Don't Cry Over Phở

Chapter 19: Wanted Approval

THANK YOU FOR 1K READS U GUYS !!! thanks for reading and supporting my story as always <3 I really appreciate each one of u guys so much!

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇ ⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

I stopped the mopping, pausing with my hand on the wooden handle. I gave a small huff of frustration, "Of course you pay attention to the mopping of all things."

He continued wiping the metal counters at an alarmingly fast pace. I found it kind of funny how he was obviously a neat freak by the way he made sure the counters were spotless and how he easily got bothered by my mopping. It's like I kept learning new details about him that I never knew about before.

"Yeah, because you don't do it right," he scoffed.

I jokingly rolled my eyes a little, before continuing on in a more serious manner, "Anyway, I've been meaning to show you these. These are example restaurant flyers I've come up with."

Leaning the mop against a wall, I quickly went to the employee break room to retrieve my binder before returning to the kitchen. I held it out to Luca, looking at him expectantly.

He gave me a long look that said "this better be good" as he took off his gloves before taking it from me. He slowly flipped through the pages as I awkwardly stood there, twisting my hands in nervousness. I could only see the dark top of his hair as he bent his neck to read it so I couldn't see what his reaction was. My right foot involuntarily tapped the floor as I waited in anticipation.

While each flyer had somewhat of the same message and words, I made sure to experiment with different fonts, colors, and designs. All of the flyers had a drawing of phở on it with the restaurant name, Backyard Phở printed in large text. I even printed out our restaurant hours on the back as well as a small message that said 10% off discount on your order if you showed one of these flyers to an employee.

For all of the sleepless nights I've spent for it, I was pretty damn proud of my work. Luca looked up at me with a raised eyebrow. "Not bad," he admitted.

"Excuse me? Not bad?!" I exclaimed.

"Well yeah, any one of them could work," he said, shrugging one of his shoulders. I peered at his face. He wasn't frowning so I guess this was the best Luca stamp of approval I could get.

I smiled broadly at him, "So do you want to help me pass these around at the potluck the ASU club is hosting?"

"A-S-U Club?" he sounded out in confusion.

"The Asian Student Union Club," I clarified. "They're hosting this giant potluck event where everyone is supposed to bring in foods from different cultures. You could bring a Chinese dish if you want."

I paused for a second, looking thoughtful before adding, "Maybe we could also hang the restaurant flyers around the school."

Luca nodded, agreeing with me for once in our whole lives. "You planning on bringing phở to the potluck?"

I nodded swiftly. To be honest, I wasn't even sure if my family could make enough phở to serve at the potluck. I could only imagine the ginormous pot we would need to carry in there. I grimaced at the thought of lugging a heavy metal pot into school.

Not being able to help myself, I froze as I imagined the worst case scenario at the potluck.

"Hi, welcome to the Asian Student Union Club! If you brought food for the potluck, just place it on one of the tables over here!" a friendly Indian boy said cheerfully as he gestured to a row of tables.

"Oh thanks," I said, struggling to carry the enormous pot of broth to one of the tables. My clammy hands were making the metal handles harder to grip as I felt it slip out of my fingers.

"No!!!" I yelled, attempting to reach for it. The pot made a loud CLANG! as it crashed on to the floor, the lid flying across the room and the hot phở broth flooding every table and chair underneath. It splashed onto the sides of the table cloth and on to some people standing nearby who flinched.

Gasps echoed everywhere in the room.

Everyone started screaming, their chairs making loud screeches as students stood up and ran. "You need to leave!!" shrieked the club leaders. I fell to my knees sobbing, my tears mixing with the phở broth on the floor.

"Um, Allison?" asked Luca's concerned voice as he peered closer at me to get my attention.

"Huh? Oh." I realized I zoned out as I shook my head a little to snap out of that nightmare I just conjured up. Don't be dramatic Allison, I scolded myself. That's just the worst thing that can happen and I'm sure you'll be fine. Right? Right?!

As if he somehow read my thoughts, Luca smiled a little at me. "Make sure you get one of those big pots with strong grip handles. I prefer you not spilling phở on my clothes," he teased.

I chuckled nervously, remembering the echoes of the screams from the scenario I just imagined. "Yup, I'll make sure of that."

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇ ⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

After that conversation with Luca, I felt a little more relieved to know that we were well on our way to saving the restaurant. I like to think we were making decent progress. My mind was somewhat at ease for now since it was one less worry. We closed up the restaurant for the night and everyone started making their way home.

I couldn't help that small thrill of delight I got when Luca passed by me saying a quick "Bye". Granted, it was a single word that may not be much to other people, but from Luca it was like equivalent to having a feral cat take a snack from your hand. Baby steps, but progress was progress.

Today's work was tiring, but if anything I was feeling energized when I got home thinking about the potluck plan. I knew a lot of people were going to attend the potluck since it was open to everyone. If everything went well, then it could give Backyard Phở more publicity and we all know it desperately needs it.

I excitedly explained the plan to my parents when we got home. They exchanged a brief look before peering at me with curiosity.

"That's a good idea," my dad commented. "But I don't know if we have enough ingredients to make such a large batch."

I felt a little panic rising in me. Oh no, what if we didn't have enough to make a large pot of phở?! The potluck was right after this weekend!!

My mom let out a deep sigh as she drummed her fingers on the kitchen counter. She stared at me and for a moment I felt like she was going to say this whole idea was terrible so my heart sank, preparing myself for disappointment.

Instead she smiled softly at me. "That's a good plan Liên. We can go to the market tomorrow to buy more ingredients."

My head, which was hanging low before, suddenly shot up in surprise.

"Really?!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'll teach you how to make phở."