Romeo exhaled as he slipped the key into the lock. Grabbing for the handle, he slowly opened the door and reached around in the darkness until he found a light switch. It was the first time had had showed up back at the bakery in almost a week away. Even though it was his business he felt like a stranger walking in. Walking into the empty kitchen, he looked at the disarray of bowls and utensils scattered throughout the kitchen. With Romeo and Rudy missing, it had left Berry in charge who also decided not to show up for the last few days. He wanted to stay in Slapstick Villa with Allen, but they needed the money. He had mortgaged the business just to pay for the attorneys and was quickly burning through his savings to keep Allen in a hotel as he couldn't leave the playground as part of his bail agreement. Waddling into his office, he sat down at his computer, turning on the monitor and spinning around in his chair. Opening up some financial spreadsheets, he spent the next hour doing his best to budget his jellybean budget. Now that he was paying for a mortgage, he found that money was a lot tighter. Without three of his chefs here, productivity had taken a dip which meant they were backlogged and unable to take on more orders. Laying his head down on the desk, he rubbed the back of his head with worry. Maybe he was in over his head? Maybe he should have waited. Sighing he pulled himself up and looked over his expenses. He was probably going to have to make some cuts. But they were already behind work-wise, too.
As he worked, the front door opened and a stream of Toons made their way in from the soggy, raining, outside world. Hanging up soaked jackets and hats, the chefs chattered among themselves as they made their way to their stations, readying themselves for a hectic day. Turning off his monitor, he walked out of his office and into the kitchen where he was met by a unified cheer from the other Toons. Smiling he scanned the room until his eyes locked onto the tall purple bear who was turned away, hands deep in a pile of dough. "Good morning everybody." leaping up onto a counter, he addressed his workers. "I want to apologize to everyone for my abrupt departure, and thank everybody for their extremely hard work and continued efforts even under the extreme circumstances."
"Um, Romeo. Where have you guys been? We haven't seen you, Allen, Romeo, or Berry in days! Is everything okay?" a green crocodile named Florida asked loudly.
Scratching his chin, Romeo looked down at the ground. "Well just in case nobody has heard. There was a misunderstanding with Allen in Slapstick Villa and so we're trying to get that figured out."
"Hey Berry, don't you live in Slapstick?" Sleepy looked towards the purple bear who was ignoring the rest of the group. Turning around, the large bear grunted and went back to his work.
"Anyways guys. Rudy is going to be gone for a while, she is off visiting family in the Brrrgh, so we will continue to be short handed for a few days." doing his best to divert the group's attention from an awkward conversation he stood up. "So I will be joining you guys in the kitchen today.. and to reward everyone's hard work I will be giving everybody a bonus!" his promise worked, as all of the group hustled back to their stations and began to work diligently. It was funny, he had started this business because he wanted to bake and not be restrained by others, and yet he spent most of his time in a stuffy office. For one day, he wanted to just lose his troubles and bake. With Romeo running the kitchen, things went extremely smoothly. Romeo was amazed at how much fun he was having. Calling out orders, icing cakes, and testing out his own unique ideas, the thoughts of Allen and Rudy had melted from his mind. The hours flew by as the backlog was quickly taken care of, and they even had time to get some new orders done with as well. By the end of the day, the kitchen was a complete mess of flour and cream. Sliding down near a cooling oven, Romeo wiped his brow. "Hey everybody, why don't you guys take the rest of the day off and I'll get things cleaned up."
The appreciative chefs cheered and quickly made their way over to gather their belongings before their boss changed his mind. Everybody except for Berry, who was still completing the finishing touches on a batch of cupcakes. Waiting for the remainder of the group to leave, Romeo took a deep breath and stood up. He had never been the confrontational type, but he knew that he couldn't just ignore the situation. After the adrenaline had worn off, the racing thoughts had re-entered his head, now exaggerated by the promise of a bonus to his workers with money he didn't have. Unsure of what to say, he stood in place for a minute, watching as the bear worked silently. Before he could do anything, Berry spoke first.
"Bonuses, eh? You really think you can afford that?" Berry grumbled walking over and sticking the pastries into a large fridge. "Sure they will be excited to get those 5 extra jellybeans this week."
Romeo glared at the purple bear. "I don't think how I run my business is any of your business. In fact, I'm getting pretty sick of your terrible attitude and I'm sure everybody else does as well. I don't know why I hired you."
"Ha. Why YOU hired me? Do you actually believe that? Everybody knows here that Rudy is the one that runs this place. You have no backbone. Couldn't even come face me yourself, had to send Allen in your place." Stepping towards Romeo, Berry rolled up his sleeves. "So if you got something to say to me, now seems like a good time. Boss."
