2019-09-03 - Peach's Not Terrible Pizza!

'Grand Re-Opening! Under new management!' The banner isn't very large, and it looks fairly cheaply made. But Peach's Pizza is open for business again after the former owner passed away. Inside, it is utterly empty, except for one woman standing behind the counter and looking bored. She's slumped forward against the counter, with her elbows on it and her cheek on her palm.

Clarissa steps in looking like she might have gotten lost on the way to one of those fancy fixed price menu places. Perfect hair and makeup, a stupidly expensive bag hanging from the crook of her arm, and a pair of sunglasses that might have cost more than a car perched on her head like a trendy headband. She pauses by the door, glancing around at the emptiness with a skeptical look on her face, "What style of pizza do you offer?" She asks Vicky, taking the sunglasses off of her head and tucking them away in her bag. "And is any of it gluten free?"

Vicky does a slow blink when someone actually steps inside, and doesn't immediately move or respond. At the questions, however, the girl with 'Vicky P' on her nametag suddenly pops upright and nods, her eyes wide, "Er, yes! I mean, well..." She slowly looks aside, "The...pizza kind?" Turning around, Vicky looks up at the menu hanging above her head, looking it over. "Um...thin crust... pan crust... Deep dish? I don't remember seeing any deep dishes..." She hasn't actually answered about Gluten Free or not.

Those answers don't seem to thrill Clarissa, who walks towards the counter with a frown to look up at the menu, "When you say thin crust, do you mean New York style? I'd kill someone to get a good slice around here--" she stops suddenly and then gives Vicky a quick, charming smile, "Not literally. I'm speaking figuratively. No one would ever kill someone over pizza! That'd be--I'm not--" she clears her throat and looks back at the menu, "What about cheese? Is any of it dairy free?"

Vicky eeks quietly with a startle when the voice comes from closer behind her than she expected, and Vicky whirls about to face forward again, shaking her head. "Um...no. And to be honest, I don't think any of the dough is gluten free either." She rubs the back of her neck, looking aside. "Buuuut~ I could pick some up next time I order ingredients?" She sneaks a look back over with a big, hopeful grin? It lasts only a moment before she sighs. "Sorry, I'm kinda new at this."

Hazel eyes move from the menu to Vicky, "...new at hostessing?" Clarissa asks carefully before casting a look around for any other employees. Then with a deep sigh she starts digging through her purse, "Do you have slices, at least? I don't particularly want to pay for a whole pie if it turns out I'm going to hate it. Which I usually do with pizza on this coast."

Vicky perks up, "Oh, yes! You wanted cheese, right?" Bustling away, rattling and banging come from the back, along with the slap of pizza dough. "And new at running a pizza place, honestly. My uncle died recently and left this place to me--and only to me. It was super weird." There are no other employees, but bright, smiling toys hang from pegs on the prize wall, and posters display brightly-colored animatronics that are nowhere to be seen. It's pretty quiet.

"Sorry for your loss," Clarissa murmurs, looking over at Vicky again before she disappears at least long enough to catch her name, "Vicky. And yes, cheese. Light on the oil, please!" She calls back, taking in the very quiet, empty place, "...I'm sorry, did you say that you're new at running a pizza place? New to...all of it?" She asks, "You've made a pizza before, right?"

From the back, "Oh yeah! Like, a few times." Then, quieter, "...oil? What oil? Oh, right!" More jostling, some tossing, a sharp "Eeek!" and then something being shoved into a suddenly roaring oven. Vicky trots back out, looking a little frazzled under her red ball-cap. "And it's no problem, he was pretty creepy to begin with, and I hardly knew him at all. We stopped visiting when my cousins died after the last trip down this way." She plants her hands on her hips, swishing her skirt aside. "Anyway, it'll be a few minutes if you wanna look around. I got a few of the old games working again."

Clarissa does her best to hide a grimace at most of that and offers a smile, albeit a thin one, when Vicky reappears, "Sounds like you've had a trying couple of years. And now you're running a business! Did you go to school for finance?" Her tone has the slightest edge of desperation to it. Please say you have gone to school for finance, her smile begs.

Vicky beams, waving a hand away, "Marine Biology! I'm a junior at UW." She glances aside. "Well, was a junior. I took some time off to run this place. Just for a little while." She nods, straightening up. "Then back to Seattle!" The oven dings, only a few minutes after she put the pizza in. "Huh?" Glancing back, she tilts her head. "Well that's odd..." Wandering into the back, she peeks into the oven and makes an unintelligible sound. "Well, whatever. It looks done, at least?" She slides a pizza off a wooden paddle and onto a metal sheet. "Really thought I put that in for twenty minutes, though..." Wobbling the slicer over it for eight unequal slices, she serves over a piece, beaming a smile.

