Pizza My Heart

ONE

It was a dark and stormy August night at The Pizza Warehouse in Trinidad, Colorado. Charlie Ashford was working deliveries. She was 17 years old and a senior in high school, Charlie was their only driver because she was fast and efficient. Charlie loved working there because she got to see parts of the city she never noticed before. Charlie hadn’t noticed the cook working that night because she was determined to go home and sleep. But that didn’t stop the cook from noticing her and the moment he saw her, he knew she would be his wife. The cook's name was Luke Wixx. He was a tall skinny guy with glasses and a small stash and beard. He had piercing blue eyes and didn't smile that often. Still, Charlie had never noticed him. She just went home after her last delivery. Luke was 20 years old and he didn't realize that Charlie was only 17. When Luke got home that evening he told his mom all about his encounter. “I never even got to say hi,” he said.

Kelley was only half listening to his story because she was very tired after dealing with small children at the school where she worked. Plus she had stayed up half the previous night grading papers. She didn't even stay to let him finish the rest of his story. She figured if he hadn’t even met the girl, she had time to hear the story later.

It was about 5 past 7 in the morning when Luke finally went to sleep. He didn’t wake up until everyone in the house was gone. He had to work at 3 pm today since it was Friday. Friday was usually the busiest day of the week.

Being a cook was the best thing for Luke because he liked to cook. He loved to make the dough from scratch using all fresh ingredients. The Pizza Warehouse manager liked him and wanted to keep him because he brought in good business because his pizza was the best pizza in Las Animas County . He had won many awards from the Mayor of Trinidad and was kind of famous in this town.

Charlie had school in the morning on Friday. She was preparing to graduate the following May and she had big plans after high school. Charlie’s home life was as normal as any other teenage senior. She had two loving parents with steady jobs, and the best two little sisters anyone could ever ask for. Charlie’s sister, Daniella was two years younger than she was but she was a Junior in high school. There was only one grade between them because Charlie had to wait an extra year to start school because her birthday was in October. Daniella or Dani was born in July which meant she would start school on time.

Dani was a beautiful girl, with long, light blonde hair with sparkling green/blue eyes. She looked like her father while Charlie looked like her mother. The youngest sister, Juniper, was much younger than both Charlie and Dani. She was only ten years old.

Juniper was unique in her own way. She was very beautiful, talented and smart. She had the most beautiful blue eyes, and strawberry blonde hair anyone has ever seen. She was loud, but introverted and at this time homeschooled. Their mom, Mara, worked long hours teaching Juniper in the mornings and working at Head Start in the afternoon. Then she cooked dinner for her family.

Luke had a much bigger family than Charlie’s and his parents were split up. He mainly lived with his mother, but visited his dad on the weekends. Luke had 4 other brothers. He was the second youngest child.

The time finally came for Luke and Charlie to work at the same time. Luke was determined to introduce himself to Charlie and that is exactly what he did or at least he tried to do. Charlie was already out with her deliveries when he got there. Now he wouldn’t have a break until almost 7:30. He hoped he would have time to talk to her since she was off at 9pm.

When Charlie finally had her break, she was eating a snack and drinking a Dr. Pepper in the break room. Luke left his post in the kitchen and went to the break room to talk to Charlie. He had to get her number this time because he couldn’t stop thinking about her. When he entered the break room, Charlie was on her phone. It wasn't much of a phone but she enjoyed texting and playing games. She didn’t look up as he sat down next to her. He tried everything to get her attention. Suddenly he just took the phone out of her hands. She just stood there in shock. Her hands were still where the phone was. “Hey,” she said, “Give that back.” Luke got up suddenly, and ran back into the kitchen and started cooking his pizzas as if nothing had happened.

This was not over! Charlie had saved up for that phone and she wasn’t going to let some creepy stranger take it from her. She ran back to the kitchen area and demanded he give her the phone back. But they weren’t alone in the kitchen. The manager from the district was there to examine their work space and see how everything was going. He was not pleased that a delivery driver was in the kitchen.

Charlie and Luke were giggling and laughing as she was running around the kitchen trying to get her phone back from him, but he was too fast. As they kept chasing each other, he knocked a freshly made pizza off the cooling rack. It only missed his head by two inches. He was lucky he was not severely burned.

