Forget Me Not

Hi guys, yes I've got some unfinished stories floating in cyberspace somewhere. If I ever get around to it, I will finish it. =D Okay so I had a dream and I woke up feeling almost content with my life....so I wanted to put it into words to share with you guys.

Cast:
Julian Cheung - Sunny Lam
Vivian Leung - Allison Ng
Bobby Au Yeung - Steve Leung
Joyce Tang - Amy Yeun
Nick Cheung - himself and God
Louis Koo - Josh Lai
Jessica - Josinica aka Josie Chan

more...

"Do you believe in fate? It seems to be the question that travelled through my head as I thought about my life. How do things seem to fit so perfectly when I need them to fit? Why do two people meet and know that they are to be together for the rest of their lives? How do you know to let your heart go and trust someone to your fullest? You don't, or so I thought..."

This is a story of two people destined to be together through thick and thin. A story about how love can conquer everything in this universe. Moving on is not forgetting, for it will eat you up inside until there is nothing left and you are left with a hollow heart. Its not a question of belief in fate, it's a question of whether or not you want to believe what you see and don't see. Someone once said, love is like the wind, you can't see it but you can feel it....

Chapter 1

Allison layed out on the beach of Hawaii. She was relaxed, not a single worry in the world. After four years of hard work, she finally took a week of vacation from her stressful job as a waitress. You wouldn't think being a waitress could afford such a luxurious trip to the islands of Hawaii but her boss adored her.

She was almost lucky you can say. Walking by a restaurant with a sign that said 'hiring' and taking her chances she interviewed for the job. Allison was a college drop out, she couldn't stand the sight of books let alone teachers. They drove her crazy. So it was no wonder she tried her best at the waitressing job. She worked her tail off for 50 hours a week. Living in Hong Kong was not her choice, her parents would not allow her to go anywhere, she was an overprotected child. The minute she finished high school, she took the escape route.

It was almost a dream lying there on the hot sand on a spring day, there were very little people on the beach of Maui and that's what she loved about it. No one to bother her. Her sunglasses over her eyes as she tanned herself "This is the life." she sighed calmly.

"So it is." A male voice spoke up from over her.

Allison popped her eyes open to look up at a handsome stranger. He was staring back down at her with a grin she knew would take weeks to forget. "Who are you?" she tilted her head against the towel.

The handsome stranger grin grew wider as he bent down and took a seat next to her "Is it important?"

She gave her eyebrows a quick arch "Escuse me?" she sat herself upright "You interrupted my thoughts."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his sunglasses "Its a bit sunny this morning don't you think?"

Allison rolled her eyes behind her shaded sunglasses "Whatever you say. Just sit somewhere else." she laid back down on the towel.

He chuckled as he turned and placed his head on his elbow as it laid next to Allison. "You've got an attitude." he smiled with obvious interest.

Allison let out a sigh of frustration as she sat up and gathered her towel and beach bag "You haven't seen it...yet!" she barged off digging her feet into the sand. It was one thing to be annoying but also persistant? She's never met anyone as cocky as this guy. It was more embarrassing the fact that he was one of her people. Born in Hong Kong, she can tell by the fluent tongue.

When it seems that she made her point clear, she looked around for the arrogant stranger before laying down on her towel. After a few minutes she began to relax and closed her eyes. "So, what's your name?" She opened her eyes to see the same eyes staring back at her minutes before.

"What do you want from me?" she whined as she sat up and wrapped her arms around her knees.

How could he miss the frustrated and agrevated tone in her voice "I want to know your name." he said simply, almost innocently.

"That's all?" she asked suspicously. He nodded with a grin "Fine, my name is Katie. Happy?" she fell back against the sand roughly.

"I think you're lying." he said surely with a smirk on his face.

Allison didn't bother to sit up "Believe what you want to believe." she shrugged carelessly. He was starting to be a bother.

He put his hands behind his head as he layed on the sand next to her "I think it's Allison. Am I right Ms. Ng?"

This time she snapped upright, but her annoyed face was replace with fear "How did you know that?" she asked, but before he could answer she moved away from him "What do you want? Are you some kind of a stalker? I'll call the police right now...." she looked around. Who was she kidding, he could rape her right there on broad daylight and no one would see. Of course she was being slightly paranoid.

He laughed at her scared expression as her head snapped back and forth looking for help. "Look Ms..." he reached into his pocket to pull something out.

"AhH!! Help!! Rape!!!" She had no time to think as she got up and ran to the nearest person screaming at the top of her lungs.

