Don't Cry Over Phở

Chapter 24: Glimmers of Hope

The question hung still in the air.

My grip on the microphone tightened in anxious anticipation. It was only a few seconds of waiting really, but to me it felt like a decade waiting for their response. Maybe I was just overthinking this too hard.

The room erupted into claps and cheers. Huh?! Were they that excited about it?!

"It's really good! This place sounds like a hidden gem!" someone from the audience exclaimed. The other students smiled in agreement and I felt myself let go of the breath I was holding. They liked it. I had nothing to worry about after all.

Taking back the microphone from me, Zoey gave me a proud smile before turning towards the audience of people. "This marks the end of the potluck! Thank you for coming and give it up for Allison and her restaurant!"

Loud clapping and cheering came from the room again. The sound was absolutely deafening. Damn, people sure got excited by food these days. I can't blame them though. My parents' phở was worth cheering for— or maybe I was just biased.

The clapping subsided as I made eye contact with Luca again in the back of the room. I didn't even realize my eyes were instinctively searching for his. He was leaning against the wall next to our table, arms crossed with dark hair that contrasted his tan skin. I smiled at him, gleaming with pride and maybe slight adrenaline from being the center of attention.

Even from far away, I noticed his lips twitch as he slowly smiled back at me too.

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As people were leaving the potluck room, Luca and I spent the last few minutes of lunch handing out as many flyers as we could. I even stuffed a flyer in the back of some random guy's jean pocket as he slept on the floor. Maybe he was in a food coma from the potluck, but either way I didn't question why he was sleeping in the middle of the room.

"Thanks for coming!" I said to Alex as he was heading out. I handed him a flyer which he graciously took as he smiled at me.

"The phở was really good. I'll definitely try to stop by your family's restaurant," he said, holding up the flyer. His words were always so earnest and genuine. No wonder why people liked him so much.

"Thank you! Hope you stop by soon!" I beamed at him. He waved at me before walking down the hallway and I watched his disappearing silhouette for a moment.

"Who was that?" came Luca's voice behind me. Oh oops, forgot he was there for a second. His voice seemed light and casual, but his expression said otherwise when I turned around. My smile quickly dropped at the stony look on his face.

"Just Alex. Why?"

"Why did you specifically ask him to stop by?" he asked, his eyes narrowing a bit. There was a small emphasis on the word, him.

I gave an exasperated sigh, throwing a hand in the air. "Luca, there were like 40 people. I just said that because he was last."

"Oh," he said bluntly. It looked like he wanted to say more, but after a few seconds of silence, it didn't seem like he was going to say anything else. This boy was so confusing. One minute he's smiling at me and the next minute he's trying to pick a fight again. I had no idea what his deal was.

"Fine, if you're not going to say anything else, I'll see you later then," I said flatly, whipping around as I marched to my next period, which I was very late for by the way.

With the success of the potluck, my next periods were anxiety free as I could now sit still in class and actually pay attention to the lesson! No more thinking about giant pots of phở, Bunsen burners, and a particularly confusing Asian boy! And after school at the tutoring club, even Amanda noticed my unusual happy mood.

"So you're actually smiling for once. Can I ask what happened today?" the sassy elementary-schooler asked as she was copying down math problems.

"Hey! I'm not grouchy looking all the time you know!" I said defensively.

She looked up, laughing a little. That little brat! "If you'd look at a mirror, you'd know." She glanced down at her worksheet again before adding, "It's nice to see you smile though."

Oh okay fine, so she wasn't that bad I guess. "Well if you really want to know, I brought phở from my family's restaurant to a potluck today and people actually ended up liking it a lot. It'll definitely bring more business to us."

She perked up in interest. "Phở you said?" she asked as she hesitantly pronounced the word, phở.

"Yeah, it's a very popular Vietnamese soup dish. You should ask your family to come sometime." I reached into my backpack to hand her a restaurant flyer. This was blatant promoting, but I didn't care. Business was business, am I right?

She took it from me, curiously reading the front design. "Maybe I will."

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The car ride after school to the restaurant was a bit awkward again as I wasn't sure how to act around Luca. Were we friends? Coworkers? Partners in crime?!

Sometimes we were on friendly terms and sometimes we weren't. It was like a constant on and off switch.

I let my mom's chattering serve as a distraction so I wouldn't have to say much to the boy sitting next to me. Luca didn't even seem as bothered by my presence as I was with his as he stared down at his phone.

"So... nice weather yeah?" I asked. I swore crickets chirped for a second at my horrible attempt at casual conversation.

"Sure," Luca said, unfazed.

Allison, how could you be so stupid?! You ask him about the weather of all things?! I internally facepalmed and I swore to keep my mouth shut for the rest of the ride. I'll find another time to talk to him about the restaurant, I decided.

We finally reached Backyard Phở and this time I was actually excited to see if any new customers would show up. Granted, that would mean I would have to work harder as a waitress, but it was worth it in order to have business booming again. Hopefully I printed the hours right on the back of the flyer.

I mean people had to show up right? If they enjoyed it that much, they had to. Still in the back of my mind, a tiny voice said "what if no one shows up?" I tried to shake those negative thoughts out of my head. I had to stay hopeful.

A couple hours into working, I was already looking forward to my small break before a group of expensive looking Vietnamese ladies came in. I could just tell by the way their strong Chanel perfume hit my noise the minute the door opened.

"Coming! I'll be right with you!" I called from the other side of the restaurant before heading towards them and leading them to their table.

"Bạn muốn đặt món gì? (What would you like to order?)" I asked, taking out a notepad.

There were three of them. The tallest one was a woman in a burgundy coat clad with gold buttons. She didn't even look at me as she stared at the menu. The second one was a smaller looking woman with heavily caked makeup and tattooed eyebrows who sized me up with her critical eyes. Finally, the third one was an elderly looking woman with streaked gray hair and a shining pearl necklace.

They were an interesting bunch to look at I admit. "Tôi sẽ ăn phở với thịt bò và hành lá (I'll have the phở with the beef and green onion)," the caked-face one said.

I quickly wrote it down and looked expectantly between the other two. The elderly one sniffed before saying, "Món này có tương ớt không? (Does this dish have chili sauce?)" She pointed her long nail at a dish on the menu.

"Um-" I started off, unsure of what the last word she said meant. Come on, think Allison! You haven't been practicing your Vietnamese for nothing.

"Bạn đang hỏi về... (Are you asking about)," I hesitantly asked before continuing in English, "Cilantro?"

The tall woman in the burgundy coat pursed her lips in disdain as she surveyed me from head to toe.
"Chúng ta có thể kiếm được một cô phục vụ nói tiếng Việt không? (Can we actually get a waitress who speaks Vietnamese?)" she asked in a snarky tone.