It's About Time (GMW - Joshaya)

Chapter 83

Josh's POV

I took the extra stool from the kitchen corner and lifted it over my head, bringing it to the island where I placed it next to Maya's stool.

The oven beeped a high pitch tone to remind us to take out the pizza.

Maya perked up and skipped to the oven. After opening the oven to check the pizza, she clearly decided it was ready and cleared the timer and shut off the oven. She grabbed the nearby oven mitts and wiggled them on her tiny hands, taking the pizza out and setting the pan on top of the stove which was located to the left on the perpendicular wall.

As she cut the pizza up into 8 equal pieces with the red, silver, and black pizza slicer from one of the drawers, I set the island like a table. I found the supply of paper plates and napkins stocked deep in the back of one of the cabinets like they always were. I took out two plates, one for me and one for Maya, and a small stack of napkins because we all know pizza can get a little greasy and messy at times.

I folded us each a napkin, tucking it under our plates and leaving the extra napkins in the middle.

"Soda or beer?" I asked.

"What?" She had a perplexed look on her face.

"Soda or beer?" I repeated.

"But we don't have beer here. And I'm pretty sure we are getting the shipment of soda syrup for the fountain on Sund--"

"That not an answer to my question...Soda or beer?" I reiterated.

"Beer," Maya replied, her voice filled with uncertainty of where I was going with this. 

I left the kitchen without saying a word.

I returned two minutes later to Maya stuffing her face in the pizza. Her eyes lighting up when she noticed the beers in my hand.

"Where did you get those?" she said in amazement, wiping her saucy fingers with her napkin.

"Well, I remember a couple years ago, I was having a poker night with Cory and all the guys, and well, that particular time we had it at Topanga's after closing. It was the night of a big football game, so naturally we were drinking  while we were playing and watching the game. Eventually we ran out of beer because the game when into overtime. And that was when Cory revealed to us the secret beer stash he had in a mini fridge in his office here."

I placed the beer cans down on the island counter and double tapped on each of the tops before cracking them for us using my thumb. 

The can made a "sssska" noise as it opened, releasing the carbonation into the air.

I watched as she hurriedly grabbed the cold beer, and chugged a bit. 

"Damn, someone is a little thirsty there, huh?" I laughed, finally taking a sip myself.

"Shut up and eat your pizza," she pushed my plate of pizza closer to me.

I took a large bite of my slice, nearly encompassing half of the slice in my mouth. My next two bites were smaller, but enough to scarf down the rest of my piece leaving nothing but the crust. 

I took a deep breath before venturing to finishing out the slice by devouring the crust.

"Damn someone is a little hungry there, huh?" Maya looked at me wide-eyed, mocking what I had said earlier.

"Shut up and eat your pizza," I tapped the edge of her plate, allowing a smile to escape from my mouth. 

"I am. I'm just eating at a normal pace, like a normal human being," he defended herself.