Chapter 5: Dinner Surprises

Conrad gets in his car and takes a deep breath knowing that he’ll be missing working in Ultimo Coffee. He starts the car and leaves the parking space. He drives past Ultimo Coffee, looks at his mirror, and sees Ultimo getting smaller as he drives further.

A few moments later, Conrad arrives at his home and turns off the car. He sees his grandma sitting by the front door with a cup of tea in her hand. Conrad walks up to her and kisses her on the cheek.

“Everything okay grandma?” Conrad asked.

“Everything’s fine.” She replied. “Just breathing in some fresh air.” She added. “By the way, if you ever need a suggestion to cook for dinner, I’d suggest you cook something that your mother loves.” She suggested to Conrad.

“Thanks for the suggestion grandma.” He thanked her as he hugs her. “Do you want to help in the kitchen?” He asked as he opens the doors.

“No thanks.” She replied. “You do your thing and make sure to make it special for her.” She added.

Conrad goes inside the house and leaves her grandma outside. He goes up to his room to rest up a bit before he starts cooking. As soon as he goes inside, he immediately changes his clothes into something comfortable and freshens up. He lays down on his bed and thinks about what to cook for dinner later.

Looking up at the ceiling, he then reminisces every good time he had with his mother. While he remembers every moment, he then sees a memory at a famous restaurant where her mother falls in love with a particular dish. The only problem was he can’t remember the name although he remembers the look and taste of the meal. He recollects that it tastes sweet and savory and kind of looks like a roast. He gets his phone at his nightstand and unlocks it. He started searching for online recipes that are sweet and savory.

After a few minutes of searching, he stumbled upon a recipe that replicates the look of the dish. Realizing that this is the dish he was looking for, he stood up from his bed, gets a pen and a piece of paper from his study table, and writes down the recipe. By the time he finished writing down the recipe, he rushes downstairs to start cooking.

He arrives at the kitchen and checks every available ingredient to ensure that he has all the ingredients to create the dish. Gathering up all the needed ingredients for the meal, Conrad sighs out of relief knowing that everything he needed is in the kitchen.

He decides to start cooking so that by the time his mother arrives, everything is already prepared. He prepares everything and starts to chop up some garlic cloves. After chopping up the garlic cloves, he then takes a big glass bowl and puts in some vinegar, sugar, the chopped up garlic cloves, dried herbs, and onion powder. He mixes up the contents in the bowl until they are fully mixed. Once it was fully mixed, he slices up his chicken breast into halves to make the chicken more tender and flavorful. He puts the sliced up chicken in the marinade, covers it with plastic wrap, and lets the chicken rest in the refrigerator for a good forty-five minutes.

While the chicken is resting, he chops up some string beans, drizzles them up with some olive oil, and sprinkles it with some salt and pepper to taste. He steams them up in the steamer.

As he waits for the chicken to finish resting and for the beans to finish steaming, he cleans up the kitchen to reduce the mess he made. He washes the small bowls, measuring cups and spoons, and the knives he used.

A few minutes later after he finishes cleaning a bit, his phone rings indicating the forty-five-minute wait. He takes out the chicken from the fridge and puts it near the stove. He turns on the stove and preheats his skillet along with some oil over medium heat. He removes the chicken from the marinade and starts cooking them one by one.

While one of the chickens is coking, he turns off the steamer and checks on the string beans he steamed. Knowing that his strings beans are perfectly steamed, he leaves it there until he’s done cooking the chicken.

He finishes cooking up the chicken and sets it aside. He lowers the heat of the stove and puts the marinade in the same skillet to heat it. Once he’s done heating the marinade, he puts back the chicken and covers the chicken with the marinade one by one.

Minutes later, he hears his mother arrive as she was calling out his name.

“I’m in the kitchen mom!” He screamed to his mother.

“That smells great.” She said while heading to the kitchen.

“That’s good to hear.” Conrad said gratefully. “Can you call grandma?” He asked. “I’m almost done here.” He added.

“Sure, but can we talk first?” She asked unsurely as she enters the kitchen.

“Is there something wrong mom?” He asked as he turns off the stove. He turns to his mother and was surprised that a man around her age was standing beside her. “Uhm… I see we have a guest.” He said in shock.

“Conrad, I would like you to meet Mike, my boyfriend.” She said.

“Boyfriend…” He said as he looks at her mom with wide eyes. “Nice to meet you, Mike.” He said as they shake their hands.

“Nice to meet you too, Conrad.” Mike said. “Elizabeth here has told me all about you.” He added.

“Really… I’m flattered…” Conrad replied with an unsettling voice and a grin. “Mom, can we talk, privately in the kitchen?” He asked his mother.

