Clementine answered the phone, "Kenny's Pizzeria, what can we serve you?" She scribbled down the order on a piece of paper. "Yes... yes... about twenty minutes... thank you for choosing Kenny's." Clementine hung up the phone before sticking the paper on the back counter for the people assembling the pizza's to grab.
"Clem, this is booooring!" AJ whined from a chair in the waiting area in front of the pizza shop.
"Sorry AJ, I didn't have time to take you back home before my shift started." Clementine sighed as she folded cardboard into pizza boxes. "Duck needed me here on time, I couldn't be late."
"Uuuuuuuuuh" AJ shoved his book into his back pack, pulling out his notebook and colored pencils. Clementine felt bad for the boy, it was getting late, almost 9pm and she wasn't scheduled to get off for another couple of hours. She needed the money though and she didn't have any family that could help her drive him around.
"Clem, I need you to run a delivery, we're getting slammed." Duck said, carrying an unusually large stack of pizzas to the front.
"Alright, no problem." Clementine told her friend, "Come on AJ, we're going for a ride. Where does this go?" She asked, carefully taking the stack from Duck's arms.
"Real ritzy place, ya gotta buzz in at the gate. Hopefully they'll tip well." Duck winked at Clementine as he stuck a paper with the address on it in her hand. She smiled at the prospect of a good tip. A little bit could really go a long way for them right now. AJ got up, he slipped his book bag on, holding the door open for Clementine as they left. AJ ran to the car and opened the back door as Clementine clicked the unlock button, so that she could slip the pizzas in.
"Could you sit in the back with the pizzas AJ?" Clementine asked, "So that the stack doesn't fall over."
"Yeah, I'm on it!" AJ grinned at being given a mission, buckling the seat belt around the pizza boxes before buckling his own.
Clementine climbed into the front seat, buckling up and putting the address into her phone before driving off. Duck wasn't kidding when he said it was a fancy neighborhood. These houses were huge. Clementine stared up at them in awe as she found the house number she was looking for and pulled into the driveway in front of the giant gate.
"This is a house?!" AJ rolled down the window and stuck his head out to get a better view.
She pressed the button on the intercom. It made a clicking sound and then a jovial voice spoke, "Texas Two how may we help you?" Clementine heard other voices yelling in the background, including a "Shut up Louis!"
"Pizza delivery." Clementine said simply. Ignoring the screams that emitted from the other end of the intercom as the gate began to swing open in front of her. She drove through, staring up at the mansion that loomed in front of her. There were several cars in the driveway, Clementine parked behind one of them.
"Way to go AJ." Clementine smiled at the still neatly stacked boxes when she opened the back door. "Wait right here, I won't be long." She grabbed the boxes and walked to the door, trying to look around them because the stack was too high to see over. She was careful with her footing, making sure to not trip over the couple of stairs in front of the door. She stared at the doorbell quizzically. Trying to figure out how to ring it she turned sideways, crouching down, managing to press the buzzer with one of her knuckles.
"I'll get it!" Someone yelled from the other side of the door as Clementine straightened back up. She could hear the door opening.
"Louis, why'd you order so many!?" A voice yelled that Clementine swore she recognized. "Thanks, here, let me help you." The voice offered.
Half the pizza stack was removed from Clementine's arms, "Thank you..." She said gratefully as her eyes landed on the owner of the familiar voice, "...Ms. Adlon, um, I mean, Violet." Clementine looked shyly at the blonde, meeting eyes that were no longer hidden by glasses, they were the most beautiful shade of green she had ever seen and her breath caught in her throat.
"Clementine," Violet sounded surprised, "Uh, come in, please. Follow me, we can set these down." Violet nodded her head inside and led the way into the house. She placed the pizzas on the shiny marble counter top, gesturing for Clementine to do the same. Clementine removed pizzas from their warming bags as Louis walked in, breaking the silence as he cheered.
"Pizza's here!" He yelled, "Here's that beer you asked for." Louis shoved the can into Violet's hand, opening the top of a pizza box and grabbing a slice.
"I-um-I didn't-" Violet stuttered, putting the beer down immediately, face burning red with embarrassment.
"It's fine Violet, you're not at school. You're allowed to drink in your free time." Clementine assured, admiring the red tint on the blonde girl's cheeks.
"I'm really not much of a drinker though really... just a drink or two socially but that's it... really..." Violet continued to explain herself.
"It's fine Violet, you don't owe me an explanation. I really have to go though... AJ's in the car." Clementine said as several more people entered the kitchen, hungrily looking through pizza boxes, she turned to leave.
Violet nudged Louis hard, he looked at the blonde questioningly, " ." She whispered between clenched teeth.
