mlina thought the Prologue was pretty damned short, so I am making amends via this particular sortie.  :)

I -Heart- Ingrid-Irene

Chapter One: A Truth Stranger than Fiction

"Ingrid-Irene, I really wish you'd stop drinking so much coffee."

Ingrid smiled wryly at her Mama Mina as she poured herself a tall glass of iced cafe-au-lait.  She tilted her chin towards the massive mug in the older woman's hands.

"I will if you do," she said cheekily.

Mina Ibardolaza threw her head back and laughed.  "You can be such a cheeky little miss when you set your mind to it," she told her daughter.

"Hey, I get it from your side of the family!  We're all smart-alecks, remember?"

Mina smiled and took a sip from her mug.  Originally, Ingrid was her niece and not her daughter; her twin sister Caroline had been Ingrid's mother.  But, truth be told, Mina was engaged to marry Ingrid's father Inigo - but the conniving Caroline seduced the hapless fellow and ended up married to him instead.  What happened next was nearly fifteen years of sheer hell and Caroline was notorious for beating her children.  When Ingrid was born, it grew worse because vain Caroline refused to have any competition - even from a daughter who steadily began to look a damn sight better than she did.  To make a long story short, it all came to a head when Ingrid was ten and Caroline tried to kill her by ramming their car into a wall.  Ironically, Ingrid survived and Caroline was killed instantly.  Needless to say, everyone was happy when Mina finally married Inigo three years later. It was fortunate that the kids adored her.

"You look tired, darling," Mina remarked, eying her daughter worriedly.

"I am tired, Ma!" Ingrid sighed, sinking onto a kitchen stool.  "I'd rest, but Cam needs me."

"How is he, by the way?  Are they discharging him soon?"

"Yes, Ma."  Ingrid smirked.  "Hep was trying to foist some antidepressants on him."

"He won't take those, you know."

"Too well, Ma."

"Will he be well enough to go to Luce's wedding on Saturday?  He is related to the bridegroom, after all.  And he and Lu have been friends almost as long as you have."

"Well, he won't risk Luce's wrath, that's for sure.  Besides, Tita Lui dragooned him into emcee duty for the reception."  Dreamily, Ingrid rested her elbows on the table and rested her chin in her hands.  "Luce-lulu's getting hitched to Bettina and Graeme's baby brother.  That cougar!  I wonder who's next?"

Mina took another sip of coffee and regarded her with a raised eyebrow.  "Luce's not a cougar, darling," she said.  "Six years isn't that much older.  Twenty is more like it - look at Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher!

"As for who's next - well, when are you planning to tie the knot?"

Startled, Ingrid nearly fell off her stool.  "Ma!" she exclaimed.  "What a thing to ask!  You know I haven't any plans."

Mina stuck her tongue out impishly.  "Liar, for all I know, you're already pregnant!"

"Ma..."  Ingrid blushed uncomfortably and blurted out the painful truth.  "That's the problem: nothing of the sort's actually happened between me and Cam!"

Mina stared at her in disbelief, shocked into speechlessness.  "Ingrid-Irene Ibardolaza!" she exclaimed in dismay.  "What the hell are you two waiting for?!"

+++

Camden stared expressionlessly at his bandaged wrists.  Truth be told, there wasn't any pain left.  He was bored to death and wanted to go home, to go back to work.

To have a meal cooked by Ingrid whose skills in the kitchen were on the same level as a chef with several Michelin stars!

He slid a sidelong glance at the covered dish on the bed tray beside his bed.  If his father hadn't confiscated his mobile phone, he would've texted an SOS to Ingrid: baby, send food NOW.

As if on cue, the door opened and Ingrid poked her head in.  She smiled and wiggled her fingers in greeting.  He smiled back.

"Hey," he said by way of greeting as she entered.

"Hey yourself."  She came in and the fragrance of her ginger-lemon perfume entered the room - along with the smell of something really good wafting from the plastic bag she carried. Contemptuously, she lifted the cover off the dish - and dropped it back with a loud clatter.  "Chicken?!" she exclaimed.  "I'd like to skin that dietitian alive!  You need beef, damn it; you've lost a lot of blood!"  She winked and held up a clear plastic bag with three yellow bowls in it.  "North Park's so close by, I got you Nanking beef noodles, aniseed beef tendons on rice, and a bowl of the superior congee."

