The weeks carried on by, Goofy and Clarabelle began to learn more and more of each other during that time. Their conversations were light and filled with excitement, laughter and most of all, hope, at least in Goofy's case.

Goofy had no doubt about it now, he was definitely in love with Clarabelle, it was a fact that he could not deny any more than he could tie his shoelaces in the morning without getting his finger stuck in a loop.
But he kept himself at bay for a few obvious reasons, then there were a few others that were a bit more on the personal side.

He needed to know if Clarabelle felt the same way towards him before he allowed himself to make the next move, even if he had been shamelessly flirting with her nearing every time they were meeting up. She would sometimes even return the gesture, which only left Goofy wondering if she was returning his advances or if she was just being nice and friendly.


Unbeknownst to him, Clarabelle was in a dilemma.

She hadn't felt this way towards anyone for a long time, she spent several of those weeks trying to lock her heart away and harden her feelings so she wouldn't be able to set herself up to get hurt ever again.

But, doggone it, Goofy had such a loving charm that he made her melt just with his laugh, she could feel her knees turn to jelly when he met her eyes and her heart would jump whenever they made physical contact with each other, whether it be by accidental bumps or placing a hand over the other. And he was such a good flirter too, he knew just what to say to make her feel wonderful, even something as simple as him complimenting how pretty she looked today made her entire day, she couldn't resist flirting back with him, but sometimes, she held herself back.

In all honesty, Clarabelle was terrified.

She was terrified of her feelings for Goofy, she knew where this was going and she wanted to get off, but at the same time, she didn't. Every time she looked at him or talked with him, she was just reminded more and more of him... the one who must never be mentioned.

She shook off the memories, not wanting to relive them. So, what if Goofy was like him? She knew better now, don't give him a chance or he'll just hurt you in the end run.

As the weeks went by, those defenses began to fall as Goofy proved himself to her day after day. He sometimes surprised her with a small breakfast biscuit in the morning, they ate together almost every day... or pretty much every day of the work week.
The conversations were always safe and controlled, Goofy did ask her a few times about herself and Clarabelle did her best to reveal as little as possible, which thankfully, Goofy never dared to pry further than what she was willing to give him.

Then, it happened.

They were both eating lunch together, though Clarabelle noticed that Goofy was unusually quiet this time around, like his salad bowl was the most interesting thing in the world. She thought about asking him, but before she could, he spoke up out of nowhere.

"Hey, um... Clarabelle? May I ask you somethin'?"

This surprised her more than it should have, but she managed to keep from making a reaction, so she cooly responded.
"Sure, Goofy, what is it?"

"Uh... well, lessee..I was just wonderin'..."

That made her stop eating, she could tell the signs right off, the nervous fingers, the eyes looking everywhere and anywhere else and the loss of words? Clarabelle deduced that he was trying to ask her out, which made her panic slightly. She wasn't ready for this; she was definitely not ready for this.

No, no, no... maintain a cool and calm composure, she reminded herself as she took a deep breath and felt ready for him to ask the question, but right before she could decide what her answer would be-

"I was just thinkin'... you think there's a place out there called 'The Salad Ballad'?"

"... I'm... I'm sorry?

"Well, ya see, I was listenin' to a ballad on my way to work and I forgot I had packed a salad and I just thought-Why not put em both together? Ya can order and eat a salad and listen to a ballad while ya wait. A-hyuck! That's an idea I gotta write down."

Clarabelle was floored, she was so sure he was going to ask her out, not ask her if a "Salad Ballad" was a thing.

Though, she had to admit, it wasn't the worst idea. She rather liked the way it sounded.

Aside from that, now that the idea had planted itself into her mind, she couldn't get it off... Was Goofy going to ask her out?
She waited a little more to see if Goofy was going to make a move, but he never did, which disappointed her more than relieved her.

A part of her knew she was being unreasonable and throwing out all the precautions she had previously, but it was no use.
Clarabelle couldn't keep her heart from wanting him, no matter how hard she tried.

Each week was growing more and more agonizing.


