章 47: CH47: What's your cravings?
"We should look for someone to eat and drink with
before looking for something to eat and drink."
- Epicurus
=========================
That morning, Delilah decided to relax a bit while reading some reports. Luckily for her, her tasks at that time does not require her to write so many reports, compared to her other colleagues. Rather, she only has to read a couple of reports, write a small note about it and send it off to the top management.
She was munching on some potato chips while reading the report. Using her pinkie finger, she turned each page of the report while being careful not to leave a stain on the paper. The report she was reading was on Deegan's final thesis in his university. Apparently, he was in his final semester, doing his final year. He had sent a copy of his thesis where he wrote about the workplace environment in the Kang's Company. The reason as to why he sent his report was to let Delilah check on the contents, to ensure that there was no confidential information being used in the report.
'So far, so good,' she thought as she grabbed a wet tissue from her tissue pack and wipe her fingers clean. With her eyes still on the report, skimming through the words, she also made some notes, pinpointing on his grammar mistakes and all. Yes, she was being a 'grammar nazi' [1] but she could not help it. She likes to read smoothly without wincing. Again, not to say that she has a perfect grasp of English.
Moving on, she was writing some tips on what to add in the report and whatnot when her mobile phone on the table let out a beeping noise. She looked over and saw that it was a text message from Amy. Reading the message, Amy was asking whether she was in the office at the moment.
Feeling perplexed as to why she was asking, Delilah just shot a quick reply, 'Yes', before she continued reading the report.
'Okay. I'll be there after lunch,' came the reply.
Delilah picked up her phone and started to answer again. 'How about we have lunch together before you come into the office?' she asked.
'That would be perfect! Where shall we eat?'
'I don't know. Up to you.'
'I'm good with any.'
'Me too. I don't have any cravings.'
'So do I. So, where do you want to eat?'
'Anything that isn't heavy or light would be good.'
'Something medium? What kind of medium you're talking here?'
'I don't know. What medium are you thinking of?'
Suddenly, her phone went silent. It seems like Amy had stopped texting. Probably a work has caught her or something.
Just as Delilah was about to put down her phone, it beeped again with a notification. Looking down, she saw Amy's reply.
'Seriously, sister. We're never going to be able to pick a place at this rate. So, pick one, bish!'
Delilah laughed at how Amy changed from 'sister' to 'bish'. Seems like she was getting annoyed with all the indecisiveness.
Delilah quickly texted back, saying, 'I do feel like eating some beef noodles. I'm having my period right now.' She remembered how painful it had been when she first had her period that month. She was late for a week and it was worrisome. And when her period came, it hurt so bad that she nearly asked for a medical leave, just to rest at home.
She did ask one of her friends in discordance. And stitch did mentioned that the pain was probably from the lack of iron. Being poor in Science subjects, Delilah asked again what kind of food does she need to eat when it comes to iron.
Stitch suggested a lot of foods but what caught Delilah's attention was when she said, meat.
'Meat as in beef?' Delilah had asked that day.
'Yes, beef.'
Hence, Delilah thought that maybe it was a good idea to eat beef. And seeing that day was a chilly day since it had just rained the previous night, it would be great if she eats beef soup. And she has just the right food to eat.
'Beef noodle?' Amy asked in the text message.
'Yeah, beef noodles. To be precise, let's eat beef pho noodles.'
'Sure. We can go to the one that's near to the HQ.'
'Great. I'll see you later then.'
'Sure. Bye, bish.'
After that, Delilah continued reviewing Deegan's report, putting lots of sticky notes on the paper. He actually sent to her in softcopy. But sometimes, when it comes to this, it's more fun and easier to have these papers in hardcopy. Delilah preferred to highlight the corrections and write in notes when it comes to report. It has been that way since she was studying years back.
Once she was done, she slides the report in a large brown envelope and put a note on top of it. And then she went down to the reception area and talked to Bella. She told her that she will be leaving the envelope for Deegan to pick it up from here.
Bella nodded.
Delilah thanked Bella with a smile and returned back to her cubicle.
