Things had recently been quiet at the town of Main Street. Mainly because of their resident agent and detective keeping everything under control from the evil clutches of MorcuCorp. Everyone was happy that they could go along their business without fear of Morcubus or his cronies messing everyone else's lives. In fact, some of MorcuCorp's antics caused some interesting turn of events.
A resident was inside her building getting herself ready for something. The resident was a woman who looked like she was middle-aged at the very least with tanned skin. On her head was a large pink beehive hairdo with a light pink heart on it. Her lips was decorated with red lipstick as she glared her dark lens of her gold thick-rimmed glasses. She wore jewelry on her ears, neck and wrists.
This was Shirley. Main Street's resident hair-stylist. She was a lover of everything that had to do with hair. She believed that true beauty could be done with just the right hairstyle. Currently, she was front of the mirror fixing her hair as usual. However, she was fixing it for a special occasion.
"I got a date with a hunky hon! I am going to have fun by the ton!" She sang as she looked at herself in one of her many mirrors.
It was true. She got a date with her new boyfriend. However, he was a little on the shy side at first by giving her a bouquet of beautiful flower at her doorstep and giving her a love note. She asked the resident detective to find the answer and as it turns out, it was the mayor of Main Street himself, Skip Rogers.
Shirley couldn't believed her luck. She was actually going back with the head of her hometown himself. He was large and in charge with quite the handsome face and well-dressed attire. Even his beard was nicely groomed. She knew that she had to dress up nicely.
"There! My hair had been done for the third time!" She said with a grin. "I probably should do it more but I am running late on time."
After she was done, she stepped back and nodded to herself. Her hair was perfect. As it should be. She then looked down at her clothes. She was wearing a sleeveless grey dress with matching high heels. Normally, someone like her would think the outfit was a little bland. However, Shirley cared more about her hair than her clothes. Besides, while it was bland, it was also cute in a way.
"I can't wait to see him!" Shirley said excitedly. "Watch out, hon! Shirl's coming for you!"
With that, she ran over to her table which had her purse on it. With a grin, she grabbed the strap of it and casually walked over to the door. She then opened it and walked out closing as she did so.
The pink-haired woman hummed happily as she skipped off into the late night. It was dark out with only the streetlights and moon giving her light. She wasn't afraid though. She only had to go to Gino's Pizza restaurant which was a quick stroll away. Skipping the whole way, she made her way over to the shop and walked up the steps before helping herself in.
Because it was late at night, not many people were in Gino's Restaurant. In fact, the only person in the restaurant was the pizza chef himself, Chef Gino Delicioso.
The white-clad Italian man looked up to see Shirley and his face lightened up (despite his eyes continued to stay closed).
"Ah, Shirley." The chef said a warm smile before making his way over. "Welcome!"
"Hey, hon!" Shirley smiled. "I am here for my reservation."
"Ah, yes. How can I forgot?" Gino chuckled. "I mean it was only the talk of the town."
Shirley giggled. "How can I say? When I spread news, I spread news!"
"Right." Gino beamed. He then motioned to a table with one arm. "Your table is one in the corner."
"Thank you, hon" Shirley said.
She then walked over to her table. However, as she did so, Gino noticed her dress.
"Hey, nice outfit." Gino smiled.
"Thank you." Shirley said with a smile. "Normally, I wouldn't dress up than my usual outfit but I just thought that the mayor of Main Street may want to see something nice. Don't you think?"
The gossiper then sat down in one chair at her table and eagerly waited for her new boyfriend to come and greet her. She couldn't be more excited with yourself. She cannot wait to tell everyone in Main Street about it.
Suddenly, she heard a creak from the door. Nearly jumping in her seat with excitement, she turned to see someone entering the door.
In the doorway was a man dressed nice in a blue suit. He had a full red beard with matching and a confident look on his face.
"Ah, Mayor Skip Rogers!" Gino smiled walking over. "Long time no see!"
The red-haired man gave a small smile. "Yes. You too."
Gino waved his hand towards the table. "Your eating companion had already arrived."
