Danica.

"Here...eat up." Alice simply smiled at her. "Let my cooking console you and calm your nerves..."

Danica simply takes the spoon and dig in into Alice's giniling. Slowly...she starts to calm down...and wipes her tears...

"My...I like this dish." Suddenly, Danica changes her subject. "Your dish is full of flavor: the meat, the potatoes and the carrots. Then the sauce blends with the ingredients that makes it both tasty and sweet. Oh wait! You add some eggs to the dish? Wow! That's unique! If I mix the egg yolks with giniling, it is even more scrumptious! Alice, your giniling dish is so promising!"

"Hehehe! Thanks!" Alice pats Danica's shoulder. "So...do you feel alright now?"

"Yeah...your food actually made me calm. It reminds me of my mom's own cooking of giniling, only to be more delicious! Hehehe!!!"

"Well...mother knows best, you know? Hehehe!!!" Alice and Danica giggled together. "Okay...listen well, Danica. You need to move on from your profession. That's life for you, Danica...not everything can stay as it is forever. But let me tell you this...this event on your life is an opportunity...you can now choose your fate. You should not let yourself be strangled and isolated. You must pursue your true passion...that can make you happy, I'm sure about that...your passion can make you go through places...through wonderful experiences you never thought to happen...and meet people that could change your life. It's your passion that makes you satisfy with your life...so don't let your retrenchment ruin your life...you should be more than a cashier or a waitress...you should be a master of your own destiny!"

"Wow! Alice, I don't expect that you're good with advice!" Danica was amazed by Alice's sudden wisdom.

"Well...I believe in what mom has said to me...that giving a light conversation while eating your food can always give you enlightenment." Alice explains. "She said that food serves as a cleanser...erasing all the negative thoughts inside you. When it happens, it's now easy for you to understand any advice I'm saying to you...otherwise, you just keep crying and crying...and you will reject everything that I said."

"Wait...is that the same thing that you did...at the time that we first met."

"Yes, Alex." Alice simply smiled at me. "I gave you that leche flan...so that you can forget your own problem of retrenchment and start over."

"Wow, Alice. You're so a genius in so many ways! You're not only brought me a delicious food...you also gave me an excellent piece of advice." Danica then began to leave. "I'm gonna tell my friends about this. See you later!"

"Okay! Bye! Hehehe!!!"

Alice wears a big smile on her face. Finally, she will gonna have her own batch of customers for herself.

"Hey! The person who has the most number of customers satisfied wins, okay?"

"Oh! A trash talking rival, aye?" I grinned at Alice. "Well then...let the showdown begin!"

"We immediately go into our stations...preparing for a battle: I owe the grill while Alice has the stove. A larger swarm of people has lined up in front of our store...not to mention it is already sundown and it's dinner time. Customers ordered between my hamburgers and Alice's giniling meal. Everybody is satisfied...from the delicious smell coming from our kitchens...to the juicy tender beef patty of my burger...to the unique combination of meat, vegetables, eggs and sauce from Alice's giniling. And just as our fight is about to be turn out as a stalemate...

"One order of your burgers, my good man!"

"Yes, madam! Coming right...up...huh?" Then I noticed...my provision of patties in the refrigerator is...exhausted! "Wait...what?! I...I'm out of patties!!!"

Alice Flonne's POV:

Alex's reaction quickly spread among the remaining customers in the store...still waiting for their own order of his burgers...and discontent motivates them to leave us. I got to keep them from doing so!

Hmm...Alex still has a supplies of sesame seed bun with him...while I just cooked a fresh batch of my delicious giniling on the wok. So I will just sneakily get a bun from Alex...spread some of my cooking on it as a filling...and serve to a random customer...oh wait! How could I smuggle this over this people? They're used with a beef patty, not with a giniling!

"Mommy! I want some burgers!" Then I heard a mother and a son talking in front of me.

"No! We can't! Don't you hear what the boy had said? He just ran out of patties!"

"BUT MOOOM!!!" The commotion has finally gave me an idea on how my invented burger will push through!

"Umm...mam...my little child...will you try this?" With a low voice, I offered the giniling burger to them.

"Hmm...you've just ran our of patties, right?" The lady wondered about my invented burger. "What's the filling, anyway?"

"Giniling, mam."

"Okay...I'll try it first."

The lady accepted the burger and take a bite...within moments...a smile is painted along her face.

"Hmm...not bad. In fact, this is delicious!" The lady then shouted at the customers. "Hey, guys! You should try this out! This tastes as scrumptious as the patty one!"

And the crowd becomes reenergized, requesting for the giniling burger that I've just smuggled. In the midst of it all, Alex looked at me and pouted...as he was saying I stole the show. Hehehe! I just simply reply with a giggle.

The giniling burger is selling like pancakes through the night! There's nothing else Alex could do but to slice some vegetables...while I'm in charge of the rest: cooking the filing...arranging all the ingredients on the bun...and serving to the customers...

"Thank you so much, mam! Come again!" I'm the one who greeted the very last customer farewell...it perhaps to be the best first day ever!!!

"Well, well! Looks like I won! Hehehe!!!" I punned at Alex and giggled. "But...at least I help you from ruining your reputation."

"Yeah...you sure did. Though you cheated me by stealing a bun from my provision...your giniling burger saved our day. Thanks, Alice!"

"Your welcome!" I smiled back in return. "But for your information, I'm not cheating! I'm just...umm...getting extra load for my dish."

"Aha! You're lying! Not to mention that you still cheated!!!

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"AM NOT!!!"

"ARE TOO!!!"

"HEHEHEHE!!!" And then suddenly, amidst our quarrel, I hear a chuckle. When I look up towards the front of the store...it was Danica...laughing at us.

"Oh men! You're so adorable when you quarrel! Hehehe!" She then giggled...while our faces blushed. "Just kidding! I'm here to ask you something: can I join your food store, please?"

"WHAT?! REALLY?!?!"

Lady Rin's Note:

Gomene, reader-san. I've published this chappie back and forth because my recent changes never bite. In fact, this is a new copy of the chapter just in case that happens.

I hope you like it, reader-san :)