SPOILER WARNING: IF YOU DO NOT KNOW ABOUT CHASE'S PARENTS AND DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED, DON'T READ.

Maya skipped cheerfully over to the bar counter at the Sundae Inn, her rose colored dress springing up and down in rhythm with her movements. Something that Chase presumed to be a cake was jiggling suspiciously on the platter in one of her hands. She set the silver serving plate on the counter with a quiet thunk! The boy stared down at the curiously black substance but then looked up to see the huge grin on his co-worker's face.

"Chase, I just know you're going to like this one!" she exclaimed excitedly. Something told the chef otherwise.

"Look, Maya, I don't think…"

"No. Just try it first! Pleeeeeease?" she begged. Although people were growing used to his cold and sarcastic demeanor, Chase couldn't help but feel obliged to eat whatever Maya came up with, especially if she begged as she did now.

The peach haired man sighed. "Fine, I'll try it, but don't be offended if I gag on it." He grabbed a spoon that had been lying nearby and scooped up a small portion of whatever it was that Yolanda's granddaughter had concocted.

"Soooo, is it delicious? I tried really hard this time!" she said. The aspiring chef took another spoonful and ate it. Maya couldn't help but be a little shocked. Chase never, ever ate more than a bite of her cooking. Even then, he would typically throw it up, spit it out, or gag on it. Although she then would get angry at him and try again, it was starting to become a pattern that she was used to. The innkeeper's daughter wondered what she had done right this time.

The young chef noticed how his employer's daughter was staring at him. What, did he have a stain? His clothes got stained all the time. It came with the territory of a culinary artist. He put another bite of food in his mouth, chewed, and swallowed before putting the silverware down.

"Maya, you're staring at me. It's really really annoying."

Maya blushed as pink as her dress and quickly turned her head away. "S…sorry."

A shadow of a smile danced on Chase's lips for a second. It faded fairly quickly as he cleared his throat to speak. "Anyways, I never answered your question. Although this dish, if you can even call it that, was quite disgusting both in appearance and in taste…" The young girl frowned, saddened that she still failed to make an acceptable meal.

"…I liked that you used oranges." he finished. The pink-clad server's head shot up in surprise. She knew that Chase had an obsession with oranges. Everyone did, but that he liked something she had made just because there were oranges in it? Now that was just weird. Maya thought of asking him about it, but as she opened her mouth, a thought struck her. What if it had to do with his parents?

Maybe his mom loved the citrus fruit or his dad was going to take him for orange sherbet the day that he and his wife had died? Or maybe one of Chase's parents had been wearing orange the night they died? Could it be possible that the last meal his mother had cooked had been something with oranges? The possibilities raged in the normally cheerful girl's head.

Chase saw that Maya was thinking hard and that whatever it was that she was thinking about, it was nothing good. He shook his head. She was always sticking her nose into something.

"What is it?"

She made eye contact with the boy that stood across the counter from her; the braids in her hair bounced as she turned her head. "What is what?"

"You're thinking about something again and we all know how well you think."

Brushing off the comment with a simple scowl, she began, "I don't want to drag up bad memories, but I just have to know why you'll only eat the things I make with oranges."

The peach haired boy thought for a moment, trying to comprehend what she meant by 'bad memories'. Then it dawned on him. He burst out into an uncharacteristic bout of laughter. He held his stomach as he brushed a tear away from one of his violet eyes.

Maya didn't know how to react. It was a choice between shock, confusion, and anger. She chose confusion. "What? It wasn't a funny question! I was dead serious." Her expression changed to one of dejection that he didn't take her seriously.

Chase stopped laughing for a moment and was surprised that she was depressed. "Wait, no, I wasn't laughing at you! It was just that you assumed it had to do with my parents, but it doesn't. I like the fruit because it's just great produce. They have a fair amount of nutrition, can be used for many different dishes and in various ways, plus they look and smell fantastic."

The blonde was taken aback at how simple and normal his answer was. Chase really was a strange guy. She just couldn't figure him out. He wasn't sarcastic about the whole topic nor was he mean about it. Maybe he was just sarcastic and rude on the outside to hide his whole inner darkness and that only love could bring out his good side because he's a shy person that was bullied a lot for wanting to be a chef when he was younger? Ha, yeah right. Maya pushed the thought aside. There were even more important things to keep in mind. Chase would eat almost anything as long as it had oranges in it. She could now get him to eat virtually anything she cooked as long as she made it with oranges!

Time to get cookin'.

Okay, so I'm sorry if you people don't like Maya. She was just the perfect character for this role since she and Chase work in the same place. Anyways, I bet you expected from the beginning that it'd be because of Chase's parents, right? WRONG.

Hope you have a nice day, have fun, drive safe, and prevent scurvy by eating lots of Vitamin C rich fruits and vegetables. Did you know that some bell peppers have almost x4 the amount of Vita C in them than oranges. Food for thought. Lol, pun.