‘Grunt’ said the District manager. “Look at this mess! I came here as a surprise but I’m the one surprised. I didn’t walk into a Pizza Warehouse, no Sirree, I walked into a Circus. -10 points for this store.” He was wailing and throwing his arms in the air, like a crazy person.

“Hey, guy who almost died by pizza, come here, now!” Said the Australian manager. Luke got up from the floor, phone still in hand. He looked around and pointed to himself, “me” He whispered.

“Yes, you, come here! What are you doing? Why is my restaurant being treated like a zoo, and why was that delivery driver in the kitchen? Don’t you know that cooks are the only ones allowed in the kitchen area and delivery drivers are to get the pizza from the front window, and cashiers are to stay at the register and answer the phone, that’s it?!” he shouted. “Why on earth were you in the kitchen?” he asked for the third time. This time his face was piping hot red and he was screaming. They couldn’t ignore his question any longer. No one was talking so Charlie decided to break the silence.

“Well, I was just sitting in the break room minding my own business. I was on my phone texting my sister, who is learning how to drive. Then this guy I’ve never met before sat next to me, too close, way too close. Then he started throwing stuff at me. Then he just took my phone. I worked so hard to get that phone—” she closed her eyes really hard, clenching her fists and trying not to cry.

“Just ask your mom or dad to get you another one,” Luke rudely interrupted her. He didn't care that she was talking, he just wanted to speak up for himself,

“I can’t because I paid for this one myself, and now I am going to have to save my money to get another one,” said Charlie, clearly angry over the fact she had the phone two days and it was already broken.

“Oh” said Luke, his voice was soft and quiet.

“You, girl, get out, make your deliveries and you, almost burnt guy, clean up the kitchen and go home, and don’t come back!” said the manager in his Australian accent.

Charlie left the kitchen and grabbed her fresh hot bag and left the store. She never looked back. When she got home that evening she felt bad that guy had lost his job. But she was still mad at him.

TWO

That jerk,” said Daniella, who was in Charlie’s room listening to her whole work experience story. “What do you think they are going to do?” asked Daniella .

“I think he already fired that guy, because when I came back from my last delivery, the jerk was gone and the Australian guy told me that I would get paid for two extra weeks while they looked for Luke's replacement.”

Daniella had a date with her longtime boyfriend, named Walker Whitlock. Walker was a goofy little man, with glasses and a beard. He was 17 years old and he had two little sisters. Everyone in his family looked exactly the same so it was hard to know who was who. The littlest Whitlock sibling, Mackenzie was best friends with Juniper, but that is a story for another day.

“Since Juniper isn’t here I figured I should tell you what I got her for Christmas” said Dani. Christmas was still five months away. It was a CD. On the cover stood a girl who was about 14 years old with blonde hair. She had her fingers to her lips like she is sshhhing. It read, “Alexis Texas, the Complete First Season–songs, plus extras''

“Oh, man she is going to love that, look what I got her,” said Charlie. It was a picture of the same blonde on a poster.

“We are great gift -givers,” they both said as they did their special little hand shake.

“Hey, Alexis Texas is on tonight, can I watch it?” their little sister shouted from the next room.

“Just that one episode and then homework time, your father should be home by the time the show is over.” said their mother.

At Luke’s house, he was debating about how he would contact Charlie and apologize for embarrassing her at work and ruining her phone the other day. It was immature and he wanted a chance to explain himself to her. “I know what I’ll do,” he thought, sitting on the edge of his bed.

He dialed the number he wanted to call. “Yes,” he said in a big deep buff voice. “Can I have a Canadian bacon pizza with pineapple and extra cheese, with a 2 liter of Dr. Pepper. The name is James Wixx,” he lied.

They took his order down and said Charlie will get to him within the next hour. They were still low on delivery drivers. She drove up to his house and knocked on the door. He opened the door and when she saw him she set the pizza on the ground and left without saying a word. On the way back to the store, she realized she forgot his Dr. Pepper. She decided to keep it and not give it back. She put it in the back seat of her car and forgot about it. It stayed there for two weeks.

“I am so sorry that our girl didn't give you all of your order. I saw her take it and she didn’t bring it back. I will let someone know right away.” said the Pizza Warehouse cashier.

Luke was not giving up. About an hour after receiving his pizza he called the store again and ordered the same thing, plus a side of breadsticks.

