Tomorrow is not another day. It was a nightmare- the anniversary of the worst day of Mike Schmidt's life.
He groaned into his pillow. After four hours of lying on his raggedy couch, his hunger pangs overcame his emptiness.
Reluctantly, he weakly pushed himself off the couch and dragged himself to the wall, where the phone hung next to the unattended calendar. He didn't need to mark the calendar to realize it was three hours until November 11th: exactly a year after his fourth night at the worst job he has ever held.
While ignoring the feeling of the calendar staring at him, Mike flipped open his phone book, which sat on the small table. He briefly glanced at the four empty pizza boxes littered throughout the room and then scanned the yellow pages for pizza delivery services.
Ironically, Mike cringed at the sight of phones and pizza, but ordering pizza was the only way of getting food he had any energy to pursue. He ran out of food this week, and actually leaving the house after work for the past few weeks seemed just as impossible as feeling less lonely. What could a fifth night of pizza possibly do?
After lazily scrolling through business names, Mike's eyes abruptly stopped. Pizza Italy.
This was the first pizzeria he found that he didn't already order from this week. He never heard of the place; however it didn't matter- he felt too embarrassed to order from a familiar restaurant so soon again.
Mike circled the business's phone number with his pen.
Almost mindlessly, he reached for the phone without looking. Once he touched it, he flinched.
He raised his head and stared at it with stinging eyes.
No. He wouldn't dare call Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. That bear...that deep gargle. Although it was irrational, the idea of associating with that pizzeria whatsoever made him feel like the robots could track him down. He already still expected Freddy to appear every time he heard a small clink, and he didn't need anymore fire to fuel his consuming paranoia. Besides, the health department unsurprisingly shut down that shack months ago. Nothing human would answer the calls. Something inhuman, on the other hand...
Mike winced and rubbed his eyes hard.
It would be worth it, though. To hear his voice again from the answering machine...
He sighed as he punched in the pizzeria's digits.
As the phone rang two long times, Mike stared at the plain wall and twirled the cord in boredom.
Finally, the call picked up.
"Hello? Hello, hello?" a haunting, familiar voice greeted.
Mike's entire body jolted, and a flash of ice violently shot through his veins. His arms trembled so violently that he almost dropped the phone.
What was that?! Mike internally screamed. Was he hallucinating? What kind of sick joke is this?
He didn't call Freddy Fazbear's Pizza.
He decided to dial the other pizzeria instead.
Mike clenched his stomach as it twisted painfully.
"Uh... well, you reached Pizza Italy. What can we do for you today?" the voice continued.
Replying was out of the question- Mike's throat was too tense to even swallow.
"Uh... hello?" the voice nagged. "Are you... uh... doing alright there? Uh."
No. No he fucking wasn't.
What was going on?
"Heh, indecisive about your order or question?" the voice asked. Mike heard a cough. "It's fine- no worries, really. But, uh, we have other customers, you know. I'll put you on hold for now, if that's alright with you."
It was alright with him, but with his stiff tongue, he didn't have a choice anyway.
After a click, annoying jazz music played.
Mike clutched the phone in a tight, painful grip as he waited and wondered if the man on the phone really was Phone Guy, as Mike nicknamed his former trainer.
Of course not, Mike thought. After all, every single animatronic sounded like they were going after him in his final call almost exactly a year ago, and there was that terrifying, deep scream at the end...
What did he have to go though? Mike wondered as chill ran up his spine.
However, Phone Guy's voice sounded so distinct, so unforgettable. To Mike, a different man with a voice that similar existing seemed just as unlikely as him surviving.
Mike tapped his fingers feverishly as he continued to wait. A minute then felt like the equivalent of an hour at the Freddy Fazbear's Pizza night shift. Yet, not nearly enough time passed for him to control his rapid, shallow breathing. At least his heart slowed down to the staggering pace of a race car before the music stopped.
"Hello!" the warm voice chimed again, after a brief moment of static. "Hello, hello. It's me. Uh, again. Have you decided what you want yet?"
"Yeah," Mike forced himself to say.
"Ah, that's... great!" The man sounded genuinely surprised to hear an answer.
Mike's stomach knotted. It was so eerie to receive a reply from the voice of Phone Guy. Everything felt like a hazy, deranged dream.
"So, uh, what would you like?" the voice asked.
The knots in Mike's stomach grew even stronger, as he just registered now that whatever he would say might actually be heard by Phone Guy, for a change.
"Come to my place," Mike blurted. Feverish heat immediately rose to his face when he realized what he said.
There was laughing on the other end. "Of course! Ha. First, you gotta order your pizza!"
Now, Mike's face was burning. Great, the asshole needed to rub it in.
"Pepperoni. Medium," Mike muttered. "Yes, I would like it on bread and for it to be cooked." He smirked. Two can play at this game.