With a rarely seen anger, Romeo stood on his top toes and spoke confidently. "Yeah, I do. You're fired."
Chuckling at the young duck, Berry applauded mockingly. "Ah there it is. I guess I should have seen this coming. Good luck running this place without me. You can hardly keep your own woman away from me, let alone hand-" before he could finished he felt a fist connect with his jaw, knocking him backwards. Catching his breath he looked up at Romeo who had widened his eyes and was rubbing his knuckles. Laughing, Berry gathered himself and stood up. "Wow, looks like Ducky has some fight in him." Stepping towards Romeo, he watched the duck back up quickly. "That's fine. I hated working here anyways." walking towards the front door he didn't turn around as he spoke one last sentence to his former boss. "Oh yeah, Rudy loved it." he muttered, slamming the door behind him.
Slinking back to the floor, Romeo became overwhelmed with emotion. Bursting into tears, he slammed his fists on the ground. How badly he wished his mother was here, or Allen, or even Rudy. He felt hopeless and didn't know what to do. Staring into his reflection in the stainless steel oven next to him, he wiped his face. He was Romeo Duckawitz. He was stronger than this. He wasn't going to let his mom or Allen down. Standing up with a new determination Allen picked up his hat and set to work cleaning up the kitchen. He was going to prove his doubters wrong, he was going to be a success, and he was going to save Allen.
"Thank you both for your time. I'm really sorry this happened to you." A resistance Ranger finished scribbling some notes and walked out of the hospital room, leaving the young couple to themselves. Although neither had suffered any serious injuries, they had been taken here as a precaution. Clover had suffered a pretty nasty cut, but with a few stitches and a nice lollipop she was good to go. Bloople sat on the edge of the bed, slowly rubbing Clover's non injured leg. A lot of the details had come out during the discussion with the officer, however Clover was still unsure of what had happened. Frowning she looked at Bloople. "I told you that going off by yourself was a bad idea. You're really lucky that I had a bad intuition or who knows what could have happened. You could have been killed!" she watched as her boyfriend cringed at the thought and looked away from her.
"Clover, you know I can't just leave turn someone away when they're in need. That's not who I was raised to be." Bloople responded quietly.
Sliding over next to Bloople, Clover tried to keep her leg straight to avoid ripping out any of the fresh stitches. "Yes, and I love that about you, but you have people who rely on you. You can't just be running off willy nilly like that."
"Yeah, like I was supposed to know that this would end up being an In-Sell? If you were so worried, why didn't you say anything? What if that was you, or one of the girls? Wouldn't you want someone to help?"
"That's exactly why you should be worried! Because if one of us is in trouble we can call you! We can't do that if you're dead!" Clover crossed her arms and huffed, unable to understand Bloople's logic.
Standing up, Bloople stared at the bright green cat. "I guess you're just always right then. I'm just a stupid idiot who can't do anything right and am a terrible father. You don't need to keep reminding me!"
"That's not what I said." Clover responded exasperatingly.
"You might as well have. I know you think I'm stupid, but I'm a grown adult now, Clover. I can handle myself."
Standing up and leaning on her good leg, Clover hopped over to Bloople and placed he hand on his back, rubbing it slowly. "I'm sorry honey, I didn't mean that. I just mean.. Pickle isn't here anymore. Miko and Hula can't lose you too.. and neither can I."
Bloople's mind raced at the mention of his dead sister. Memories flooding his mind. Why did she mention Pickle for? Feeling his heart pounding he broke away from the cat. "Don't talk about her." he responded bluntly.
"What do you mean, babe? I was just saying.." Clover looked sadly at the angry dog.
"Yeah I get it she's gone and I'm here. I should have died instead of her. Why don't you just say what you mean!"
Clover scowled. "Okay now you're just purposely being obtuse, Bloople. You know I would never think or say something like that!"
Slowly making his way out of the room, Bloople stopped at the door. "Well whatever. I need to get the girls from school. I'll see you at home." slowly closing the door behind him. Clover watched as he slowly disappeared from sight. Sitting back down on the bed she sighed, wondering how things had turned south so quickly.
Raindrop sat out in a park near Tenor Terrace. He had found since he had gotten home that he enjoyed getting out of the house a lot more than usual. It was a warm, breezy day in Minnie's Melodyland, unusual for mid-April, but Raindrop wouldn't complain. It had taken him a while to get used to not being able to walk, and there were a lot of places he had difficulty getting into as he couldn't get up stairs. The whirring sound of a Toon on a rideable lawn mower rolled by back and forth, shaving the grass and drowning out Raindrop's thoughts. Pulling out his whisper device he smiled as he saw a new message appear from Cookie. Cookie had been sent on an R&R break after breaking his wrist, and was somewhere in Animationville where he was able to whisper from. They had discussed Raindrop's injuries, Cookie's regret and renewed lease on life, and a myriad of other small things. Raindrop felt good to finally have a friend to talk to. As much as he loved his parents, he still didn't feel comfortable talking to them about what happened. "Hey, have you seen Pippy since you've gotten home?"