The stranger watched as she looked like a chicken without a head, scrambling to get away. But no matter where she ran people just looked at her like she was crazy. He didn't even have a weapon and he was waving at everyone she ran to. It seems that he knew them.

When the fun was over, he walked over to her while she tried to convince an old couple that the young man was trying to rape her. "Miss, calm down. He is not going to rape you."

"Yes he is! He knows my name and I've never met him before in my life." her eyes darted from the couple to the stranger who was quickly approaching them.

The elder man chuckled "Mr. Lam, what did you do to the poor girl? You're usually more smooth than that."

Sunny smiled "Good morning, Mr. Tamati Mrs. Tamati." he nodded to the friendly couple. "Its just a misunderstanding." he reached into his pocket and this time Allison saw him pulling out a wallet that looked awfully familiar.

"That..." she looked up at him with embarrassment "Is that mine?" she had lost her wallet the night before after eating dinner at a local restaurant. She put in a report to the police but have not heard from them. She almost forgot about it.

"You left it at Jay's Diner last night." Sunny handed it to her "My name is Sunny Lam, by the way."

Mr. Tamati nodded "His dad owns the little diner. We're usual customers there." he explained.

Boy, her face was red "Uh...oh...gosh, this is embarrassing." Allison mutter under her breath as she tried to find something better to say.

"You mean you weren't embarrassed when you screamed 'rape' to the people?" Sunny teased.

Allison smiled meekly as she stepped back "Sorry...I'm... sorry." she muttered before running back to get her bag and towel. Too embarrassed to stay on the beach she decided to return to her hotel room at the Hilton.

***********

That night, Allison decided to return to Jay's Diner to officially apologize to Sunny for jumping to conclusions. When she got there, she didn't see him, but it didn't stop her from eating there. Digging into her burger as she enjoyed the savory food. Suddenly a slight tap on the shoulder caused her to almost choke on her food. She covered her mouth with a napkin as she pushed the food aside to keep it from travelling down her throat in a whole.

It was Sunny, he looked a bit worried as his eyes widened "You okay?" she nodded but her eyes were watering and her face was red, mostly from embarrassment. He looked up at the waiter and waved to him for a glass of water. The drink came within seconds. "Here, drink some, it'll help the food go down."

Allison chewed the rest of the food in her mouth and took a gulp of the water. "Thank you..." she choked out. She shook her head with a smile "Why is that everytime I see you, something bad happens to me?"

He shrugged "Maybe you're just paranoid." he teased. He saw that she didn't find it funny so he changed the subject "So what brings you here besides our burgers?"

She cleared her throat "Sorry." she said blankly.

"For what?" he looked surprised.

"For jumping to conclusions. I thought you were some crazy guy that was following me from Hong Kong..." she laughed at the ridiculous idea.

"Hong Kong huh?" he nodded with interest "I haven't been there for years. Since my father passed away, I haven't had time to do anything." he easily opened up to her.

"I'm sorry." Allison said with genuine feeling.

He smiled "You've said that too much already. So tell me about Hong Kong? Has it changed much from five years?"

Allison laughed "Not much, I'm afraid. But the buildings are higher and the shopping stores are bigger. Of course, I wouldn't know. I spend most of my time working and sleeping."

"So you don't eat?" he joked.

"Only when I go to Hawaii" she returned the joke.

He laughed with a nod "What do you do?"

"What's it to you?" she said without thinking. She was quite sensitive when it came to her work. She wasn't proud to be a waitress and definely embarrassed at being a college drop out.

"Do you always put up a wall when someone asks you something personal?" she couldn't sense the hurt in his voice.

"Sorry...I just...don't want to talk about it."

"Why not?" he pushed.

Allison was beginning to feel pressured as she squirmed in her seat "I...just don't. Can I get this to go?" she pointed to her burger.

He nodded and waved to the waiter. "Sure, run away from questions. That's the way to deal with life."

He sounded a bit harsh with his comment but it made sense to Allison, she did run away from it. Maybe it was time for her to face it. She always took the easy way out of life. Always taking the easy courses, the easy job, the easy life. Never did she have to a face a challenge and when she did, she ran from it. But she didn't feel the need to explain to this complete stranger "That's the way I deal with life." the waiter packed her burger as she left Sunny sitting there and walked to the cashier to pay for the food.

