A/N: I do not own Star Wars or any part of the franchise; all rights and ownership belongs to Disney. The ideas portrayed within this piece of fiction are purely Fan-based explorations for my fellow enthusiasts to enjoy.
Please read and review! :D
~ProphetessMinty
It was late at night and he stared at the screen of his phone. He was waiting impatiently —but excitedly— for the bottom right of the screen to indicate that the person in the online chat was responding to him. He sent the message at 12:43 am and saw that it was seen at 12:50 am. His heart skipped a beat. Still, there was no indication of the recipient —CommanderSnips— "typing" a reply.
"Of course she saw," he rationalized with himself as a pang of fear upset his stomach. "She'll reply... I hope..."
Glancing at the screen, now 12:53 am, he reread the last thing he sent:
-Sent at 12:43 am-
Buckethead7527: We've been talking for months. When can we finally meet?
-Seen by CommanderSnips at 12:50 am-
Sighing, he laid his phone down on the pillow next to his head. The room was dark and mostly quiet; in the background his fan hummed against the window frame. The ambient noise was a comfort to him and one that normally helped ease him to sleep. However, it didn't help right now. He was wide awake and felt as if he drank twenty cups of coffee.
He brought his hand up to his face as worry and self-doubt began to gnaw at him. "How could I be so stupid," he thought to himself, "why would she want to meet up with me in real life?" In the midst of his self-loathing, the once dark room lit up with a message notification on his phone as it gave a soft ding.
His reflex was quick as he grabbed at the phone with giddy-antics; almost accidentally chucking the phone in the process of playing hot-potato with it. Glancing quickly at the notification, he tapped the screen as lightly as he could without punching it. The lock-screen slid open showing him the chat and a smile played on his lips.
-Sent at 1:00 am-
CommanderSnips:You really want to meet me? What if...I'm scared you won't like me...
-Seen by Buckethead7527at 1:01 am-
He smiled at this because those were the exact same thoughts he had too. What if she didn't like him? He nervously chuckled as he started typing out his response.
-Sent at 1:03 am-
Buckethead7527: I know what you mean.
-Seen by CommanderSnipsat 1:04 am-
-Sent at 1:05 am-
CommanderSnips: Let me see how my work schedule is and I'll let you know. :D
-Sent at 1:07 am-
CommanderSnips: I've gotta go to bed now. It's waaaaaay too late. If we keep this up, late night chats every night, I might become a zombie.
-Seen by Buckethead7527at 1:07 am-
Rex chuckled at her last comment as he realized the time.
-Sent at 1:08 am-
Buckethead7527: What, you mean it's late or something? Lol Good night, CommanderSnips...whatever your name is.
-Seen by CommanderSnipsat 1:08 am-
-Sent at 1:09 am-
CommanderSnips: LOL good night Buckethead…whatever your name is…
-Seen by Buckethead7527at 1:10 am-
A smile played on his lips as he imagined some wonderful woman laughing on the other end. How he wished to meet her soon and come to know everything about her. Sighing pleasantly, he put his phone on the pillow next to him. Now it was time to sleep because work would come early enough as it was. He closed his eyes but rest did not greet him right away, then he laid there wide awake.
Yes, he has a problem.
The moment the alarm went off at 10 am, Rex got himself ready and headed out the door. By 10:30 am, he pulled up to his work's parking lot in his two-door Jeep, white with a single blue pin-stripe. Not a half-hour later, the pizza shop locally known as the "Pizza Republic" had opened.
Just like every afternoon, there was a whole line of people from the door wrapping around the block with no end in sight. Rex activated his time card on the desktop located in the broom-closet-made-office. As he clacked away at the keyboard he heard the door behind him open.
Looking over his shoulder, he nodded at his coworker. "Hey Fives, how are you?" The newly twenty-three year old, practically jumped into the closet while closing the door behind him. Plopping down in the seat next to Rex he looked to him excitedly. Brown eyes looking back and forth between his buddy and the door, as if he was keeping watch during a drug deal.
"Did you meet her yet?"
Rex laughed as he finished clocking in and turned off the desktop. "No, we're still messaging each other though," he said evenly while scratching at the back of his short, bleach-blonde head. "Still mes-," Fives rolled his eyes, "you've got to be kidding me. It's been six months. How have you guys not met by now?!" Rex shrugged as he got up, exiting the "office".
At this point, it took Fives all he had to keep from pulling out the hairs in his trimmed goatee. Trying to not chomp at the bit, he practically ran after Rex.
"What's the hold up?"
Rex entered the kitchen and started washing his hands at the sink. "No hold up. We were talking last night and she said she was going to look at her work schedule."
"Progress," Fives explained with much gusto.