Charlie drove back again with his order. When she realized it was the same house, she sighed and knocked on the door. She handed Luke his stuff and he gave her the money. She started to walk back to her car. Luke followed her barefoot and put his face up to the driver's side window. His nose pressed against it making him look like a pig nose.

“Well, isn’t that mature?” she said.

“Please forgive me.” he said

“Um. No.” said Charlie, trying to back out of the driveway But she couldn’t because she had a person attached to the window.

“I was only trying to impress you, I thought taking your phone would get you to notice me.”

“Well that was an odd way of doing that,” Charlie said

“Well I tried saying Hi, but you were just ignoring me. I tried everything I could to get your attention but it just wasn’t working. You were glued to that stupid phone. So I took it hoping we could talk face to face, but you just chased me into the kitchen—” explained Luke.

“And then you got fired. I know, I heard. But you went into the kitchen with my phone.” she laughed. “And I do admit it was kind of fun, haha” she said.

“Getting me fired was fun?” said Luke with a smile on his face.

“No being chased around. I felt like a kid again playing with my sisters and cousins.” she said. “And I didn't get you fired, you did that all on your own.”

“Well, if you want to get to know me better, I know this amazing little restaurant in town I can take you to.” he said.

“Are you asking me out?” she said.

But before he had a chance to respond, she left.

Now it has been 2 weeks since the encounter with Charlie Ashford. She hadn’t thought about Luke Wixx since then. She was back at her job and things seemed to go back to normal. As she thought back to the last time she saw Luke , she remembered he had asked her out and she left him hanging on his question. She wondered if he would ever ask her again.

It seemed like Luke had given up on Charlie but he thought about her everyday. In fact he wouldn’t give up, but he didn't want to bother her or get her in trouble. He wasn’t sure her dad would approve of him talking to his daughter.

However, he liked Daniella’s boyfriend. He was a very nice boy and treated her quite well. If they ever get married he will definitely get their fathers approval. But Luke didn't want to take his chances with Charlie. He liked her, everything about her. She was beautiful, smart and kind. He had asked her out and she left him hanging. He hadn’t heard from her for weeks.

Luke still struggled to find a job in Trinidad so he decided to go to Denver and find a job over there. He thought it might be a little riskier but he needed a job. His mom was very adamant about him having a job to help with the bills. His older brother has a job and still lives at home, but Kelley lets him live there because he has a job and contributes to the bills. It's like renting a house or apartment, 50 percent of your paycheck goes towards rent, electricity, WiFi, and heating and air. So Luke needed to get a job or he would get kicked out of the house and he would have nowhere else to go. Living isn’t free as his mom says. Get a job, pay your bills or be homeless, it's up to you.

Luke got up early the next day to go job hunting. He wanted to start in Denver because it's the closest city to Trinidad. He couldn’t show his face anywhere in Trinidad because everyone knew what happened at Pizza Warehouse. Luke was also worried that if his new job contacted Pizza Warehouse they would tell about his incident. “Oh man, no place will ever hire me at this rate and I will be homeless,” Luke thought. But he proceeded to go to Denver anyway. Who knows, maybe he will get lucky.

Luke drove 30 minutes to Denver and the first place he stopped at was Doritos Pizza Palace. Kind of a weird name but it has nothing to do with the chip brand at all. He submitted his resume and the great reviews he got at the other place and he even let them contact Pizza Warehouse for a reference. They needed help right away and they trusted his amazing cooking skills so they hired him on the spot. He was going to get about $13.00/hr. plus tips for 35 hrs a week. But they didn’t have a cooking job, so they decided to give him a delivery driver job. They said they would pay for insurance and he wouldn’t have to use his own car because they have one for the store. The company car will be full of gas right before he starts his shift so they know how many miles he went for that day. He is also supposed to write down his mileage before delivery and after his shift is over. They also told him if he keeps his job for more than 4 weeks they can eventually promote him to cook. The lead cook would be quitting because she had plans to go to college in 4 weeks. They hired Luke because they needed the extra help and they knew he was such an amazing cook. The best part was that there wasn't a cute girl to distract him and get him in trouble. But he missed Charlie and was wondering how she was doing. He hadn’t seen her in a couple weeks when she delivered food to his house.

He knew he needed to call her. When Luke got home he told his mom about his new job. He said he didn’t have his schedule but requested a 7-4 job so he could carpool with his mother. She was happy for him, she really was. But she had no idea that he wasn't working at Pizza Warehouse anymore, so she was a little surprised. She was thankful that she was going to have a work buddy since the restaurant was like 2 doors down from the school she worked at. But Luke wasn't going to talk to his mom all day, sure he loved her but he loves someone else too. He needed to get Charlie’s attention.