“Sure, and I don’t know where this is going...” She answered unsurely. “Mike honey, can you wait in the living room.” She said to Mike sweetly.

“Okay.” He responded as he heads towards the living room.

Conrad pulls his mother near the door in the kitchen so that no one could hear them.

“Mom, are you sure about this?” Conrad asked worriedly.

“Sure about what?” She said confusingly.

“You, in a relationship.” He answered. “I know a year has passed since the incident, but I’m worried that you might get hurt again.” He added as he holds his mothers’ hands.

“Oh, Conrad…” She said in a heart-melting voice as she holds Conrad’s left cheek. “Well, I wasn’t sure at first also, until I met Mike about six months ago.” She added. “He’s the most charming person for me.” She said with a grin. “He’s funny, caring, and I know that he loves me so much that he will never leave my side.” She added.

“Well, I support you in your choice.” Conrad said with a smile. “But, I want to see it with my eyes that he is what you said he is.” He added. “Is it okay for you, mom?” He asked.

“Sure thing.” She answered.

“Just curious, since you met six months ago, when did you guys become official?” Conrad asked in confusion.

“Four to five months ago...” She answered in embarrassment.

“You guys have been together for five months, and yet you decided to tell me now right before I leave?!” Conrad exclaimed.

“Wait, you’re leaving already?” She asked surprisingly.

“Yeah, I’m leaving tomorrow morning.” He said sadly. “I’m sorry for telling you this now.” He added.

“I knew there was something about you cooking dinner tonight.” She said. “Every time if there’s good news or something to celebrate, you would always cook something for us.” She added. “Now I know why you wanted to cook dinner.” She said sadly as tears start to stream down his face. "Why haven’t you tell me this earlier or yesterday?” She asked as she was about to cry.

“Aunt Christy found me an apartment to stay in New York.” He answered. “She also paid for it and the catch is I have to be there by tomorrow or else they would give away my spot even if it was paid already.” He added. “I also didn’t want you to think about it while you’re working.”

“I’m sorry too.” She said as she hugs Conrad. “If only I made time for you earlier, you could have told me.” She said regretfully.

“What do you mean?” Conrad asked in confusion.

“Well, it’s not my boss who called me but it was Mike.” She said. “He actually has a surprise for me earlier and that’s why I was in a rush earlier.” She added.

Conrad's grandmother suddenly goes inside the kitchen with a surprised look on her face.

"Why is there a brown-haired nerd in the living room?" Conrad's grandmother asked surprisingly.

"Mother!" Elizabeth exclaimed to his grandmother. "He's not a nerd, he's my boyfriend." She said. "Yes, he wears glasses, but that doesn't mean that he's a nerd already." She added.

"That's kind of mean grandma, just saying." Conrad said to his grandmother.

"Well you know me, I prefer men that don't wear glasses." Conrad's grandmother said.

"How about you guys wait for me at the dining table while I plate our dinner." Conrad suggested. "Mike must be lonely waiting by himself." He added.

“That’s a great idea.” Elizabeth agreed. “Don’t want our food to get cold.” She added as she pushes her mother to the dining table. “Mike, come over here and grab a seat.” She called.

Conrad starts to plate their dinner as they left the kitchen. A few minutes later, he finishes plating their dinner and it looks perfect to him. The only thing left that he’s concerned, is the taste since this was the first time he made this dish.

He goes out of the kitchen along with the food and serves it to everyone. As he was about to take a seat, he notices that his mother was seating beside his grandmother. Since Mike was seating alone on one side, he decides to seat beside him. He tells everyone to eat up and they could ask for seconds if they wanted to. Everyone took a bite except Conrad since he wants to see everyone's reactions in taking their first bite. Everyone froze as they took their first bite.

“Is it good?” Conrad asked nervously.

“It’s not good.” Conrad’s grandmother said. “It’s great!” She added.

“Conrad, is this what I think it is?” Elizabeth asked in a surprised voice.

“Yeah, your favorite dish.” Conrad replied. “It’s the Sweet and Savory Balsamic Chicken.” He added.

“This tastes even better than the restaurant.” Elizabeth said. “Mike, do you have something to say to Conrad?” She asked as she sees Mike being amazed by Conrad’s cooking.

“This is beyond great.” Mike said. “Is this the taste of perfection?” He asked himself in an overwhelmed voice.

Hearing everyone's compliment and seeing them smile made Conrad’s heart melt and he smiles widely. He also starts to eat and realizes that this beyond than everyone’s compliments. In fact, it's perfection. The flavor is balanced, the chicken is rich in flavor and everything else about the dish is just executed properly. This made Conrad realize that his cooking is a talent and his passion. And he can't wait to start his culinary adventures.