Camden lay back and smiled, obviously touched.  "That's kind of you, babe," he said as she began fussing about.

Ingrid looked up and he noted that she'd gone pink - just pink enough to match the light jacket she wore over her magenta turtleneck.  But she didn't look displeased.

"Hey, I don't do this for everyone," she said gruffly, handing him a bowl and a pair of chopsticks.  She held up the remaining bowls.  "I'll just chuck these in the fridge for you to eat later in case the kitchen lackeys try to feed you chicken again."

"Aren't you eating?" he asked, popping the top off the bowl.  He smiled when he saw it was tendons on rice.

"I ate at home," Ingrid replied as she placed the remaining bowls in the tiny fridge.  "Mama Min came to visit.  She wanted to know if you're still attending the wedding."

"I am," Camden replied between bites.  "Do you honestly think I'd let Tita Lui kill me?  And if she doesn't get me, I risk Gilbert's wrath!"

"I didn't know shoti Gilbert had a temper," Ingrid remarked, sitting at the foot of the bed.

"Oh, does he ever!  I don't think Battle-axe Luce would marry him if he was the milksop people think he is."  Camden paused and looked rather thoughtful.  "He comes by that temper honestly, by the way.  Remember his mom, my Auntie Ana?"

"How could I forget?  I remember when she blew up at you and Graham for not mowing the lawn like you promised!"  Ingrid giggled wickedly.  "She could scream like a harpy - and boy, I remember her unerring aim!"  She dimpled wryly.  "Pity about that ginger jar, though.  It was a genuine Ming!"

Camden smiled and held a bite of tendon to her.  "You sure you're not hungry?" he asked her.

Ingrid grinned back and waved it off.  "Thanks, but Ma and I made fried rice out of the leftovers in the fridge."  She looked rather thoughtful; then, "Ma's wondering why we haven't slept together yet."

Camden raised an eyebrow at this.  They'd been friends for so long that such frankness was no longer so much of a shock.

"I told her we were both a bit busy," Ingrid  continued, idly tracing designs onto the bed with her finger.

"Did she ask if we had any plans to marry?"

"She did.  And I told her we didn't - at least, not yet."  She looked up at him.  "How long do you want to keep this up?" she asked him.

"Just till this telco thing settles down," Camden sighed.

"Just so you know: I have to keep myself from screaming to the world that I'm actually married to you already."

Camden chuckled, and leaned forward to kiss her.  "How we've managed to hide that from everyone is something I used to take pride in," he declared.

"Used to?"

He held up his bandaged wrists.  "Till I almost lost you," he admitted sheepishly.

Ingrid glared at him.  "How could you think I'd throw you over for that guy?" she demanded.  "You're more of a man than he is - or will ever be!"

Camden sat back and looked away.  "Forgive me, babe," he mumbled weakly.  "I was stupid."

"I forgave you already!  I just want to get properly hitched!  I want to disable that goddamned partition for good!  I want us to have kids and grow old together!"  She threw her hands up in dismay.  "Camden!"

Camden put his bowl down on the bedside table and held his arms out to her.  He closed his eyes and sighed as she snuggled against him; the gingery perfume she used never failed to make his heart race.

"I promise," he assured her.  "Soon as I'm out of here, soon as I get things in order, we'll get hitched ASAP."

"We heard that!" a sing-song voice declared from the door.

Startled, both Camden and Ingrid looked up to see Dai at the door, grinning like a Cheshire cat.  Chai, Ingrid's cousin and PA, giggled delightedly right behind him.

Camden threw him a look of pure hate.  "If you spill any of this prematurely," he intoned darkly, "you are so dead."