Sighing as he read the message he contemplated how to respond. Pippy was the most beautiful toon he'd ever seen, a cream mouse, she was well known at school for being incredibly beautiful, yet very sweet and caring. Raindrop had had a crush on her since they were in the seventh grade. While had had several classes with her, he never was able to work up the courage to talk to her. She did live nearby, on Tenor Terrace. One day he had taken her bus with the intention to sit next to her and talk to her, but he had gotten too nervous and instead sat by himself and had to walk twenty minutes to get home in the rain. "Um, nope. Mostly just been home since I've gotten here. Good thing is I haven't had to go to school anymore though, so that's cool." he responded. The wind began to pick up, turning into a light chill. Raindrop decided to make his way home. Rolling out of his spot near a bench, he pushed himself along the sidewalk of Tenor Terrace.
As he rolled along, he felt his whisper device rumble again. "Man, you have had a crush on her for how long? Like five years? You gotta talk to her man. I bet she really digs you and is just waiting for you to talk to her. If I'm wrong I will personally do your homework for the rest of our lives."
"You say that like it's a good thing." Raindrop snickered as he responded. "Besides. I don't even know what I would say to her. I'd just embarrass myself." as he continued typing he wasn't paying attention as he bumped into a line of Toons standing outside of a cafe.
"Hey, watch where you're going wheels!" a burgundy horse angrily called out, as Raindrop composed himself.
"I'm sorry." Raindrop quickly responded, wheeling himself around, he started to continue when he heard a high pitched voice yell his name.
The sound of steps pounding the pavement caused caused Raindrop to turn around in time to see a lavender duck who was smiling at him. "Oh, hey Mandy. How are you? It's been a while."
Scanning the disabled dog, she tried to keep herself from making it a focal point. "Oh, um, hey. I heard you had gotten back and um, I hope you're doing well." she awkward muttered out.
"Yeah, I'm okay. Just trying to re-adjust to things here." he paused. Mandy was one of Pippy's best friends. Thinking back to what Cookie had said, and what his dad had told him when he had gotten back. How long was he supposed to wait to live his life. He had been given a second chance. He could sit and complain about his issues, but if he didn't start living, he was just going to continue to sulk and hate himself. Although if this backfired, he would also hate himself. Sighing, he blurted out suddenly. "Hey, have you talked to Pippy lately?"
Mandy giggled and dug her foot into the ground, twirling it around. "Oh yeah, we were actually planning to meet here!" she smiled mischievously at the blue dog. "It's too bad you were leaving though. She talks about you all the time. I think she'll be pretty disappointed.."
Raindrop's stomach churned at the duck's words. Was she kidding? Was she just trying to be nice? Either way, it gave him butterflies. He wanted so badly to jump up and shout to the skies. Even if there was just a chance, he had to take it. Trying his best to act cool, he smirked. "Yeah, maybe I'll just hang out here for a bit. You know, just to get a coffee or something." inside, he was screaming. For the first time in weeks he felt optimistic about his future, and completely forgotten about his new disability.
Rudy rapped on the door. A doodle started barking loudly, causing a baby to start crying. Sighing, she tried to peek inside of the window near the door, but it was curtained and unable to be seen in. The voice of somebody yelling to answer the door caused her to start re-thinking. This had all been done on a whim. This was a terrible idea. Before she had the chance to regret her decision, an older, dark red cat swung the door opened and peered at her. Chewing on a toothpick, the older cat spat it out on the ground and called back into the house. "Reggie, Root Beer is here!" staring at the cat she placed her hands on her hip. "Loogit Miss Fancy Pants Bakery Chef decided to come back home to grace us with her presence."
An older, dark blue bear came up behind the cat and grunted. "Might as well let her in, letting out all the warmth. I'm not made of money and I'm not turning the heater back on." slowly following the pair inside the house, she watched as a bright orange doodle ran up the stairs and ran back down, barking and escaping. "Shut up Pepperoini!" the bear kicked out, narrowing missing the doodle who ran away.
"Um, hey mom. Reggie. Long time no see." Rudy hesitantly spoke, scanning the trashed, unkempt house. Holes in the wall, garbage on the floor, and a mildew smell all brought Rudy back.
