Chapter 123 - Culinary Arts of Songwriting

Sunday 7 pm – Jericho, New York

Tayaw just arrived in front of his gate after a swim at Beekman Beach. While it is ironic that he has a Mediterranean style house without a seaside view, Beekman Beach is only a 20-minute run for his enhanced body. Regarding his body, he was able to measure more of what it could do during his swim at the beach.

The last time he swam at Lake Tabila in Nabla a year and a half ago, he was only able to hold his breath for 3 minutes. Today, was able to hold his breath underwater for more than 24 minutes. Almost double the world record of a free diver. 

He also felt like laughing when he recalled how fast he swam. He did not measure his speed but he was able to catch up with a fish that was fleeing from him. He was also swimming underwater at the time to avoid the eyes of the other swimmers on the water's surface; a much slower speed that would have been his freestyle speed.

Entering his house, *Clack* *Slam* Tayaw almost laughed at the echo in the living room that his door made when he closed it behind him.

"Aiyayay. Should I sell this house?" Tayaw chuckled. The house is too big for him.

"Nah. Let's see if my royalties could cover the property tax first." Tayaw shook his head. Even though the house is too big even for one family, he still likes the house very much.

Aside from the meeting he had with Leslie the day before, Tayaw had two more meetings with other executives from different labels earlier this day. He is not sure how many artists will promote his film but he is sure that he sold a total of 36 songs that he is confident that would sell as long as the right artist will sing them.

After taking a shower, *Ding* *Dong* the doorbell echoed throughout the house. It almost made Tayaw jump in surprise as all the visits in his house are all either scheduled or announced. Phil the Pink Apron CEO, Yoshi the gardener, and his newly hired accountant were his only visitors in the past few days. Not only that, even though the sky is still bright like Teungeb's 5pm skies, it is already 7:30 in the evening.

Tayaw looked at the camera feed of the gate. Seeing that it is someone familiar, Tayaw hurriedly dressed and went out to greet the visitor.

"Hello neighbor!" A blond lady who seems to be in her late 40s greeted Tayaw by the gate enthusiastically.

"Hi!~~..." Tayaw was taken aback at how jovial the lady is.

His attention was also attracted to the window of the house across the street.

"Oh. I'm Charlotte Duhill. I live there with my family." Charlotte said as she pointed at the nice house next to Tayaw's.

"I'm Tayaw. I own this house." Tayaw said.

"*gasp* So you're Tayaw! Teungebian name, yes?" Charlotte asked.

"Yes, ma'am. May I help you with something?" Tayaw asked.

"Oh, drop the ma'am. It makes me feel old. Well, I saw someone open the gates here for the past few days so I thought, 'Huh. Is Chala back?'" Charlotte said.

Tayaw however feels that Charlotte is fishing. As for what she's fishing for, Tayaw is unsure.

"Ah. Chala. He went back home to Ouigab after visiting L.A. I, on the other hand, have business here in New York again." Tayaw said.

"Well. How long have you been back? We didn't meet last year!" Charlotte asked.

"Ooh. That. Yeah, I should have introduced myself back then but Chala and I were excited to leave for a road trip. In fact, I should have introduced myself since I got back last Thursday but you know, I was very busy so..." Tayaw replied. 

"I see. Well, welcome to the neighborhood!" Charlotte said.

"Well, thank you for dropping by. I feel welcomed. " Tayaw said as he looked at the window of the house across the street. 

=======================

"Honey, Charlotte is crazy! Hahaha. Oh. He opened the door for her!" A neighbor across the street is watching Charlotte and Tayaw talk through his window, his wife by his side.

"*GASP* DUCK!" his wife suddenly exclaimed. 

"I told you Lily, something's odd with that guy! He looked at us, right?" The neighbor asked.

"I'm sure! I think we even made eye contact! George, you know how good my eyes are." Lily said.

"Well, at least he doesn't look like trouble. He also has a knockout mango pie." George said.

"Really? Because of a pie, you're fine with him?" Lily rolled her eyes.

"What? It's us who's been peeping at the guy." George shrugged his shoulders.

"Hmm. Well, I have to say, the pie he gave us must be the best fruit pie I've ever had." Lexi said. 