Another day, as they were both packing to get going back to work, Clarabelle bid her farewells until Goofy told her to wait.
Yes, she thought, he's going to do it. This was a perfect moment.
"Ya forgot your bag, Clarabelle. A-hyuck!"

She felt like she was being crushed into a trash compactor, that was definitely not what she was expecting, and it only served to disappoint her even further for some reason.
"Oh, um, thank you, Goofy."

She eyed him carefully, surely, he was playing with her feelings on purpose somehow. But Goofy said nothing as he threw out his trash and proceeded to walk with her back to their respective workplaces.
Clarabelle held her bag in both hands, and she felt her heart jump, waiting eagerly in anticipation to be asked out. She mentally scolded herself but was too busy sending mental signals to Goofy to just get it over with, ask me out, she thought again and again.

Though, she was also terrified at the idea and dreaded it.


Later that same day, she was slowly getting herself back into the work routine, she couldn't help, but feel excited.

She honestly did like Goofy, he really seemed like a swell guy, so she wouldn't mind going out to lunch with him a few times, heck, it didn't even have to be a lunch, they could go and walk around for all she cared, she just liked being in the general company of the guy.

But, how to get him to go on a date with her...?

At least, on an official one.
Wait...

Clarabelle stopped typing at her computer as she made the realization.
If that logic was to be applied, then... She had already gone out with Goofy more than once as friends. Heck, she couldn't even remember how many times it had been now.

Drat, she thought, her cheeks growing red as she remembered every single interaction, every single tidbit of banter they shared amongst themselves... was he actually flirting with her, and she just never realized? She was very familiar with how guys did it, but Goofy wasn't a lot like other guys.
But, if they had been having a good time, why didn't he just ask her out already?

She then remembered that he mentioned having a son, but nothing about a wife... did something happen to her that he just wasn't bringing her up?
As she typed out her reports, she contemplated the possibilities with any free space in her mind that wasn't taken by the work she was currently doing.

It took a while for her to narrow it down to two possibilities, divorced or widower.
Judging based on his character, and she prided herself very much on being able to determine a person's character from her years of being a popular girl, she couldn't think of any bad reason why someone would want to divorce a sweet, caring man like Goofy.

Well, unless the girl was a perfectionist that didn't tolerate having a clumsy man in her life. Normally, she would be such a girl, but she found herself relating to him somehow... almost like...

"I understand him." She whispered without thinking, which made her jump and clamp a hand over her mouth.
Yes, there was definitely something wrong with her and she decided that just sitting down and thinking about it wasn't going to get her anywhere. She would need some hands-on action, or she would drive herself insane.

So, if he wasn't going to make the move.

She would.


Goofy had decided, it was now or never.

He had known Clarabelle for a good while now and he decided if anytime was a good time to take things a little further, it was going to be now, lest he miss his opportunity and spend the remainder of his life alone and constantly wondering what might have been.

Of course, he was nervous, he hadn't dated in such a long time, and he worried about giving off the wrong impression. He wasn't scared of rejection, oh no siree, he had been rejected more times than he cared to remember, was just scared of hurting her... or embarrassing her, that would be a little more likely.

But he had to let himself relax; he was just asking her to go with him somewhere, not for a relationship... at least not yet.
Maybe if things went well, he would cross the bridge once he got to it.

Goofy decided to close the shop a half hour early to go look for some flowers to give her. His grandma had always told him that the first step to a good impression is a good gift.

And he couldn't go wrong with flowers, he thought. So, off he ran, making sure Clarabelle wasn't looking or was anywhere close by, he really wanted this to be a surprise.

He found the flower shop and picked out some gorgeous ox-eyed daisies that he was sure Clarabelle was going to love. He gave them a huge sniff and sighed, content with the purchase.

Now, all he had to do was find her.


Clarabelle stood in front of the studio, knocking on the shutters a few times.

She had gotten out of work 15 minutes early to see Goofy before they went out on a lunch break together, but she was surprised to see that the studio was already closed.