Skip nodded. "Thank you."
With that, the mayor walked over to the table as Gino went back to the table to get a pencil and notepad. Shirley smiled happily as the man sat down at the table.
"Hey, hon!" The pink-haired woman said with a music note in her voice.
"Hello there, Shirley." Skip smiled before taking a chair and sitting down. "Have you been waiting long?"
"Not really." Shirley said shaking her head. "I just got here myself. Thank you again for treating me out like this."
"No problem. Anything for my girlfriend." Skip smiled.
"Aw, you are just a sweet talker." Shirley said holding her cheek with one hand and waving away with the other one.
Gino then walked over to them with his pen and notepad.
"What would it be?" The Italian man asked with a music note in his voice.
As he said, Skip and Shirley looked at each other.
"Shall we go for the Paris Pizza?" Skip asked.
"Why not? We ARE lovers, after all?" Shirley said batting her eyes.
Skip smiled and nodded before looking at Gino. "One Paris Pizza, please."
"Coming right up!" Gino sang writing down his order and skipping off to the kitchen area to start cooking the pizza.
Skip raised an eyebrow. "I have to ask. Why he needed to write down the order? We are the only ones here and he is only making one pizza."
Shirley giggled. "You know how wrapped he get in his pizzas. I think it is better to ignore him."
Skip chuckled.
"Point taken." The mayor said before turning to Shirley. "Anyone, Shirley. I am sorry I haven't been around lately for you. I was busy."
The hair stylist shook her head. "It's all right, hon. I understand. Being the mayor of Main Street gives you a lot of work."
Skip nodded. "Thank you for understanding."
"It's okay. I am just glad you are here for our date." Shirley said with a warm smile.
"Splendid." Skip said. "So are things going at the salon?"
"Well, I..."
However, that was all she got out before she heard a loud ring. Shirley's eyes widened realizing that iwas coming from Skip's jacket.
The red-haired man quickly reached into his jacket and pulled out a jet-black cell phone. Shirley's face fell when she saw this.
"Oh no... Not again..." She lamented.
"Hello? Yes? Uh-huh?" Skip said. Suddenly, he smirked. "All right. Got it."
With that, he pressed a button on his cell phone and re-pocketed before looking at his girlfriend who looked a little upset.
"Forgive me, Shirley." Skip said.
"What is it, this time?" The pink-haired woman said gloomily. "More work?"
Skip scratched his bright red hair. "Yeah... Something urgent had came up."
"But you said that tonight you would cancel all plans for me." Shirley said.
"Yes. All current plans." Skip sighed.
"But this wasn't the first time you did this." Shirley pointed out.
Indeed, Skip and Shirley's dates don't usual go so well. In fact, they never had one single date together. Usually, they started to enjoy each other at first. But then, a call or page of some kind come up and ruin the moment. Skip had to go and leave Shirley all alone on her date. And this happened every single time.
Gino watched the whole scene with a sad look on his face and shook his head. He knew what was coming next.
"Shirley, I am sorry. I'll promise that I will attend the next date we are on." Skip said.
"But that's what you said on ALL of our dates." The hair-stylist said really shook up.
"I know. Pardon me. It is just business." Skip said getting up.
The mayor then wasted no time getting up from his seat and rushing towards the door. He didn't even cast Shirley a second glance. Gino watched the man opened the door and slammed it behind him. He then slowly turned back to Shirley. Her head was down as sadness were in her eyes. He was impressed he haven't broken down and cried yet.
"Shirley?" Gino asked concerned.
The grey-clad woman let out a deep sigh. "Gino... I am sorry, hon but suddenly I lost my appetite."
The white-clad chef returned the sigh. Thankfully, he barely got started yet.
"Shirley... I'm..." He started.
However, the tan-skinned woman wouldn't hear of it. Instead, she got up from her seat picking up her purse and marched towards the door not wanting Gino to see his face.
"Shirley!" The pizza chef shouted holding out his hand.