That night she layed in her hotel room wondering about her life. It was the first time she questioned her way of living and learning. She was close to 24 and has not experienced anything in her life that was close to importance. Maybe he did have a point. She shook the thought from her mind as she tried to sleep. Then she remembered why she didn't like to think that much, it made her lose her sleep. She ended up watching television for the rest of the early morning.

Chapter 2

After Allison left the restaurant, Sunny got to thinking. He wondered if he was a bit harsh on the girl. Despite the fact that she was a complete stranger, he almost could read her thoughts. He sat by the bar sipping on his wine when he felt a pair of small hands covering his eyes. “Guess who?” A high pitched voice asked.

Sunny smiled broadly “Josie dear, you never surprise me, why do you even bother trying?”

Josie pouted as she dropped her hands from his eyes “You’re no fun!” she slumped on the chair next to him and draped her arms over the bar.

“Don’t do that…” he pulled her up “It’s dirty.”

“It’s so boring here…why can’t we go somewhere else?” she whined loudly.

“Where do you want to go?” he shook his head with a smile. His best friend since the age of 10, Josie was like a kid at times. He rarely saw her looking serious, she had a great sense of humor and was a child at heart. It was one reason he admired about her, but it was also something he found annoying. She had no worries, no sadness, just happy ole Josie.

“Hong Kong.” She blurted out.

Sunny wrinkled his forehead “Why?” Not that he didn’t want to return to his home country, but he was settled in Hawaii.

Josie looked at him squarely in the eye, her face serious as can be “Fate.” He rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to make a comment but she covered his mouth with her hand “Things happen for a reason. Maybe its your destiny to go there and meet the girl of your dreams….”

He pushed her hand from his mouth “Stop mocking my words.”

She burst into giggles as she pointed at him teasingly “I sounded like you didn’t I?

Sunny shook his head “You don’t believe it in it, but I do.” He finished his drink and stepped behind the bar to clean his own cup. “If I was meant to go to Hong Kong, I will get there someday. Just let fate take it’s toll. You know, sometimes…” he stopped when he heard an annoying snoring sound coming from behind him. He turned to see Josie laying on the counter with her eyes closed but her mouth making that ridiculous sound. “Okay, I get it. You don’t have to be sarcastic about it.”

She smiled as she peeked through one eye “I’ve heard this speech a hundred times, I don’t want to hear it anymore. Save it for your new girl.” Suddenly a sly smile crossed her face “Talking about new girl, I heard Jimbo said you were talking to some girl earlier. Is fate working their magic again?” she squealed.

Sunny shrugged carelessly “She’s cute, but she’s too paranoid for me.”

“That can be a good thing. She’ll keep you on your toes.” Josie teased. “You know her name?”

“Allison Ng.” He replied shortly.

“I want to meet her.”

He turned to Josie with a suspicious look “Why? So you can scare her too?”

“Too?” Josie looked interested as she leaned over the counter “You scared her?” he nodded slowly. “Tsk tsk tsk…” she shook her head “Usually it takes you weeks to scare off girls with your fate nonsense, but one day? Wow, I think that’s your record.”

“It’s not my fault the girl was freaking out about everything.” Talking about it brought the memories of the earlier morning back. He smiled to himself.

Josie grinned like a monkey seeing her best friend smiling “Oohh, someone has a crush!!” she exclaimed.

His face immediately blushed over “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Admit it!” she practically climbed over the counter as she sat on the counter and dangled her feet over the edge “Now, I really have to meet her. Where is she now?”

Sunny glanced at his watch “Sleeping probably. Anyways, I don’t know where she’s staying, it’s not like we can find her. If we have fate, we’ll meet again.”

“Stop it with the mumbo jumbo.” She rolled her eyes “Hmm…where did you meet her first? Maybe she’ll go back to that place tomorrow.” She said thoughtfully.

“Maybe.” He nodded but looked up at his friend with a strange expression “Why are you so interested? You’ve never cared about the girls that I dated. As I recalled, you scared most of them away.”

Josie had a crooked smile on her face “It’s the first time you smiled just thinking about a girl. And I never scared those girls away, they were just not compatible with you that’s all.” Defending herself.

He nodded exaggerating “Sure sure…whatever you say. I’m still not going to tell you where I met her.”

Josie gave him a dirty look before jumping off the counter “Fine, I’ll just follow you. Night boss.” She smiled wickedly before leaving the restaurant. It was her day off and she still loved to drop by to annoy her friend.

