Chapter Text
Aaron called in sick today, so Neil Josten had to pick up twice the workload of the Palmetto Pizza deliveries.
Or, rather, two thirds. Wymack had hired a new delivery boy named Kevin Day, who liked to criticize Neil on his work ethic. Apparently, he wasn’t ‘friendly’ enough with the customers. Boo fucking hoo.
As long as they got their pizza, who cared what expression he made or if he used the ‘fuck’ word? He was their best delivery boy because he delivered quickly and efficiently.
Neil pulled into the driveway of his next address, sitting in his car for a minute to check his phone. Dan was complaining in the chat about how she had to come out of the kitchen because some lady was angry that she couldn’t change her baby’s diaper on the tables. He wrinkled his nose at the message before grabbing his delivery bag.
Customers were hell.
Neil walked up to the door, knocking on the wood and sliding the pizza out of his bag. The door flung open in seconds, the customer leaning against the door frame.
Neil cited the total automatically, looking up. He frowned. “I thought you said you were sick?”
“What.” Aaron stared at him blankly, holding his hand out for his pizza. Neil stepped back.
“Wymack said you called in sick and couldn’t do deliveries. Money first, asshole.”
Aaron arched an eyebrow before dropping his hand, digging out his wallet and handing him the money. Neil took it, holding out the pizza. Aaron grabbed it, going to close the door when Neil stuck his foot out, stopping it.
“You don’t like our pizza. You say it’s gross,” Neil accused. He was going to get a response. He and Aaron had never gotten along, but that didn’t mean he could lie to him. Pot, meet kettle, a voice sang in his head. Aaron stared down at his foot before staring at him.
“Are you stupid?”
“What?” Neil flushed angrily, his eyebrows dropping dangerously. With his father’s temper, he instigated fights way too often and he was ready to up the tally. Aaron set the pizza aside somewhere and grabbed his wallet, flipping it open. He displayed a state ID, reading: Andrew Minyard.
“Andrew, asshole,” Andrew said, mocking his earlier statement. When Neil just stared at him blankly, he elaborated. “We’re twins.”
“Aaron doesn’t have a brother.” He couldn’t, Aaron never mentioned any siblings. Not that they spoke much. Andrew raised his eyebrow again, gesturing to himself before stepping back. Neil started to speak again when he shut the door in his face.
Asshole.
He counted to ten in three different languages before puffing his cheeks out. He stuffed the money in his pocket, making his way back to his car. Kevin was complaining about how everyone was texting in the chat instead of working.
Nicky removed him from the chat.
catty bitch: finally
Neil sorted his next deliveries, driving to the address nearest to him. He got out of the car, holding the large pizza and ringing the doorbell. He waited for two minutes before a middle aged woman opened the door.
“Oh, thank you.” She handed him the appropriate amount of money. Neil counted it out before turning to head down the steps. He had about three deliveries to go.
“I can’t eat this.” Oh, the dreaded words. Neil stopped midstep, looking over his shoulder. The woman had propped the pizza box open, frowning at its contents.
“Why not?” Neil frowned.
“It has pineapples on it.”
He stared at the lady before checking the delivery address. He read out her phone number. “That’s… What you ordered.”
“I’m allergic to pineapples! Are you trying to kill me?” What the fuck. … What the fuck?
“It’s not my fault you ordered something you’re allergic to,” Neil deadpanned. He had no patience for ridiculous customers.
“I don’t like your attitude.”
“Yeah, a lot of people don’t,” he replied, getting back into his car. Okay, maybe Neil shouldn’t sass customers, but she started it. He was pretty sure Wymack wouldn’t dare fire him anyways, he loved his staff way too much.
He made a few more deliveries before heading back to Palmetto. The bell above the door rang, making his co-workers look up. He stormed over to the counter, slapping his delivery bag on top of it and seething quietly. Nicky looked up from where he was manning the phone, taking an order.
“No. No, sir. I told you, we do not sell hot dogs. … Because this is a pizza place.” He listened to the angry customer rant for a few more seconds before hanging up the phone mid-sentence. Dan patted her flour-covered hands on her apron, shaking her head disapprovingly.
