6-Tastes Like A Hunt For A Manager

Third POV ~

Camila heaved a deep sigh. She was so glad for that flirt who had made her let out all her emotions. At least now, she’d found a solution—no matter how temporary it might be.

She picked up her phone. “This is my last resort,” she reminded herself. Camila had lost his number ages ago. I mean, they were friends for some years, but that was it.

Everyone moved on. “Please remember me, I beg you.” He had always been so nice to her. They’d reconnected even after high school, and he was still so sweet to her. “I’m sorry I lost your number again…”

“But thanks to social media…” She had dug it up online. “Okay. Just answer my call the first time, hmm?”

She swallowed what remained of her pride and dialed his number.

No response.

“Damn it!”

“I’ve got no shame now, have I?” She dialed again.

This time, his voice came through.

“Hello? Hey, Camila! It’s been so long!”

Oh, he sounds excited to hear from me. That’s good…

Camila smiled, then confessed everything. “It’s Jaxon. He chased me out of his house. We’re divorced. Please, just for a few days—no, just for like three days, or even for tonight. Caleb and I…”

It was painful asking. Camila had a phobia for that. She liked handling things herself, without anyone’s help. But now she was broke and alone, with no family.

“You know it’s just me. I don’t have any family…” She didn’t want to cry, but reality hit her hard. Poor Caleb would suffer because of Jaxon…!

“Hey, hey, Camila.” He cut her off before she broke down. “It’s fine. Of course you can come and stay with me. You know, mi casa es tu casa…”

Camila blinked. “Uh… sí. Gracias—”

“—I’m so sorry, I don’t know why I just said that. I don’t… forget about it. But I’m so glad you called.”

Like she had anyone else to call.

“Thanks so much!”

“Sure thing. I’ll forward my address to you right now. You’re always welcome in my house, Camila.”

A breath of relief washed over her. “Thank you so much. I appreciate you—a lot. I’ll make it up to you, I promise. I don’t know how yet, but I will.”

“You don’t… you don’t have to.”

When he hung up, Camila hailed a taxi and headed back home.

⸻

Mike had cleaned the kitchen counter twice. It should have been sparkling—maybe it already was, but he just couldn’t see it. He changed the fragrance in the humidifier, fixed a light bulb in the guest room that wasn’t bright enough, and ordered some desserts. Still, he wanted to prepare a well-deserved homemade meal for her.

He was shaking now. “It has to be perfect!”

He looked around, shook his head, and wiped the tabletop one more time before rushing back to the living room. Everything was in perfect order. He frowned at a chair pillow that wasn’t upright enough, adjusted it, and frowned again.

Everything had to be perfect…

“For real, shut up!”

“I’m telling you. That’s how I lost her…”

Mike heard their voices getting louder as they approached. He sighed in frustration and marched toward them. They were already in the living room.

“What the hell!”

Shawn shrugged. “What?”

“I asked you guys to submit your keys the other day. You lied—you said you didn’t have a spare!”

Nico and Shawn exchanged surprised glances, then ignored Mike as if nothing had happened.

“Anyway, as I was saying,” Nico continued.

“As long as it’s not about your imaginary crush, I don’t mind.”

“She’s not my crush! I would crush her if I could. After how she tried to humiliate me…” Nico frowned slightly, remembering how she had told him his breath stank. “I’m just saying she fits the frame so damn well.”

“Of your manager from above?”

“She said I had garlic breath. And gave me a solution.”

“Wait—you’re in love with her because she said you had garlic breath?” Mike looked genuinely interested now.

“I saw her. She looked hot. Mike, did you not see her?”

Mike shook his head. “I didn’t… wait, why are you guys here? If Nico’s date verbally abused him, what about your own dark chocolate?”

“Oh, she turned out to be only interested in girls.”

Mike’s jaw dropped. “What?”

“I tried to bribe her—”

“You did what?” Mike blinked.

Shawn suddenly paused. “Why is everywhere too damn clean?”

Nico turned around and nodded. “Yeah, I was about to ask too.”

“I have a friend coming over, so you both need to disappear right now,” Mike said firmly.

“But we’re crashing here for the night,” Shawn pointed out, with Nico nodding. “Yeah. What he said.”

Mike’s frustration spiked. “No. Please, you guys have to leave!”

“Wait… your imaginary girlfriend is real?” Nico asked.

“So you’re not gay?”

“Shut the fuck up. You guys need to leave. Please!” Mike pleaded. “Right now—just go.”

“Wait,” Nico stopped him as Mike started pushing them toward the door. “We’ll try to leave on one condition. Tell me I’m not crazy.”

Mike shook his head. “You are very crazy, Nico. Shawn, tell him.”

“It’s just…” Nico began pacing toward the couch. “She fits the position so well. She has to be a professional chef. You mix something like lemon or pineapple to get rid of the stench of raw food—like onions, fish, garlic…”

“Maybe she’s just a professional drinker,” Shawn added, sitting down beside him.

Mike smacked his forehead. “You guys need to leave!”

“She sounded like a chef. I need to see her again. I need someone by my side for the school opening on Monday.”

“Yeah, but everything is already set. Why are you looking for someone?” Shawn asked.

“I don’t know.” Nico shrugged. “It just makes sense. I want someone passionate about food. I need my manager to be her.”

“Yeah, sorry bro, but you’re never going to see her again. You don’t even know her name,” Shawn said.

Mike was pacing when the doorbell rang.

“Shoot! She’s here. Oh no.”

“Relax. Why are you so terrified anyway? At least now we’ll see she’s real and stop calling you gay,” Nico said.

“We won’t stop though, will we?” Shawn whispered.

“Of course not.” They both burst out laughing.

“Just… behave yourselves!” Mike wiped his sweaty palms on his clothes and walked to the door.

He opened it and smiled. “So good to see you. Come in.”

She was still as beautiful as ever. He wished he would stop staring.

Shawn was saying something to Nico but paused when his friend suddenly froze. He followed Nico’s gaze, then looked back at him.

The lady was staring too.

“It’s her… isn’t it?”

He didn’t need Nico to answer.

“Well… this is fucked up.”