Work Text:
“Given how quiet it’s been tonight, I’m going to head out a bit early,” The manager, an older man with longer hair, called out as he was grabbing his coat. “Damiano, you’re in charge. Make sure you lock up and arm the security system before you leave, and Thomas… Thomas,” he waited until the brown-haired teenager looked up from his phone, “count cash and make sure it’s in the safe before you leave.” When he was satisfied the place wouldn’t burn down if he left early, he put on his coat and called out as he was going, “goodnight!”
The four teens echoed a ‘goodnight,’ and then once the door shut, all four of them sighed and slumped against their stations.
“Why are you in charge?” Vic asked, crossing her arms over her chest. “Just because you’re the oldest?” She tucked her phone away and took a sip from the cup of soda she had on the top of the prep table. “That’s bullshit.”
Damiano shrugged, but the cocky smile on his face said all that she needed to know. “I’m the most responsible, apparently. Shouldn’t you be stocking that prep table?”
Thomas snickered where he stood in the doorway between the kitchen and dining room. “Oh, fuck you,” Vic said with a twisted smile as she flashed him the middle finger and leaned against the wall.
“Are you prepositioning sex at work?” Damiano mock gasped. “From me? That’s sexual harassment. Now see, this is why I’m in charge. Kids these days so immature.” However, the dollop of pizza sauce thrown at his head made him laugh, and if it wasn’t for Ethan, a ball of pizza dough would have been thrown back at Victoria.
“We may still get pizzas in,” Ethan said seriously, although there was a bit of a smirk on his lips. He stood in front of the fridge, blocking the door, and hiding the remaining dough from Damiano’s eager retaliation fingers. “I know we’re not going to get forty-two orders in half an hour, but just in case.”
“That’s the responsible attitude, Ethan,” Damiano chirped as he toyed with one of the pizza cutters. He paced back and forth in front of the two, occasionally going so far as Thomas, who seemed oblivious to the whole thing. “Just in case. Bottom line, orders, profit, all those words.”
Vic rolled her eyes, but she still smiled. As much as she acted like she was annoyed by Damiano’s little powerplay, she knew if things went to shit, which they may still do, he would turn to her for help. After all, last time their manager put him in charge - he had a habit of putting Damiano in charge simply because he wanted someone cool like Damiano to like him - Damiano and Thomas accidentally set half the assembly line on fire. She was the one that put it out and then consoled him for weeks after when he really thought it was his fault. It was his fault, but it was equally Thomas’ fault who didn’t seem bothered by the whole thing at all.
“Mr. David,” Thomas called as he came into the kitchen, barely keeping a straight face. “I’m going out for a smoke; care to supervise me out there?” Damiano’s face lit up, and he nodded.
“Always important to go places in twos, especially after dark.” The older teen said with a bit of pep in his step. “It’s in the employee handbook.”
“You two shouldn’t be near fire,” Vic chimed in and was backed up by a snorted laugh from Ethan. “If you have to go smoke, be quick about it boys, no making out behind the pizzeria. I know that alley just screams affair, but -”
“Haha, you wish, Vic.” Thomas said drily, “I’ll do what I want, he’s all mine.”
“You wish Damià would kiss you, Thomas,” she bit back. Then she rethought what she had said and quickly added, “at least take some pictures if you do.”
The acting manager rolled his eyes, but the tip of his tongue was stuck out as he watched Thomas blush and then try to hide it by digging behind the counter for his cigarettes and lighter. “I mean, I wouldn’t have to be drunk or anything,” The man teased and watched the blush deepen on Thomas’ cheeks.
“Shut up, are you coming or what, Damiano?”
“Always for you, Tommy,” Damiano wrapped an arm around his shoulder, and the youngest groaned. “You’re just so talented.”
“Oh my god, stop,” Thomas groaned, hitting him on the shoulder as they went outside and let the supply door shut behind him.
“Think those two ever…?” Ethan asked as he was wiping the table just for something to do; it wasn’t actually dirty. “Personally, I don’t think they have, but I wonder sometimes.” He came to stand next to Vic and smoothed his hair back after stripping his gloves off and tossing them in the garbage.