It took her a while to gather the courage to do this because she had decided that today, she was going to ask Goofy to dinner this Friday after work, it was now or never as she knew she would chicken out if she decided to leave it for later.

But she had to give him something, she felt. Guys always gave girls flowers, but Clarabelle knew that wasn't going to cut it, so she planned ahead and baked a pie just for this.

It was strange to be baking after such a long time, but once she had gotten started, it all seemed to come rushing back to her... almost like it never left her, even when she had decided to throw away that part of herself, it was still here, as if someone out there knew she would need it again one day.

And it really wasn't much, just a fresh homemade apple pie that was baked with nervous hands and a heart afraid to love, but willing to try. It was small enough for one person to eat... or two.

No, no no, Clarabelle scolded herself, she needed to keep it together or she would lose her nerves that she had worked so hard to build up.

Anyway, back to the plan.

Give him the pie, ask him the question, simple as that.
Of course, she was scared... what if he said no? Rejection was definitely not something that Clarabelle was used to, though she recalled times when she rejected guys at her school on a near daily basis. This almost felt like vengeance for all those hearts she crushed mercilessly.

No, it wouldn't matter. If he said no, she would be fine, she decided with a firm look on her face.

And she would probably go home to drown her sorrows in something like ice cream, probably decide her life was over and she would never find happiness like she had before or now.

Her face drooped, but she was quick to shake it off and got back to the topic at hand to partly distract her from what-ifs.

First topic on the agenda? Where was Goofy if the studio was closed?

Maybe he was just doing something, she thought, so she knocked a few times.
No answer.

This was definitely strange for Goofy; he was always out on time.

Clarabelle's eyes widened as she realized, what if something happened? What if Goofy had to rush home because something happened to his son? Or worse?

Oh, she had to find him, if he was still here.

She ran off towards the direction of the food court, hoping he would be there, if not, she would run outside to see if his car was still there.


Goofy walked into the insurance office across the studio a few moments later and just missing Clarabelle.

He was happily taking another whiff of the daisies to steady his nerves for what he was about to do. He knew he wasn't going to mess up, it was just a simple task: Present the flowers and ask her if she'd like to go to dinner on Friday after work.

But right as she looked up from the daisies, he realized Clarabelle wasn't at her desk in the insurance office.

Goofy thought it was weird as she never left her desk as far as he knew, maybe she was busy with something?

"Can I help you, sir?" A moose stepped out of a door behind the desk, holding some folders in his hands. Goofy knew this was her boss, so if anyone was going to know Clarabelle's whereabouts, it would be him.

"Ah, well, I was wonderin' where Clarabelle was. Is she around, by any chance?"

"Sorry, sir, she went off to lunch a few minutes ago. She should be back soon. Anything else I can help you with?"

Went off to lunch already? Goofy checked the clock as it said 11:55 and he was confused. This was definitely a strange thing for Clarabelle to do, she was always out on time.

Without thinking too much about it, Goofy thanked the man and went out towards the food court, thinking that maybe she would be over there.


Clarabelle didn't find Goofy anywhere in the food court and she already had mistaken two people that looked very much like him when looked at from behind and from the side. She face-palmed when she realized that the second person was dressed in cowboy garbs, Goofy was definitely strange, but he wasn't the kind of guy that would randomly switch into something so outlandish for no reason.

At least, she felt like he wasn't.

Hoo, boy, that would definitely be a topic of discussion if that was the case.

She ran out to the parking lot and saw that his car was still parked in the same spot she had seen it that morning, so that meant he hadn't left... not yet at least.
Clarabelle looked at the pie that was still in her hands, wondering if it'd be better to save this for later.

No, she was going to do it, she had to do it now or she would lose the nerves that she worked so hard for and that was that.

And right as she was about to go into the door leading back into the food court, the door itself opened and out came Goofy, looking around for something.

Clarabelle instantly felt the color drain from her face. She was ready when she stood in front of the studio, she was not ready now.
Noticing that she still had the pie, Clarabelle panicked and placed it onto a convenient cart near the truck entrance to the mall. At that moment, Goofy noticed her and called out.