But it was too late. She had already darted out the door without casting him a goodbye. Gino stood behind the counter stunned at this. He stood in place for a minute before letting out a depressed sigh. There was nothing he could do now but close up the restaurant seeing that nobody would be coming for a pizza this late.
With that, he walked over to the door to lock it feeling bad for Shirley. However, what he didn't noticed was that Shirley had dropped something on her chair in her mad dash out of the door.
Shirley ran down the steps and into the street under the lights of the streetlights. She didn't wanted Gino or anyone else for that matter to see her cry. But after witnessing Skip putting his work over his girlfriend just now was too much for her heart. Fresh tears were flowing freely down her face.
"He did it again." Shirley thought. "He put his business over me. His hon. I-I don't believe it."
Shirley was usually a colorful person. Full of passion. Full of spirit. Some may say that her hair matches her personality. She was rarely seen crying like this. Usually she was the type of cheer her friends up when they were down. This wasn't supposed to be the other way around.
Taking a deep sigh, she decided to go back to her salon. She walked back to the house looking down at her feet. This night couldn't possible get any worse.
Shirley walked up the steps and reached into her purse hoping to find her keys. However, after a second, it seemed like she couldn't find them. She quickly searched through her purse inspecting the items in it. Much to her horror, her keys weren't one of them.
The hair stylist stood in shock wondering what just happened. Suddenly, her eyes widened in shock. She must had dropped her keys when she was running out of Gino's restaurant. Shirley let out a deep sigh before making her way back to the place where she just ran away from. She didn't wanted to face Gino after that display.
She then walked over the door to open it. Only to see that it was dark inside and there was a sign that had the word "Closed" on it. Her keys were inside the restaurant and she couldn't even reach it.
"Oh no..." Shirley said. She then proceeded to knock on the door. "Hello? Gino? Hon? I think I left my keys here by mistake! Hello? Hon?"
After quite a few knocks, she then realized that Gino had already gone to bed. Shirley let out a huge sigh. This night just could worse and worse.
And it only going to get more worse.
BOOM!
Shirley's eyes widened in horror as she looked up. Dark clouds had hidden the lovely moon making the scenery less pleasant than before. She realized that it was going to rain over her hair.
Shirley wasted no time banging on the door. "Gino! For the love of all that is pure! Open up! Please! It's going to be rain all over my hair!"
The middle-aged woman continued to bang on the door hoping the pizza chef could hear her. But he didn't.
However, someone else did and he was standing a good distance away from the pizza restaurant. Deciding to help the hair-stylist, he made his way over.
"Um, hey, Shirl."
Shirley instantly stopped banging on the door with wide eyes and whirled around. Standing a good distance away from her was a man with brown hair, a five o'clock shadow and an outfit a normal construction worker would hear with an umbrella over his shoulder.
"Patrick?" Shirley asked.
"In the flesh." The construction worker said before raising a finger. "Um, need an umbrella?"
Shirley blinked twice before eyeing the umbrella in his hand. She wasted no time sprinting over to him surprising Patrick.
"Please! Open it!" Shirley begged.
The brown-haired man gulped nervously. "O-Okay."
With that, he opened the umbrella and raised it high enough over his head so Shirley's hair could go under. She quickly did so protecting her hair.
Just in time. It just started to rain heavily.
"Oh, thank goodness." Shirley said sighing in relief. "You are an angel, hon."
Patrick chuckled a bit. "No prob, Shirley. I know how you hate getting your hair ruined."
"Boy, never had I been this glad to see you, Patrick." The tan gossiper said relieved.
"Guess it was luck then." The brunette said. "But why are you here? What happened?"
Shirley looked into Patrick's eyes before letting out a small sigh.
"It's a long story and for once, I rather not relay the details." She said. "Long story short, I forgot my keys inside of Gino's restaurant by mistake and now I am locked out of my own house."
"Ow." Patrick winced.
"Yeah. Gino seemed to had already gone to bed and I don't think he will be up by morning." Shirley lamented.
"Why don't you just stay at a hotel or something?" Patrick suggested.
Shirley shook her head. "I don't have enough money for one."
