Nervous, with a slight touch of being ecstatic, Jeff makes his way to Gameplay's workplace. After about five minutes of walking, he reaches a complex that has a building on its centerpiece and whose perimeter is filled with parked vehicles ranging from motorcycles, sedans, SUVs, to even vans and small delivery trucks.

The structure in the middle has twenty floors according to Jeff's mental counting and could be discerned as a condominium because of the similar facades that the onlookers see on the spot. The first level has four different establishments, which one can go to either for a quick bite, a celebratory meal, or shopping for household supplies. The next seven ones are without windows and doors, and where windshields or rear hood of cars – decently aligned – can be seen. The rest have the living quarters, judging from the unified design of the panes, sashes, and aprons on the surface of the walls, as well as the small balcony on each of the units.

Striding for the fundamental purpose of refilling his depleted stores of energy, Jeff stops by the concierge table of Cocotte Farm and Roast Winery restaurant.

"Good afternoon, sir. Do you have a reservation," asked Boss. He is not taking orders of customers today but has been assigned as a host to welcome and give them seats.

"No, I don't. I'm a walk-in," answered Jeff, fixing the strap of his bag to his shoulder.

"I see. Table for one, sir?"

"Yes, please." Jeff nods, prompting Boss to get a menu booklet.

"Okay. By the way, my name is Boss, and I will direct you to your table. Please follow me, sir."

"Thank you." Jeff walks along behind his host, clutching his bag to keep it from falling off.

The table to which they stop has a metallic card on top of it, which sits on a base made of wood and varnished to a glimmering shine. Engraved on the card's gray surface is the number 5 – colored red that is close to the shade of a ripe tomato. "Here we are sir," said Boss, inviting Jeff to one of the two chairs by it.

"Thank you," replied Jeff, laying down his bag on one chair before proceeding to sit on the other.

"I'll assign you your server, sir. You..."

"Yes...uhh...sorry to cut you off, Boss. Before you do that, I'd like to ask if Chef Plan is in?" Jeff deliberately asks for the deputy instead of the chief himself.

"Yes sir," nodded Boss, laying down the booklet in front of Jeff. "He is in the kitchen."

"Can you tell him that I'm looking for him; my name is Jeff; he knows me."

"I'll see what I can do," replied Boss. After which, he looks at the Dutch door of the kitchen, which has two panels, no knobs, and swings loosely at the slightest nudge. "Is there anything I can get you while you wait, sir?" he asked, turning back to Jeff.

"Mango smoothie, please," Jeff said without looking at the booklet in front of him. He knows that this is one of Gameplay's personal recipe that he himself added to the restaurant's menu.

"Okay, sir." Boss leaves and makes his way to the bar first to have the drink prepared. After asking another waiter to serve the beverage, he proceeds next to the kitchen.

"Chef Plan?" asked Boss in a raised tone after getting inside, so that there is a remote chance for someone to hear him.

"Yes, Boss?" answered the Deputy Head Chef while pouring dressing onto a dish.

"You have a visitor."

"Your suitor, Chef?" joked Mark Siwat Jumlongkul, one of the sous chefs, earning a lot of woos and blagues from the others.

"Quiet Chef Mark!" spat Plan, giving the other a seething look. "Just a minute. I'll just finish this," he continued, looking at Boss momentarily before turning back to his bowl of vegetables to give it a toss or two.

After serving at the pass the salad that he prepared, Plan comes over to Boss at the door. "You said I have a visitor, Boss?"

"Yes Chef; Table 5."

Plan peeks from the rounded glass on one of the panels to look.

"He said his name is Jeff, and that he knows you," continued Boss.

"Thank you. You may go back now." Plan sees that his supposed visitor is enjoying one of their best sellers. "Chef Prame?" he asked afterwards, looking at a sous chef that is stirring something from a bowl.

"Yes Chef?" Prame Thanaunop Patum pours the sauce into a cooked salmon.

"Take over the pass once you're done with that."

"Yes Chef."