"Oh!" Louis yelped chasing after Clementine, "Wait up!" She stopped in the doorway and looked at Louis, "Thanks for bringing them out here! I know going through the gate can be a pain." Louis said with a pizza crust sticking half out of his mouth. He pulled out his wallet, opened it up and removed a bill, placing it in her hand. "Keep the change." He said with a wink.
Clementine looked down at the hundred dollar bill in her hand. Her mouth dropped open, "This is too much, I can't accept this." She held it back out to Louis who pushed her hand away.
"I want you to have it." Louis grinned, biting off a chunk of crust, "So, when do you get off?" He asked as he leaned on the door jam. Clementine stared at him, slightly uncomfortable and unsure of what to say.
Violet came up behind him and pushed him away. "Leave her alone Louis."
"Geeez, if you wanted to flirt with the pizza delivery girl you could of just said something..." He laughed before walking back to the kitchen.
"Sorry about my friend..." Violet said, embarrassment clear on her face, as she walked Clementine out to her car.
"No, it's fine. He seems nice." Clementine smiled.
"Does AJ always go to work with you?" Violet asked curiously as they walked across the driveway, she could see her student leaning out the window staring at the house.
"Oh um, no, I- my friend, he owns the pizza shop, I help him on weekends. Usually AJ stays home but I didn't have time to take him back after the conference." Clementine explained.
"Sorry about that..." Violet scratched the back of her neck.
"It's fine... really." Clementine stared between Violet and her car, she needed to go but it looked like Violet had something else she wanted to say. After a minute of awkward silence, Clementine spoke up again.
"I guess I better go."
"Let me make it up to you." The girls spoke at the same time, laughing briefly
"You go ahead." Clementine said, gently touching Violet's arm as she did.
"Let me make it up to you, for messing up your schedule. Can I take you out to dinner sometime?" Violet fidgeted nervously as she asked.
"If you just want to make it up to me, that's completely unnecessary. There's nothing to make up for." Clementine held her hands up, "...but I would love to go out sometime, if you're interested." Clementine pulled her phone out and texted the number that Violet had given her earlier. "Now you have my number too."
"Y-yeah... I'll call you." Violet grinned, taking backwards steps towards the house as Clementine got into her car and drove off, unable to keep the smile off her face. As soon as she was out of sight Violet looked down at her phone.
unknown: Hope to see you soon 3 Clem
beep beep beep, the sound of Clementine's alarm roused her from her sleep. She reached for her phone without opening her eyes and blindly turned it off. Slowly she stretched her arms and sat up in bed. It was Saturday at 3pm, time to get up and get ready to go to work at the pizzeria.
She headed into the bathroom to shower, she closed the door, locking it behind her. As soon as she undressed she could hear her phone ringing on the other side of the door.
"I got it!" AJ yelled from Clementine's bedroom. "Hello?" She could hear AJ say. "Hey Ms. Adlon! Clem just woke up, I think she's taking a shower." Clementine's heart dropped, she grabbed her towel, fumbling to wrap it around herself as she opened the door.
"AJ, give me the phone!" Clementine whispered, reaching for her phone.
"Oh! She just came out in a towel, here she is." AJ handed the phone over, leaving Clementine red faced as he skipped out of the room.
"Hi Violet, I'm sorry about AJ..."
"Sorry for catching you at a bad time." Violet said nervously, trying to not let her imagination run wild.
"No, it's not bad, I'm glad you called." Clementine said.
"I'm not any good at this, I'm sorry. I usually just text but I felt like you deserved a call. Would you, um, would you like to go out to dinner with me next weekend?" Violet asked, pacing anxiously around her apartment as she spoke.
"I- I would love to really, but-" Clementine said disappointed, her face dropping as she realized that dating now would be much more difficult. She worked at the pizzeria every weekend evening and who would want to go on a date on a week night.
"It's fine, I'll see you around the school..." Violet said, sounding dejected.
Clementine hurried to explain, "No, I really want to go. I just have to work every weekend night... for my friend at the pizza shop. I could do dinner on a weekday or breakfast on a weekend? I mean... but that's a stupid idea... I'm sorry-"
"How about dinner, on Monday?" Violet interrupted, she tapped her knuckles on her forehead in frustration at her over eagerness.
"Monday would be great." Clementine beamed, dancing around her room, holding her towel up with one hand as she did, trying to keep her voice steady as she spoke.
"I'll pick you up around 7 if that's alright?" Violet said, a joyful grin taking over her face.
"That's perfect. I'll text you my address." Clementine said, managing to keep her cool.
"Great."
"And Violet, um, thanks for the call." Clementine said, a smile in her voice.
"Of course, I'll see you on Monday," Violet said, sounding calmer than she felt.
