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His attention is on giving me the hot entrées, and mine is on eating them. Every mouthful, I close my eyes, taking in the flavors, and I dip the prawns into the sweet chili sauce.
“But where’s the ramen?”
“I will order it. I thought you would like sushi. Have you tried it?”
“No,” I confess as I shake my head.
“Then how do you know you won’t like it?”
“Food has to look appetizing for me to like it. I don’t like the way it looks. It just looks so bland. As soon as I put it in my mouth, I will be thinking the same thing, so no doubt, I won’t like it.”
He seems astonished by my response, and for once in my life, I’ve seemed to leave Diego speechless.
“That’s a little naive. Try it. If you don’t like it, then I will order the ramen.”
Hazlo!1
I sigh, as I know once I’ve finished all the entrées, I’ll still be hungry. I need to leave this suite, but leaving won’t help me because I don’t know the language. As much as I don’t want to give in, I’ll give it a try and then tell him I still don’t like it just to get what I want.
“Which one is this?”
“Salmon.”
Of course it has a pink center. So, I pick the one with the green center instead. For sure I won’t like it. I close my eyes and hold my nose the same way I used to do when I was a childand mi abuela would force me to try something new. She said the same thing as Diego: if you don’t try, you will never know. I never minded not trying back then because I never felt I was missing out on something.
I chew on it slowly, and Diego’s hazel eyes dull once he sees the expression on my face. I’m ready to spit it out.
“I still don’t like it. Please order the ramen.”
He nods. No guilt. No shame. I’m kinda shocked he’s not saying anything and ordering what I want so easily.
I do like salmon, so I'm going to try it as soon as he’s out of sight. I check my back to see if he’s returning, then I put it in my mouth. It's lightly seasoned with vinegar or something.
This one looks interesting. It's yellow and then it has a strip of seafood on it with rice. I decide to give it a try too, no longer thinking about Diego returning.
“I see you’ve been experimenting.”
Damn! He caught me. This is what happens when you’re curious. You always get caught.
“That one, I will never touch.”
I point to the one which has layers of rice and has so many different colors as if it’s a rainbow.
“The dragon roll. No. That’s too ambitious for you. We wouldn’t want that, would we?”
I’d like to throw the sushi at his smug face, but instead, I narrow my eyes and pick up a roll. I’ll take that challenge. It’s just one more roll before my ramen gets here anyway. I hold his gaze as I take a bite.
“It has a savory flavor, and I can taste the sweet soy sauce. Then avocado, which isn't my favorite. The seaweed makes it a little chewy. I have sweet teeth. I love sweet things.”
“It’s sweet tooth, not teeth.”
“Thanks for correcting me,” I confess. It’s little mistakes I make at times and I hate it, but I appreciate him telling me that it’s wrong.
“The thing is that I never saw you as an eel lover.”
What is he going on about?
“I’m not.”