“But how? How was he going to do that?” he thought as he paced around his room. Then he heard a knock at the door. He looked up, surprised. No one ever visited because they live in the middle of nowhere. It was so far the school bus didn’t even go that far. Luckily his oldest brother drove him and his other brothers to school. Now, James Jr is 30 years old, married and his wife just had their third baby. Luke's baby brother, Albert was 16 years old and still had 2 more years of school left before graduation. Anyways the door was still being knocked on, Luke completely forgot.

“Lukie, somebody is knocking on the door, and they're being kind of aggressive. Please answer the door. I have midterms to grade” said his mother.

Luke went back upstairs and opened the door and was surprised to see Charlie standing on his porch. Luke was speechless, he just kept staring at Charlie who was by now feeling a bit uneasy.

“Stop it” she said.

“I’m sorry…” he stammered, “you are here, and I can’t believe you're here. How did you know where I lived?”

“I delivered pizza to your house before, remember?” she said.

“Yeah, and I didn't get my soda.”

“Well, I’m here because you ordered three pizzas and 2 liters of Dr. Pepper.” she said.

Luke was confused, really confused. He just got home from job hunting and he didn't remember ordering a pizza.

“Okay missy, what’s the name on the order?”

She looked at the invoice and read the name, “Luke Wixx.”

“Are you sure you delivered it to the right Luke Wixx”

“Listen, I have 2 more deliveries to make and I have 30 minutes before it’s free for both deliveries. Just take the dang pizza so I can get on my way.” she said through clenched teeth.

Pretty soon, Albert walked to the front door.

“Oh sweet, my pizza is here,” he said as he took the pizzas and Dr. Pepper from Charlie and left the living room. He came back with four 20 dollar bills and told Charlie to keep the change. That was her biggest tip of the night, she pocketed the money and left without saying a word.

Luke ran out of the house to catch up with her. “You didn't answer my question,” he said.

“Excuse me?”

“A couple weeks ago, I asked you out and you never replied. You just left me hanging.”

“Oh, I just had to think it over, and ask my sister”

“You had to ask your sister if you could go out with me?”

“No, I asked her for advice. I like you, Luke, and I wanted to make sure I am making a good decision.”

“Well…”

“Well what?!” she asked, pointing to her watch, tapping it with her index finger, notifying him that she is late for the delivery.”

“What did she say?”

“She said I should give you a chance. So, I will give you my number and you can call me anytime to set up the date.”

Luke was really excited when she handed him the paper with her number on it. She was kind of mad because she was late to make both of her deliveries. Her boss was already calling to find out why she wasn’t there.

“Sorry, sir, I got into a minor accident.” she lied.

“Oh my, are you okay?”

“Yeah, but the pizzas are ruined. They fell onto the floorboards.”

“Who is at fault here, I want their insurance NOW!”

“No sir, that isn’t necessary we worked it all out,” she said. “There was no damage to my car or their car. All is good. Can I come back and get the extra pizzas to deliver? Would you call those customers and tell them why I am late?”

“Yes, Charlie as long as you are okay and not hurt.”

“I am fine, just a bit shaken up.”

“You know what, don’t even worry about it, take the rest of the night off, you sound way too emotional to come back to work tonight.” he said. “ Why don’t you take the weekend off too. Spend some time with your family and get that senior project thing done. I will see you again on Tuesday.”

“Thank you sir,” she said, surprised.

“Okay, well have a good night, and call me if there is anything I can do.”

“I will, thank you. Mmm, Bye.” She hung up the phone and let out a deep sigh. “Wow…”

“What?”

“You made up something so that I wouldn’t get you in trouble. I would have taken the blame for it, you know?”

“Yeah, but you don’t work at Pizza Warehouse anymore so I would be in trouble anyways.”

“Now, how about that date?”

Charlie went to her car, grabbed the two orders she didn't get to deliver and walked toward Luke's house. She knew she should get fired for this. She felt bad that she was going to eat other people’s food. Charlie was about to go inside the house, when Luke screamed. He didn't mean to, but something just came over him.

“Wait!”

“What?”

