Food Is Love!

Recipe 8: Now Serving!

Dedicated to momo42424 and genusherb

Alice Flonne's POV:

It's five in the morning and I'm already up and running. I was busy preparing the kitchen for the first day of our food truck. By the way, the name of the food truck is "Food Is Love!" I want to spread the love to my customers through our food! Hehehe!

"Alice! Aaalice!!!"

"Whoa! Alex! You're early!" I saw Alex coming down from the jeepney and run towards me.

"Yep! I'm so excited to beat you up!"

"Oh, really? Well, it's on now!!!"

It took an hour to tidy things up: from arranging the utensils, to putting meat and vegetables to the refrigerator, to conditioning the oven and stove and refining the menu. Everything is set, and I'm excited to get this show on the road!

"Are you ready, Alice?"

"Yes, Alex! I'm ready!" We are now opening the windows of the food truck...to start our business. "One...two...three!!! Hiyaaa!!!"

And there it goes: as the window flings open...reveals a simple but unique kitchen...being bath by the morning sunshine...

"THE FOOD IS LOVE...IS NOW OPEN!!!"

Despite our deep motivation, all that we could see is this...

Almost an empty street...with tricycles and jeepneys passing by every now and then without noticing our store...sigh...I was right...this will be a rough road ahead.

"Come on, Alice! It's just the first day, nobody is yet to know us." Alex then offers me a cup of coffee. "How about you sip some coffee to calm your nerves?"

"Sure, thanks! Hehehe!"

I sat down in front of the window...and sip into my cup of coffee...as the time lazily goes by...we don't know when our very first customer will ever arrive in this store. If you're gonna ask me, our food truck is pitting against two giants: one foreign whose mascot was sort of a clown...and one local whose mascot is a cute red bee...there are so many stores of them everywhere...that is aside from so many restaurants and even carinderias who stuff the market...sigh...probably I might find myself in the losing side...probably I should close shop after a day or two...there is no customer to patronize our fo-waaah!!!

"Hello mam! Welcome to 'Food Is Love'! What do we want to eat today?" Dang! Alex stole my first customer!

"Umm...can I have one of your finest burgers, please?"

"Sure! Coming right up!"

Right after receiving the payment, Alex open up the grill and put on the patties. As the sizzle from the grill produce a delicious smell...he gets the vegetables and cheese out of the refrigerator...and with only a knife on his hand, he slices the lettuce, onion, tomatoes and cheese into crisp-thin sizes...at the speed of light...without any cuts or bruises on his hand. The customer and I are even astonished as he flips out the perfectly cooked patties, catches it with the bun...and quickly throws everything in it: the cheese...the condiments...and finally, the sesame seed bun. All of this commotion happens as fast as three minutes!

"Whoa! That's fine grilling out there!" The customer complimented Alex's quick moves.

"Hehehe! Thank you, mam! That's what I've learned from working at a fast food restaurant." Alex then serves the burger to the lady. "Here's your order of our finest burgers, I hope you like it!"

The lady customer immediately gets the burger...and smell its tasty aroma...before taking a bite. She chewed for a little while before...she is visibly satisfied by the taste. In fact...

"Hmm...wow! The flavor is unique! It's more tasty than the usual burgers! It really catches the essence of a real delicious burger."

Alex looked towards me...and together we smiled. We have our first customer...and we just satisfied it! Yaay!

"Mam, sir, this burger will be the next thing! I'm gonna tell my friends about it...I'm just living nearby. Thanks for the food!"

The lady customer quickly ran away to tell her experience to her neighbors. We prepare ourselves as swarm of people slowly started to line up in front of us.

"Hello, mam and sir! Welcome to 'Food Is Love!' " I greeted them with the best smile that I could do. "What can I do for you?"

"Well...I would like to have five orders of your burgers, please?" A father of a family of three instructed me. "My best friend told me that you have the most delicious burgers yet."

"Well, sure did! I hope that you will like it! Five orders of delicious burgers, coming up!"

Orders starts to pile up...as our customers patiently waited for their order to be served. On the bright side, we have been successful on our first day on business...we are able to have more money than we could ever imagine...perhaps it may pay all the expenses that we have in buying our ingredients yesterday..on the other side...it seems that I'm already losing. Alex's burgers were a great hit among the customers...but as for my own recipe...just a simple but promisingly delicious giniling, no one ever tries to buy it...

Alex's POV:

"Thank you for your patronage! Please come again!" Tired and exhausted, it was just early afternoon when I bid farewell to our last customer. After that, the street in front of our store becomes empty again...

"Phew! That's one good exercise! Hehehe!" I punned Alice after a busy morning. "We have already so much money...but it will take a while before we can pay all the expenses that we had yesterday...and make...a...profit...huh?"

I was saying everything when I say Alice...a little bit pale...and miserable...

"Umm...Alice, what's wrong? Did I say something not nice to you?"

Alice just shakes her head. No, I don't say anything bad at her...but why she is lonely.

"Come on, Alice...what's the problem?" I sat beside her and pat her head. "I'm worried if you don't say a word..."

"Alright...sigh..." Alice take a deep breath and let it all out. "It's just I envy you. Yes, we have satisfied many customers...and made some money out of it. But the fact that you sell more burgers than my cooking...in fact, nobody orders or likes my cooking unlike you do. Perhaps you already won in our deal...I will forgot my passion for cooking...and eat fast food as much as I want...just like my father..."

"Aaalice!!! Don't say words like that!" I smile at her to cheer her up. "It doesn't mean that no one orders your food...nobody likes it. Let's face the fact that fast food are really popular these days but...Alice, we are just getting started. You just need to trust in yourself and wait for the right moment; who knows, some random guy may show up and buy your food. I believe in you, Alice...that's why we had that deal about which food is better. Believe in yourself, Alice. Get yourself ahead of the obstacles and you will succeed, understand?

"Hmm...for a competitor, you sound odd to motivate your rival! Hehehe!" Enlightened, I punned Alex and laughed. "Just kidding! Thanks for cheering me up, Alex!"

And just as Alice is recomposing herself, we saw a familiar face, crying, and running towards our store...

"Huhuhuhu!!! What should I do guys?! What should I do?!

"Huh? What happened, Danica? Why are you crying?!"

Danica turns to me and whispers something...something awful...

"WHAAAT?!?!"