As he put an arm around her, Victoria shrugged. She thought for a moment and hummed and hawed before she spoke. “I don’t think they have, but I think they’ve thought about it. I mean, haven’t you?” She chuckled and smoothed a hair back on Ethan’s head. “Damiano is cute in his feminine meets masculine way even with unfortunate haircuts, and Thomas is just plain adorable.”
“Yeah, I mean, I have once or twice. Honestly, though, I think you’re --” He turned before he finished the sentence, the phone on the wall near a pad and paper ringing. “I’ll get it!” He called out and then answered under his breath, “I knew we’d get orders.” He jogged over, ignoring Vic, who threw her hands into the air.
“I’m what? Ethan! You can’t just leave me hanging for compliments.”
“Yes, I can. I’ll tell you in a second, Vic,” he said, smiling as he picked up the cordless phone. “Moonlight Pizza Express, how can I help you?” He made a face, and Vic tilted her head, miming ‘what is it?’ with her hands.
The voice on the other end of the phone was clipped, like a man who was used to having everyone pay attention to him, so he didn’t need to be careful with how he spoke. “You’re open, yeah?”
“Yes, we’re open for about,” he checked his watch, “another thirty minutes,” Ethan said calmly.
“Okay, good, ’cause you’re the only one open. Listen, kid, normally I’d have a PA call it in, but she’s left for the day. I’m a producer, I have better things to do but needs must, and I need forty pizzas. I’ve got a film crew here working late, before you ask, can’t say what movie.” Ethan had no intention of asking, but he sighed to please the other man who kept talking over his own joke. “Now of those forty, half, that’s twenty of them need to be vegetarian, that’s with no meat and the other half, that’s also twenty, need pepperoni, sausage and mushrooms. Got that? Or do you need me to repeat it?”
Ethan rolled his eyes but kept his voice professional and steady. “I think I’ve gotten it. Half vegetarian and half pepperoni, sausage and mushrooms.”
“Yeah, that’s it. No meat on the vegetarian. Make sure they all have sauce and cheese, I’ve ordered before, and they’ve left those off,” the man said matter-of-factly. “If they’re wrong, you’ll be fixing them. I’ll check them when I get there, so make sure you tell the other kids working.”
“Of course, sir.” He repeated the name and phone number and the amount, which the producer paid for with a credit card.
The longer Vic watched him, the more worried Ethan became, and when he finally said thank you and that it would be ready before they closed, she was anxious too, and she wasn’t even sure why. “Big order, Eth?”
“You could say that.” He set the paper down and slid it toward Victoria, then started pulling the dough out of the fridge. “You should get Thomas and Damià, we have thirty minutes before we close to make this order, and it’s a lot.”
“A lot?” She squished up her face, that expression she makes when she’s confused and bewildered at the same time. “You’re panicking over 4 orders?” They had done that many times; it was practically nothing when their new oven carried four easily.
Ethan laughed a nervous-sounding laugh and stalked back over from the dough station to tap the little order slip, running his finger under the number. “4 - 0. Vic. Forty, not four. 20 veggie and 20 with pepperoni, sausage, and mushroom.”
Her eyes bulged, and she turned to face him properly, grabbing the front of his shirt and giving him a little shake. “What?! Why the fuck did you agree to that?! It’s half an hour until we close, Ethan. We can’t make forty pizzas in thirty minutes!”
“Well, we’re going to have to because I said we could. Now, can you please go get the two stooges and get them in here? Make sure they wash their hands. Thomas can lock the front door and float in here.” Ethan was already getting pans prepped, rattling off instructions as Vic stood there and nodded.
“Should have made you the acting manager,” she said with a grin as she ran to the back door and yanked it open.
“That would make sense,” Ethan said quickly.
“Okay, boys, stop blowing each other and get back inside,” Victoria called as she yanked open the supply door. “Ethan just agreed to a forty-pizza order.”
Thomas and Damiano had been deep into a conversation about football when the door was opened, and both turned to the door, shocked. The shock only amplified as they realized the gravity of the situation Ethan had put them in.
“Forty!? What the fuck? Ethan!”
“What?! I’m the manager!” Damiano tossed the cigarette onto the ground and ground it out. “I leave for five minutes, and you agree to forty pizzas?!”