Rex's eyebrow rose as if he was about to ask if Fives was up to something but didn't bother to ask. What was the point? He was always up to something. "How about her name? Do you know it yet?" Rex shook his head, "I know her by 'CommanderSnips' and that she lives in town. That's it." Fives's brown eyes practically rolled back into his skull. "Unbelievable," he muttered before walking off.
The double-doors to the kitchen flapped back and forth admitting new occupants into the kitchen. Now that it was afternoon rush, Rex barely had time to look up from his work. He had slapped on the last piece of pepperoni before he heard a loud crash behind him.
Startled, he looked over his shoulder and saw one of the new hires on the floor with a huge bowl of marinara sauce on top of her head. Rex cringed as he realized the other staff was laughing at the poor girl. Sighing, he left the pizza on the counter, threw a hand towel over his shoulder and went over to her. En route he started glaring at the others causing some of them to jump back into doing whatever it was that they were doing.
Before he got to her, he saw her peek out from under the bowl only to pull it down over her chin. She made no more movements though he thought he heard a whimper. Squatting down he lifted the silver bowl up to get a good look at her.
His brown eyes met with her cerulean ones and then he realized the rosy flush that set over her cheeks. Pulling off the bowl, he heard a plop as the rest of the sauce hit the floor. Caught between a-loss-for-words and not wanting to say anything, he pulled the towel off his shoulder and handed it to her.
"Thank you," she muttered taking the towel to wipe the sauce off her face. Rex nodded as his hand nervously started scratching at the back of his head. "Are you okay," he asked as their eyes reconnected. She looked away, the movement of which caused some of her medium-long pony tail -white and blue highlighted hair- to sway over her shoulder and squish to her uniform.
More sauce plopped onto the floor making Rex wince again. Getting up, he left and came back with another towel. This time he pulled her hair back over her shoulder and started dabbing at it, trying to soak up the sauce as best as he could with the towel.
"No need to do that," she said her face now beet-red as she place her hand on his to stop him from helping. "I'm really embarrassed and I'm sitting in a puddle of marinara. Just hand me the bowl so I can place it back on my head and run out of here."
This time he watched as she went teary-eyed. A pang of guilt went through him like a bolt of electricity. "Here, let me help," he said holding his right hand out. She was hesitant at first but grabbed hold. The two came to their feet but not before her shoe slipped on the sauce causing her to sprawl into his chest.
"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry," she squeaked trying to get herself to her feet with no luck. The sauce was all over the bottom of her shoes and she was practically ice skating —sauce skating really. Rex held out his arms as he looked down to see them, his apron and work shirt coated in marinara.
"Great," he chuckled in defeat while he flung his arms down causing the sauce to splatter to the floor. A small giggle came from the new hire and he looked up to see her slap her mouth shut. The action seemed as if she was trying to keep back the floodgates of emotion; ranging from humorous to depressive. Rex was incredulous for a moment before he too started to laugh.
The next few moments, the two of them stood in the puddle of sauce enraptured by a fit of laughter. The ridiculousness of the situation was just too silly to pass up. She laughed so hard she started to cry; her tears went black as her mascara started to run.
"Rex! Ahsoka!"
The two of them practically jumped out of their skin as they looked over to the closet-office. Their wrinkly, pale-faced manager popped his head out from the door glaring at them with what seemed like unabashed hatred.
"Get this mess cleaned up quickly or I'll dock your pay," he said before slamming the door. After the slam came a thunk and a yelp from the closet space. Both marinara-coated employees looked at each other frightened before going in opposite directions to find something to clean the mess up with.
It was about 8pm when Rex clocked off shift. He was battered with crusty marinara sauce all up the front of him where the apron didn't cover. His cheeks were powdered white with flour and he stunk like fryer oil. It was just another day, in the life of a twenty-three year old trying to make ends meet.
Making his way to his Jeep, he searched in his right, front pocket for the keys. Grabbing them he stuck the Jeep key into the door and unlocked his vehicle. He didn't get much farther than opening his door when he heard gravel crunching behind him.
Turning his head, he looked over to see the new hire -Ahsoka- crossing the parking lot alone. It was dark out and the sun had set a couple hours ago. The only light came from the iridescent street lamps that flickered in and out. The night was silent except for the occasional car passing by on the main street. Ahsoka wore a large, black hoodie that reached just about to her knees; she was practically swimming in it. Her boot-cut, black pants accented the red converse she wore from what he could see. Her hair was now out of the ponytail and it fell over her shoulders reaching to about mid-chest.
The moment it took him to realize all this about her as she passed him by, the idea of her being alone in the dark struck him. A pretty girl walking home in the dark was asking for trouble.
"Ahsoka," he yelled as he jogged toward her.
