I am the Queen

Four in the morning, Evangeline and Eric snuck out from his apartment all for the sake of not disturbing Asher, who was sleeping at the side. It was weird because he was the one renting the place.

Due to fatigue and mental exhaustion, Asher wasn't disturbed from his death-like state. He was even snoring loudly with saliva dripping from his mouth.

Under the early morning soft hues of blue, Evangeline was sitting on the passenger seat of Eric's bike, arms wrapped around her boyfriend's waist as they rode to their early morning date. She was repressing the gigantic ball of giggles inside her from all the excitement. Though her face was nothing but smiles from the moment she woke up.

That smile, however, regressed when Eric parked his bike in the parking lot of a wet market. Not a supermarket. Not a hypermarket. A wet market. No wonder it took more than thirty minutes. They were in the ocean part of the city!

"Wait," she said when Eric casually chained his bike after they got off. "Do you have something to do here?"

Eric briefly glanced at her. "Yes," he answered before he got to his feet and took Evangeline's hand in his.

"We're going to buy ingredients, remember?" he smiled, eyes twinkled in playfulness.

Roaming her eyes at the place, Evangeline's smile disappeared when she scrutinized the gigantic box of dirty establishment.

"You're kidding." She forced a laugh, looking into Eric's eyes, waiting for him to say it was a joke. That it was April fool's day today.

But apparently. It was not when he answered in full smiles with an innocent face.

"Nope. This is the place that we are going to buy ingredients. It's called Blue River's wet market and quite popular for its fresh ingredients straight from the ocean and farms."

Evangeline pulled her hand from Eric and recoiled, face pale and eyes wide. Imagining herself entering a place where people shop who look like they just woke up with their pajamas was a big no-no!

"Eric, I don't want to go there. I want to go shopping in those supermarkets. You know, the ones were ingredients are imported and the whole place air-conditioned and doesn't smell fishy and dirty," Evangeline said in disgust, tone sharp.

She readied her dress for that. She was wearing a designer dress under an expensive cashmere coat and boots. Imagining it grazed to some unknown substance or having her heels licked some dirt on her coat caused her spine to shiver, urging her to run away from the place.

"I don't want to go there," she said, finality in her tone, meeting Eric's eyes in defiance.

". . ." Eric's smiling face didn't lessen as he walked closer to Evangeline.

"Eve . . . ," he said, a little pleading.

Evangeline stepped back, putting distance between them. Crossing her arms in front of her chest when Eric attempted to take it.

"I said no. It's either we shop in those groceries in the mall or forget it."

Eric continued his advance but no longer attempted to hold Evangeline's hand. He stood there inches from her while she avoided his gaze, lips pouting.

Ah, she's so adorable. "It's not that bad. Well, it might smell funny and looks dirty, but this is a good place to shop for fresh food. Besides, those supermarkets in malls aren't open until six in the morning," Eric explained.

"Come on . . . please?" he pleaded when Evangeline didn't budge.

Evangeline peered at Eric. His smiling helpless face with a tint of infatuated eyes did damage to her resolve. Her stiff shoulder loosened, and her irritation dissolved. But she still had a reputation to uphold. She snappily grabbed his hand and compromised.

"Fine," she said, rolling her eyes in the sky. "But only this once. If I don't like what I see inside, that's it. We will not come here in the future, okay?"

"Okay," Eric answered, straight away.

Holding her hand, he led her inside the place, and Evangeline was surprised to see it was not bad as she imagined it to be. Though it was not carpeted, it was concreted and dry. Not a trash loitered the ground.

The stalls were systematized and not that chaotic as she thought it was. It was rather clear and organized, which was surprising considering the number of people going to and about, walking around in a hurry for the freshest foods, buzzing, and bargaining here and there.

Eric's hand tightened around hers. "Stay close to me," he said before leading her deeper inside.

Evangeline wanted to stop and gazed at all the culinary related good which were foreign to her, but Eric kept pulling her, hurry in his steps.

"What's the hurry?" she asked, laughing a bit.