Clarissa hesitates just the slightest bit before taking the plate and examining it as quickly as she possibly can without being rude. Too rude. "It smells good," she sounds a little surprised by that, then puts off actually taking a bite to look at Vicky again, "I'm sorry, this might seem like a very blunt question, but how do you expect to run this place if you haven't even graduated yet? Or have finance or management as a major? Or cooking! That's probably a major somewhere. Are you hoping to just flip this place once you have it up and running again." She looks at the pizza. It does smell pretty good.

"Well~..." She starts off very optimistically with a smile, but then she kind of deflates. "Well, honestly I don't really have much of a choice. I mean, no one wants to buy the place, and I, ah, kind of be... She frowns. "Out of money." A finger snaps up, "But! If I can sell enough pizzas, maybe I can do something with this place. Clean it up." Her eyes slide away, "Sell it and move back to Seattle."

In the face of the optimism or perhaps its deflate, Clarissa offers a more genuine, tiny smile, "These things don't usually..." She starts to say, then thinks better of it and carefully raises up the pizza and the plate towards her face, taking a dainty bite out of the end of it. Then she blinks and has another one. "It's good!" She says with more surprise than a real compliment should have. Another bite and her expression remains rather astonished.

Vicky gasps, her smile glowing. "Really?!" Then she clears her throat and assumes a more proper expression. "Well of course it's good! Tell your friends!" She beams. "We deliver all over town, and if there is enough interest, we can even throw parties here. Maybe I'll hire some staff too."

Clarissa has a few more bites before she coughs once at something Vicky says, setting the plate and mostly just the crust down on the counter, "Yes," she clears her throat and pulls a bottle of expensive bottled water out of her purse. The label isn't even in English. She has a sip before she continues, "Hire staff. Someone to work your books. Don't wait for interest, drive it. There's very little to do in this town so any kind of weekly event you could pitch would likely bring in more people." A glance around the room. "People in general."

Vicky stares blankly. "Weekly event? What do you mean?" Her hands go to her hips. "And I looked into advertising. It's really, really expensive. Maybe I'll get someone to stand outside with a sign. Or have one of the robots do it, if I can get one working."

"It's been awhile since I was a college student, but they in general like excuses to go out in groups," Clarissa explains, gesturing emptily with one hand, "Game night. Karaoke night. Sports themed whatever. Do you have a liquor license? Someone outside with a sign is a good idea. Someone you have hired to maybe also work tables or the door or the back?" She stresses hired maybe a little too much.

Shying back just a little, Vicky offers cautiously, "N-noooo..?" She winces a bit, seeming to concede defeat. "Okay, okay. You're right." She sighs heavily, looking out across the very empty pizzaria. "I was hoping to save some money in reserve incase I needed to bail. But you're right." She frowns and nods, looking down at the pizza on the counter and taking a slice for herself, since no one else is around. "I guess I'll have to do some hiring. And advertising." Munching on the pizza, her eyes light up and she points at it, "Hey, this isn't bad!"

Clarissa actually picks up the crust and has a nibble, "It's actually very edible," she agrees with a nod, then grimaces and places the rest of the crust down, "Enough that I'm going to be paying for that on the treadmill later. I'm Clarissa Robbins, by the way. Chairwoman of the town's historical council. While our meetings do sometimes run late, the tastes of the group are a little...more expensive than pizza. But, we do sometimes do community outreach for teenagers that might be interested in getting involved and pizza would be in the budget."

Vicky beams, "Vicky Peach! Um, owner of this place here." She flaps her hands lightly to indicate the establishment. "And that sounds great! Just let me know how many you'll need and when you'll need them and I'll be ready!" She nods firmly, smiling. "And if you give me a week, I'll have gluten/dairy free stuff, too!"

"That would definitely put you on my list of takeout places to frequent," Clarissa confirms with a nod, digging around in her purse to pull out her phone, "Do you take Apple Pay?"

A wince. "Um...no. Sorry. Not yet." She perks and motions to a reader, "But we do take credit cards!" Her hand wobbles from side to side above it, "A few of them, anyway." She pauses. "And cash! We definitely take cash. Cash is pretty good."

Clarissa gets that look on her face again, that patient yet terse look of someone who suspects they might have made a mistake coming in here, "Right. Of course." The phone is placed back in the bag and she digs around in it again. The bag is kind of ridiculously large, especially on her tiny frame. She pulls out a ten and holds it out to Vicky, "Here. You can keep the change. That's the closest I've had to a New York slice since I got here."

The dawn slowly breaks over Vicky's face as the ten dollar bill is passed over. Holding onto it very gingerly, she seems to consider it as though it may not be entirely real. "Th-thank you... Wow." She holds the ten close, amazed. "Sold my first piece of pizza. I did it! I sold something!" She twirls around, opens the register, and slams it shut. "Thank you! Thank you! Come again! Tell your friends!"