Koon Chai Cafe

Chapter Twenty-Six - Mother Knows Best

Park

"Mom!" Kopter cried excitedly. He ran to her and hugged her, lifting her up off the ground as he did.

"Put me down, you great big giraffe," she giggled, placing an affectionate kiss on his forehead. I stood awkwardly in the doorway and tried not to make eye contact with anyone by closely examining a small china figurine llama that served as a door stopper. Or was it an alpaca? 

"And Park!" My head snapped up at the sound of my name to see Kopter's mother beaming in front of me, arms outstretched. She walked forward and pulled me into a rib cracking embrace. She may be small, but she managed to pack all the same power that Kopter had in his 6"1 body into her 5"2 one. "It's so lovely to finally meet you."  

She pulled back and smiled. Even her smell was fancy, I thought, breathing in the scent of cinnamon and cloves. I returned her smile with what I had hoped would be a charming grin, but turned out to be more of an embarrassed grimace. 

"Hwa," Nok interjected, swooping in and saving me from small talk. "Why don't we let the boys unpack their things, hmm? I'm sure they've had a long day." 

"Of course, of course," Hwa replied, absentmindedly waving her hand in the direction of the bedrooms. I looked over at Kopter who shrugged and walked over to pick up our bags. 

With break-neck speed, I power walked into our bedroom, Kopter almost trotting behind me to keep up. As soon as his feet crossed the threshold, I hastily closed the door behind us and placed my ear to the keyhole. 

"Park," Kopter sighed, trowing our bags onto the neatly made up bed. "What are you doing?" 

"Shhhh!" I held a finger up to Kopter to silence him. "I'm trying to hear if they're talking about me." Kopter sighed, shook his head and quietly began unpacking our things.

After five minutes of straining to hear snippets of a conversation about travelling and work over the clatter of pots and pans, it was safe to assume they weren't. I turned back to face Kopter, who was sat on the bed with an amused expression across his face. 

"Why the hell didn't you tell me that your mother was coming!" I asked imploringly, running my fingers anxiously through my hair. "I could've prepared myself to not look like a complete idiot." 

"It was a surprise to me too," Kopter replied, shrugging. "And you didn't look like an idiot. Well..." I picked up a cushion beside me and threw it at his head as he laughed. "Dumbass." 

Kopter held out his arms apologetically. I folded my arms in defiance but even after over three months of dating, I still couldn't resist his pout and puppy-dog eyes. 

I crossed the room towards him and he gently pulled me onto his lap and wrapped his arms around my waist, resting his head heavily on my shoulder.

"My Mom's a nice person with good judgement," he reassured me. "She'll love you as much as I do, I promise." 

I squeezed his interlocked hands in appreciation and let the back of my head fall back onto his warm shoulder. I felt him lean forward and place a supportive kiss on my temple, his unshaved stubble felt scratchy against my skin.

"You know what will really help you make a good impression?" Kopter whispered in my ear. 

"Hmm?" I murmured back, preparing myself to hear one of Kopter's TED talks on having self-confidence and loving myself.