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When Quynh inherited 30.000 dollars, she bought a small restaurant on the corner because she wanted to make people happy by feeding people spring rolls. It wasn't the world's biggest restaurant with its small kitchen and three tables but Quynh made it into her own place with Vietnamese art on the walls. Because of the small kitchen, Quynh could only make 200 spring rolls a day because she also needed to have a social life and some sleep at night.
At first, things were calm at Quynh's restaurant and slowly she started to have regulars, but things went wild after a foodie wrote that Quynh's spring rolls were the best in town and people almost started to fight over the spring rolls in an attempt to get their hands on the spring rolls. Because Quynh didn't want people to get hurt, she hired Andy to do crowd control. A former ranger that needed to do something else for a week. That was over three years ago and they were now married.
It helped to have Andromache around (she only needed to look at people once and they stayed in line) but it also resulted in people starting to do crazy things to get their hands on the spring rolls.
Some people would try to bribe Quynh (they were banned from the restaurant for a month).
Some people tried to go for a second round (they were reminded to read the sign that said only 2 spring rolls per person per day).
Some people would flirt with Quynh (they were kindly reminded by Andy that they better show some respect for a married woman).
And when some people tried to scare off the regulars, who first supported Quynh, Andy made damn sure that the regulars got their spring rolls first while the people who scared the regulars got reported to the police and were banned from the restaurant for a year.
A year after the food review, things went back to normal in the restaurant, yes there still were the idiots as Andy called them, but all in all, there weren't any major problems.
On a cold day in January, Andy as usual scanned the line of people before she walked behind the counter to speak with Quynh.
"He is back again," Andy said as she leaned up against the counter.
"Who?" Quynh wanted to know. She was rolling the last spring rolls.
"The curly one," Andy replied. "Him who sits down at the door and looks like he is searching for someone."
"I think he is in love," Quynh replied. "Trying to gather the courage to tell someone in the line about his feelings."
Andy rolled her eyes.
"Let him be," Quynh said. "He pays for the spring rolls and doesn't course any problems."
"If you say so," Andy replied. "You're the boss around here."
Quynh gave Andy a smile before she washed her hands.
"Just a moment," Andy said as she turned around. "Someone who will course problems is lurking around outside. Be back in a moment."
On the way out, Andy accidentally gave another young man with green eyes, who was waiting in line, a push so he ended up in the arms of the man who was sitting at the door.
"Sorry," Andy said. "Are you ok?"
"Yes," The man replied. "Nothing happened."
Quynh could see from the kitchen, that the two men stared at each other for a moment while blushing and it took them another moment before they both realized that he who sat at the door still was holding onto the man who was pushed. When they broke apart, the other man sat down on a chair and they started to talk. Quynh made sure that the two men got their spring rolls and said that they were on the house because of what Andy had done when she pushed one of them.
During the next many hours, the two men just sat there and talked. After eating, the one with the curls gently ran a finger over the other man's hand. They exchanged a small smile before they started to hold hands. It made them both smile and they continued talking.
"Sorry that I had to leave, but Marc needed help at his bar with some idiots," Andy said as she took off her jacket. "Any problems here?"
"Not at all," Quynh replied. "Let me show you something."
Andy followed Quynh into the restaurant, where the two men were kissing each other.
"I'm gone for like ten minutes," Andy said. "And people start kissing."
"It isn't a problem that they are kissing," Quynh said. "The problem is that we're closing in five minutes and I have to ask them to leave."
"Let me throw them out," Andy offered. "It's what you hired me for."
Quynh placed a hand on Andy's arm and shook her head.
"For once, I can handle it," Quynh said. "Make your round while I do it."
"Only because you're the boss," Andy replied. "And because I want to go home before the rain returns."
Quynh walked over to the table. The two men looked at her with a lovestruck look in their eyes.
"I'm so sorry to interrupt you," Quynh said. "But if I don't close within five minutes, I will be in trouble with the police."
"We understand," The man with the green eyes replied. "We were planning on going somewhere else."
"But we'll return next week," The man with curls added. "Your restaurant is after all the place we fell in love and we will return to make more happy moments."
"Incurable romantic," The man with the green eyes said laughing. "Come, let's go home to me."
The man with the green eyes reached out his hand which the man with curls took with a big smile.
"See you next week," Both men said before they left.
Quynh locked the front door and Andy doubled checked if it was locked before setting the alarm. Then they walked home.
"You know," Quynh said. "Seeing those two young men fall in love tonight gave me an idea. Valentine Day's is only a month away. Maybe I could make a Valentine Day's menu that people can order and take with them home."
"Lovely idea," Andy replied. "But I refuse watching you slaving away in that small kitchen for days alone because you want to add more food to the menu card or an event. If you want to do your Valentine's Day thing, you hire someone to help you."
"I promise to hire someone tomorrow," Quynh replied. "Thanks for the support."
"Don't mention it," Andy replied. "Now, about my mother's wedding next weekend. Any ideas for wedding gifts?"
Andy placed her arm around Quynh to shield her from the strong wind.