At her cubicle, she began to do her other tasks which was to cross-check the attendance and so forth since it was nearly the end of the month. She needed to do this so that she can send her findings to the Finance department.
It was fifteen minutes before the clock hits 12 PM on the dot. And Delilah was already preparing to go and have lunch with Amy. She had already told Aubree beforehand that she will be leaving for lunch early. Aubree had nodded her approval. Usually she would join them but then she had other plans.
Few minutes later, Delilah arrived at the restaurant. Surprisingly, the traffic wasn't as heavy as she thought it would be. Especially during lunch times. She even managed to score a parking spot in front of the restaurant.
Delilah shot a quick message to Amy to inform her that she has arrived. Seeing that there was no reply from Amy, she assumed that she was probably on her way.
She then decided to wait inside the restaurant.
Inside, the restaurant was quite quaint with many Vietnamese home decor adorning the walls of the restaurant. The chairs and tables were made of wood, or to be precise, made to look like it was made of rattan [2]. It has that comfy and homey feeling when one stepped into the restaurant. Especially when the smell of the Vietnamese coffee hits your nose.
Delilah sat at one of the tables and began to read the menu, which was placed on the table. Just as she was about to place her order, Amy walked into the restaurant.
With a huge smile on her face, she walked over to Delilah and sat down across her. A quick look over the menu, she too had chosen what she wanted to eat.
Similarly with Delilah, the two women had ordered beef pho noodles. Though, Delilah had ordered with an extra beef strips and tendons, whereas Amy only ordered with beef balls.
While waiting for their meal to arrive, they have a nice chat, laughing and talking.
Their food came quickly as soon as it was ordered. When her beef pho was placed in front of her, Delilah could smell the earthy aroma of the pho. She could even smell other spices such as star anise, which was a bit smokey. As she sips on the broth, she loved how rich the savory dept it has. The beef itself was sliced thinly. Although, it doesn't add much to the beef flavour but it still has that chewy texture. Instead, it was the beef tendon that gave out the almost sweet and chewy flavour. Added with the beef balls, it was tender and meaty.
The noodles used in beef pho noodles was rice noodles. It also doesn't add much to the pho flavour but it tasted silky and smooth when bitten in it. Additionally, it was less starchy and less chewy, compared to the other noodles.
As the two women enjoyed their pho, Amy suddenly stopped eating as she abruptly put her chopsticks down.
Startled, Delilah looked up and asked why.
"I forgot to ask you whether you have seen Matt the past few days?" Amy asked.
Delilah tapped on her chin, as she tried to remember. "If I'm not mistaken, he did visit the office a few days ago. He mentioned that he will be out of the country for a couple of days."
"I knew it!"
"What's wrong?" Delilah asked, looking confused.
"It's like this…"
Amy began to tell Delilah about what has been happening in the other branch. The things that she told her made Delilah's eyebrows raise in surprise.
Interesting…
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[1] Someone who has a high understanding of grammar and has a habit of constantly correcting others' grammar or spelling mistakes.
[2] Rattan (from the Malay rotan) is the name for roughly 600 species of old world climbing palms belonging to subfamily Calamoideae (from the Greek 'kálamos' = reed). Rattan is also known as manila, or malacca, named after the ports of shipment Manila and Malacca City, and as manau (from the Malay rotan manau, the trade name for Calamus manan canes in Southeast Asia). (From Wikipedia)
クリエイターの想い 
TheTalkingCupcake
TheTalkingCupcake Any female readers encountered that period pain that nearly make you feel condemned? I have a friend of mine who doesn't have any. And she would thought that we were exaggerating about our pains. But seriously, the advice from Stitch really helps a lot. Ever since I ate the beef pho, it doesn't really hurt much. InDEEd, I'm lacking in iron.
Anyway, I have never attempt to make beef pho. Heard it may take hours, especially when you want the best out of it. The recipe I found says that it may take up to 3-4 hours to make it. Guess one needs a lot of patience to make it.
Nevertheless, here's the recipe, enjoy!
https://tasty.co/recipe/traditional-vietnamese-beef-pho
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