They had
added Vivian to Mario Kart once the pizza was done cooking and she turned out
to be way better than either of them, she also enjoyed pointing it out. By the
time they reached Rainbow Road she was far and away ahead of both of them
combined.
Rodney got knocked
off the course by a chomp chomp for the third time “So, how do you know my
grandmother?” He asked while he waited for the cloud turtle to fish him back
onto the track.
Vivan
finished the race and dropped her controller onto the table In front of the TV.
“We work at the library together.” She answered while standing up to stretch.
An alarm sounded
on Derek’s phone. He stood up as well and shut the alarm off. “Whelp, another
successful day.” He said without even a hint of sarcasm as he went back out
into the restaurant.
Rodney
scoffed. “You had two customers.” He said grabbing his jacket and following Derek
back into the main building.
Derek nodded
and locked the front door. “In this town you can’t measure success by the amount
of money that you make.” He clarified, shut off the pizza sign and flipped the
open/closed sign over.
Rodney
nodded with a dopey smile. “Is it me? Was friendship the secret to success all
along?” he faked a bashful shrug.
Dereck
laughed. “Yup, you never needed the balet slippers at all! The magic was in you
the whole time!” He carried the joke.
Rodney’s
phone pinged a few times. He checked it. “While I appreciate the boost to my self-confidence,
I gotta jet.” He said.
Vivan came
out of the back room. “Awe, don’t like us anymore?” She asked.
Rodney shook
his head. “Not even close, my grandmother bought a cell phone, and learned not
only to text but to use Facebook for the express purpose of making sure I come
home by nine o’clock every night.” He explained as he dropped his phone back in
his pocket. “So unless you plan on murdering me and using me for pizza
toppings, I gotta go make sure she doesn’t have a heart attack.” He looked at
the front door. “That statement was genuinely less scary before I realized you
just locked the front door.” He said flatly.
Vivan
stepped up behind Rodney. “Derek, how many times have I told you to stop
telling your victims about your plans in advance?” She asked.
Derek
shrugged. “So I’ll order more sausage, sue me!” He playfully snapped. He held
up his keys. “Come on employee entrance is in the back of the kitchen.” He smiled
putting Rodney at ease. Derek and Vivian led him through the kitchen. Her big
black knee high boots echoed off the walls. “So obviously you’re welcome by any
time. We’re open 9am to 9pm.” Derek explained.
Rodney nodded. “Considering the fact that you two are the first normal people I’ve met in this town I’ll prolly be around a lot.” He said with a smile as they exited out the back of the shop.
Vivian shook
her head. “We’re less normal than you think.” She said as Derek locked the door
behind him.
Rodney
nodded. “Almost everyone is, but your store isn’t covered in Blood Night posters
and you play a mean game of Mario Kart so I’ll take my chances.” He replied
specifically to her.
They shared
and awkward moment of silence before Derek playfully punched Vivian. “ No! Bad
sister! My friend! Shoo! Shoo! Get your own!” He grabbed her and turned her
away from Rodney and then turned to look over his shoulder. “Have a good night
man, see you tomorrow.” He said with a smile.