“Nicky, you can’t just hang up on the customers,” she scolded. Dan and Renee worked in the back kitchen, making the pizzas.
“He was being stupid,” Nicky stated, shrugging. He leaned forward, setting his elbows on the counter and propping his face in his hands. “Now, Neil, tell us why you look like a pissed off cat.”
“This woman ordered a pineapple pizza then yelled at me because she’s fucking allergic to pineapples. She ordered the pizza and it’s not our fault she can’t eat a piece of fruit or she’ll die,” he ranted.
“Oh, Neil, I love when you get feisty,” Nicky sighed dreamily, reaching out to smooth his hair down before grinning. “May I suggest something?”
Neil gave a nod.
“If a customer gives you shit, just run them over with your car.”
“Do not,” Wymack’s voice came from behind them. Nicky smiled innocently as their manager circled around the counter. “I don’t want a lawsuit on my hands.”
“I can take care of the money issue,” Neil said nonchalantly, earning a worried stare from Dan and a startled laugh from Nicky.
“Neil, I love you so much,” he wheezed, lying his head down on the counter top. Neil wasn’t sure what was so funny about his statement, but said nothing. Wymack shook his head, walking off. Once Nicky had caught his breath, Neil stepped forward and rested his arms on the counter.
“Hey. … Did you guys know Aaron has a twin?” This time, all of his coworkers paused what they were doing to stare at him. He looked between them self-consciously. “What?”
Allison tucked a pen into the pocket of her apron, coming over with her notepad in her hand. Her heels clicked against the floor. Neil was pretty sure that wearing heels with her uniform was against the dress code, but Allison didn’t care about rules. She had swapped out her work pants for a skirt. She and Matt were the waiters for people who decided to sit in. “Sweetheart, everyone knows Aaron has a twin.”
“You met Andrew?” Dan asked, putting another pizza into the oven. Neil began to feel like he was missing something; everyone knew about Andrew but him.
“He was one of my deliveries,” he said slowly. He felt out of the loop, but at least he could be certain that Aaron wasn’t just playing a trick on him.
“You poor thing.” Allison popped her gum before relaying her table’s order to Dan and Renee.
“Andrew’s been in here before, you probably just thought he was Aaron,” Nicky explained, smiling gently. The phone rang again and he picked it up. “... Sir, do you want a pizza or not? If not, I’m going to have to call the cops.”
“Allison, look at this,” Seth said, moving away from the cash register. He had his phone in hand, leaning over the counter to show her the screen. She read what was on it, scrolling down with her finger before scowling. She snatched the phone out of his hand.
“What the hell!”
“What?” Neil questioned while Nicky covered the mouthpiece of the phone, looking over.
“These are fake reviews from all the same person. I would know,” Seth explained, pissed.
“Someone’s trying to make Palmetto Pizza look bad,” Matt said in realization. He read the reviews over Allison’s shoulder. “‘Don’t eat here. The employees are rude and spit in my food. Evermore Pizza is ten times better’. ‘Don’t order delivery from Palmetto Pizza, my pizza was two hours late and someone had eaten all the toppings’ . Now, come on, we’re not that greedy.”
“They could have used a more realistic name than ‘Ben Dover’,” Allison nitpicked.
“Who’s willing to bet that Evermore Pizza is doing this?” Dan sighed. Everyone collectively, save for Renee and Neil, raised their hands. Palmetto Pizza and Evermore Pizza were the top pizza places in the area. Kevin had quit his job at Evermore Pizza after a work accident, where they claimed no responsibility.
“I’ll show those little shits. Coach, I’m taking my break now.” Allison whipped off her apron and took her phone out of her pocket, walking to the door. A guy somewhere in the restaurant whistled. The blonde showed him her middle finger without glancing back.
“Don’t forget to use the fuck word!” Nicky called after her right before she slipped out the door. He narrated, “There she goes, off to destroy social lives...”
Seconds later, the bell chimed again as Kevin came through the door. He glared at them. They stared back.
“Who removed me from the chat again?”