Lover McQueen 2: Electric Boogaloo

Chapter 1

"I'll be right back with that!" I heard myself say in an overly sweet tone. I spin around on my heels and head to hand the order to the kitchen. I'm met face-to-face with my co-worker, Charlie.

"Move it, Charlie, I have to run this order back to the kitchen." I snap at him with a sigh.

"Didya hear..? Well..? Did you?!" he asked, his eyes lighting up.

"Hear what, Charlie? Seriously, I don't have time for this."

"About the race! THE Lighting McQueen is coming to race HERE, in our city!"

"NO. WAY." I raise my voice in a sarcastic tone, falsely matching his excitement.

He rolls his eyes and punches my arm lightly, then shuffles out of my way. I toss him a look as I walk to the kitchen. The chatter of the cooks fills my ears as I stroll in. I hang the order where the cooks can see and start to head out of the kitchen to check with my other tables.

"Y/N!" someone calls from inside the kitchen. I sigh and turn around, walking back in. I scan the room of cooks before I meet eyes with Dave, the head cook, holding two slips of paper in his hand.

"Y/N!" his loud voice booms towards me.

"Yeah, Dave?" I say, exasperated. I just want to go home, why does everyone have to keep bothering me?

He smiles warmly. "SO, I have a little situation on my hands. I got this awesome deal on tickets to the race on Saturday... you know, the one with Lighting McQueen? Well, it was four for the price of two, so I have 2 spare tickets, and I couldn't think of a more deserving girl to give them to! I know how hard you work here, and you deserve a break! Take the tickets, kid, take Charlie or something, you'd make a nice couple. Plus that boy needs a girlfriend before he dies all alone. So... What do you say?"

"That's sweet and all, Dave. but I can't take the time off to go to a stu-" I catch myself before I accidentally call Dave's favourite dumb pass time stupid, I clear my throat "Erm, a silly race when I could be working. You know how much I need this money, Dave."

"One day won't hurt! Please, kid, you need this. I see how stressed you get out there, just take a day off, enjoy the race, on me"

"I really can't accept this Dave, it just won't-"

He cuts me off. "You're taking the day off and you're going to see that goddamn race. I'll speak to the manager about it. Go tell Charlie you're taking him out"

"Who taking me out?" Charlie says, strolling into the kitchen. Dave's face lights up and he begins to speak. I cut him off.

"No one! Dave here kindly gifted me some tickets to that race and I'm bringing my brother. Isn't that right, Dave?"

Dave stutters, stunned by my response. "See?" I say, snatch the tickets out of his hand and walk out of the kitchen. I find my manager and tell him to cover for me while I take a quick break. He nods and heads towards my tables as I step out the back door. I lean against the wall and take a deep breath. It's fine. You're fine. Just give the tickets to Dad and he can take Josh. Breathe. Your shift is almost done. You can go home and rest, you just gotta get through this. Breathe. I take another deep breath in, exhale and head back to work. The rest of the shift was busy, but that helped it go by quicker, and then finally, it was over. The car ride home was filled with trashy 2010's pop music and a lot of off-key singing.

Kicking off my shoes, I head up to my bedroom, looking forward to the isolation and silence that my small, but comfortable, room brings. I toss the tickets on the kitchen table as I'm on my way up to my room. Once I finally make it in, I pull off my work clothes, change into something comfy and flop onto my bed. Burying myself in my covers, I find myself drifting off... then a loud screech comes from downstairs. I sit up, heart racing. Grabbing a couple of stray bandages off my dresser, I rush downstairs to see how Josh has managed to injure himself this time. The squealing continues as I frantically run into the kitchen. Josh is sitting at the table clutching the tickets and screeching like a maniac. He looks up to face me, with wide eyes and an even wider smile.

"LOOK WHAT I FOUND!!" He yells, showing me the tickets.

"Christ, Josh, stop yelling," I say, relief flooding through me.

"IF MY VOICE ISN'T LOUD NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO TELL HOW EXCITED I AM"

"I'll rip those up in front of you if you don't tone it down"

"NO! I'm sorry!! Please Y/N!!" he cried, holding the tickets to his chest. "I can't believe Dad got these! I thought we didn't have the money to... you know... do fun things..."

"Yeah, well Dad didn't get them, they're mine"

"Oh... but you don't like racing?"

"Yeah, I don't. I guess we'll have to throw them away since I don't need them," I say sarcastically.

Josh wasn't stupid, but he wasn't quite old enough to understand I was being sarcastic yet, so his eyes filled with tears as he clutched the tickets and shook his head.

"Oh, Joshy-boy, I'm just kidding. Dad is gonna take you, okay? I brought those tickets home for you guys!" I say, trying to sound excited. His face lights up again.

"Really??" he whispers in awe. I nod and he runs to hug me. I smile and hug him back.

"Dad will be home soon... Maybe we should surprise him with dinner and the tickets? What are you hungry for, buddy?" I ask Josh, pulling out of the hug.

"Mac and cheese!" he says.

"Coming right up!"