Chapter 1: Exploring Palo Alto
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After looking up points of interest in Palo Alto on their phones, Duke found an excellent place called Town and Country Village. Apparently it was kind of like an open neighborhood mall with a wonderful refreshing atmosphere. It has many excellent bakeries and restaurants with high end retail stores according to the reviews. Duke and Charles left their condo and decided to drive Charles’s car there.
15 minutes later, Charles pulled into a parking space outside the mall. During the drive Charles and Duke learned about a lot about each other, such as Duke just broke up with his 2 year girlfriend from UPENN a month before graduation. It was a mutual break up with no drama to it. The primary reason was after graduation Duke moving to the west coast for work whereas Amy was moving to the east coast. Charles is currently in a relationship with Josh Parker. Josh is a Marine Biologist; he graduated from UC of Berkeley as well. Apparently he is currently on a research expedition with several biologists, geneticists, and other researchers in Hawaii.
“How did you and Josh meet? You guys are in completely different fields.”
“Well we were in same gen classes back in freshman year. He and I sat at the same row in Chem II. After some light chatting we found out we were in 2 other classes together.”
“How long have you guys been together then?”
“We started dating fall semester of junior year, so almost 4 years now.”
Walking towards the Mall Map and Directory. Duke got busy looking for a good restaurant to eat at. Craving some Pizza, they started walking towards Howie’s Artisan Pizza.
“Is Josh also staying in California whenever he is isn’t on a boat in the middle of the ocean?”
“Yeah he is. You probably won’t be seeing him anytime soon though. This expedition of his is about 3 months long.”
“Oh is that so? Well in the mean time you can act as my wingman whenever we go to bars. It will be a major help!”
“Hahaha, don’t worry, I got your back. I know how to impress the ladies” said Charles smirking.
Walking into Howie’s Artisan Pizza, Charles and Duke were led to an open spot by the window. Looking over the menu Duke homed in on Hummus and Tahini.
“Hummus and Tahini! I am definitely getting that. It sounds so delicious!”
“Do you want to split the pizza? We can get the Thai Styled Chicken Wings and The Works.”
“Yeah let’s do that. They all sound real good right now.”
Turning towards the waitress Duke said while handing her his ID, “Can we get the Thai Styled Chicken Wings, The works, and the Hummus and Tahini, ohh and a Speakeasy Prohibition Ale.”
“Add the Lost Coast Great White for me as well.” Added Charles fishing out his ID.
“Okay, we can get that for you. Do you want your beer now or when the food arrives?” Asked the teenaged waitress.
“Umm, later is fine. Can we get some water now though?” said Duke
“Yes we can do that. It will be about 25 minutes for your food.” Said the Waitress while walking away.
While waiting on their food to arrive, Duke and Charles got to know each other. Duke’s parents are in Pescadero. He comes from a family of 4 with an older brother. His brother Faze is 26 years old and married to Iris, she is 25. His brother and sister in law live in Daly City. They didn’t want to move out of state since they are planning on having child soon, and they don’t want their parents to be too far. Duke decided to go into Chemical Engineering because he wanted to work for Runway in Paris when he was deciding his Major. Although he was mainly joking about working for some fashion company engineering their colognes and perfumes, he thought this way he would be in constant contact with hot models. Charles surprisingly thought that was an ingenious plan. However, Duke actually likes Chemical Engineering for its diversity and he is passionate about biotech. This is the reason why he came to work for Celest; the company they officially start working for in August. Charles was also born and raised in California but his hometown is Mailbu. Charles revealed his sexuality to his parents and friends when he was 15. Luckily, he never had any problems at home because his parents are open minded and downright chill. His friends were just as open minded so he never had any problems at school and wasn’t mistreated. Apparently his dad let him taste his first beer when he was 16 and he started to drink frequently with his parents by 18. His parents reasoned that if he is exposed to it now, by the time he is in college the glamour of drinking and untethered freedom will have died down. This was a smart idea since by the time he was a freshman Charles had matured mentally. He was extremely responsible when he and his friends were partying. Charles went into Finance because his parents own businesses and he used to supervise some of them during Summer Break for extra pocket money.
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Soon the food arrived, and Duke started to devour everything in sight.
“Wow that was damn good food! I am stuffed and need to take a nap.” Said Duke stretching as he paid his share of the bill and leaving a 20% tip.
“Well we still have to check this mall out. Might as well burn some calories.”
About an hour and half later Charles and Duke started to drive back to their condo. By the time they got back it was 8:18 pm. Once home Duke helped Charles organize his stuff while figuring out if they were missing anything. After settling in Charles made note of essentials they needed to buy tomorrow including: toiletries, kitchen utensils, and groceries.
“We need to do some shopping tomorrow morning. We need quite a few things, we will run out of supplies within 2 days.” Said Charles while inspecting the fridge.
“Yeah let’s go to get everything we need tomorrow morning. While we are at it we might as well check out Celest Campus.”
“Sounds like a plan. Hey, fire up your laptop and check the Company email. If we have any paper work, or something we need to take care of we might as well be done with it tomorrow.”
“Lemme check.”
Checking the company emails, Duke made note of everything they had to take care of before they went into work in August.
“Alright, there is Newcomer orientation it includes a campus tour. Some paper work regarding bank deposits, contracts, and checking in with our department.” Answered Duke.
“Not too bad, we can finish all that in a couple hours.”
“Yep, for now we might as well complete all the paperwork, so all we have to do is turn it in tomorrow.” Said Duke while printing the documents.
After a tedious 30 minutes or so Charles and Duke were done with their paper work. To relax they decided to watch a movie.
“We might as make this movie into a drinking game. We got beer and liquor in the fridge.” said Duke.
“Hahaha, official move in party! Lemme set up my hookah while you go grab the drinks and turn on a movie.” Answered Charles.
Soon the party really got going with Alcohol, Hookah and a movie marathon late into the night.