"Don't one of your friends have a spare key?" Patrick quizzed.
"Yes." Shirley said before sighing. "Unfortunately, Mayor Skip is the one who has it."
Patrick raised an eyebrow. "Then, why not ask him for it? I'm sure he wouldn't mind helping out his girlfriend."
When the construction worker said this, Shirley winced as if she been hit by a hard blow. Patrick instantly saw this and gotten concerned at this.
"S-Shirley?" The man asked.
"Sorry, hon but I rather not talk about it." The grey-clad woman frowned.
Patrick's face softened at this. "All right, Shirl. I understand. Listen, do you have a place to stay until tomorrow?"
"No..." The hair-stylist said letting out a small sigh.
Patrick bit his lip before giving letting out his next answer.
"Then, why not stay with me for the night?"
Shirley's eyes widened before she looked at her friend.
"No! I can't go and put you out of house and home like that!" She cried.
Patrick simply shook his head. "Shirley, it's kinda that and you having to sleep outside for the night."
"But..."
"Shirley, I insist." Patrick said.
The woman stood in shock. Patrick was actually willing to give up his space in his own room just go he could help her out. That was awful generous of him. Still, she would feel like a burden if she did that to him. After all, he did lived in a small trailer. It probably be cramped even for one person to sleep it. However, if she didn't take his offer, she and her hair will be completely drenched by the rain. After a while, she let out a sigh.
"Well, if you say so." Shirley said.
Patrick gave a small smile. "Good. Now shall we go there."
"Okay..." Shirley nodded.
With that, the two of them made them way back to Patrick's house under the shade of the umbrella protecting them from the rain. Shirley stayed close to Patrick making sure that she didn't put her hair out in the rain by mistake. That was the last thing she wanted to happen. She just hoped Patrick didn't mind.
Soon, they arrived in front of a construction site. Once there, they proceeded to go down a series of wooden stairs all the way down to a trailer. Shirley took a quick look at it.
"So this is where you lived?" She asked. She never actually seen Patrick's trailer before.
"Yep." Patrick said with a grin. "It may not be glamorous but keeps me dry."
Shirley giggled as the two made their way over to the trailer door. Once they did, Patrick fished into his pocket with his free hand and pulled out some keys. He then put it in the keyhole and unlocked the door. He then pushed it open.
"Ladies, first?" Patrick said with a chuckle. Shirley couldn't help but smile.
"Why, thank you." The pink-haired female said walking in. "And to think, I never really imagined you as the gentleman type."
Patrick laughed a little before closing his umbrella and walking in closing the door behind him. "Well, I do what I can."
Shirley then looked around at the trailer. It looked more cramped than she thought. There was blueprints and hardhats all over to the place. Also, they were a couple of cabinets and a mini-frigerator with a thin small bed which was barely enough for someone to sleep on.
Patrick chuckled nervously as he scratched the hair behind his hat. "Sorry about the mess. If I knew I was going to have company, I would had spruced it up a little."
Shirley stood in surprise at the small room. Particular the bed. "Goodness, hon. You actually sleep on this bed. Don't you get back pains."
Patrick simply gave a small shrug. "Meh. Sometimes. But I do quite a few exercises to avoid that."
Shirley continued to look around. THIS was how Patrick lived? Maybe if he had a bigger trailer, he would had more space for this stuff. However, that wasn't the case. She suddenly felt glad that she had a decent building.
"So, hungry?" Patrick asked.
Shirley's eyes widened before looking down. "Not really."
Patrick put his hands on his hip. "Well, if your stomach ever says otherwise, feel free to help yourself."
"Um, thank you." Shirley said.
"Hey, you are my guest, right?" Patrick said waving a dismissing hand.
Shirley couldn't help but smile at his hospitality. She then walked over to the bed and sat on it. Patrick suddenly realized that in all of the confusion, he didn't seen Shirley's attire.
"Hey. Nice dress." Patrick smiled.
"Oh, thanks..." Shirley said with a small smile. "It's not much though. Just a simple dress I have in my closet for years."
"Well, I still think it is nice." Patrick said.
