“Why don’t you try it?” My taste buds were not the same as his, so he might not enjoy what I liked.
With a smile, he took the half-eaten baked potato from my hand. After taking a bite, he raised his eyebrows and said in amazement, “Good cooking skills!”
I laughed. “Aunt Sally barbecued it.”
Sally looked at him and said, “Okay, there is some more. Go home quickly after eating. You guys are causing a racket here.”
When people get old, they tend to keep their true thoughts to themselves.
Both of us understood that.
Exchanging glances, we smiled. Anthony took a chair from the house and sat by my side, holding my hand. Then, he asked Sally about her health.
Sally gave curt replies while passing the barbecued meat to him. While handing over the sauce to him, I explained, “It tastes better with this sauce.”
He smiled and did as he was told., then nodded and appraised, “Yes.”
As dusk approached, Sally asked us to leave, “My home is too small to accommodate the two of you, so please leave when you’re done.”
Anthony merely let out a faint smile and after bidding her goodbye, he led me by my hand to his car.
On the way back to the villa, I stared mindlessly at the passing scenery outside the windscreen.
Before I knew it, I blurted out, “Anthony, thank you.”
As he drove along the dimly lit road, he smiled. “That’s not good enough. Can I have something more affectionate?”
I laughed. As I tilted my head to come up with the right words, my eyes fell on his face, which was illuminated by flashes of light.
I have to come up with something better, or he won’t be satisfied.
Soon, the car stopped at the door of the villa.
After I got out, he turned off the engine and walked toward me. “Got it already?”
I smirked. “No, not yet. I always feel that you’re making things difficult for me. You know I’m not poetic.”
“Just try!”
I thought for a while and looked up at the sky before shifting my gaze to him. “In the journey of my life, Mr. Anthony is my steadfast dream.”
He was stunned for a moment, and then he grinned and took me by the hand into the villa, overwhelmed with emotions.
“Where did you pilfer that from?”
Obviously, he was asking me about that cheesy line I just said. I looked up and pointed at the starry sky as I replied, “From the sky.”
If you could love, you must do so with all your heart and make your loved one happy so that you would have no regrets in the future.
…
The next day, Sally called, and the first thing she asked was, “Taken your medicine?”
I thought for a while before I remembered that yesterday, she had said I sounded nasal and that I should take some medicine.
I nodded and said, “I have.”
“December is just around the corner. Since it’s the festive season, we must have some decorations. Later, you must go out with me to do some shopping.”
She sounded domineering, leaving me with no option.
Nodding, I promised her that I would.
Anthony was busy with work, and I could not tag along with him all the time.
Since Flora was not around, I tidied up a little and drove to the mall.
Sally was waiting at the entrance. When she saw me, she started ranting, “It’s not that far. If you didn’t want to come, you could have told me.”
As I took the trolley from her, I took a glance at the supermarket nearby. “Are we shopping there?”
Pursing her lips, she nodded and went straight in.
I followed her in. She was not very ladylike, looking more like a nagging middle-aged housewife. After shopping for some necessities, she looked back at me and said, “Are you good at making dough?”
I shook my head. “No, I’m not!”
She frowned. “We have tacos every year on New Year’s Eve. If you are not good at making dough, how can we make the tacos?”
“We can buy the tortillas and make the tacos with them,” I replied, but then I saw her with a bag of flour, so I guessed she wanted to prepare the dough herself.
“Homemade tortillas taste so much better.” At that, she did as I thought she would, putting the bag of flour into the trolley.
I was about to say something but decided against it.
Oh, fine!
I’ll just play by ear!
Two hours later, we arranged for the delivery staff to send all the stuff back to the villa. Then Sally took me to a Thai restaurant.
The reason was that she wanted to reward me for going shopping with her.
After we were seated, Sally started chatting, “In K City, it is hard to find authentic Thai food. This restaurant is really good, though. You shall soon try the real thing.”
While ordering food, she said to me, “Before I came to K City, I liked the Thai restaurant on University Road in J City the most. After I came to K City, I never went back there anymore. I’ve searched the entire K City for so many years, but I haven’t seen any authentic Thai restaurants except this one. You should give it a try.”
From her words, I could feel her longing for home.
Indeed, after she turned eighteen, she spent her remaining life in K City, and her memories of home had faded by then. Whenever she tried to reminisce it, only the tastes from her childhood would come to her mind.
It was just like how my love for candy was influenced by my childhood memories. Grandma always had different types of candies in her pocket. Whenever I felt upset, one piece of candy from her would dispel all my distress.
Now that those people in my memories were gone and I could never see them again, the only thing that remained for me to reminisce was the sweet taste of candies.
When the waiter brought the dishes, I got up. “Aunt Sally, I need to go and wash my hands.”
After shopping in the supermarket for some time, we dirtied our hands a little, so she got up and went with me.
On the way back, I went to the washroom while she returned to our table.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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