I barely slept the whole night, I was worried about Noah and Emily, they both meant a lot to me, they were more like family to me, I wondered what could have happened to them both, I kept in thinking about this till I actually slept off. I woke up the next day, went to the bathroom immediately, dressed up and went straight to the living room where I found Corazon and Alex already exchanging pleasantries, I didn't actually expect him to be that early. Corazon, good morning, Alex, morning, morning sis, good morning Luna, so are you ready?, yes let's go, sis?, aren't you forgetting anything?, what Alex?, something like drying your hair, oh no!!, I'll be right back.
I dashed into my room and searched for the hair dryer, I was such in a hurry I couldn't find it, I searched the whole room before I heard his voice, can't find it?, here, use this, it will dry it a lot better but not as much as a dryer would, he handed to me a pure white towel, dry it up with this and let's leave immediately, I already tried with that but I didn't get any good out come from it, can I help with that then?, I looked shy and felt uncomfortable immediately he said that, I didn't actually know when I handed him the towel, he took the towel and massaged my hair with it gently, I sat down enjoying his company and the way he was drying my hair, I felt safe as I was with him alone but I had to snap out of it because we had to get to the hospital for Emily and Noah, he dried it up and I braided my hair, we got downstairs and thought of a way to work things out that would make it fast for both me and Noah because we both had to be at the competition. Corazon drove me to the hospital where Noah was, he felt much more concerned for no reason I didn't know, I wanted to ask but I didn't want him to feel like I was too clingy, we got to the hospital and we met with the doctor immediately as he came out of his office. Doctor, how is Noah doing right now?, I bet he's doing just fine, you guys can check up on him,okay thanks doctor, I'll catch up with you Luna, okay, Antonio....., don't start with this, alright?, listen, I'm not ready for this, all I know is just that I did what I could just to see whether you are still as soft as you were and trust me, there's more from where that came from, listen I'm just gonna make sure that everything you love and care about falls into my hands and they get destroyed, Antonio!, enough of all these games, you don't know what you are getting into, just stop this at once, it's just as if you're trying to convince someone who has a golden coin and has spent it, you're trying to convince that person not to spend it, is that possible?, now listen to me, this is just the beginning of your downfall, I will make sure I put you down step by step and defeat you, trust me you haven't seen the worst of ANTONIO!!, so please whatever you have to say to try and convince me to destroy you while I am destroying you is just useless and worthless, believe me, it's just effort with no success, Antonio, look at me, please just stop this madness, I don't want this to end in a fatal way, enough!! (bow appears) if you don't stop blabbering your nonsense, it won't take me a minute to turn everyone in this hospital against you even your dearest friends and trust me that won't be good for you, so stay within your limits, Anto..., doctor, can we take Noah home with us?, yes, yes you can ma'am, just fill the discharge forms by the counter over there and he's ready to go home.
I became even more worried and furious with Antonio's reply to me, I wanted to do everything I could just to protect every single person from Antonio because what he does to them even when they are released from his magic is just more of what I can comprehend, I had to find a way to stop, by hook or by crook.
After taking Noah and Emily back home, Corazon drove me back to the shard where the competition was being held, I started to think I arrived a bit late but I was still right on time. The competition started a bit later, I was starting to feel nervous and my mother's cookbook wasn't with me, before the announcer could even start the actual competition, I was starting to sweat, I didn't know what to prepare, I went down and squatted, as I stood up I saw Corazon right by my side, I knew he was the best option for me as at now, I had to ask him what to prepare, before I could even finish my sentence, he listed out a complete set of dishes, I stared at him and wondered how he just did that, he didn't just list out normal dishes, he listed out top ranking dishes that even everyone in the world could crave for but never have,Seared Scallops au Poivre (peppercorn crusted scallops) Steamed Mussels in White Wine (with garlic and lemon), Saffron Risotto (creamy risotto with saffron), Tiramisu (coffee soaked ladyfingers with mascarpone). He started the competition with this and caught everyone's attention, I couldn't do much because I was still a bit mesmerized with the way he was preparing each dish, I had to support by getting some ingredients he needed, I was just helping him a bit, if not for him I would just stay there and prepare nothing, he prepared each dish so perfectly I could almost gulp each one, the aroma of each dish filled the air and covered those of other dishes being prepared by other contestants.
The time was up and we had to present our dishes, there were almost up to 20 contestants but still it still got to us and we presented ours, he stepped out and explained the way and methods he used in preparing each dish and the ingredients he used, after all contestants had presented their dish, we had to wait for the results. It was time the results were announced, the judges were picking only the top ten cafes to qualify for the next round of the competition, they mentioned up to eight cafes before actually mentioning ours, I was starting to get scared, I didn't know when I grabbed Corazon's hand and held it tight waiting for our cafe's name to be mentioned, immediately it was mentioned, I hugged him and didn't even realize, I was so happy that we qualified for the next round of the competition. We had to wrap up and leave for Noah's place to check up on them before going back to our house, Corazon drove us there and as we got there, we met both Noah and Emily resting on each other, though it wasn't obvious they were not perfectly fine but they were still able to keep each other's company. Wow, it seems you guys are doing perfectly fine with each other, how are you guys feeling now?, Luna, thanks a lot, it really means a lot, thank you for being there for me and my naughty wife here, Noah, there's no need for that, you're just like family so there's no need for all this, Luna's right bro, you're just like family, you were also there for us when we needed you and now it's our turn to return the favour, but still what Noah is trying to say is that we really appreciate what you did for us both, Emily, I said no more of this, alright?, I don't think we've gotten the chance to actually introduce ourselves properly, I'm Noah Benson, this is my wife Emily Benson, Corazon Nova, it's nice meeting someone close to the Nightingales, it's really great, Luna told me you were the one that saved both me and my wife here, I really appreciate it, thanks a lot, not at all, i just did what anyone would have done, it's really nothing, but still I really appreciate it, thanks a lot man, Noah, we have to go now but we'll check up on you tomorrow alright?, tomorrow's going to be a very long day, so I have to take my beauty sleep, no problem Luna, good night then, Emily good night, good night Luna, Alex good night, see you all tomorrow then.