She stopped in her tracks and looked over to him. By the time he caught up to her, he realized she was just as embarrassed now as she was before. "H-hi," she said awkwardly as she started to finger her marinara encrusted hair. "Hi," he managed just as awkwardly.
The awkward moment hung on like a loud, fart in a dark theater; ridiculous and fleeting. "Do- do you ride home...I mean, do you need a ride home," he fumbled before pointing to his white, pin-striped Jeep. Mentally, Rex was smacking and berating himself due to his sudden inability to talk to a girl.
Her hoodie-covered hand came up to her mouth to hide the laughter on her lips. "Thank you for the offer but I-" The two of them looked over as a roofless, silver Smartcar peeled into the parking lot and came to an abrupt stop beside them.
"Ahsoka! Come on, we're gonna be late," yelled the long-haired, brunette driver.
The guy pulled down his sunglasses so they would rest on his nose; trying to appear somewhat intimidating. The arrogance of the action was not lost on him and it made Rex instantly annoyed. "Who's your friend?" The question seemed a bit abrupt and overly protective, adding rise to the random jealous pang that struck through him. Not completely sure why, he felt his heart plummet in dismay.
"None of your beeswax, Anakin."
Looking over to Rex she smiled, "Thanks for the offer but my brother is my ride."
Although she added loudly enough for Anakin to hear, "A late one at that!" Anakin growled, "I can't help it that my car is in the shop. I have to drive this piece of...crap until it's repaired. Now, stop flirting, get your butt in and let's go."
At the last half of his statement, Ahsoka smacked her face with her hoodie-covered palm in embarrassed, frustration. "Are you kidding me," she whispered to herself. Looking at Rex, she offered him a self-consciously, shy smile. "Rex, was it," she asked sweetly. He nodded in response because that seemed to be the only appropriate response he could muster. He wasn't equipped to deal with random, emotional infatuations. Least of all, he was not prepared for the heat that suddenly crept up the back of his neck nor the heat that danced on his cheeks. "Uh huh," he finally mumbled.
She finally offered him a genuine, pearly smile before waving at him. "Bye Rex. See you tomorrow." He waved dumbly as he watched the small car peel out of the parking lot leaving the smell of burnt rubber behind. Dazed and confused, he climbed into his Jeep and drove home.
A half-hour later he walked into his humble townhome straight to the kitchen. Grabbing a bag of frozen burritos, he popped a couple in the microwave. While he watched the delicious food dance round and round, he heard a ding go off in his pocket.
"Like clockwork," he thought excitedly as he dug his phone out of his pocket. Opening the screen he read the first message he had received from CommanderSnips today. It was like a dose of euphoria in every message; it was wonderful.
-Sent at 8:40 pm-
CommanderSnips:Hey, Buckethead! How was your day?
-Seen by Buckethead7527at 8:41 pm-
-Sent at 8:42 pm-
Buckethead7527: It was good and yours?
-Seen by CommanderSnipsat 8:45 am-
Sent at 8:47 pm-
CommanderSnips:It was good. I had a really embarrassing day at work. Then my brother had to show up and embarrass me in front of a coworker. Do you have any terrible siblings?
-Seen by Buckethead7527at 8:47 pm-
-Sent at 8:48 pm-
Buckethead7527: Eh, don't sweat it. I'm sure it'll blow over. As for siblings, no, I don't have any. However, my cousin Cody shares a place with me. He's practically a brother.
-Seen by CommanderSnipsat 8:49 am-
-Sent at 8:50 pm-
CommanderSnips:Aww, you're lucky then. *cries* My brother can be a pain in the neck sometimes.
-Sent at 8:51 pm-
CommanderSnips: Oh! I also looked at my work schedule. I am off work this Saturday, if you're still interested in meeting up…?
-Sent at 8:51 pm-
CommanderSnips: We don't have to if you don't want to.
-Sent at 8:52 pm-
CommanderSnips: Honestly, if you don't want to just tell me now. I'll understand
-Seen by Buckethead7527at 8:53pm-
Rex found her barrage of messages funny but also calming. He wasn't the only one to be so nervous in all of this. For about six months now, they have been talking all day every day, from sunup to sundown. The only reason they started to talk to begin with was because of Fives. His workmate and self-acclaimed "best-friend" said he needed to meet someone and to stop being so content with being alone. "What's wrong with being content though," he wondered but pushed the thoughts aside. It was time for his reply and one he'd been waiting to ask for a while.
-Sent at 8:55 pm-
Buckethead7527: Do you like pizza?
-Seen by CommanderSnipsat 8:59 am-
-Sent at 9:00 pm-
CommanderSnips: Oh, I love pizza!
-Seen by Buckethead7527at 9:01pm-