"Yeah... Too bad it was wasted." Shirley said softly.
Patrick raised an eyebrow. "What was that?"
Shirley's eyes widened at this. "Oh, nothing! Nothing!"
Patrick frowned at this. "Shirl. If something is bugging you, you can't just keep it in. It will just make you more depressed."
The pink-haired woman sighed before looking at her feet knowing the brown-haired man was right.
"It is a little hard to explain." Shirley lied.
"Sorry if I sound forward, Shirley but it isn't." Patrick said shaking his head.
The hair stylist's eyes widened as she looked up.
"Nearly everyone in Main Street knows." Patrick explained with a solemn look on his face.
Shirley painfully winced as she looked to the side.
"Shirley, the mayor stood you up again, didn't he?" Patrick said crossing his arms.
The tan-skinned woman didn't know what to say. She knew that he was right. Skip had just left her once again for his job. Sure, he was the mayor of Main Street but he had promised to make a lot of dates and he cancelled nearly every one of them. Nearly everyone here knew that. However, she didn't wanted anyone to see her like this and always lied.
"I... I am fine." Shirley explained. "Really."
"No, you are not." Patrick said shaking his head. "The first couple of times, we actually believed you but soon, we all realized that you was hurting deep down."
"Everyone...?" Shirley lamented.
"Yeah." Patrick said letting out a small sigh.
Shirley tried to think positive. "It's not that he broke up with me on purpose. It's just that he is the mayor of Main Street. Because of that, he has a lot of tasks to do. I'm sure he will intend the next one."
Patrick hang his head in sympathy. "Shirl, I hate to sound rude but I think you know as well as I do, that's not true."
Shirley immediately sat up with narrowed eyes. "What are you talking about? He loves me!"
Patrick stepped back a couple of steps shocked by the hair stylist's loud answer. However, he recovered himself and let out a small sigh.
"Does he? He had never intended one date for a full time. Whenever he gets a task, he never tried to ignore it and continued on with the date." The man explained.
Shirley bit her lip. "But... But the bouquet! And the note! You can't tell me that he didn't loved me if he didn't gave me those stuff! A man who truly loved a woman would had gave his love right away!"
Patrick's eyes widened at this as his jaw dropped when she said this. He looked as though he just been punched in the gut. Shirley saw this and looked a little concerned.
"H-Hon?" She asked.
Patrick let out a small sigh and shook his head. "You're right, Shirl. I have no right to bump into your love life like that. I am sorry."
The pink-haired woman blinked twice not expecting to hear this.
"I didn't mean to butt in. I was merely concerned for your feelings." Patrick explained with a sad look on his face.
Shirley shook her head. "No... It's okay. I know you were only looking out for my welfare."
Patrick slowly nodded before turning around. Shirley's face fell. She knew for a fact that she had really hurt Patrick. However, she didn't know how. One thing was for sure. It was fun she yelled her statement about men expressing their love. Why did Patrick seemed so upset?
Suddenly, she noticed something. On top of a cabinet was a flower pot and inside of it was a bunch of beautiful flowers. However, the flowers seemed familiar to her for some reason. She could had sworn that they seen them before.
Her eyes then widened in realization recognizing the bouquet instantly. It was the same bouquet that she had found on her doorsteps.
"Patrick?" She said.
The brown-haired man turned his head to the side casting Shirley a sideways glance.
"Hm?"
"What are those flowers?" Shirley asked at the flowers.
Patrick's eyes bugged out when she asked him. "Um, just a little something to spruce up the place. This ain't the brightest inferior in the world."
"But why those particular flowers?" Shirley asked.
Patrick stepped back a bit. "Um, well. I thought they were nice."
"You DO know that's the love bouquet?" Shirley pointed out. "A bouquet for lovers."
"R-Really? Well, isn't that a surprise?" Patrick sputtered.
Shirley sat in her place on the blinking twice. Suddenly, she put two and two together and suddenly realized what was happening.
"Hon..." She said.
Patrick fiddled with his overalls nervously.