Glancing briefly at her, he flashed that grin, which she found both cute and alarming. How many times was she a victim to his shenanigans? Too many, that's for sure.

"It's a secret," was all he said before leading ahead with her in tow.

Eric led her towards a big stall were a bunch of people huddled around for some reason. There was a line strap around the booth, blocking the people from entering inside its circle.

Eric flashed two tickets at the men guarding the only entrance inside the circle, allowing them a closer view of what was about to happen. Indeed, he came prepared.

"A tuna cutting show?" Evangeline stared at Eric brow-raising.

"Yeah, have you ever seen one before?"

Flipping her hair, Evangeline answered a simple, "No." She wasn't interested in all the dead fishes and fishy smell. She preferred the fish, steamed, or boiled on her plate.

"This will be your first experience watching then. It's awesome. You'll certainly enjoy it," Eric said, intertwining their fingers.

"I doubt that." Evangeline smirked, eyes focusing on the show as a man began polishing his knives. What could be interesting, cutting a dead fish?

Well, of course, it was big. More than half the size of a man and it's very fat. Its diameter was more than the man who was going to cut it open.

Eric is such a romantic partner with him bringing her here all to watch a dead fish being butchered. How romantic is that? Mind the sarcasm.

Sighing, Evangeline shook her head in boredom as she watched the show with a raised brow. As the second passed, she found her frown lessen and lessen as the boredom on her face change to one of anticipation. And before she knew it, she was one of the people who were clapping every time the man cut the side of the tuna with a long sword or a knife. It was, to her amusement, entertaining, and it was only a matter of time that she was already smiling.

After the show, each person was handed a piece of sashimi from the fish.

"Here." Eric casually picked the fish with a chopstick and gently deep it in the sauce before feeding it to her.

Sashimi, it was one of her favorite dishes. But never in her life that she tasted something like this. She was more of a mackerel person, but this tuna was something else. It had a melt in the mouth type of feel, a nice firm meaty texture, a little sweet and butter and . . . perfect. Just perfect. Her eyes closed to savor the flavor, chewing to her heart's content.

"It's delicious," she mumbled, eyes shooting to the plate that Eric was holding but found it empty. "We should definitely buy those."

"That's not a good idea." Eric grabbed her hand when he was about to wiggle her way towards the stall.

"Why not?" she asked, shifting her gaze on Eric and the stall, a little jittery since many people were crowding the booth, and she was afraid they wouldn't have any left but the bones.

Eric gripped on Evangeline's hand tightened. "It's only delicious because it was caught and served before six hours. Beyond that, I'm afraid it'll lose its flavor," he explained and added when he saw the skepticism on Evangeline's face, "Let's go roam around, we can try other fresh food in here. There's a lot of food and snack waiting for us here."

That line worked since Evangeline's face lit up, and she even pulled him on her own accord.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go and conquer this place."

Eric laughed a bit, leading Evangeline to all areas of the market where many people didn't frequent but have the best foods to offer. Both of them tried many foods while sightseeing. Along the way, they mingled, well, mostly Eric, with local vendors and sample their delicacies while learning about the dish and cooking methods.

By the time they were finished touring, it was already passed eight in the morning.

Evangeline learned about fish and meat in the past hours alone more so than in her entire life. Though, if not all, then most of it already flew out from her brain. But the tour would remain stuck in her mind that's for sure. It was more than fun –– it was an experience of their five senses.

"Did you enjoy it?" Eric asked, driving his bike home.

"I did," Evangeline answered honestly. "We should definitely return there again."

"Of course. There are also other wet markets besides that one. Let's go see each one of them."

Evnaligne smiled. "You sure have a weird idea of a date, Eric. Not that I'm complaining." She closed her eyes and pressed her head against his back.

"Sleepy?"

"No . . . Well, yes . . . I'm so full . . . I never ate so much . . . ," she complained. The smile on her face stretched, her expression serene when his body vibrated with laughter.

And she wished every day was like this.

Her eyes then flung open, body jolting away from Eric's back. "Eric! We haven't bought any ingredients at all!"

". . ."

Eric scratched his head. ". . . I forgot . . ."

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