Don't Cry Over Phở

Chapter 7: Whatever You Say

It was Luca Chen in all of his glory. By glory I mean he still had his usual grumpy look, but this time he was wearing a black apron with the restaurant name on it.

"Luca?! What are you doing here?" I exclaimed, still processing what was happening.

"I work here," he deadpanned. I narrowed my eyes at his obvious answer. "You guys know each other?" My dad looked between us. "That's great because you guys will be coworkers!"

My eye twitched while Luca looked like he just ate a sour lemon.

Kill me now. I thought the punishment couldn't be any worse already, but I was wrong. Rummaging through a pile of clothes, my dad chucked an apron at me. "Put this on. You will be waiting tables." I sighed, catching the apron and tying it around my waist.

"Okay Liên just take orders, write it down, and put the note here so Luca can see it," my dad explained, pointing at an opening that allowed us to see inside the kitchen. I shifted my gaze to Luca. So he was one of the cooks huh? He cocked an eyebrow at me in response to my stare.

I hate to admit it, but Luca looked very attractive in his restaurant attire. His hair was dark black and disheveled as always. His brown eyes were dark and intense. His mouth was a straight line on his face as usual. He would be stunning if he smiled, I thought. I quickly looked away before he caught me staring.

I heard a faint ding of a bell that rung every time a customer came in. My dad gave me an expectant look before heading to the register to work as the cashier. Feeling anxious as this was my first time, I nervously smiled at the family that came in.

"Hi, welcome! Have a seat at any of the tables," I said, putting on my best cheerful customer service voice. The parents smiled at me as they sat down at a table. They had a small child with them carrying an IPad.

Setting down their menus, I took out my notepad and asked, "So what drinks would you guys like?"

"Sinh ba li nuoc loc," said the woman. I awkwardly froze. I knew she spoke Vietnamese, but I didn't really understand or speak the language despite growing up in a Vietnamese household.

I awkwardly laughed. "Sorry I don't really know Vietnamese."

The woman and her husband I assume both looked a little surprised, but she smiled warmly at me and spoke in English this time. "Oh no problem. I just assumed you knew the language. Can we have three waters, two medium bowls of phở with beef, and one small bowl of phở with chicken?"

Hurrying to write it all down, my hand was practically lightning speed. "Okay got it I'll be back with your food shortly!"

Even though the woman was nice, I couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed while walking back to the kitchen. I was Vietnamese American, but didn't know Vietnamese? Maybe I should start learning it.

Ripping out the note from the notepad, I placed it on the kitchen's opening. I craned my neck a little to see if Luca saw it. Inside I could see him leaning over a pot of broth on the stove, mixing it. It was definitely an interesting sight to see. I never pegged such a grumpy looking boy to be a chef.

"Oy! Luca! We have an order!" I raised my voice to catch his attention. Without turning around, he replied in an annoyed tone, "I know."

I scoffed a little. He couldn't even bother turning around. The damn nerve of this boy!

Hearing another customer enter the restaurant, I rushed over to take their order and promised to return with their food shortly like I did with the pervious family. Quickly walking back to the kitchen, I was horrified to find that Luca still didn't have the orders ready.

"Luca are you almost done?!" I said impatiently. The anxious part of me was itching to deliver the food as fast as possible.

"Allison would you stop rushing me for one SECOND," he snapped back. He finally placed the bowls and plates of food on the counter, looking me straight in the eyes as he did so. His dark brown eyes glared at me as if to challenge me to say more.

I smiled sweetly at him while taking the food. "Thank you." Working with Luca was going to be one hell of a ride, I thought.

After serving the tables their orders, the rest of the day went by relatively fast. I started to build a routine after taking orders after orders. Suddenly it was just me, Luca, and my dad left after the rest of the coworkers clocked out a while ago.

It felt strange to see the restaurant so quiet. While my dad was in the back taking out the trash, he left me and Luca alone to mop the floors.

Mopping the floors in silence, I snuck a peek at Luca. He looked concentrated on his task, his hair flopping in his face as he swished the mop back and forth. I coughed to break the awkward silence. "So uh how did you get to work here?"

For a second I thought he was going to ignore me after he didn't say anything for a few seconds, but he replied, "I needed a job."

Leaning my arms on the handle of the mop, I gazed at him in interest. "Ohh was that why you needed a work permit from the counselor's office that day?"

He looked up while raising an eyebrow. "You remember that?"

I laughed a little. "Yea I mean you looked so heated about it. It's hard not to remember."

He nodded, his face thoughtful. A peaceful silence fell between us as we continued mopping. Me and Luca not arguing for once? Maybe working with him wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Hey Allison?"

"Yea?" I asked, trying to act disinterested. I enjoyed hearing him say my name more than I should.

I looked up as he leaned a little closer to me. I froze. For once his face wasn't scowling at me as it usually was. I felt my heart speed up a little at his nearness.

I held my mop against me a little tighter as he got even closer. He wrapped his hand around my mop. "You're mopping wrong. It's bothering me."

I spoke too soon. Working with this boy was going to be HELL. To think we were actually getting along!! I scoffed, "I think I'm mopping just fine thanks."

I stubbornly snatched the mop back from his hands and aggressively started wiping the floors with it. I was going to show him what a great mopper I really was!!

He looked a little taken back by my sudden aggressive mopping and raised his hands at me. "Whatever you say."