Chasing a Dream [Cancelled]

by KillerRobotQuote

Bonus Chapter - Star-crossed Friends

[SP: Pizza?]
[NC: Sounds good to me.]
[SP: The usual?]
[NC: Actually, I’d like anchovies this time.]
[SP: Fine. Half anchovies. Be there in an hour.]

Sales Pitch placed his phone on his desk. He was just finishing up the last of his work and was starting to clean up. Work had been more of the same, though he was hopeful for future prospects. Gathering the last of his supplies in his briefcase, he called the pizza place and placed the order before locking up the shop and heading to his car taking the highway home, his thoughts wandered to his son.

Night was a good kid, but it had been bothering him for the last couple years how much he kept to himself. He liked Minuette and Tonal, and he had no reason to doubt that Night liked them too, but his son had taken far less initiative to spend time with them than before. There were times that he would ask Night if he would call them, one time even asking him directly why he wasn’t hanging out with them much anymore, but Night never gave very satisfying answers. Too often he would be told “maybe” before being ignored completely.

So when Ruby told him about a girl that Night was seeing, he was skeptical, but hopeful. His wife did have the tendency to make things out to be more than they were, but that tendency also meant she could see things before anyone else. Whether or not she was onto something with this girl he’d never met had yet to be seen, but if it meant Night was being more social, it had to be a good thing. He did vaguely recall his son going out and doing things with someone recently. Whatever Night was going through, Sales was confident that it was a step in the right direction.

Sales pulled off an exit ramp. It wasn’t the one he needed to get home; rather, it was the one that put him closest to the pizza shop. He had done this trick many times before: Order the moment he finishes work, then drive straight to the shop. The pizza was ready for him as soon as he got there every time.

When Sales pulled into the parking lot and stepped out of the car, he could already hear a fuss being kicked up inside the store.

“ … be serious! How do ya screw up the most important thing this place has?”

Sales stopped in his tracks. The pitch. The tone. The fiery temper and total command of attention the voice demanded. Could it really be?

Sales stepped inside the store and was hit by a wave of heat and the greasy smell of spiced meat. The red and white checkerboard pattern on the walls and floor helped illuminate the waiting room, which was nothing more than a small corridor that led up to a single cash register. Sitting on the bright red benches were several people who looked slightly annoyed. Whether it was from waiting or from the one rowdy customer’s behavior was unclear.

The cashier was sweating and trying to reduce the tension in the room. “Ma’am, please. We’ll be replacing the broken oven tomorrow. Until then, we can only make one order at a time with our one good oven, and there are other people waiting who ordered before you.”

The woman huffed and pivoted before stomping away from the counter and sitting down on a bench. Sales looked around tentatively before settling for sitting next to the loud woman on the bench. A moment of silence passed before Sales cleared his throat and spoke up: “That was quite the show you put on there, White Star.”

The woman turned to Sales wide-eyed. A look of indignation crossed her face before pausing as she recognized him. Her anger melted away when it finally clicked.

“Sales Pitch?”

Sales grinned. “Good to see you too, Starry.”

White Star punched Sales in the arm. “Shut up! How are you doing? It’s been years since I saw you.”

“Aside from one freshly bruised arm, I’ve been great, actually.”

“Ah, sorry about that. So, what have you been up to? Last I recall, you were still in high school when I graduated.”

White Star brushed her hair aside. “Well, I managed to graduate, and I got married to Sound Barrier.”

“Ah, good old Sound Barrier. I knew there was a reason I liked him. Nice guy able to match your intensity. Well, congratulations. How long has it been?”

“Right after we graduated. I gave birth to Zero and we got married later that summer. His sister Wind a couple years later.”

“That … oh, I see. Unusual course of events. Well, I’m glad things worked out for … wait, if you had a kid as soon as you graduated, then that means … my son’s the same age.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Ruby and I had Night when we were twenty.”

White Star’s eyes suddenly went wide. “R-Ruby? As in …”

Sales Pitch grinned. “Ruby DeJure.”

White Star shuddered. “You married a scary woman.”

“So did Sound Barrier.”

White Star clocked Sales Pitch in the arm again, drawing the attention of some of the waiting patrons. She and Sales then started laughing. “You know, I really missed having you around those last two years of school. You were a total wimp, but you were a cool wimp.”