"Yes, see you." Clementine clicked the phone off and went back to shower, unstoppable grin on her face.
Clementine laid in bed, it was almost 3am Monday morning and she couldn't get to sleep. Working graveyard shift four nights a week and trying to switch sleep schedules for the weekend was wrecking havoc on her system. She sighed, resigned to wakefulness for another few hours. Right or wrong Violet kept running through her head. She knew if things didn't work out, it could end up being bad for AJ, after all Violet had a lot of authority over the boy and the school year wasn't even half gone. But she hadn't felt this way about anyone for a long time, going on one date couldn't hurt and if things went badly she could just stop the whole thing before it went anywhere. She rolled over propping her phone against the blankets and clicking on a show. After a couple hours of watching she finally drifted to sleep.
Clementine woke up with a hug from AJ. "Morning kiddo." She said with a yawn as she glanced at the time. "All ready for school?"
"Yeah, I'm about to go get on the bus. I just wanted to say I love you before I left." AJ said.
"I love you back." Clementine gave him a squeeze. "I'll see you after school. Duck's going to come over early tonight okay? I'm going out with Ms. Adlon for dinner."
"On a date?" AJ asked with a giggle.
"Go wait outside!" Clementine chuckled as she tickled the boy, making him squeal with glee, "The bus will be here any second."
AJ continued to laugh as he rolled off the bed and ran out of the room, Clementine heard the door slam shut and cracked open the blinds so she could watch him standing at the end of the driveway. When the bus finally arrived and AJ got on Clementine laid back on the bed, falling back asleep.
Hours later a knock on the door aroused Clementine from her sleep. She sat up in bed, it was almost time for AJ to get home from school, but he had a key, he never knocked. Clementine walked to the door, still wearing her pajamas, hair a mess, she opened it.
"Hello Ms. Everett!" An older woman said, a little too enthusiastically for Clementine's taste. She stood on the welcome mat holding a platter in her hands.
Clementine looked down at her pajamas and back up at the well dressed woman, feeling uncomfortably under dressed for any interaction that didn't involve AJ or her best friend Duck. "Hello... um... Joan is it?" Clementine said hesitantly, vaguely remembering the woman from Lee's funeral but everything had been such a whirlwind she wasn't certain.
"I just wanted to check in on you and the boy. Make sure you're holding up alright. I brought you a black forest cake! I made it myself, it's my specialty if I do say so myself!" Joan removed the lid, unveiling a beautiful cake.
"Oh, um, thank you ma'am. We're managing okay and it looks amazing." Clementine stared in awe at the cake, it really did look delicious. Especially when she had been skipping meals herself in order to make sure that AJ stayed full.
"Here, just let me set this down for you." Joan replaced the lid and pushed past Clementine, inviting herself in. Clementine looked around the house flustered at the full sink and cluttered living room. She intended to get AJ to help her clean up once he got home but as it was, the house was a bit of a disaster. Joan's eyes darted from mess to mess, smile never leaving her face. "I'll just leave this right here." She placed the cake on the kitchen counter. "As I'm sure you know, I am the head of the Home Owners Association in this neighborhood."
"Oh, I didn't realize." Clementine said, trying to casually tame her bed head as she talked.
"I know you are a new home owner dear but in this neighborhood we hold our residents to a very strict code of conduct." Joan said, still eyeing the messy room.
"Ma'am?" Clementine asked, not knowing what the woman was getting at.
"You have one week to meet these standards or you will be subject to a fine." Joan held out a paper that Clementine took from her hand, staring at it confused.
"Grass an inch too long, shrubs in disarray, wilting flower bushes, tree limb hanging over the neighbors fence..." Clementine read off the list, eyes narrowing with each item she read.
"You have until Sunday. Maybe if you didn't sleep all day you'd have time to get some yard work done." Joan said smugly, looking Clementine up and down, "And time to clean your house as well." She turned on her heel and marched out. "Have a nice evening."
Clementine glared after her. Before the door could close, AJ pushed it open, looking at the woman that just left. "Who's that lady?" AJ asked, closing the door, watching her walk down the sidewalk.
"Just a neighbor." Clementine smiled, hiding her frustration from the boy, "She brought cake!" She opened the lid of the cake platter, AJ's jaw dropped and he danced around the kitchen.
"Can we have some? Please Clem?" AJ begged.
Clementine reached into the silverware drawer and pulled out two forks, handing one to the AJ. "Dig in." She said as she took a fork full and crammed it into her mouth, not even bothering to cut it into slices. AJ's eyes widened in glee as he too began eating. "After we eat though, I need your help cleaning up, deal?"
AJ grinned, face already a chocolatey mess, "Deal!"