+++

Comments are, again, appreciated.  ;p

Yes, I know I haven't written anything in this LJ for Lord-only-knows how long.  Plus, if you're looking for the end to my online novel No Need for Normalcy (last online chapter for which is here), I suggest you keep an eye out for the final version which I'm planning to launch on Yudu in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, I'd like to draw you all into the mad, mad world of the gang at Ibardolaza Chee, a high powered PR/advertising firm where things can get more than a little hairy from time to time.  (Incidentally, it's set in the same world as No Need... so a number of familiar characters will be showing up - including Gib and Luce!) 

It's where you'll meet a ruthless young mogul named Camden - and his equally madcap partner-in-crime Ingrid-Irene.

I -Heart- Ingrid-Irene

Prologue: Bleed, Bleed, Bleeding for You

Charlie says I was paler than he was when we boarded the ambulance.

And I should make it clear at this point that Charlie - even for a Chinese guy - is very fair-skinned and really gives the impression of being anemic.  For me to look paler than him meant that I was really stressed out.

No: stressed out doesn't even begin to describe how I felt that night.

How does one describe the feeling of coming home to find your best friend naked on the floor, lying in a rapidly-spreading pool of his own blood?

And what broke my heart as I tried to lift him off the floor: tears on his face, the bloody box cutter held limply in one hand, and my name on his lips when I managed to rest his head on my lap...

...a soft, barely audible sound that returned when I came to squeeze in beside the gurney.

"Cam?" I whispered into his ear, leaning close.

His eyes slowly opened and he managed to smile, even weakly.

"Hey," he murmured.  "Still here?"

"Yeah."  I drew a deep breath and rested my head on his shoulder.  "Dumb move, pare," I muttered gravely.

"Hah,  Seemed like the thing to do."

"I mean it, Cam: dumb move."

"You know..."

"Don't talk," I pleaded, gently covering his mouth with my hand.  "You need to save your strength."

He grunted weakly, but stopped.  Instead, he turned his gaze intently at my face.  If it had been anyone else, she would have turned away from such intensity.  But Camden and I have been friends for so long, it never bothered me.

But not tonight.

Tonight, it was like the blood drained out of my heart.  I felt cold all over as he stared at me.  Almost impulsively, I gripped one of his hands in both of mine.

"I thought you left me," he said, totally ignoring my request for him to shut up.

"I can't leave you," I said, trying to stay calm.  But I saw Charlie and Dai look up sharply when they heard the growing hint of hysteria in my voice.  "Why did you even think that I'd ever leave you?"

Cam's lips worked as he tried to reply, but the ambulance sped into the hospital's emergency bay and the words died as he was carefully lifted out and wheeled into the ER.

Charlie helped me down and Dai put an arm about my shoulders as we were ushered into a nearby anteroom. 

"Please sit down, Achi," Charlie begged as he led me to a couch.  "Would you like me to get you anything?  Coffee or a sandwich?"

I was about to tell him not to bother, but Dai cut me off, "She didn't eat anything at that damned dinner, Charlie-boy.  Get the girl something substantial, for Christ's sake!"

Charlie nodded mutely and left the room.

As if his departure was a go-signal, I began to cry hysterically, the previously unshed tears falling like a waterfall down my face, my breath ragged from my sobs.

This night - this godawful night...  I wished against all hope that the like of it would never happen again.

+++

Charlie Chee paced the anteroom restlessly as the clock up on the wall struck five in the morning.  Dai Ninomiya was wearily slumped on one couch.  Their boss, Ingrid Ibardolaza, was curled up in the corner of another couch.  Normally one of the toughest women Charlie knew, she was uncharacteristically silent and pale.  She just sat there, hands folded almost primly in her lap, tense as a coiled spring.

Sighing heavily, Charlie sat beside her.

"Achi, he'll pull though," he said reassuringly, patting her shoulder.

"I know," she said quietly.  "Your ahia is a fighter, kid.  He won't be cowed by this."

Charlie grinned at that.  "Yeah.  Remember when his car got trashed?"

"Yeah, and the time he got into a fight at that bar in Tokyo?"

"Or the press conference in Berlin - boy, that was a riot!"

Ingrid managed a very small smile at that.  "Yeah, and I remember we all went out for beer and pretzels and curry-wurst afterwards because Cam refused to stay for dinner."