"Heya, Clarabelle! There ya are!" His smile instantly made her heart melt and made her nervous all at the same time.

"G-Goofy! What a surprise! I wasn't... well, what brings you here?" She leaned on the wall, hoping her body would block the cart that held the precious pie from his sight until she was ready to present it to him.

"Gawrsh, well, I was about to ask you the same thing. You weren't at your desk, so I thought maybe you were hungry and wanted to eat early. Then, when I saw that ya weren't there either, I thought maybe ya might'a left. What are you doing out here?"

"What am I doing? Who, me? Well, yes, see, what am I doing...?" Clarabelle scrambled her mind to think of an excuse and fast. Right as she was about forget about it and just wing it, Goofy spoke again.

"Ah! I know! Ya came out to get some fresh air!"

Clarabelle froze for a second, stunned as her perfect excused was dropped right in front of her.
And from the man she was trying to make an excuse for, no less.

"Y-Yes. Yes! Actually, I was feeling a little dizzy, so I just... needed to... clear... my head."
To further sell her point, Clarabelle took a huge whiff of the air and immediately regretted it as the smell of engine exhaust instantly filled the air.

Why of all the places, did they have to stand near where the trucks dropped off supplies?

"Well, gee, it sure is nice out today." Goofy was proud of his deduction skills, but more than that, he realized that she was right, the air and day was beautiful.
Even if he was totally oblivious to her trying to fan away the smell of the exhaust and keep her coughs quiet.

But, in her time fanning herself, she realized that the cart carrying her pie was gone.
Clarabelle blinked a few times and looked around. Maybe she had misplaced it?

Oh, come on, this was not happening.

As she was looking around, Goofy looked down at the flowers in his hands and suddenly remembered why he was looking for her. Seeing that it was the perfect time, he decided he would ask her.

"Hey, Clarabelle?"

"Um, not now, Goofy, I'm kinda..."

Clarabelle started walking towards where she last saw the cart. She was so sure it was here, right here was where she left it. She thought about it and wondered if someone had taken it.

No, she would have heard it, right?

"Well, I was thinkin' about this for a while, but..."

"Goofy, please, I'm trying to... find something."

That was when she saw it. The cart carrying her pie was being carted away by an employee of the mall. They looked like they were listening to music and had no idea of the contents of said cart.

"AH! WAIT! STOP!" Clarabelle yelled and ran off towards the direction of the cart. Goofy noticed quickly and took off after her.

They both ran fast, but not fast enough, it seemed.
Goofy caught up pretty quickly, with flowers in hand and decided he would try again.

"C-Clarabelle! I've got something I want to ask you!"

"Not now, Goofy!"

Clarabelle picked up speed until she was in a full sprint, the employee turned a corner and was out of sight. She was horrified and called out a few more times to no avail.

Goofy tried to keep up, but that didn't stop him from presenting the flowers.
"Look! I brought you some-! WHOA!"

He wound up slipping on a discarded newspaper and crashed into some stacks of crates with his daisies thrown off someplace.
Goofy shook his head to get his bearings and looked down on his hands to notice that the daisies were gone.
After a moment of panic and looking for them, he noticed that Clarabelle was still running and decided he should catch up to her, the flowers would have to wait.

Clarabelle found the employee headed into a side door with the cart, she sprinted towards him as fast as her high heels would let her and just when she was about to reach the door, it closed. Pulling on it seemed to lock it, which frustrated her.
She pounded on the door this time, hoping that someone would hear her.

No answer.

"Clarabelle!"

Goofy finally caught up, winded and out of breath. He rested himself on his knees while Clarabelle held her face in her hands, exasperated.

Why, oh, why did things have to turn out like this?

"Hey... so..." Goofy spoke in between breaths, "You, okay? Why are we runnin'?"

Clarabelle said nothing as she fought to keep tears from spilling from her eyes, her pie was gone, now she had nothing to offer him.
She might as well just give it up, she decided, maybe this was the universe giving her a sign that this wasn't meant to be.