With Prame agreeing, Plan walks out of the kitchen and makes his way to Table 5, whose sole occupant has his back turned on him and is sipping a yellowish liquid through the straw that is submerged three quarters of the way in his glass.

Standing beside Jeff upon his arrival, Plan watches as the other tries to scoop some mango chunks and black globules using a teaspoon. "Enjoying your drink?" he said.

Laying the teaspoon on the saucer under his glass, Jeff turns around to see who asks him the question. "Hey Chef!" said Jeff, standing up after and offering one hand for a shake. Plan takes it and they proceed to hug each other.

"Nice to see you again, Jeff."

"Likewise. Please sit with me."

After settling down, Jeff picks the teaspoon again in an attempt to get either a ball of cooked starch or a fruit cube.

"It's been a while since you were last here," began Plan to start off a possibly long conversation.

"Yeah. More-than-a-year long."

"Sorry, but shouldn't you be looking for Gameplay instead of me?"

"Is he in the kitchen?" asked Jeff, not directly answering Plan.

"No, he is not around at the moment."

"Where is he?" Jeff puts in his mouth a teaspoonful of the tapioca balls.

"He went to our supplier."

"I see."

"Have you ordered?"

"Not yet. I just want to have a drink before taking in something heavy."

"I see. If you stay for a meal, I will prep it for you since I'm in charge of the kitchen for the time being." Plan smiles at his offer.

"I'll keep that in mind."

"What happened to you, Jeff?" Plan's tone has been given a quick and violent shove to serious, dropping his smile as he asks the question. "After that video of you came out, you disappeared."

"A lot," Jeff forces a smirk.

"Like what?"

"I lost Gameplay, and I went to prison." Jeff purses his lips, trying to see if that will work in alleviating the anger that is slowly surfacing.

Plan signals for an available waiter to come to their table. "A glass of iced tea, Title. Thank you," he told Kirati Puangmalee, one of their waiters at Cocotte.

"Okay, chef," replied Title.

"You were sued?" asked Plan, looking back at Jeff.

"Yeah."

"By whom?"

"The establishment where I was caught doing it with another guy?" Jeff takes a sip from his glass, which is a quarter empty now. "But that is not what concerns me."

"What is, then?"

"That night, it seemed like everything was calculated; it's weird; all was in a fluid motion."

"You mean you were setup?"

"That is what I'll start trying to find out apart from..."

Title comes back to their table to serve Plan's tea, prompting Jeff to stop. "Here is your drink, Chef."

"Thank you, Title," said Plan, taking a sip immediately. "You were saying?" he continued, looking back to Jeff after Title has left.

"Apart from getting back with Gameplay." Jeff is able to scoop a mango cube from his drink this time. With this visit to Cocotte, he is thinking of giving consideration to what Tonhorm said a few days back.

"I'm afraid you won't be able to do that second one anymore," said Plan, taking another gulp from his glass.

"Why?"

"You don't know? No one told you?"

"Told me about what?" Jeff grips his teaspoon, preparing to scoop whatever he can from his drink again.

"Gameplay and Top – they are together now."

As if getting a pail of arctic water splashed to him, the news from Plan shocks Jeff on the spot. Flabbergasted, he unknowingly lets go of the silverware he is holding, causing it to fall on top of the table. The good thing is the sound it made did not get anyone's attention. "No. You must be...you" he stammered, shaking his head while struggling to finish.

"Yes, they are. Sorry, Jeff," rebutted Plan with a sad face.

All the positive vibes that Jeff has for having been able to secure a job at CBOT have been dispelled instantly. Breathing collectedly yet heavily, he tries to keep himself together to prevent him from treating his glass like a baseball and pitching it to the nearest window. "How did that happen?" he asked, looking at Plan incredulously.

"About three months after your video leaked, Top has started courting Gameplay. It was kind of weird too."

"Why?" Jeff sets aside his glass.

"Gameplay didn't object: it was so easy for Top to do it and move in."

"Sorry, Plan. You said three months?"

"Yeah."

"I had been already sentenced that time: I've been transferred to the penitentiary."