"You brought that love bouquet for a woman, didn't you?" Shirley said.
Patrick winced before looking to the side. He couldn't believe he had been founded out like this.
"Hon, you can't hide from me. I could tell." Shirley said putting her hands on her hips.
Patrick stared at the bouquet for a moment as if thinking about whether he should tell her or not. After making up his mind, he sighed.
"All right. It's true." Patrick said. "I brought this bouquet for someone."
Shirley nodded.
"There is this girl I really, really like. Not only she beautiful but was also her own person. Kind, caring yet not afraid to speak her mind." Patrick explained. "I was really fond of his girl."
"Uh-huh." Shirley said.
"That was why I decided to made a delivery at Poppy's stand." Patrick said. "You know, give her something nice."
"Yes, so what happened?" Shirley asked getting excited.
Patrick bit his lip not really wanting to go through with this. However, he had no choice.
"Someone had already beaten me to the punch."
Shirley's eyes widened as she put her hands to her mouth.
"Yes, somebody had already confessed their love to my crush." Patrick lamented. "It was far too late to confess my love to her."
Shirley shook her head in disbelief. She couldn't believe it. Poor Patrick had a crush on a girl he really liked and instead, his lover was in the arms of another man who was quick to the draw. That was when he looked so hurt when she said that about giving their love right away.
"Pat, is THAT why you look so hurt?" Shirley frowned. "Hon, I am so sorry. I didn't know."
The construction worker simply sighed. "It's all right, Shirl. I know you didn't know. And in a way, you are right. I was just slow on the draw. That's all."
The hair-stylist bit her lip realizing the damage she had did to her heart. She felt horrible about what she did and said.
"But... It's okay." Patrick said weakly before reaching his hand to touch the bouquet. "It is just destiny. Maybe... She and I just wasn't met to be."
Shirley blinked twice before sighing. "So what now?"
Patrick simply shrugged without looking behind him. "I dunno. I wanted to throw this bouquet away at first. But then, I thought, it is far too easy to quit. No, love may had dealt me a hard blow but hey, that happens with love. I am just going to keep this bouquet up here until I meet the right girl. It probably won't be for a while but hey, what can I do?"
Shirley watched the brown-haired man as he continued to stroke his flowers. She didn't knew Patrick was so deep. He always came off as a happy-go-lucky goofball to her. But it turns out that he can be deep and kind as well. He had proven that by letting her stay here even though there was an obvious lack of room. She doubt no one had expected Patrick to be like this.
After a while, Patrick looked at Shirley with a weak smile. "But enough of that, let me get my sleeping bag for myself."
"Sleeping bag for yourself? Why would..." The pink-haired girl started before she froze. "Hon, please don't tell me you are giving me your bed?"
"But, of course. You ARE the guest, after all." Patrick shrugged.
Shirley shook her head. Patrick just keep surprising her tonight. She was about to give her thanks until a loud voice shocked the two.
"Shirley! Shirley, where are you?"
Shirley and Patrick's eyes widened at the familiar voice coming from outside of Patrick's trailer.
"Hey, isn't that...?" Patrick asked.
"Yes, that's Skip's voice!" Shirley exclaimed before getting up. "But I doubt he had something to do!"
"Come on. We might as well go see what's up." Patrick said.
With that, the two walked over to the door. Patrick opened it letting the duo go outside. Apparently, it stopped raining while the two were talking. Once they were outside, they both looked around.
"Skip? Hon? Where are you?" Shirley asked.
"Shirley?" A familiar voice said.
Patrick and Shirley both looked up at the top of stairs. There, they saw Mayor Skip walking in. Upon seeing Shirley, he stampeded down the stairs not bothering to slow down. After he had made his short trip down, he wasted no time running over to Shirley and holding her hands.
"Are you all right, Shirley?" Skip asked quickly. Clearly he was concerned about Shirley.
"Um, Yes, hon, I am. Don't worry." The hair-stylist reassured.
"Oh, thank goodness." Skip said sighing in relief. "I came to your home earlier but you wasn't home."