Rudy's mom crossed her arms, grabbing a new toothpick from her pocket, she began to chew on it. "What. You run out of money or something? Haven't seen you in two years and you show up unannounced. Didn't even give me time to put my face on all proper." spitting the new toothpick on the ground she walked over and sat down at a table in the dining room.
"No mom. I don't need money. I just wanted to come stop by and see everybody." a loud crying sound rung out through the house, interrupting Rudy. "Wait a minute, is that a baby?"
"Yup. Sounds like it." Reggie spoke up. "All the dang this does is cry and eat. It's just like you, except it's a baby." Reggie laughed at his joke, as Rudy glared at her step-father.
Rubbing her forehead, squeezing it gently covering her eyes, Rudy sighed. "You guys had a baby and you didn't tell me? Don't you think that having a new brother or sister is something I'd like to know?"
"Maybe if you stopped by more often you'd know. Except you're too busy in the fancy big city as a fancy big time chef to come see your family." snorting she stood back up and left the room and walked up the stairs, leaving Rudy and Reggie to stand awkwardly in silence. Reggie had married Rudy's mom when Rudy was ten. She didn't remember a lot about her real dad, other than that he left when she was still a baby. Since her mom met Reggie she had become a completely different person. The usually peppy, enthusiastic, happy Toon had turned bitter and unpleasant to be around. Neither Reggie or her mom worked, both instead relying on Rudy to take a job with Lil Oldman since she was thirteen to support the family. Reggie was another story. Rudy never liked him, he was pretentious and had horrible anger issues. While he never became physically abusive, he would always insult Rudy, or make snide remarks. Nothing she did could ever please him. The thought of a young Toon growing up in a home like this made her sad, knowing that she was able to leave. Eventually her mother walked down the stairs holding a small, brown cat, likely around one-two years old. It was wearing an oversized t-shirt and a diaper and was now sucking on a pacifier.
"Oh my cog, she's adorable!" Rudy shrieked at the sight. "What's her name?"
Reggie snorted and hocked a loogie over into the corner of the room. "Names Root Beer."
Rudy's mom quickly looked away to avoid making eye contact with her daughter. "Wait, you named her... Root Beer? Like my name?" pausing she looked over the young Toon. "Wait, she's brown AND has green eyes.. Mom.."
"Oh shove the mom stuff." Reggie sarcastically responded. "Not like you care. Where have you been? Letting your family suffer like this? We're hardly scraping by over here on two hundred jellybeans per month that we get from my disability. Thought you went by Rudy anyways, young fancypants. I don't believe I should have even let you in my house!" Standing up the bear growled at Rudy, who glared back at him.
"Mom, how could you have another baby AND name her after me? Just because I left doesn't mean I'm not your daughter. Besides, how could you let HIM father another child after he so clearly screwed up with me?"
Rudy's mom swung around and stepped towards Rudy. "You don't talk about your father like that! He's a wonderful father and a wonderful husband and he doesn't run out on the family when they're most in need!"
"Run out? Of course he doesn't! That fat lazy bum never does anything!" facing her step-father she screamed. "Disability? You just don't want to work! You sit on your butt all day and send your thirteen year old step-daughter to work for some creepy old man! You aren't disabled and Toons like you make it hard for actual disabled Toons to get the respect they deserve!" Rudy was stopped when the large bear swiftly reached out and smacked her across the face, knocking her backwards into the dining room table. Narrowly missing hitting her head on the stand she stared up in shock. Rudy's mom stared as well, unable to say anything.
"You will not come into my home and insult me, you worthless little tramp!" Reggie was breathing heavily, making himself look taller. "No wonder your old man walked out, it's amazing I was able to put up with you fir eight years!"
Rudy felt a tear start to well in her eye. Not because of the pain from being hit, or the words that Reggie had spouted, but the idea that her own mother had just stood there. "Mom.. Mom he just HIT me. Do something!"
"I'm sorry honey.." Rudy's mom whispered, turning around and facing away again. "Maybe it's just better if you left.." Rudy watched her mother walk out of the room with her younger sister, slowly followed by Reggie who didn't even look back to face her. Slowly standing up, Rudy dusted herself off and stood silently, trying her best not to break down. Why had she come back here? She knew that it was a bad idea, but she did it anyways. Part of her wanted to fight back, but the other part of her knew it was worthless. Her mom still lived here, and she didn't want to make it worse for her. Well, if this was her real mom. Her mom never would have let anyone lay a hand on her. Whoever this woman was, she was a stranger to Rudy now. Walking to the front door, Rudy grabbed a jacket that was hanging near the door. Opening the door, she felt the freezing wind and snow blow in her face. Stepping into the freezing wonderland, she slowly closed the door behind her.