Chapter Text
They woke up to the sound of angry banging.
Realizing they had fallen asleep inside their pizzeria, they got up to check the irritating sound.
It was a woman in her early 30s, thumping on the window as if demanding to be let inside.
They groaned, trying not to roll their eyes. “M’am! We don’t open until 9!” The woman, now even more enraged, pointed a finger at the clock inside their pizzeria. “M’am, I don’t-“ Their mouth dropped in shock. It was 12 pm! Gosh, they could’ve swore they had woken up earlier.
They flipped their open sign and allowed the woman in. “Finally! I didn’t know how much more I could stand waiting out there! I let you know through Zazoom that it was an emergency order!” They went back over the counter to check all their online orders, hoping they had at least some sells. Pretty empty..
“Are you the Vegetarian-“
Before they could finish the woman interrupted. “Yes! Now will you hurry up, I’ve got an important meeting to attend to!”
They didn’t listen to the rest of her ranting.
Instead, they powered up their oven and expertly crafted the pizza order. Once they charged the woman at the counter, she took the pizza and turned to her phone.
She muttered under her breath, loud enough so the Ovenist could hear. “I waited outside for 3 hours to get this! 0/10 I should’ve gone to Ambrosia instead!” Before they could as much as breathe, she had left.
Sighing, they went back to the booth they had fallen asleep in. The notepad… They angrily put the notepad back in their pocket. They were resilient. They didn’t need to ask for help and from their rival no less. They had gotten past so much. They could get past this.
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Days had passed. Their pizzeria remained empty, except for the occasional loyal customer.
After closing time, they sat at a booth, calculating their revenue for the day. 120 dollars…
They audibly gasped.
They were used to making around 300! The last time they had gotten a number so low was when they were first starting out as the new pizzeria shop in town. If their income stayed like this, they would barely have enough money to pay their rent!
They nervously fidgeted their fingers. The pizzeria cost them money to keep running, along with ingredients and oven repairs.
This wasn’t good… Was this how Keh must’ve felt when he had closed his shop after being beat at PizzaPalooza?
They pushed that thought out their mind.
They just couldn’t stop thinking about the man, could they. He was the cause of all their problems! Why would they care about what he felt when he closed down his business. They sighed, returning back to their notepad.
Suddenly their phone rang. Their eyes widened, it was their mother. Recently she had moved to a faraway city after getting remarried.
The last time she had called was the week after the move, just to check in on how they were doing. “Hello? Mom, why’re you calling so late?”
“Hey kiddo, just wanted to check up on you and the business.” She replied. “Uh-“ The Ovenist looked to the side, looking at the notepad with their revenue and their plan…
“Doing alright. Same old same old.”
They let out a nervous laugh, their mother didn’t catch it.
After about an hour of conversation their mom announced she was going to bed. “Well, hun if anything troubles you, don’t ever hesitate to call.” The Ovenist claimed that nothing was wrong before saying their goodbyes.
Afterward, a heavy sort of silence fell over them. They couldn’t keep going like this. Once again, their “plan” marked in their notepad taunted them.
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The next day, they closed their shop earlier than usual. Not like anyone else would be coming, they thought.
They shook it out their mind, grabbing their bag before taking off. They wore a hoodie to conceal their face. Obviously some drama would be stirred if they were spotted near Ambrosia.
They neared closer to the entrance, discreetly sneaking past the crowd. They pretended to be a customer in a hurry to go to the bathroom.
They sighed as they finally shut themselves inside a stall. Now they just needed to wait until closing time. Being a Sunday they assumed the store would close earlier, but they never underestimated the power hungry man.
They were already tired from the past days, a sort of gloom had set over their head ever since.
It wouldn’t hurt to shut their eyes for a moment…
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They jolted awake. After checking the time, they realized it was practically 2 am now.
They hoped they weren’t locked inside the store. How embarrassing that would be!
Right before exiting, they put their hand to the stall. Complete silence. They tiptoed out. The pizzeria was dark, but the window that peered into the kitchen was on.
They squinted their eyes to try to get a better view. They jumped over the counter, trying to get to the height of the small window.
A sharp clang of metal echoed through the pizzeria. They had accidentally tipped over his display of a fancy looking pizza cutter.
Before they could even move, the kitchen door slammed open and out came Dr. Keh.