“I see that your sense of humor hasn’t changed. And I have gotten stronger since we last met. Fatherhood will give you that drive to go to the gym once in a while.”

“Sorry sweetheart, but being a mom’s a lot tougher.”

Sales shrugged. “If that’s how you think, then all I can say is, you and Ruby will get along just fine.”

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

Sales smiled and let a moment of silence pass between them before a new thought came to mind. “Come to think of it,” he said, “what are you doing here anyway? This place isn’t exactly in the neighborhood.”

White Star started beaming. “Well, you actually caught me in the middle of a big change. Our family is moving to Canterlot next month!”

“No way. You mean we’re going to have to see and talk to each other regularly? And after all the effort I put into escaping you.”

White Star glared playfully. “I will punch your bruise.”

“And that will hurt, which is why I will ask that you not do that.”

“So I finished meeting with the real estate agent today and finalized everything,” she continued. “I figured in celebration I would bring a couple pizzas from Canterlot back to the kids. As long as I drive 80 on the highway, I should get home while it’s still hot.”

“That seems slightly dangerous. I’d be worried if you were anyone else.”

“Of course, with the oven broken, I’m stuck here waiting to get my order. But I guess that worked out well for us.”

“No kidding. And who knows? Maybe our boys will get along the way we did when we were their age.”

“As long as he doesn’t mind being with a delinquent anime fan,” White Star laughed.

“You mean like that mang-uh stuff? I think they’ll have a lot to talk about.”

White Star’s grin kept getting bigger. Sales wondered if her smile might actually spread wider than her face. He never got the chance to find out, because at that moment, White Star’s name was called by the cashier boy.

They stood up together and walked to the counter. While White Star paid for the pizzas, Sales thought about the prospect of his old friend’s new family moving to Canterlot in a month. He had seen, perhaps even facilitated, though that would be a bit egotistical of him to think, a noteworthy change in White Star’s attitude during high school. They called her the Manhattan Maverick. No leash could keep her tethered. She was a loose cannon. Mercy be unto all who got in her way. That was what got her in trouble so much. But he’d noticed a shift in her demeanor his senior year. Looking at her now, she was almost unrecognizable from her delinquent youth. His parents had called her “unmarriageable.” Yet here she was now, that same fire burning bright, but contained in a cozy fireplace rather than a raging wildfire, moving into town soon with her husband and two kids. His parents were dead wrong. To see her come so far after all this time ….

“You know what?” Sales said. “We’re getting you a housewarming gift when you move in.”

White Star was carrying the pizza boxes in her arms and peered over them at him. “Come again?”

“A housewarming gift. To say, ‘Welcome to Canterlot, where old friends reunite and new ones are made!’ That’s not actually the tagline. I just added that in. But this is something to celebrate, and I’d like to be there for you.”

“Wow, Pitchy, I’m touched.”

Sales’ face flushed. “Huh boy, there’s a nickname I’d have rather forgotten.”

White Star would have pinched his cheek like she’d done when they were young, but with her hands full, she settled for bumping up against his shoulder. “You know what, I would love to meet your family. If you’d like to drop by for a visit when we move in, we’d be happy to have you.”

“Great! Lemme just get your info ….” Sales grabbed a napkin from the counter and pulled out a pen from his pocket. White Star told him the date they’d be moving in and their address, which he wrote down.

“Well, I’d better let you go,” Sales said. “Don’t want those pizzas to get cold. Or for you to start driving 90.”

“It was great seeing you again,” White Star reciprocated. “I think this move will be really good for Zero and Wind.”

“If your boy is as outgoing as you were, I think he’ll be a good influence on Night. Anyway, I can’t wait to see you again.”

Sales waved while White Star sort of shook her body on account of her arms being full as she made her way to her car. Sales nodded as she drove away.

“I’ll see you again, you Shooting Star.”

Comments

[Krovgor Warhawk]

Hello, my old friend.

[SolarEclipse912]

Glad to see this story's still going.

[Wanderer312]

Great new chapter! And I gotta agree with Azure and Cosmic, making bonus chapters about the parents of Night Chase is a great idea. Hope to see more in the future, my friend.