***************

The next morning, Sunny got ready and left his home early to hit Maui beach in hopes to spot Allison again. For some reason, he could not get her off his mind. Maybe Josie put that idea in his head that he had a crush on her. He didn’t even worry about his friend following him, since she was a late sleeper. Josie would not be caught dead at 8am on the beach.

She lived houses away from him and it was that way when they grew up in Hong Kong too. Her parents passed away long ago and left her a good amount of money to survive. She decided to leave the painful past in Hong Kong and moved to Hawaii with Sunny. They seemed to have the same fate of family life, both of his parents was gone too. They often depended on each other for companionship but never love. They were too good of friends to get involved intimately. But the often looked out for each other, making sure the other one would not be hurt. So explains the wild and crazy things Josie would do to keep her friend from dating the wrong girls.

Little did he know that she had been following him for a while in the taxi behind his car as he drove to the beach. She muffled a yawn as she told the taxi to drive faster “You’re losing him!” she was tired, none of the less but she wouldn’t miss this for the world.

Sunny parked along the beach as he got out of his car, his eyes already darting back and forth to find Allison. After walking around for a while, he gave up. He slumped on the beach sand as he looked out into the ocean. “You say you’re not stalking me?” he turned at the familiar voice. A smiled spread out on his face “Don’t worry, I won’t call rape this time.” Allison smiled a she moved her belongings next to his seat.

“Morning Allison.” He nodded politely. The more he looked at the girl, the more of a liking he had for her.

“Call me Allie.” She smiled. It was a nickname that grew on her since she was a little girl. “Allison is so formal.” She explained.

“Very well, Allie it is.” He nodded. “I thought I scared you for good. I’m surprised to see you showing your face here again.”

“I just wanted to take a last long good look at the beach before I head back to Hong Kong tonight.” She explained, her eyes glued the blue clear water.

“Oh…so soon.” She didn’t sense the disappointment in his voice.

“I can’t stay here forever.” She laughed at the thought. “It would be fun, but I'm really homesick.”

He nodded and suddenly he remembered what he wanted to say to her “Hey, about last night….I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be so harsh on you. And we don’t even know each other that well.”

She shook her head “It’s okay. At least we won’t see each other again. But you do have a point. I tend to take the easy way out. It’s just how I handle my problems. Life is too short to be a worrywart.”

Sunny smiled “So, you’re actually a practical person.”

Allison shrugged her shoulders “You can say that.”

They chatted on for over an hour while Josie sat from behind and watch them communicate. She saw smiles throwing back and forth, too bad she was too far to hear what they were saying. She could barely make out the girl’s face and her patience was running low. When she couldn’t stand it anymore. She picked up a sea shell and aimed it directly between Allison and Sunny but missed. It hit Allison straight on the back.

“Ow.” Allison rubbed the spot the shell hit her. “Where did that come from?” she looked up and around her.

Sunny looked around and his eyes did a double take on a girl walking briskly away. He shook his head as he jumped up and ran after the girl. Josie heard him coming up as she quickened her pace and eventually started running. But he was too fast for her as he tackled her to the sand. “Let go!!” she whined.

Allison was confused as she ran over to them. “Did she steal something, Sunny?”

He shook his head at her “No, but she’s a sneaky little thing. Why are you following me?” he pinned her arms over her head. Josie turned her away not wanting to answer. “You wanna play rough huh?” he climbed over her and Allison was almost worried for the girl wondering what he was gonna do to her.

“Hey, what are you doing?” she asked with concern.

Sunny didn’t bother answering her as he began to tickle his friend until she screamed for mercy “Sorry, okay…ha ha…I’m sorry!!” she belted out.

He nodded as he stood up next to Allison. “Don’t mind her. She’s just a no one. Come on.” He took her arm and began dragging her away.

Allison got loose from his grip “Do you know her?” she turned to Josie, who looked messy with her hair tousled and embraided with sand.

“No!” Josie said stubbornly. “He’s not a nice guy, you shouldn’t be hanging around him.” She warned Allison.

“He’s not?” Allison looked at Sunny to hear his explanation.

He crossed his arms “Okay, that’s enough Josie.” His stern brotherly voice took over.

Josie knew when to stop but she had to stick her tongue out “Spoiler!” When she turned to Allison, her childish face merged into a friendly smile “Hi, I’m Josie. What’s your name?” she brought her hand.

Allison smiled, glad to know that they did know each other “Allison, but call me Allie. So you two do know each other?”

“Yeah, unfortunately.” Josie sighed. Her attitude was like the weather, constantly changing. She quickly brightened up “Let’s have lunch!” it wasn’t a question, more like an order.