"Uh, I don't know about bread- that might be kinda gross. But, we do, however, have dough! Ha, just messing with you. You're a funny guy. I'm actually the only delivering pizza tonight, so lucky you, right? Oh! Uh, your address, please."
After Mike revealed his address, the man said, "Hey, that's pretty close! I'll see you in, uh, five minutes, buddy!"
Buddy. A warm smile grew upon Mike's face.
The phone clicked, and then the harsh disconnect noise blared.
Then the grin faded, and panic started to spread in Mike's body. Mike slammed the phone into the receiver.
Phone Guy could be alive, and they might meet each other. Scratch that, they already talked.
Mike's stomach dropped at imagining what Phone Guy's impression of him would be. After all, everything he did after that dreaded job was based on if it would make Phone Guy proud, because it was the only way Mike could think of to honor him. What would Phone Guy regard of the mess that's his apartment, and well, his life?
This might be the day Mike only could dream of: to meet the eye of the hurricane of that damned job... and of his life.
He took a deep breath as he mentally rehearsed his planned routine several times. Say "thank you". Give the money and the tip. Asked him if he worked at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. If no, tell him that he sounded familiar. If yes-
A loud, rude knock interrupted the thought and made Mike jolt out of his skin once again.
Hectically, Mike combed his fingers through his thick, messy hair and shoved displaced objects out of the view of the doorway.
Mike slowly reached for the knob with weak, quivering hands.
As he opened the door, he saw an average, slightly dorky young man with a nervous smile. The light from outside illuminated the man from behind.
Thank you was at the tip of Mike's tongue when he glanced at the man's uniform, but rage swelled in his chest instead.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WORKING AT ANOTHER PIZZA PLACE FOR?!" Mike shouted with all the bottled up emotion from the past year. So much for the routine.
The man's cheesy smile vanished. "W-What?! Uh, sir, I... I-I don't know, what uh..."
With one hand, Mike snatched the pizza box from the man's grip.
"Fazfuck's Pizza. They murdered you." Mike snarled while pointing with his free hand. "And you're just gonna work at another pizzeria? Why?! What the fuck is wrong with you?!"
"H-How... how did you... uh, know about that?" the man stammered in shock.
Dear lord. It really was him.
The pizza box slipped out of his fingers.
"You're the fucking phone guy!" Mike cried as he grasped the man's shirt. "You saved my sorry ass... you told me everything would be okay. Well, it wasn't! YOU DIED!"
That dreaded sensation of almost sobbing overcame Mike, as his throat tightened and his nose tingled. He buried his face in his hands.
"Oh... wow, uh," Mike heard Phone Guy say. "I never thought..."
A strong, warm embrace encompassed Mike. When he raised his head out of his hands, he saw Phone Guy giving him a tight hug.
"I didn't think that it, that call, would get through. Look, uh, I'm glad the other calls helped, but I'm very sorry you had to hear..." Phone Guy trailed. He tightened the hug before continuing. "...That. Is there anyway I could, you know, make it up to you, or anything?"
Hot tears were spilling out of Mike's eyes by now. He swallowed the lump in his throat and was just glad Phone Guy couldn't catch him crying.
Mike cleared his throat and replied, "You saved my life, idiot." Then, Mike hugged him back even harder.
After a few seconds, he felt Phone Guy firmly grab his shoulders and pull away from the hug. At first, he was ashamed that Phone Guy could notice what an ugly state he was in, but it was okay. Phone Guy had tears welled up in eyes, too.
This time, Phone Guy flashed a genuine smile. "And gave you a year's worth of trauma. How's that? Hey, look, I have another, uh, two hours left on my shift. Is it alright with you if I come back later tonight?"
"Are there any killer animatronics there?"
"Nah, it's just a regular ol' pizza place. No murderers there, animatronic or otherwise," Phone Guy said with a chuckle.
"Then yes."
[Author's note: Seriously, is wrong with Phone Guy? Honestly, there is something wrong with him for working at another pizzeria, but I can picture him doing just that. Mike is even worse with his new job, though.
Well, what's Mike's new job then? How did Phone Guy even survive? What was the garbled phone call on Night 5? What happened after Mike got fired? Does my dog miss me while I'm at college?! You'll find out the answers to all of these in the next chapter!
Also, this is all just a big "what-if"! I personally don't think that Phone Guy lived, so therefore, I don't think anything here actually happened. However, if you do, feel free to do so! You can take this either as friendship or romantic. I tried to make it so it could be either way.
ADDITIONALLY (if anyone is still reading this, which I doubt): please tell me on what I should improve on! I know I'm not the best writer, and I want to get better, so don't be afraid to tear this apart or say anything that's on your mind! I won't be offended- I'll be grateful! :D ]