“Manager? Slacker more like,” Vic quipped. “It’s been almost 15 minutes! Wash your hands and get the cigarette smoke off.”
“Thomas, lock the door and help Eth and Vic,” Damiano called as he was washing his hands. He tossed the hand towel he was using to dry his hands to Thomas as he walked over from locking the door.
“These are all the same, right, and simple? Pepperoni? You didn’t agree to big, complicated pineapple monstrosities, did you, Ethan?” Thomas gave him a nudge as he was helping to prep the pans, and Ethan gave him a little shove back.
“The order is right there,” he pointed to the slip. “Help Vic. She can start portioning things and then just put them on when the dough is ready.” Thomas nodded, taking a few steps to stand next to Vic, who was doing exactly as Ethan had suggested. She slid over a few clear plastic cups to put ingredients in, and at this, Damiano gave a little clap of applause. “Excellent teamwork everyone. Maybe this won’t be so bad.” He was clearly unsure what to do, but he smiled and nodded along, pretending to be the most encouraging manager that ever existed. After checking the oven, he went back to where Victoria and Thomas were putting toppings on pizzas and managed to do a couple before he was shooed away again.
It was Ethan first that saw Damiano looking bored, fiddling with the temperature gauge on the pizza oven. They had all chased him away when he was only trying to help. “Hey Damiano,” he said, looking up from his pizza pan, “can you get me a drink?”
Thomas perked up and smiled. “Me too, please.”
“Yes, I need a refill too, thank you!” Vic said with a giggle, holding her plastic soda cup out for him to take while she spread pepperoni in a circle.
The acting manager laughed, brightening at being able to help now. “Three sodas, coming up. One light ice, two lots of ice.”
Vic kissed him on the cheek when he delivered the sodas, making Damia smile and give her a quick kiss on the forehead as well. When Damiano paused and pointed to his cheek for Thomas to do the same, he got his hair ruffled instead, and he still preened from the attention. Ethan patted him on the shoulder, and when all three sodas were in place, the acting manager went back to where he had been standing near the cut table.
He watched as the first five pizzas were loaded. “I thought it only held four?”
“Five’ll fit,” Thomas said as he turned back and started putting more ingredients on. “Turn the speed down a notch, and it won’t catch.”
“You work the cash; how do you know about pizza ovens?”
Thomas paused, turned around and all but put his hands on his hips indignantly. “I’ve been working here longer than you. That’s why I’m working cash. I worked the pizza oven before this one, and it only held two pizzas, if you were lucky.” Vic gave him a little push indicating she could handle it, and Thomas went over to Damiano, “that’s why I’m the perfect float; I know it allll…” he let the sound slowly trail off, making all the people present chuckle.
“They should have made YOU acting manager,” Vic said, shaking her head. “Everyone here except Damiano.”
“They’ll never let me be in charge after the incident last year,” Thomas said as he was folding boxes.”
“What incident?” Three voices said, and Thomas just shook his head.
“Doesn’t matter. Either way, we have this new pizza oven thanks to me and my incident, so everyone wins.” Thomas and Ethan high-fived, the two members of staff present that had been there the longest.
The four worked in relative silence for the next twenty minutes or so, getting into a steady rhythm where pizzas were passed from one station to the next without incident. Thomas mostly worked the oven, ensuring five pizzas went through at a time instead of the recommended four and that nothing jammed.
Damiano got creative with the pizza cutter once he noticed there was nothing specifying the cut on the order slip. “Art!” He proclaimed the latest pizza as it slid into the box. “Why don’t more pizzerias do a circle cut? I’ll never understand the lack of ingenuity. Look at it, Thomas, it’s beautiful. Pizza rings, you could marry someone with this.”
“Edible art,” Thomas agreed as he stacked the next box. “Even better than the smiley face one you cut.” Both of them laughed as Damiano started to cut the next one, opting for a more traditional cut for this time.
“This producer, was it a producer, Eth?” The longer-haired man nodded in response to Vic’s question. “This producer guy kept saying vegetarian no meat to Ethan. Should I add some meat to mess with him? This will be the last one.” She held the stack of pepperoni in her hand and turned around to Damiano, “acting manager? Do I have your permission to mess with this guy’s head?” She knew what he would say, and asking him was more for fun than anything else.