Shirley raised an eyebrow. "I thought you had to work."
"Apparently, it was a false alarm." Skip said. "I rushed back to Gino's restaurant as quickly as I can but when I came back, it was closed."
"That's because we asked Gino to keep his restaurant open late just for our date." Shirley said.
Skip looked down at the ground. "I know. Again, I am sorry about that. But tell me. Where were you? I thought something happened to you."
"Oh, I am just fine." Shirley reassured. "I was just saying over with Pat."
Skip's eyes widened before he looked over to Patrick.
"Yo." The man smiled giving a two-finger salute.
Skip continued to stare at the man before he narrowed his eyes.
"I see." The mayor said. "Now, tell me. What were you doing here?"
Shirley raised an eyebrow. "It was raining so Patrick invited me inside."
"Oh, he did, did he?" Skip asked in suspicion.
Patrick stepped back not liking the vibe he was getting from this guy. "Um, yeah, I did."
Skip crossed his arms. "Nothing. I was just curious as why Shirley couldn't just go to her OWN house."
"I lost my keys in Gino's restaurant and he already gone to sleep." Shirley said. "Why are you being so stiff all of a sudden."
"Oh, nothing. I just felt that you would be better off away from this hunk of junk." Skip said.
Shirley's eyes widened as Patrick stepped back stunned at the harsh comment.
"S-Skip?" Shirley said appalled.
"Hey, that's not nice. Sure, my trailer isn't the glamorous place in the world but it keeps a roof over my head, don't it?" Patrick insisted.
"I suppose it IS a house in your salary." Skip said tapping his finger against his elbow.
"What gotten into you?" Shirley asked not believing her boyfriend was acting this way.
"I am merely trying to protect you, Shirley." The mayor reassured.
"Protect? What do you..." Patrick said before his eyes widened. "No, no, no! It's not like that at all! I was just trying to be nice to your girlfriend. Not steal her away from you!"
"Mmm-hmm." Skip said before walking forward. "Mr. Rhino, I thank you for helping my girlfriend but from now on, I want you to stay away from Shirley from now on."
"Hon..." Shirley said.
"Aw, come on. I told you it's not like that." Patrick reassured.
"It doesn't matter what it was like. I stand by my demand." Shirley said. "You are a poorly-paid, badly-dressed and now right, ugly individual. Someone like you is unfit to even stand near Shirley."
Shirley stood getting more and more upset with Skip's attitude.
"Hey, now. Firstly, I may not get as much money as you but I will get a decent amount of dough." Patrick said. "Secondly, these are my work clothes. It would be hard to do construction in a suit like yours and thirdly, I know I am not the handsome person in the world but I'm NOT bad."
Skip put his hand to his chin as he nodded. "Uh-huh. Well, sorry if I overdid it but I am more or less right. I was merely speaking my opinion."
With that, he walked over to Shirley.
"Come on, Shirley. You can stay with me for the night." Skip said gently grabbing her hand. "A high-class lady like you deserves much more than a trailer."
The red-head then went to walk off with Shirley up the stairs. Patrick frowned as he watched them leave.
However, Skips plans had hit an abrupt stop when the tan woman swiped her arm out of his grasp.
Skip's eyes widened before he whirled around in surprise. Shirley then had her down with her giant hair blocking her eyes.
"Shirley, what's wrong?" Skip asked confused.
The gossiper immediately held up her head showing her angry eyes glaring into Skip. The mayor stepped back in confusion and fear.
"What's wrong is you? How DARE you insult Patrick like this!?" Shirley growled.
"S-Shirley?" Skip asked.
Patrick was shocked too. He never saw Shirley go off like that before. Except at her sister.
"He had the manners to save my hair from the rain and offered me a place to say and you say such cruel things!" Shirley shouted. "Patrick is a lot better than you give him better for!"
"S-Shirley? What came over you?" Skip asked.
"What came over me is the fact that you are a jerk!" Shirley growled. "One who has no respect for anything!"
"How can you say that!?" Skip said looking hurt. "I have respect for you!"