"I see. Maybe he was..." Plan suddenly stops as his eyes catch something through the window that they are sitting next to: it is moving slowly towards the parking lot – a crimson-colored, 2021 Ford Shelby GT-500. "Gameplay is here." He nods to the same direction where he sees the car. Jeff gives it a look, and indeed, Eleanor – the name they decided to give Gameplay's car, which they got after watching Nicolas Cage's Gone In 60 Seconds – has just passed through the checkpoint and is slowly making its way to his spot on the parking lot.

"Go back to the kitchen, Plan, before he comes in."

"Don't you want to talk to him?" Plan picks up his glass, preparing to take another gulp of tea.

"He won't talk to me for sure, and don't tell him I am here."

"But this is your chance." Plan is unable to drink, trying to convince Jeff to take action.

"Nah. Trust me: he won't talk to me. Anyway, thank you for your time, Plan. I appreciate what you shared to me."

"Okay, but you're going to stay for lunch, right?"

"Yes."

"Let me at least take your order."

Jeff hesitates. Looking at the outside again, he sees that Eleanor is now backing to an open rectangle marked by a stopper for the rear wheels and two solid yellow lines on its adjacent sides. Guessing that he still has enough time before Gameplay enters the restaurant, he tells Plan what he wants to have. "Okay. A Beef Wellington; medium; separated sauce; separated garnish; and your soup du jour."

"Got it," said Plan, taking mental note of what Jeff has just said. Meanwhile, Gameplay's car has come to a full stop now.

"Can I make a request?" said Jeff as a follow-up.

"Fire away." Plan stands with his glass in one hand.

"I want GP to prep that for me."

"Gotcha." Plan walks away from Jeff shortly after, then makes his way to Title, who is standing at a corner.

Holding a pad of ticket and a pen, Title jots down what Plan dictates without taking his eyes off the paper. Once done, Plan takes the white slip and goes to the kitchen.

Pretending that he is thinking of something, Jeff faces his glass, tilting his head a bit so that the side of his face is concealed. In his peripheral view on the left, he sees Gameplay walking towards the restaurant. When the Head Chef of Cocotte enters, Jeff feels the sudden rush of standing up and confronting his former lover. However, realizing that it is not a very smart thing to do, he settles his emotions in place, telling himself to be contented with the ploy he has just told Plan.

Arriving at the kitchen, Gameplay walks to his office to get and put on his chef's gown.

"Chef Gameplay?" called Plan as soon as his boss enters the fray – all dressed up.

"Yeah?"

"There is a special ticket here – Table 5."

"What about it?" Gameplay walks to the pass.

"The customer wants you to prep it."

"Got it. Man the pass while I do this," ordered Gameplay as he picks up the ticket. After reading the writings on it, he feels a tingle from his gut, making his ears turn red, which fortunately no one sees as his shiny hair hides them from view. "Jeff?" he murmured, his voice nearly leaving him. "This is how Jeff always wanted his Wellington."

"What's the dish, Chef?" asked Mark, so he can prepare the garnish – his station for today – for it.

"No, Chef Mark. I'll do this alone." When they used to be together, Gameplay always did Jeff's orders by himself – even the dessert.

"Copy that."

After Jeff's dish leaves the pass, Gameplay almost walks out of the kitchen to track it himself as it is being served. However, a new order that Plan calls out prevents him from exercising his poor excuse for wanting to see his ex-fiancé.

------

Author's Note

Despite not being able to see Jeff, at least Gameplay prepped his food. Oh Plan, why did you have to shout the order? You are such a kill-joy, causing Gameplay and Jeff their much deserved moment. Hahahahaha! Kidding!

Although, it was kinda sad for Jeff, right? He might have secured a job but at the price of learning that Gameplay is already in a new relationship. Although, on the serious side of things, Jeff believes that what happened to him - the one that landed him into prison - was no accident, that is was planned and executed - quoting him - "in a fluid motion". Hmmmmm, fishy huh?

Who could've done that to Jeff, and what did Jeff do to deserve that?

Stay tuned for the release of the next chapter - Covenant - in the following days.

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