In Burrito Bistro, Mesto is handing another order of chips and salsa to the person in the black hoodie, though he glances over to the other table where he sees his boss, Cedro Garcia, talking to Jerry Pitt, the CEO of Club Azure.
“Wonder what they’re talking about,” Mesto mumbles to himself.
“He probably wants to acquire the restaurant,” the hooded figure replies while shoving a tortilla chip with salsa in it into her mouth.
“Oh hey, you talk, can I get you anything else?” Mesto asks, “By the way, you’re that Victoria girl, right? What brings you here?”
“It’s Vanessa,” Vanessa corrects Mesto as she eats another chip, “I’m fine with just these. As for why I’m here ... I thought I bought tickets to the basketball game but I didn’t.”
“Alright alright, but just so you know we do have some great food and buying it would really help us out,” Mesto states.
“Yeah well, I’m broke,” Vanessa remarks.
Mesto sighs before looking over to Jerry Pitt to see he’s standing up from the table he sat at with Cedro Garcia.
“I didn’t take you for that kind of man, Mister Garcia,” Jerry Pitt remarks.
“When you get to my age you can sniff out a bad deal with your eyes closed,” Cedro Garcia remarks, “But I appreciate you coming by today sir.”
“A bad deal?” Jerry questions, “I’m curious to see how long you’ll hold onto that sentiment.”
Jerry begins to walk to the door, however he is stopped for a moment by Mesto. The two lock eyes.
“Can I help you with anything?” Jerry Pitt ignores.
“Nothing, I was just wondering if you’d like to take some of our food to go,” Mesto remarks in a customer friendly smile before switching to a cold response with, “I think a slice of humble pie would do you wonders, sir.”
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“Unfortunately, you’ve done more than just spoil my appetite,” Jerry remarks as he leaves, “Next time I’m here, it’ll be wise of you to have a change in attitude.”
The front door to the restaurant slams shut following Jerry Pitt’s exit. Mesto returns to a more casual demeanor as he walks over to his boss, Cedro Garcia and asks, “So you told him no?”
“He wanted me to sell for half as much as we make in a month!” Garcia laughs.
“Oh I see, Guess he was just all talk,” Mesto remarks.
“Though he did say something odd,” Garcia adds.
“Oh really? What was it El Senor?” Mesto asks.
Vanessa goes to eat another chip as Garcia says, “Something about how I should go on a vacation with the money, because his ‘expansion’ into the east side of town is going to be messy. Whatever that means.”
Hearing this, Vanessa almost chokes on her chip, Mesto & Garcia look to see if she’s okay and she just nods before the two continue to talk.
“Well hopefully he doesn’t try to mess with us some more,” Mesto remarks.
As the two stand there, the front doors to the restaurant open and Mesto looks over to see that entering the establishment is Ronnie Everst, and with him is Ivory Dutchingson. The two lock eyes and just stare at each other for a while.
“H-hey,” Ivory says nervously.
“Hey,” Mesto replies.
Cedro looks at Mesto and taps his shoulder before saying, “You two have a seat, and don’t worry about working, I’ll take care of the orders for a bit.”
Mesto nods as he sits down at a table looking toward a window with Ivory sitting across from him. Ronnie, not really knowing what to do right now, just sits at the table Vanessa is at and eats some of the chips.
“So…you dyed your hair, huh?” Ivory says.
“Oh uh, yeah. Does it look bad?” Mesto asks.
“No, no, it looks great on you. It’s just…you look so different,” Ivory begins to say as he looks down at the ground, “Look I’m…I’m sorry for everything, that I didn’t try to help you once you left, and how I just wasn’t there for you. I just… was afraid, that’s all I’ve ever been.”
Mesto sighs as he says, “Maybe a year or so back, I would have been mad at you. I would have told you about how I blamed you for the way my life turned out…but now I don’t hold that resentment. We were just kids back then, hell we still are. I know we can’t go back to how we once were.”
Ivory looks at Mesto as he finishes his sentence by saying, “I’m okay with that, I’m just glad I got to see your face again.”
A tear goes down Ivory’s cheek as she smiles, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Oh nothing,” Mesto remarks.
As the two begin to catch up, Ronnie ponders how two people that were ripped apart from one another finally got to reunite. Whether something bigger comes from this, he doesn’t know. But just that little moment of happiness, that small moment where everything just felt right.
Those minutes where the thing they desperately wanted to happen but never expected to happen actually came true.
Isn’t that in itself, a miracle?
As Ronnie finishes Vanessa’s chips he stands up and begins to walk towards the exit of the restaurant, however, before he goes he takes one last look at Mesto & Ivory. Mesto also glances over to Ronnie.
Despite no words being shared between the two young men, the two understood each other perfectly. And just like that, Ronnie left the restaurant, ready to spend time with the people he cared for. Just as Mesto is now.
See You Next Chapter!~