“HAVE you thought about Tyler’s offer to be his personal hair and makeup artist?” Adelle asked Laurie over the phone. She can hear a dog barking in the background, and Laurie guessed that Adelle’s boyfriend might be in her house again with his dog. “You should take it, girl. That’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

“I haven’t thought about it,” she said with a sigh. “I don’t know if it’s practical to work with him,” she added as she scrolled on the internet. “It says here that Tyler Montreal is a high maintenance ramp model raised by a France modeling agency.”

“So?” Adelle asked. “It just means that he can really help you with promoting your business goals!”

“I’m talking about the time management, Adelle,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “Being his personal HMU artist might take a lot of my time, and you know that I hate working with demanding clients.”

“Laurie, I’m talking about the promotion and high salary,” Adelle countered. “Did you hear what he said? He’ll double your service fee on every event that he’ll be needing you. And, you know how much would be your earnings in a month from working with him personally with a doubled fee? That’s almost eighty thousand pesos.”

“How come? Is he always occupied with fashion events?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “If working with him would disallow me to accept offers from other clients, then that would lessen my income and might lower my connection status.”

“Laurie, Tyler is a famous model. If you are seen as his personal HMU artist, your value as a cosmetologist will accelerate, and so your service fee,” Adelle insisted. “Come on, Laurie. Grab it. I have a feeling that he is the answer to your dream of becoming a cosmetics business owner. And, he can also be your endorser, investor, or life partner. That’s 3in1 like coffee.”

Laurie rolled her eyes ceilingwards. “Stop romanticizing the situation, Adelle,” she said and clicked the article that she found while searching for other details about Tyler Montreal. “Oh, it says here that she once lived in Paris. I wonder what year—”

“Why don’t you ask him? Maybe you’ve bumped to him before while you’re having a date with your ex-husband but just ignored him because you were so occupied with—”

“Did I give you the right to mention my past in conversations like this?” Laurie asked, beginning to get annoyed.

She doesn’t want to hear anything about Ken. She can’t even take to mention his name. For Laurie, her ex-husband had died when she closed the door of their bedroom after seeing him with a naked woman on his side. She heaved a sigh. That moment brought Laurie the most painful feeling that she never thought she’d experienced with him.

After that night, she ran away and hide from Ken. She stayed with her friends that Ken doesn’t know as she processed their divorce papers. The last time they saw each other was when they talked about divorce in front of a counselor. Ken begged for her to change her mind and stay with him. But Laurie has made her decision. He hurt her badly on the day of their first wedding anniversary. He ruined her trust in him after all the sacrifices that she made just to be with him.

“Laurie, maybe it’s the right time to step up on your goals,” Adelle suddenly said from the other line. “Tyler is giving you a chance to reach your dream easily with his help. Don’t you want to show off to Ken that you managed to live a happy and successful life without him?”

Laurie flinched at the sound of Ken’s name. “Why do you have to mention his name?”

“Because it’s time to move on and stop living from the shadow of your past,” she said blatantly. “How many years have passed? Four? Five? You’re not getting younger anymore, Laurie. You need a man like Tyler.”

“What?” Laurie frowned at the latter. “I can’t believe that you’re linking me with the guy you said was your crush.”

Adelle giggled. “I like him because he looked like Nadech, but I’m taken,” she said and heard her boyfriend protested from the background. “I’ll go now. Call me for updates, okay?”

When Laurie lowered her phone on the table, she looked at her laptop’s screen again. The curser was placed on the search bar and blinking as if telling her to type a word. And the first word that came to her mind is Ken’s 3in1 restaurant in Paris. The restaurant was known in Paris because it offers pastries in the morning, pasta plates at lunch, and beers at night. That’s where she also first saw Ken, dressed in a white chef’s uniform and making a fantastic masterpiece with the used of dough and icing.

Laurie changed her mind before she could hit the search button. She’s sure that Ken’s photo will flood her screen because he’s a bit popular chef in France too. “I have to stop thinking about him,” she said to herself. “He cheated on me… I saw him in bed naked with another woman.” She cursed under her breath. “Whirlwind romance ended up in a whirlwind too.”

She picked up her phone and looked for Tyler’s cell phone number. She took deep breaths before she pressed the call button. On the fourth ring, Tyler’s groggy voice aired from the other line. Laurie looked at her wall clock. It’s already one p.m.

“Tyler, I’m sorry, did I wake you up? Should I call you again later?”

“No, no. It’s fine, Laurie,” he said and chuckled. “I just have a sore throat.”

“Oh, how do you feel? Do you have a fever? You should drink salabat. It can help to ease the soreness,” she said continuously that made Tyler laughed from the other line.

“That’s sweet,” he drawled, and Laurie can imagine his eyes forming into a slit as he laughed. “But what’s salabat? I haven’t heard it before.”

“You don’t know what salabat is? Aren’t you a Filipino?” she asked on a knotted forehead. “It’s a tea made of minced ginger.”

“Oh, I get it. It’s a ginger tea in English,” he said and laughed again. “So, I assumed you called me because you have made your mind.”

Laurie cleared her throat. “Let’s talk about it in person because I have some questions from you.”

“Okay, I’ll see you today—”

“Hey, Tyler, where’s your rock salt?”

Laurie paused at the familiar deep tenor voice she heard from the background. No, of course, it’s not him… She caught her forehead. Why do I even thinking about him?

***