It was lunch time at the New Moon Theater. The crew was gathered in the theater's break room where Meena had brought a big pot of tomato bisque soup and a tray of cookies for lunch. The animals were eating the soup and chomping down on the cookies with delight.
"Gotta hand it to you, Jumbo, this soup's not half bad." Mike commented. "Although, I'd personally add less salt next time."
Most of the cast around the mouse groaned in annoyance. While Mike had mellowed out since the big show, the mouse was still rather condescending and snarky. Of course, they've somewhat gotten used to this.
"Don't listen to him, Meena." Lisa assured, waving off the mouse. "The soup is delicious."
"I really like how creamy it is." Perry added, putting another spoonful into his mouth.
"And these cookies! Wow! They, like, totally melt in your mouth!" Gunter exclaimed, munching on one of the cookies.
"They really are delicious, Meena. Both the soup and the cookies." Johnny said with a grin.
Meena smiled and blushed at these compliments.
"Thanks everyone, but I can't take all the credit." Meena replied. "These are my mom's recipes. I just simply followed the instructions."
"Well regardless, thank you for bringing lunch today, Meena." Buster spoke.
"Oh, you know, maybe your mother and I can trade recipes sometime." Rosita suggested. "I have this really good pie recipe and I bet my kids would love to have something warm and tasty on a chilly day."
"I think my mom would like that." Meena responded.
Suddenly, Ash got a notification on her phone. Ash picked it up and checked the caller ID and groaned when she looked.
"What's wrong, Ash?" Jessica asked. "Who's calling?"
"It's just Lance." Ash answered with a sigh.
"Ugh, ignore him." Rena groaned. "He's not worth your time."
"Trust me, that's what I've been doing. He's been trying to get a hold of me nonstop since the show."
"Clearly he should have realized the great thing he had with you before he decided to foolishly throw it away." Lisa commented.
Many of the animals nodded or responded with agreement.
"He definitely gets no sympathy from me." Dillian said with a scowl. "Cheaters are the worst."
"That means you got cheated on too, huh?" Mike spoke.
"Mike!" Lisa scolded.
"What? That's what he's implying, ain't it? I'm just making things clear here!"
"That doesn't make it any less insensitive!"
"It's fine, guys." Dillian said. "There's no point in trying to deny it."
The room was awkwardly silent for a moment before Buster spoke up.
"Would, um, would you like to talk about it?"
Dillian sat there in silence, looking down at his bowl of soup.
"You don't have to if you don't want to." Rosita remarked gently. "I know it must be a sensitive topic for you."
"No, I think it would be better if I just let it out now." Dillian stated. "Don't want to bottle up anything after all."
"Are you sure? We don't want you to be uncomfortable or feel forced to tell us." Jessica uttered.