"Nothing, Goofy... let's just go."

Goofy was confused, not sure what had just happened, but when she started to leave, he grabbed ahold of her wrist, which surprised her.

"Hold on... I needa catch my..." Goofy huffed, recalling that he used to be a great track runner, but it seemed like he was out of practice.

Clarabelle didn't know what to say, but she decided to use this time to look away and regain her composure and try to at least pretend like nothing had happened.

"Here," she heard Goofy say and as she turned to face him, she was greeted with a single damaged ox-eyed daisy in his hand.

"What...?"

Goofy finally caught his breath and stood up to pull himself together.

"What I've been meanin' to say, Clarabelle... is this..."

Clarabelle was confused but was watching Goofy closely as she had never seen him look so serious before.

"I've been wantin' to ask you if you'd like to go on a date with me."

It suddenly seemed as if the world had gone silent for both of them. The wind blew across them as they looked at each other in the eyes, Clarabelle felt her heart flutter, jump and do crazy eights all around her chest.
How did this moment that she was anticipating this entire time happen to surprise her in the moment she least expected it?

Right before she could say a single word, another voice spoke up from behind her.

"Hey, ma'am? This yours?"

Clarabelle turned around to see the same employee having opened the door and showing her the pie she had made, but it was squished, save for a single corner that was left intact.

She winced and almost forgot the situation that she was in momentarily. Goofy looked in to see what was going on.
"Yes... yes, that was mine."

"Oh... really sorry about that, I didn't notice until I put a box on it," the man pointed to a box that had a messy corner, "I thought I might've picked it up from the bakery across the street or something."

Clarabelle took the messed-up pie and thanked the man, deciding that she was entirely to blame, not him.
With a sad look, she turned to face Goofy again, but she lost her nervousness and anticipation that was there previously. She presented the pie to a curious Goofy, looking down as she could not bear to see the disgust in his face.

"I, um... I wanted to present you this pie... and I was... I was going to ask you out... too."
Clarabelle felt so ashamed, she braced herself on instinct for any insult or joke he would make, but she instead heard a sniff.

"Hey! That smells good! Where'd ya buy it from?"

She dared herself to open one eye and saw him looking at the pie as if it was still intact.
"Um... nowhere. I actually made it myself," Clarabelle responded as she scratched her cheek to ward off the nervousness that was building, confused at the turn of events playing out in front of her.

"You bake?! No kiddin'! I know a home baked pie when I smell one!" Goofy smiled warmly as he took another whiff of whatever was left of the pie that the beautiful Clarabelle baked, something he didn't know she did, but now that he did know, it made him like her even more.

"But... it's destroyed, Goofy... you can't-" She tried to ease him down, thinking that while it was sweet for him to try not to hurt her feelings, he didn't have to pity her like that, she felt bad enough already.

"Not completely, Clarabelle!" He beamed as he showed her the pie, with the corner intact.

She blinked, looking back at him and the pie. Surely, he wouldn't eat something so hideously deformed now.

"Ya see, one thing I always learned is to see the goodness in everything, Clarabelle. Shore, the pie is mostly done in, but this part is still eatable. You don't have to throw away the whole pie just because it's ruined, ya make the most with what you have."

With this piece of wisdom revealed, Clarabelle felt her heart flutter once more as she contemplated his words, it was almost as if he was speaking about her directly to her...

All this time, she had felt like she would never be good enough and everything needed to be perfect, but if Goofy felt this way about the pie... then, surely...

"G-Goofy?"

"And it's apple pie! My favorite- huh? Oh, yeah, Clarabelle?"

"Would you like to... would you like to go out with me Friday night after work?!"

This comment took Goofy by surprise, which surprised Clarabelle and made her blush. She looked away but made sure she was still facing him.

After a moment of processing, it finally dawned and clicked in Goofy's mind what she was asking, and he felt his ears fluttering in joyful excitement.
"Why... why, I'd love to!" Goofy exclaimed happily, presenting her the damaged ox-eyed daisy he held.