“I don’t want you to come inside just yet. Not until we become official. I will get my coat. I am taking you to a really nice dinner. Just you wait.” he said with a big smile on his face.

“Let me take those gross, cold pizzas from you.” Luke said as he grabbed the pizzas from Charlie’s hands. Everything happened so fast Charlie didn't know what even happened

“Mom, I'm going out!” he yelled out and went out the door. “You’re not even going to tell her where you're going?” Charlie asked. “What if you don’t come back?”

“What are you you going to do …. murder me?” he asked jokingly.

“Yeah, I might,.Now go and say a proper goodbye.” she said in a grumpy voice as she pointed at the door.

“Yes, mother,” he said as he went back in the house. He found his mom and kissed her. “Goodbye mom, I am going on a date with that girl I was telling you about.”

“The one who got you fired?”

“What?— I got myself fired, it wasn't her fault.”

“Oh okay, if you say so, son.” Kelley went back to grading papers. “Don’t be out too late, I love you.”

“Love you too.” said Luke as he walked to the front door.

“Did you say goodbye?” she asked.

“Yes, and I don’t appreciate you telling me what to do. If we are going to make this work we have to treat each other like humans, not infants.”

“You are totally right, I am so sorry, it’s the first born trait in me. I hope you can forgive me.”

Luke looked down at the ground and looked back up and saw Charlie looking as beautiful as ever with her sparkling green eyes and beautiful smile. She had a rather concerned look on her face.

“Yes, of course I forgive you. Now about that date.”

“Yes, let’s go.”

“Are you going to call your parents, what if something happens?”

“Okay, I had that coming.” She said, smiling, “I will call them.”

“Hey mom.,” said Charlie when her mom answered.

“Charlie, are you okay? Your boss called and told me you had a car accident. Are you okay?”

“Yes, I am fine,” said Charlie.

“What happened?” she asked with worry in her voice.

“I was delivering pizzas on Fifth Avenue and this drunk guy just came out of nowhere. I had the right of way. He was at fault.I am fine. I am at a friend's house right now. We’re going on a date. His name is Luke and he was a coworker of mine.” “And you went to his house after the accident or before. Or did he cause this accident?” asked Mara, sounding rather concerned. “Well anyway, make sure you are home before 9 pm, okay dear.”

“My curfew is 11pm,” said Charlie.

“Your dad is coming home at 10 tonight and he wants all his kids home before he gets home,” said Mara.

“Okay. Thanks mom.” said Charlie. She took the phone off her ear, pressed the red button and put it in her pocket. “So, where are we going?”

“There is a cute little cafe called the Red- String Cafe. It’s really good, I promise you.”

“Lead the way,” said Charlie.

Luke drove his car. It was a little Geo Metro about 20 years old. It was blue with two doors. You had to fold the front seats down to get in the back, but he didn't make her sit in the back. Nope he opened the front door for her and she got in. They didn't say a word on the way to the cafe. When they got there they could barely find a parking spot. Luke finally found one two parking lots away.

While they were walking to the cafe, they didn't say a word. Once they reached the door, Luke opened it for her and she walked in. Charlie went into the bathroom to clean herself up and Luke went to find a table for them. Once she came to the table, Luke went to the bathroom to clean up. He wanted to smell good for his date and not like he’d run a marathon and didn’t shower. He was worried that their first date was starting off so crazy. He wondered if he would even get a second date. When he came out of the bathroom he found Charlie had already ordered her drink. He thought for sure she wasn't going to be there, but she was still there. She waved him down to let him know she was sitting at their table. He walked over, and sat across from Charlie.

He stared at her, waiting for her to talk and then ended the silence by asking, “Whatcha gonna order?”

“Well, I was thinking about the double-triple bacon cheeseburger tray. It comes with fries and a drink, but I already got the drink.” she said.

“Sounds good,” said Luke.

He looked down at the menu. “You know I think I will have the same thing.”

When the waitress came to their table they ordered their food. Then they talked about their siblings and got to know each other better. When their dinner was over he ran to his car and came to pick her up so she wouldn’t have to walk that far. He was a real gentleman.

“I had a good time. Could we do this again?” asked Luke.

“Yes, I had a very wonderful time with you Luke. I would like to do it again… soon.”

“It’s a date!” Luke said with a smile on his face. He hugged Charlie, and she wrapped her arms around him accepting the hug. This was the start of a beautiful relationship and nothing was going to ruin it.