"Yeah, right! If respecting me means standing me up on every single date so yeah, you respect me greatly." Shirley said crossing her arms.
"It's not my fault!" Skip said stepping back. "Work always came in the way."
"Even in the way of love?" Shirley asked with a raised eyebrow.
Skip's eyes widened before he looked to the side.
"Admit it, Skip. You had never fully attended any one of our dates. Not one." Shirley said. "You always had to cancel because of some work."
"But I am the mayor of Main Street!" Skip pointed out. "I HAD to work for the sake of the town."
"Just like with MorcuCorp?" Shirley asked.
Skip winced knowing she had him there. He was hoping everyone haven't forgotten about them.
"You had betrayed the good name of this town by involving yourself with that Morcubus creep!" Shirley said. "How could you say you work for the sake of the town?"
"But Shirley? If I didn't, I wouldn't had put our town in tip-top shape!" Skip pointed out.
"My nephew nearly burned down Gino's restaurant under MorcuCorp's orders!" Shirley snapped. "You call THAT tip-tip shape!"
Now Skip being the mayor was easily calm and reserved. He learned that so he could be elected. However, he was serious getting freaked out by Shirley's outrage and also hurt. The woman continued to glare daggers into Skip's eyes as if trying to make him explode in flames.
"But... But... Why would you stay with HIM?" Skip asked. "I thought you was a high-class lady."
"High-class lady? I am sorry. You must had confused me with my sister." Shirley said simply. "I know that even though that Patrick isn't rich, he is still a great man. Unlike someone else I know."
Skip's mouth had dropped as he spoke half-words out of his mouth not believing this was happening.
"Face it, hon. You don't care for Main Street or their residents or me." Shirley said with a sigh. "It's over, Skip. Just like it should had been long ago."
The red-head's pupils shrank. "YOU'RE breaking up with ME!? But I am the mayor of Main Street."
"Yeah, some mayor." Shirley countered. She then pointed up. "Now go home. I want to stay with Patrick."
Skip's fingers started twitching violently. He couldn't believe that he, of all people, been rejected for a construction worker of all people. He would never hear the end of it because Shirley was the queen of gossip. After a while, he sunk his head in defeat before turning around and lumber up the stairs.
Patrick watched the whole thing stunned. Shirley had just turned down the mayor of Main Street because he was verbally assaulting him. No one had ever did that for him before. Shirley continued to watch Skip as he made his way up the stairs and out of their sight without looking back.
Shirley then turned to Patrick with an apologetic look on her face.
"Oh, hon, I am so sorry!" The pink-haired woman said. "I didn't think you was THAT much of a jerk."
The brown-haired man weakly shook his head. "N-No. I am all right. I am just surprised that your yelling."
Shirley looked down as she put her fingers together. "Well, when he started to insult you, I just lost it and started shouting."
"W-Well, thank you." Patrick said before taking off his helmet and scratching his hair.
Shirley shook her head. "After what you did for me tonight, it's the least I can do."
However, she then sighed.
"But you deserve so much more."
Patrick raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"
"Patrick, you are a very sweet man. You were willing to give up your bed for me and saved my hair from the rain." Shirley said. "You deserve far better than this life."
"Hey, I only do what I can to help. Besides..."
That was all Patrick got out before Shirley walked up to his face.
The beady eyes of the man's widened to the size of saucers when Shirley pressed a quick press of the lips on his cheek leaving a lipstick stain on his face. Patrick froze in his spot before dropping his hat onto the ground.
Shirley couldn't help but smirk. "What's wrong? Never been kissed before?"
"Um, no. At least not from a girl." Patrick said with his face turning beet red.
"Well, you well-deserved it." Shirley smiled. She then bent down and picked up Patrick's hat before giving it to him.
"Now, let's go. It is very late and we both need to sleep." She said.
With that, she casually walked back to the trailer with her hands behind her back leaving Patrick still stunned. He turned around to see Shirley walking through the door.
Patrick blinked twice still in silence. However, after a moment, he grinned before following her.
"Maybe I will give her those flowers after all."
