Hugh sat behind his office table, in deep thoughts. A man with an ID stating Dr. William Berg stepped in but the man inside didn"t notice the intruder. The office owner"s eyes were on upside down x-ray result. The visitor moved the paper to its right position. This woke Hugh from his daze."Earth calling Dr. Bisset," William spoke as he set his stethoscope on Hugh"s forehead. "What"s inside this head, a girl?"
Hugh"s face was scarlet red as he moved away William"s hand from his face. "Mind your own business. Why are you here?"
William slapped his forehead with his palm. "G.o.d, why am I here? What a good question. I think I should be the one asking you. Why are you still here? Your patient is on his way to the operating table as we speak." William"s palm patted Hugh"s face. "Are you feeling well?"
Hugh jerked the other man"s hand and pushed William away from him. "Of course. How can I be sick this time?" He cleared his table, stood up, and walked to the door.
William leaned his bottom on the table as he jokingly said, "yeah, you"re a healthy st.u.r.dy man with lots of pheromones. Only a girl can make you blush as red as a cooked shrimp," and laughed out loud as he cupped his hand on his mouth and shouted, "marry that girl soon."
His fellow doctor"s statement made Hugh self-conscious. "I wish I can but I don"t even know where she is." He walked fast to the operating room while the people he pa.s.sed by were curious with his reddened face.
. . . . .
Riley followed Sheila like a stalker, making the girl mad at this newly hired teacher and aspiring cook. Ever since they"ve met on her first day in school, there wasn"t a day he wouldn"t ask for her attention. He was like a puppy following her steps as it wagged its tail.
Riley was the opposite of Hugh. He enjoyed being the youngest child, with all the attention and care of his parents. Somehow, he adored his elder brother, who gave his attention to him as a good older brother had to do. Hugh was his idol and wished to be as accomplished as him. He studied hard to get good grades and recognition like his idol, and he got his wish. However, as Hugh entered medical school, everyone except Hugh, expected Riley to follow suit.
Science was his weakness. Simply put, he had to take a different course. The teachers, including his parents, was slightly taken aback with his decision. One day, as he walked up the stairs to his cla.s.sroom, he heard murmurings from his cla.s.smates.
"Hugh is really better than him. He"s just a copy cat."
Those words made the final blow and knocked out his aspirations. It smashed away his interest to pursue higher goals. Instead, he chose to become an educator, which was not a bad choice, but it crashed everyone"s expectations. It pleasured him to see their dissatisfaction. "Whatever, this is good enough for me," he said.
Riley took off and lived separately from his family after graduating from secondary education. He worked his way, taking three odd jobs to cover his room rent and living and school expenses until he graduated.
As a teacher, there would be a day he had to guide his students for their future aspirations. And he had this particular male student who aimed to become a chef with low grades.
He called the boy for a heart to heart teacher and student talk. The two faced each other in the teacher"s office. "I think that"s a nice profession," Riley said.
The male student replied with excitement in his face and voice. "It"s more than nice, it"s cool, Teach. People will praise you for your cooking. Magazines will write about you. And, the best part, girls will fall in line to taste your food in your own kitchen after a hot night. Hehe." He gestured a flying kiss in the air.
Riley reached the boy"s face and stretched it as far as it could be stretched. "Ahhhh! That hurts, Teach. Really hurts." Riley let go.
"Stop daydreaming, boy. You need to work on your grades first before that happens. Or you"ll flunk my math."
The boy left the teacher"s office but his words convinced the teacher in effect. "Taking that as a profession won"t be that bad. Having my own restaurant and me as the boss would be perfect. It"s surely a nice profession."
He resigned from his teaching job after the school year ended and headed down to the town where they spent their family vacation most, which was near La Delicatesse.
That"s how he ended up in La Delicatesse as a math teacher and as a student.
. . . . .
While with Hugh, he was restless, trying to figure out Riley"s location. He couldn"t rest unless he met that sad lady. Thank goodness, it didn"t affect his mind when he was inside the operating room. After the last patient, he went to the hospital"s garden and opened Sheila"s photo. "Girl, you bewitched me. Just one look and you cast a spell on me, making me crazy. Where are you?"