"S-Sorry about that... I kinda had a crash chasing you." He finished, sheepishly.

Clarabelle blinked and smiled, remembering Goofy's words as she took the daisy, pulled the flower off the steam, fixed the petals and placed it above her ear. How ironic that it seemed to match her yellow with white polka dotted dress she was wearing.

She looked at him and held his free hand, "Yes. I would absolutely love to go out with you," Clarabelle exclaimed with a confidence she had never felt before. They both smiled and began to make their way back to the food court.

Goofy complimented her baking skills as he tried pieces of the pie, each compliment making her more bashful than the last.

They were both excited and looked forward to Friday with high hopes.


The next few days just flew until Friday finally arrive, Goofy was in utter bliss like usual, but it seemed like Clarabelle caught the bliss bug too as they both exchanged glances and waves from across where the other was working. Goofy couldn't remember the last time he felt this happy, it felt like it was a long time coming.

The same could be said for Clarabelle, who would stop what she was doing to gush to herself that she got a date with one of the nicest, cutest guys she ever had the privilege of knowing... though this happened on multiple occasions a day.

They would both eat lunch together, though neither were too nervous to do anything couples would do, like holding hands.
So, they ate like friends... giddy friends.

During it, they both discussed where they would go. Clarabelle almost expected Goofy to choose a fancy restaurant because that was what she was accustomed to.

"I was thinkin'... since this is our first, maybe it'd be better to start small... what do you think?"

She honestly didn't care, she just absolutely loved that he asked for her inputs, it made her feel important to him that he favored her opinions so.

"Small... that sounds moovel... I mean... m-marvelous!" She nervously laughed, she was so deep in thought, she had let herself slip. She needed to be more careful.

Thankfully, Goofy didn't seem to notice as he picked at his lunch, deep in thought.
"Hmm, how 'bout that new burger place? I remember goin' there before it closed down. I've been thinkin' of tryin' it out sometime. Good time as any," Goofy laughed, which made Clarabelle's heart melt just that much more.

"Yes, sure. Anything is great." She replied, almost to the point of swooning.

"Then, it's a date! A-hyuck! I've been wantin' to say that." Goofy replied with a smile.

After lunch, Clarabelle counted the hours, no minutes, no... the seconds before their date.

She was so nervous, she kept making mistakes in her reports, which made her turn them in later than usual. She wondered if maybe she wasn't cut out for this sort of job...

Clarabelle checked the clock and noticed only 12 seconds had passed since she last checked.

She groaned, realizing that this was going to take forever.

Finally, the time came, they met in the lot, Clarabelle told Goofy she needed to get back home to change into something more comfortable, which he agreed to and gave her directions to the place.

Happy and full of excitement, they both eagerly parted ways, ready to meet each other again later.
Oh, life was good.


After a long day at school, Max wanted nothing more than to go home and take a small nap, maybe buy the new video game that just came out with his allowance money and try it out.

But, before he could even make it out the doors, the familiar huffing sounds started to grow louder.
"Hey! Max! Wait up!"

Max stopped and watched P.J. stopped in front of him and try to catch his breath. Max wasn't sure whether to joke about earthquakes or ask if P.J. was trying out for the track team this year.

Before he could even do that, P.J. stopped him and showed him some coupons.
"I was thinking we could go grab a bite to eat at the new place! My dad just gave me a raise in the allowance so we should go celebrate!"

Max wasn't in the mood, but he knew that once P.J. talked about going to get food, there was no talking him out of it. He was pretty tired anyway, so he didn't bother.

"Sure, let's go."

P.J. smiled as they both started to walk towards downtown Spoonersville.

The walk there wasn't too bad, especially since Max never really carried any schoolbooks home while P.J. huffed, carrying all of them in his bag.

"Man, this is heavy."

"You worry too much, P. You have a locker at school for a reason, you know."

"Yeah, I know, but I've been doing great in school lately and my dad had promised me a T.V. for my room, probably the one that's in the living room."