"Coming from you, then it really is good… Hey honey… did you by any chance tell Charlotte about Tayaw's pies?" George asked.

"Well, I was talking about it with the other ladies at our book club last Friday. And Charlotte is in the book cl-*Gasp* Charlotte didn't get one?!" Lily exclaimed at the realization.

"Oh boy. He left Charlotte's out?" George grinned.

"Honey… Charlotte isn't that bad. She's just a little – intense." Lily said as she slapped George's shoulder.

===========================

"Well Charlotte, it's nice meeting you. By the way, I might drop by some time to meet my next-door neighbors. I'll bring a pie too. That's what Americans do, right?" Tayaw said.

Had Lily and George not been talking out loud, he might not have overheard, and he might not have been reminded that he left Charlotte out because no one was around in Charlotte's home when he introduced himself to the other neighbors.

"Oh, Tayaw. That's so sweet. It should be the other way around… Also, almost no one follows the tradition anymore." Charlotte smiled.

"Ah. I see. Well, I'd drop by to introduce myself nonetheless." Tayaw said.

Of course, Tayaw knows how it really is and read up on the classic American tradition, but the neighbors have already welcomed Chala when he stayed in Jericho and he is not so thick-skinned to receive another welcome.

He never would have bothered to introduce himself but over the past few days, he has overheard a lot of things from the neighbors and they seem to be tight knit. There is book and yoga club for the wives, and a golf and yacht club for the men. The thing that bothered him the most was that his neighbors assumed things about him just because he has not talked to them. 

"We'll be expecting you then. Good night." Charlotte said. 

Going back inside, Tayaw shook his head. He is still uncomfortable with how snoopy his neighbors are. Unlike his neighbors in Ironstone that he never talks to, his neighbors in Jericho would ask him various things like where he is from or what he does for a living. The Caucasian neighbors especially are interested in his livelihood. 

'Ugh... Gated communities...' 

Shaking all thoughts, he pulled out Earl's guitar from the white void. He then mindlessly tuned the guitar as he walked to his backyard and sat at the table by the side of his outdoor pool.

While he was mindlessly swimming about at the beach earlier, he was reminded that today is around the time that he and his previous life's Percussive Corrections got acquainted with each other at the university's music festival. The nostalgia and the melancholy he felt inspired him to write a song about it.

After tuning his guitar pitch perfectly, Tayaw started plucking a simple guitar intro. It is just as simple as Peter McKinsey's 'Small Bird', and with a similar nostalgic feeling. 

"I met a friend today; it has been a while

and we almost felt ashamed

But we laughed as we know deep inside

That our feelings stayed the same."

Tayaw wondered that had he not come back in time, he and his friends would each find their career for life, the women they would grow old with, and would build their own families. That next phase in their life would eventually lead them to grow apart. 

"I was lost in my own thoughts in my empty mind,

And through a crowd of strangers I'm walking blind,

I hear a familiar voice there across the street

Come walks to me an almost forgotten friend."

Tayaw knows that he still has remaining sentiments in his previous life. Almost every time he talks to the current Percussive Corrections, a memory of their alternative incarnations pops up in his head. Tayaw wants to live in the present so he wants to avoid triggering these memories; and that is one of the reasons why he decided to stay outside Teungeb for a while. 

"We don't have to say a word.

We really know what's left unsaid.

Through my eyes I recognize

All the faces that I know"

Tayaw hopes that one day, he will be able to detach the emotions he feels for his previous and current life. 

*Zmm* "An enhancement. That was easy." Tayaw chuckled as he felt it. 

---

Just opposite the outdoor wall that separates Tayaw's property, a couple is drinking wine in their backyard. 

"It was a nice song – You okay honey?" A woman said when she saw that her husband's eyes are teary.

"It's just a good song. I was reminded of my friends back in Omaha." The man replied as he dabbed the tears that pooled in his eyes with his sleeves.

"Why don't you make up with your family? I haven't met them yet." The woman said. 

"I can't honey. You know how it is." The man replied.

"*Sigh* Well. It seems that the new guy's a singer. Why don't we invite him over some time?" The woman asked.

"You read my mind." The man smiled.