Disclaimer: I do not own A Goofy Movie, or any characters or settings associated with it. Furthermore I'm not making any money on this. This disclaimer applies for all chapters.

The usual?

Goofy was feeling slightly melancholic as he sat down in his usual seat at the small diner.

The reason for this was that he felt alone. Sure, he had Donald and Mickey, but they had drifted apart during the last few years. Donald had been employed by his rich uncle, Scrooge McDuck, and had (by some amazing stroke of luck) found himself a woman who put up with his choleric personality as well as his three young nephews, and Mickey had his Minnie and a prosperous detective agency. Those crazy business ventures that the three friends had used to run together were a thing of the past.

He sighed and looked down at the menu, even though he had practically memorized it during the year he had been eating his lunch here. Every single day, he thought as he looked at it. I have been eating here every single day. And why? The food isn't spectacular, neither is the service, nor the atmosphere.

A young waitress dressed in the usual pink polyester uniform approached his table. There was nothing remarkable about her, but when she spoke to Goofy with her soft and friendly voice, he cheered up considerably.

"The usual, Goofy?" She asked him, notepad and pen ready.

"Nah, I don't feel like having pancakes today. I think I'll settle for a cup of coffee and a Club Sandwich instead."

He flashed her his trademarked goofy smile, and she smiled back at him.

"All right, it will be ready for you in a minute."

"Thank you, Carla."

He smiled for himself as he looked at Carla's retreating back. Gawrsh, I guess that this place does have its charms.

-

Goofy was lost in thoughts his entire lunch hour. He wasn't woken from his reverie until Carla came to his table and asked him why he wasn't at work. That shook him up sufficiently.

"Golly, my boss ain't going to be happy about this", he said as he hurried out from the diner.

§§§

Carla smiled as she looked at him through the window. He tripped over a bucket that a window cleaner had forgot on the curb, but he didn't let such a small inconvenience get him down; he just laughed and picked himself up from the ground. She loved his laughter. Too bad that I can't hear it through the window, she thought as he started running again.

Hmm…He forgot to pay for the meal again. That means that he will come back again later today! She almost did a little happy-dance, but she contained herself before she embarrassed herself in front of the customers, not to mention in front of Martha.

Martha was one of her colleagues at Joes. She was a kind woman in her late forties, but she was a terrible gossip, and she had already teased her about Goofy on a number of occasions. As a married woman, she lived out her dating fantasies through her younger friend. Not that Carla's love life was anything to talk about.

-

The day went by unusually slow for Carla. She took orders from a number of customers, swept the floor, cleaned the tables, and refilled coffee cups, but once in a while she would look out the window, searching for any sign of him.

The knight in shabby armour, Martha used to call him.

…Speaking of the devil, she thought as Martha approached her with the usual teasing glint in her eyes.

"Waitin' for your knight, hun?"

It didn't matter how many times Martha used the same tired old joke, it always succeeded in making Carla blush.

"Ya know, there's nothin' wrong with the woman taking the first step. It's obvious that you're heads over heels with 'im, and I don't doubt that he likes ya back."

Carla was now beet-red, and stuttering she replied; "Just because he eats here very single day doesn't mean that he's interested in me. Maybe he just likes the food. He probably doesn't even know that I exist."

Martha gave her a motherly pat on the shoulder, and said: "Ya may not think that ya have anythin' to offer, but ya 're a great gal, and I'm sure that 'e thinks so too. Just talk with 'im, and you'd know that."

"What do you mean? I talk with him every day."

Martha looked sadly at her.

"Hun, 'the usual?' ain't a conversation."

She gave Carla a last meaningful look, and walked away towards a new customer.

§§§

Goofy rushed in to the office where he was employed as a mail-clerk, only to be halted by his boss Mrs Jennings. She did not look happy.

This is not good, Goofy thought as he noticed her facial expression.

"Hello, boss", he said and flashed her a lopsided grin. "Sorry I'm late" (again, they both thought wryly for themselves).

"You were supposed to be here twenty-five minutes ago." She looked disapprovingly at him, and continued. "Usually I would be happy to just accept your apology, but lately you seem to have made a habit out of being tardy. Now I see no choice but to give you a warning. One more late entry, and you can consider yourself fired."

Goofy stared at her in shock. He had troubles comprehending the seriousness of her threat. Sure, he had been late back from lunch almost every day for the last month or so, and he had never been very good at his job in the first place, but fired!

"But, but…"he started.

"No Goofy, don't argue with me. I have been cutting you some slack this far, even though you always seem to create catastrophes (like that time last week when you accidentally set fire to the company's payroll). But I have to draw the line somewhere. I know that you don't mean any harm, but you're hurting the productivity." At this point, she looked him straight in the eye, and she must have seen that he was on the verge of tears, because suddenly her voice and expression softened, as she kept talking. "Don't be too alarmed though, as I said, this is only a warning. Just make sure to be on time in the future, and you won't be losing your job here anytime soon. It wouldn't hurt if you tried to be more careful when you're changing light bulbs either." With that she smiled at him, and went back in to her office.

Goofy was rather dazed as he stood in the hallway, letting Mrs Jennings words sink in. All right, he reasoned. I'm not fired yet, so there's no need to panic…yet. I just have to keep a better track of time from now on, and keep away from electrical appliances. He perked up at this thought, and resumed his walk to his workplace.

-

Work went well for Goofy the remainder of the day. He tripped a few times, and spilled out some ink, but apart from that everything went smoothly. Mrs Jennings, who had been keeping an eye on him whenever she got the chance, even gave him a pat on the back at the end of the day.

"Well done. Just keep it up tomorrow as well."

"Gee, thanks, Mrs Jennings." Goofy smiled happily at her, lifted his hat as a goodbye, and left.

As he was walking down the street on his way home, contemplating his day, he suddenly remembered something important. I never paid for my meal!. He changed direction to Joes, and for some reason unknown to even himself, he also quickened his pace.

§§§

A/N: Ok, this was the first chapter of what I hope will be the story behind Max. If you have any feedback, good or bad, don't hesitate to tell me.