“No, Allie is a very busy girl. Leave her alone.” Sunny argued.

“Why don’t we ask what she wants to do.” Josie widened her eyes at her friend.

Allison smiled “I’d love to have lunch with you.” Josie smiled brightly in return “I mean both of you.” She caught herself while Josie’s smile disappeared.

Sunny laughed “Nice try. Come on, let’s go over there.” He pointed to a nearby restaurant. The three strolled down the street together.

Chapter 3

The three spent an interesting lunch together, of course Sunny didn’t even get a word in edgewise due to his overly anxious friend. He concluded that she was just out to get him and he would never have a peace of mind until she got off his back. He secretly reminded himself that he would find her a man if it was the last thing he did.

“So, we’ve talked all this time and I still don’t know how long you guys have known each other.” Allison asked with much interest. She grew a special liking to Josie, eventhough she was so talkative.

Josie waved off the question while Sunny leaned in to answer her question “Childhood friends, grew up together, bath together…nothing new.” She said nonchalantly.

Allison covered her mouth as she muffled a giggle. Sunny couldn’t be more embarrassed “Stop it!” he hissed at his friend, while covering his mouth so Allison could not see that he was yelling at her.

“What?” Josie asked annoyingly. “Speak louder, didn’t your mother ever teach you to pronunciate?”

He gave her the evil glare which Allison saw clearly, she knew they had a special relationship as friends. Teasing and sometimes brutal the way they joke with each other. It made her envy them even more, she doesn’t have any friends. Her family was far away and her co-workers were her only friends but they all have their own family to worry about. She let out a soft sigh, feeling sorry for herself again.

“What’s wrong, Allie?” Sunny changed his evil glare to genuine concern.

She smiled reassuringly “Nothing, I just…” she thought about being honest but didn’t want to sound like a pessimist. “I’m just sad I have to go back to Hong Kong.”

“Well, why don’t you stay here?” Josie said a matter of factly.

Sunny shook his head “Some people work for a living.” Sounding sarcastic.

It made Allison smile to see them bicker, she wondered if that’s how it felt to have siblings. “I couldn’t imagine living here. Its too quiet for me but I do love the friendly people.” She quickly added, not wanting to insult them since they both live there.

“Tell me about it!” Josie sighed “This place is nothing compared to Hong Kong. I really want to go back, but I promised his parents that I would stand by him until he got married.” She nodded sadly. “And you know it’s not going to happen anytime soon.”

“Not if you don’t stop harassing the girls.” Sunny mocked.

Josie sat upright with her chin in the air “Those girls were not fit for you.”

They were in a heated argument when Allison burst out laughing “Gosh, I love the way you guys get along!”

Sunny smiled as he shook his head “You find that funny?”

She nodded with big eyes “I think it’s great to have a friend you can talk to and argue with.”

Josie smiled “Wanna switch?”

Allison laughed even harder, “Sure, maybe one day.” She kidded. Looking at her watch she saw that her time was up. The smile disappeared “Its time for me to go.” She said almost sadly. It was strange, she only met these two people for less than a day but she felt like she knew them all her life. It was the first time she felt that way with anyone let alone two people. “It was a pleasure meeting both of you.” She got up and gave Josie a hug.

“I wish you didn’t have to go so soon.” Josie said as they embraced like sisters.

Allison pulled away, her eyes welling up with tears “I know. C’est la vie.” She shrugged sheepishly. She turned to Sunny, who looked a bit distant. “And you, don’t be scaring girls on the beach now.” She reached out to give him a warm hug.

He responded immediately, almost devouring her petite body. “We’ll meet again.” He said surely.

She nodded “Look me up if you come to Hong Kong.” She reached in her purse and handed him a little card of the restaurant she worked at. “Bye now.” She smiled and walked away towards the door of the diner.

He stood there mesmerized in his own little world. Staring at the card over and over, memorizing the Restaurant name. Phoenix Inn. “You could have made your move.” Josie said disappointingly. “I really liked her.”

Sunny smiled “I know.” He reached around her shoulders and led her away “Let’s go home.”

Josie nodded as she held onto the hand that was over her left shoulder, they looked like a loving couple to outsiders. “You think you’ll see her again?”

He shrugged “Maybe.” He didn’t want to jinx anything just yet. Yes, he did want to see her again and he hoped that they would have a chance at love. But it was something he never spoke about, love that is. His rule number one: don’t talk about it until it happens.