“Permission granted,” Damiano declared, nodding sternly. “He’s getting pepperoni at no extra charge; he should be thankful. We always do our best to give our customers something extra.”
“Even if they don’t want it!”
“Maybe he’ll leave a tip,” Vic giggled as she started adding the meat. “This is horrible. We shouldn’t do this -“ She set the pepperoni down and then picked it back up.
“You’re the one doing it.” Ethan added, “you can stop at any time.”
Victoria shook her head, pretending to try to stop what she was doing and failing. “My hands have a mind of my own!” She cackled as she finished spreading out the meat and then started adding vegetables. “They can’t be stopped!”
The three boys laughed and gave a round of applause when she held up the pizza triumphantly and added it to the oven.
Thomas quickly counted up the pizzas and then counted again, checking there were twenty of each variety. “Last five are in the oven, and we have… 2 minutes to spare! He might have to wait a minute or two, but he’ll get all his pizzas.”
The sound of abrasive and loud knowing on the front door made Thomas sigh and stomp into the dining room. He checked his watch and then took his time to unlock the door and slowly open it.
“I’m here for the pizzas,” he said, checking his phone as he strolled in. He let Thomas hold the door open for him and then lingered by the soda machine and sighed as though he had been waiting there for hours instead of one minute.
Thomas knew entitled when he saw it. He plastered on a broad and fake customer service smile. “You must be the very famous movie producer my coworker told me all about. The one who placed the last minute order! Come in, please, should only be a minute. We’re just boxing them up.”
The producer was in sunglasses, despite it being just after 2 am, and an expensive shirt and designer jeans. He offered a half-smile to Thomas and took the offered seat at one of the plastic-covered tables to wait.
“You weren’t kidding,” Thomas said to Ethan as he went into the kitchen. “Guy is a prick. He’s wearing sunglasses.”
“He won’t appreciate the love that went into these,” Damiano said as he was stacking the last pizza. “The things we do for money. I’ll bring them out.” As Damiano disappeared into the dining room, Ethan slid a pizza over to Vic’s prep table and started adding ingredients.
Thomas and Vic clustered around him, and then Thomas started to go to the dining room, but Vic pulled him back. “Shit, Ethan, did we miss one?”
The man shook his head with a smile on his lips. “No, this is for us. I’m doing a quarter for each. We made forty pizzas; we deserve one for us.” Vic wrapped her arms around Ethan’s neck and kissed his cheek.
When it was clear they were in the clear, Thomas pulled away and darted into the dining room to watch Damiano hand the order over.
She pointed to the ingredients as she named them off, ending with, “and more mushrooms for me and get a cup for pineapple. I’ll tease Damià later with it.”
He nodded and leaned back until she let go of his neck. “The cutest.” He said, now starting to blush, seemingly apropos of nothing.
Vic smiled and tilted her head. “Cutest, what? Who?”
“That was the compliment from earlier that I didn’t finish,” he pivoted and put the pizza in the oven. “I think you’re the cutest.”
Now it was Vic’s turn to blush, which she tried to hide by folding the box for the pizza.
The bell in the dining room rang as the door opened and shut, indicating the producer had left with his pizzas. After a moment of silence, Thomas and Damiano came in laughing, each of them holding a twenty-dollar bill.
“Bastards!” Vic exclaimed as she closed the pizza box. “He gave each of you a tip?”
“We’ll share,” the acting manager said. “Is that pizza for us? Awesome. Drinks are on me. Back to my place?”
“If you keep the cats out of the pizza, yes,” Thomas said seriously. “Last time, Bidet took an entire slice out of my hand.”
“That was hilarious,” Damiano said, and the others (except Thomas) agreed.
The four coworkers and friends hung up aprons, and Thomas ran out to count the cash and add the pizza receipt. Ethan turned off the oven, and Damiano locked up and set the security system.
As they walked down the alleyway to the main street to buy drinks, Vic held up the container of pineapple and presented it to Damiano. “Extra pineapple, just like you like it, Damià.”
He threw it at her head, and the group laughed.