"And I remember how you got into a fight when one of those Bavarian barmaids tried to sit on Ahia's lap!" Charlie snickered wickedly at that.  "Chai got that on video, you know."

"Really?"

"Yup.  Ahia caught her trying to post the vid on Facebook."  He smirked evilly.  "Oh, you should have been there when he tried to bribe her out of posting it."

Ingrid's eyes widened in horror at that.  "Did he manage to pay her off?" she demanded.

"Nah, but Chai couldn't post the video, anyway."  Charlie pouted at this.  "The file was too heavy."

Presently, a doctor clad in bloody scrubs entered the room.  He was a skinny man with spiky hair, a nose ring, and a skull-shaped earring hanging off one lobe.

Ingrid rose to her feet and moved quickly to meet him.

"Hep, how is he?" she asked him.

The doctor - Hep Maravilla, a long-time friend of theirs - smiled and hugged Ingrid reassuringly.  "He's cool," he drawled somewhat wearily.  "Didn't even want an anaesthetic - same ol' angas as hell Cam."

"He was awake the whole time?" Charlie demanded in horror.

"Yep."  Hep jerked his thumb at the operating room doors which swung open as a gurney was wheeled in.  Camden Chee was wide awake, obviously in pain, and obviously pissed off.  Charlie winced; the tenderness during the trip from the flat to the hospital had already worn off and his brother was his usual cranky self.

When Charlie slid a glance towards Ingrid, he saw the latter's eyes flash.  He found himself pushed indecorously to one side as Ingrid marched to his brother's side.

"You idiot!" she shrieked, wrapping her hands around his neck before anyone could restrain her.

"Zooh, m'gawd!" Dai murmured. 

"Your kuya's in deep shit, kid," Hep muttered to Charlie.

"He knows," Charlie replied, shrugging even as he watched the struggle between Ingrid and his brother.  "Lord knows why he did it in the first place."

"For a really smart guy, he sure is stupid."

"Yeah, we know."

"Think we ought to pull them apart?" Dai asked them.

Suddenly, Ingrid left off screaming as Cam managed to grab her and kiss her in a most passionate fashion.

Hep raised an eyebrow at this.  Dai and Charlie, on the other hand, stared at them in shock.

"Honestly," Hep remarked, "I think they both need a break."

"What do you mean?" Dai asked.

"Well..."  Hep shrugged and jerked at the two who still hadn't come up for air.  "Where you guys work, I don't know if they're running a PR agency or a branch of the National Institute for Mental Health!"

+++

Comments are sincerely appreciated!  :D

Since starting the year calls for living with a clean conscience, I'm taking a cue from Lorraine over at Not Quite Nigella and posting up a few confessions from this brutally die-hard foodie:

• I will try anything once - and sometimes, if I didn't like it the first time, I give it a second chance.  My list of second-chancers includes ampalaya [bitter melon], Buffalo wings, orange marmalade, English-style fruitcake, poultry giblets, and bagoong isda [native fish paste];
• I'm a sucker for all manner of Filipinized Spanish dishes; I admit that I'm a caldereta junkie who will kill for that beef stew enriched with pureed tomatoes and liver spread.  However...
• I steadfastly refuse to eat the local take on menudo.  I can't explain why, seeing how I will willingly wolf down afritada (chicken stewed in tomato sauce), mechado (beef pot roast larded with a wick of pork fat), morcon (stuffed beef roll), and pochero (pork and chicken cooked with cabbage and potatoes in tomato sauce).  I just don't like the stuff.
• Bread is a non-negotiable for me - but it's actually a recent non-negotiable.  In the days before I knew how to bake bread, I could actually live without it.  In fact, I was the sort of kid who detested bringing sandwiches to school for recess.  Croissants were a treat and baguettes were something you could break your teeth on.  However, I learned how to appreciate the staff of life when I felt that deep frisson of pride at taking my very first batch of cinnamon buns from the oven.
• If it's Oriental, I'll eat it.  It started out with tempura over at Kimpura in Makati.  Then it grew to include Chinese noodle soup with wontons, pata hamon, and ngohiong (pork-stuffed bean curd rolls; known as kikiam to some).  Then came the sushi and the okonomiyaki I'm seriously addicted to.  Which brings us to...
• If you tell me we're going to either Binondo (Manila's Chinatown) or Greenhills (where there are a LOT of fab Chinese restaurants because of the sizable Chinese community), I'll be ready in a second flat.  I plead guilty to the fact that I will make a beeline for this Chinese grocery just a short walk from Binondo Church and buy stuffed mochi (well, daifuku, actually) in a whole spectrum of flavors, sungsong peanuts in the shell, and a wealth of spices and pork / fish floss.  Then I'll head for Shin Ton Yong to get several lap cheong, meat rolls, smoked pork, and machang.  Lunch will be at Wai Ying on Benavidez and will consist of a heaping bowl of tausi spareribs and chicken feet on rice and a glass of cold Hong Kong-style milk tea.  Now, if we're going to Greenhills, that will call for any of the cold, milky drinks at Diao Eng Chay plus one of their fab chicken mushroom pies.  Then there's a bowl of combination noodles and a bottle of soy milk over at Le Ching...
• I'm a Little Tokyo habitue.  I recommend the o-nigiri bento over at the Yamazaki grocery, any of the o-bento at Choto Stop, the takoyaki sold at Hana, the Sapporo-style ramen at Shinjuku, and the burgers at Sango: The Burger Master.  And I also suggest that you stockpile on DARS and LOOK chocolates, all sorts of Pocky, instant noodles, and Japanese snacks at Yamazaki. 
• I love men who look good whilst browsing through restaurant menus.  Click here; enough said.  :D  Oh, and I love them all the more if they love pizza, pasta, Nestle Crunch bars, and have to qualms about trying anything new.  [Giggles; hi, Wayne...]
• I'd love to marry someone who would be a joy to cook for; it'd be non-stop fun, I think.  :)  Even more so if his mother loves to eat!  That would be a LOT of fun.  Which means...
• I would opt for either Paris, Singapore, or Rome for my honeymoon.  Food-trips in these culinary capitals are my idea of a romantic getaway!
• Strangely enough, I don't eat when I'm depressed.
• My friends accuse me of fattening them up.  Hey, it's not my fault my recipes include copious amounts of chocolate, butter, cheese, cream, eggs, or bacon!
• If there's nothing good to eat in the fridge and I'm too lazy to cook for myself, I put slices of cheese on rice and melt them in the microwave.

Quite a list, isn't it?  :D 

I picked this meme off the utterly funny blog Balut & Natto which chronicles the adventures [and misadventures] of Pinoy blogger Garando and his Japanese wife Garandee.

If you want to try this meme out for yourself, post a comment.  Be sure to tag ten other bloggers for this.  ;)

( 100 Truths! )

Biscotti – P 30.00 per piece, minimum order of 12

• Il Mediterraneo   Lemon biscotti studded with nutty poppy seeds and perfumed with cardamom
• La Columbina   Cocoa-flavored biscotti with a hint of vanilla and chunks of white, milk, and dark chocolate scattered through the dough
• Il Cinese   A rather Oriental-inspired cookie: almond-flavored cookies scented with ginger and a sprinkling of sesame seeds.
• La Prima-Colazione   Perfect for breakfast on the go! Coffee-flavored biscotti with cinnamon and honey-almond granola.

Cupcakes and Muffins – P 30.00 per piece, minimum order of 12

• Little Witches   Dark chocolate cake with chocolate chips; gianduja (Nutella/hazelnut spread) topping
• Sassy Girls   Peanut butter cupcakes with caramel and chocolate
• Li’l Miss Sunshine   Citrus-flavored cupcakes with dried mangoes
• Daybreak Muffins   Carrot-pineapple muffins made with wheat flour and oatmeal
• Pomona Muffins   Apple muffins spiced with nutmeg, cinnamon, and clove

Please place your orders via email at midge.manlapig@gmail.com or call 0915-8517362 at least two weeks in advance.  For foreign readers, I'm so sorry: I'm only taking domestic orders at the moment.