*************

The flight was long and agonizing for Allison, she couldn’t sleep on the plane because the seats were tight and the person next to her was snoring away in dreamland. She leaned back on the headrest and closed her eyes. Thinking about her stay in Hawaii, some part of her lingered behind. She missed her new friends and she wondered if they would ever meet again.

When she got off the plane, Allison went straight home to go to bed. She knew it was going to be a long day ahead. Surprisingly, she couldn’t wait to get back to work.

The next morning, she woke up in high spirits. Putting on her white collar shirt and black skirt, she got ready for work. The little blue apron was wrapped around her waist and her hair was tied back in a ponytail, she looked ready for anything. The minute she walked through the restaurant doors, there was a rainbow of raining confetti and people yelled out “Welcome back!!!”

She was shocked and at awe, they threw here a welcome back party. She was an emotional girl, while most people thought she was just a nice person. No one ever bothered to do anything nice for her. Her eyes filling quickly with tears “Oh my gosh…you guys did this for me?”

Paul (Lawrence) Wong, the cook was a casual friend of hers. He smiled as he walked over to her “It was my idea.” He bragged.

The whole restaurant erupted with “CHEEHH” sound and Allison laughed. She knew it was partly his idea but he needed the okay from the manager first. Richard Yeung (Kong Wah) was the manager, also part owner of the restaurant. He was quite fond of Allison and he agreed to close the restaurant until 11am to have the party done for her.

“Welcome back Allison. We all missed you here.” Richard said sincerely and professionally. “It’s been a mess without you.”

She smiled at the kind words “Don’t you mean it turned into a mess now that I’m back?” she looked around at the confetti covered floor.

He laughed openly “Don’t worry about. You’ll just have to clean it up later.” He gave her a quick wink of the eye “Let’s get some cake.”

She nodded and followed Paul to the table as they watched her cut the beautifully white cake, filled with tiny flowers made of sugar. “This is so great guys.” She gushed before cutting the cake.

“Yeah yeah…whatever, come on cut the cake!” Toni Lau (Rain Lau) one of the waitresses rushed. Everyone laughed as they watched Allison rush to cut the cake for everyone.

She served each person personally. The biggest piece was given to no other than Toni “Here you go, the biggest one.”

Toni giggled like a little girl “I knew you like me!” she joked.

Allison laughed at her friend’s eagerness. She kept a small piece for herself as she ate it slowly, standing next to Toni and Paul. They mingled and took their time eating as no one wanted to go back to work just yet.

But as Richard promised, 11am came around and he was ready to start business “Okay guys, time to work.” He tapped at his watch and announced it to the staff.

There was some groaning and mumbling but Allison was ready a long time ago. She began setting up the tables and cleaning up some of the mess that was left behind because the vacuum cleaner did not pick it up. “Allie, just leave it, I’ll have Jim get that, you go get those two people seated.” Richard ordered.

She smiled and got up to greet the new guests. They were dressed very businesslike. “How do you do Sir and Mam. Please follow me.” She knew exactly what to do for certain people. They probably wanted some peace and quiet. So she took into one of the restaurants many sound proof rooms. Phoenix Inn was not glamorous but it sure was a good looking place and the service was always professional which means a lot of business people came to talk business. She took their orders and went straight to the kitchen to let Paul know. “Biz people.” She hinted before leaving the kitchen to her duties outside.

Time flew by quickly as she greeted guests after guests. But when she noticed the boss was looking extra grumpy, she decided to see what the problem was “Richard, is something wrong?” she asked with much concern.

Richard was talking to the delivery guy “Our products I ordered are on delay. We have a big conference party to cater and the food is not here.” He was aggravated.

Allison looked at the delivery guy “What company are you from?”

“Lai’s Produce.” He answered and then added “The harbor is on strike, our people are trying to get your products here fast. We are trying our best.” He said sincerely.

“How about I go there and see if I can negotiate with them?” she offered.

“Our boss is already out there. We are trying to get your stuff as a priority.” The delivery guy assured.

Richard shook his head “I don’t know what to do.” He was looking stressed.

“I have a couple of acquaintances that work in the harbor, maybe they will allow our stuff to slip through?” she offered.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to get you into a mess.” Richard advised.

Allison smiled as she shook her head “No problem. I want to help. Phoenix Inn’s reputation is at hand.”

Richard smiled, feeling calmer already “What will I do without you, Allie?”

“You’ll be a chicken without a head.” She laughed as she took off her apron and threw it over the counter of the hostess table. “I’ll be back soon.”

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