Secret Spot(2)

The restaurant is called John's House and owned by a Canadian who's named Johnny, and he goes by John. The kitchen is an open-kitchen since John loves interacting with people so he made it open style.

They sit at the counter. Dan looks around, it's a small place, only around 15 seats, with two cooks and one waitress, and his attention is caught by the menu. He turns to John, "John, there are many items on the menu. Do you make them all by yourself? How did you manage to learn to make all of them?"

John stands in the kitchen while they are sitting at the counter. They talk with the counter between them. He answers Dan with a warm smile, "Yes, I make all the dishes myself, but I do have an awesome guy with me in the kitchen." John points at the other guy who's also in the kitchen working. "That's Jason, cool guy." Dan turns to Jason, and Jason smiles and waves at him. John and Dan turn back to look at each other. "And for the second question…I traveled a lot and lived in many countries, so I learned how to cook their food. I'm sixty years old, kid. I had a lot of time to learn and I still have time to learn more." John says.

Dan nods and continues to ask. "That's awesome. They told me you were from Canada, right?"

"Yep." John nods.

"Why did you come here?" Dan doesn't stop asking.

Johns laughs, "Wow, you are a curious boy. Ok, I will tell you my story but you need to stop asking, and…in return, I want to know yours." and he speaks. John tells them he has a new dish coming out; he needs them to try it and give feedback. He begins to tell Dan his story and prepare the best food in his restaurant at the same time.

John tells Dan he grew up as a baseball kid. He played baseball until he joined the navy at eighteen. He traveled around the world on the warship and had been to Asia many times. John learned how to make Asian dishes while traveling in Asia. He met his wife during the trip of visiting Formosa, she's from the east of the country. They lived in Canada after marriage. His wife always talked about opening their own restaurant in Canada or her hometown after retirement. They both loved food. However, life never goes according to plan. She passed on from cancer ten years ago, and it's the reason why John decided to move to Formosa to open the restaurant. It's not only to complete his dream but also for his wife. While John's telling the story, the waitress comes to them and asks them what they would like to drink. Dan asks for a glass of water, and Ian and Leo want some beers. After having their orders, she walks away, and a minute later, she brings the drinks to three of them.

"Okay, that's basically my story, it's your turn, Dan." says John.

"Ok." Dan takes a deep breath and another sip of water before he starts. He tells them he's the youngest in his family and his older sisters took good care of him. He feels he is lucky to have everything he has now. He always wants to pay them back and prove to himself and his family that he is able to bring them value. Not just that, he grew up with people having high expectations of him. He has talent for baseball and everyone expects him to go to the FBL. They told him he was meant to be great. However, deep down in his heart, he's still not sure if he can become what they said, and he feels he can't fail them.

John listens to Dan and laughs. "Don't worry. You will. They pick you in the first round for a reason. You won't fail anyone." John has the food ready. He serves the food to them and continues to speak. "Look at Ian and Leo, they were just like you. They were young, talented but a little confused. But they all turned out doing okay. There's no need to worry."

"He's right. You don't need to worry, in fact, I'm the person who needs to be worried." says Leo.

Dan looks at him and doesn't get it. "What do you mean?"

Leo takes a sip of his beer then looks at Dan. "Look, this is my tenth season in the league. I wasn't even in the FBL for last season. They wouldn't have called me up to spring training this time if they were not short of outfielders. If I don't do well this time, I may get released." Leo tells Dan that he is too young to be worried.

"Oh…sorry. I didn't mean to bring it up." Dan says.

"Why are you apologizing?" Leo chuckles. "I'm fine."