"Gee, that sounds swell!"

"I know, right!"

Max laughed inwardly, not sure whether his best friend not able to detect sarcasm was funny or sad.
As they were nearing the place, Max placed a hand over his eyes to block out the sun and scout out the location, noticing a familiar sight.

"Get down!"

"Oof!"

Max ducked into some bushes and pulled P.J. down with him. He peeked up top to make sure they weren't seen, which was met with relief when he realized their cover hadn't been blown.

"What was that for?" P.J. asked as he tried to stand back up, but was pushed down even further by Max.

"Shh! Hold on."

Max waited for activity until he saw the driver side door of the car open and out popped...

"Oh, no.."

"What?"

"My dad's here."

P.J. looked up from the bushes and, sure enough, there was Goofy standing near his car as if he was waiting for someone to arrive. He was still dressed in his work suit, so that meant he hadn't gone home yet, but why would he be here at the new burger place? He never went anywhere unless it was for a reason.

"He hasn't gone in to eat, maybe he's just waiting for someone here? I don't know, Max, let's just go, I want to eat." P.J. whined, which made Max look at him annoyed.

"Quiet, P. I don't know what he's doing here, and if he knows I'm here, he's going to want to drive me home. Man, this really ruins the whole plan." Max put his head into his hands, mentally kicking himself for the situation they were now in. Though, it was outweighed by confusion as his dad coming to a place like this was definitely not something he would do.

"Well, maybe it isn't a total loss. Maybe we can go through the drive-thru without being seen!"

"Alright, sure, maybe we can see if you're big enough to be a car and go order in the drive-thru.

"I don't know, my dad was able to do it, but I'm not... Hey!"

Max snickered as he got up and peeked from the bushes along with P.J. His dad was still there, checking his watch and looking around every so often. If Max didn't know any better, he would swear his dad looked nervous.

Right before he could say or do anything, another car pulled up and Goofy immediately checked his composure, becoming more nervous and even using the windows of his car as mirrors to make sure he looked decent enough. Max grew even more confused, he knew his dad was weird, but this was new to even him.

They both watched silently as he walked over to the other car and opened the side door in a weird and gracious way before out stepped a cow woman neither of them had ever seen before.
Max's heart immediately dropped, and his blood ran cold. It all suddenly began to make sense now and he wasn't liking where it was going. They watched as the couple entered the establishment, Max's head was filled with so many questions, none of which he had a lot of answers for.

"Hey, who's that with your dad?" P.J. asked suddenly, pulling Max out of the deep depths of his thoughts.

"I... I don't know."

"Well, whoever she is, she's really pretty."

That reply warranted a bonk on the head from Max, who was still surprised at just how dense his best friend could be sometimes.
"OW! What was that for?!"

"We're going home."

"What?! But, but, what about the burgers? I'm still hungry!"

"I don't know, maybe we'll just go home and eat sandwiches or something."

"Geez, you're no fun, Max.."

Max was still in a state of shock, betrayal and grief... who was that woman with his dad? He recalled what his dad had told him about meeting with a coworker and that was when it dawned on him that there weren't any coworkers at the studio, his dad worked alone in that place. How could Max have been so blind?

So, if it wasn't a coworker... then it would either be a friend or a...

Max didn't even want to consider the other possibilities, mostly because they would hurt him in ways unimaginable. What if his dad was seriously dating again? That very thought alone scared Max because he had always assumed that his dad was doing just fine, always remembered him saying how much he loved his mom and that she was the only one for him.

He wouldn't be dating anyone, would he? And if he was, wouldn't he have told him about it first...? His own son?
A surge of pain infiltrated Max's very soul. It couldn't be that his own dad wouldn't be trying to replace mom... right? He said he loved her.
Tears welled up in his eyes as he hunched forward and began to walk faster, wanting nothing more than to just go home and think things over. All these developments were just too much for him, he needed to clear his head, try he ever saw what he saw.

"H-Hey! Max! Wait up!" P.J. huffed as he ran to try and catch up with him.

Max didn't slow down.