The Pizza Guy

Act 1 

Beginning in the familiar halls of any public school attendant, a confident student, Kai, is seen conversing with many varieties of his peers from each clique as he makes his way down the hallway. Until he runs into his best friend, Li. Kai is far more fashionable and social than Li and although the boys appear to be opposites their connection is deep and obvious. Li is stressed from constant criticism from his parents. Kai redirects his Li's focus on more important topics such as getting beer for the weekend. The conversation steers into their plans for their dream future to cruise the seas of Mexico. They want to move there as soon as they have graduated and saved the money.
Kai smiles when he sees their good friend, Cindy, approaching them. His conversation with her is not as shallow as with other girls in the school. 
Kai's name is called on the intercom to go to the Principle's office. He is not concerned until he sees an enemy waiting for him in the office. Mickey is younger than Kai but far more mature and loves to tell on Kai whenever he gets the chance. Kai returns the favor by insulting Mickey for his nerdish ways and for sharing a name with a cartoon rat.  
After school Kai goes to work his shift at a local pizzeria called Pete's Pizza where he is a delivery man. His boss, Pete, is an optimistic but naive man. Kai has many routes throughout his shifts but he has regulars he sees weekly. Rodney is a retired veteran stuck in his ways. He always calls Kai out for his extreme aroma of weed and usually has some harsh words of wisdom for him. Tamara is one of Kai's classmates. She is pretty, flirty, and makes Kai nervous. Mrs. Rice is an unusual character. She has a phobia of the outside world, so Kai has actually never met her in person but knows her doorstep and voice very well. Another regular is Mickey's parents. The only time he doesn't mind seeing Mickey is when he is delivering to his house so he can ruin his life at home as well as school. 
Li works at his parents at their Chinese restaurant as whatever they need him to be at the moment. His favorite job is delivering so he and Kai can carpool their orders. They have a lot of the same regulars and enjoy talking about their strange customers while smoking a joint.

It is the present day now and the guys are driving down the same road, in the same car, having similar conversations as when they were younger. The future does not look like what they described as high schoolers. Kai is heavier in the midsection and Li has a few gray hairs. On top of Li still receiving constant criticism from his parents, his younger brother has grown to be an assistant manager and plays as another nag to Li. Kai is still optimistic about their future in Mexico, however, Li seems less amused about the topic. 

 They are working the same jobs and while a lot of customers have come and go they still deliver to a few loyal regulars. Rodney has aged less than gracefully, he is just as high as Kai now with all of the medication he is prescribed. Tamara has gone from the girl next door to the over-weight mother to the neighborhood menaces. The only new thing about Mrs. Rice is her P.A. system so she doesn't have to shout from her window anymore. Kai only sees Mickey's parents since he moved away for college.

As business slows down Pete and the guys brush it off as a seasonal issue. When Kai becomes suspicious he convinces Li he is concerned for a particular regular who hasn't called in a few weeks and they pay him a visit. The guys show up unannounced. Lou is surprised that the pizza and chinese delivery guys are so concerned about his whereabouts. He lies about cooking at home for health and finances right before a car door shuts behind them. The guys turn around to see a  new Dodge Charger with a huge sign on it that reads "Chew Crew". The guy that exits the car is clean cut with a big bright smile on his face. He is everything Kai and Li are not. He introduces himself as Lou's delivery man. Lou apologizes for lying and talks about the new company in town that delivers from restaurants. 

A couple of days later the guys decide to further their investigation by ordering from the Chew Crew and checking out their app to learn more about the company. They see more and more of nice company cars with the logo around town and come to the realization that the new competitor is a real threat to them. With a new found dedication the boys begin to tuck their shirts in and show up to their shifts on time in an attempt to win back customers and prove they are worth more than the Chew Crew. 

The guys have become desperate when they are only making enough to pay their bills. Kai comes up with an idea to get more people on their side by speaking at a town meeting about the issue. Kai nor Li own formal wear though they want to look professional for the meeting at a reasonable price. They find an old musical conductor's suit for Kai and a 1970's brown velvet suit for Li from a thrift store. Li could only find a 1x so it swallows his rather slender body. He is sweating on the way to the meeting, but not because of nerves. He will have sweat off 5 pounds by the end of the day in his velvet suit. When it comes time for them to speak the meeting does not go as planned. They try to pull the loyalty card on regulars they see in the crowd they are instead returned with comments about their tardiness with deliveries and multiple wrong orders they received over the years. After they are done and take their seats a man is introduced as the CEO of Chew Crew and applauded as he walks out in front. The tall man is in good physical shape, with a clear complexion and a perfect smile. He introduces himself as Kai's high school enemy, Mickey. He goes by Mick now and has the town wrapped around his finger. Mick promises an abundance of jobs and innovation to his hometown. The roles of being popular and being a loser have officially reversed. 

After the disappointing meeting, the guys visit their favorite bar drinking their unsuccessful day away until Cindy shows up with great news about her new job. They celebrate Cindy until Mick walks in with his co-workers and approaches their table to say hello to old friends. After he brags about his success he flirts with Cindy and leaves his number and around on him for their table. He offers Kai a job as a jab before he walks away. Kai is annoyed that Cindy is flirting with the enemy. She argues that  Kai is being selfish and leaves on a bad note. 

Just when Kai thinks he has hit rock bottom he arrives at work the next day to find out he is officially being let go from Pete's and being replaced by Chew Crew. Pete is sad to break the news to Kai but explains he cannot compete with their prices anymore especially after losing so many customers to them. Li's parents have decided to take on the Chew Crew for financial reasons as well. Li is to take on more responsibility in the restaurant in order for them to make his position worth it. 

Kai in this confusing time turns to Facebook to find old high school buddies to meet and catch up with and to get a taste of his old life. While out with his old friends Kai realizes he is the only one still holding on to the past. It is time for him to grow up like everybody else. Kai gets over his self-pity and applies for jobs. He becomes an Uber driver. His customers were either upset about riding in his old car or completely wasted. After dropping a man off at a foggy dock during the early hours of the morning Kai decides to look for a different job. He finds a gig as an Easter bunny at a local dying mall that has gone downhill ten years after a shooting. The only pictures taken were with some gothic kids that hang out at the mall and a grown man that is by himself and insist on sitting on Kai's lap for the picture. He is too afraid to return back to the job. 

Li has taken on much more responsibility at his parent's restaurant. This includes long hours and more stress that has peaked his anxiety. 

Kai decides to take one of his old friends up on an office job. It doesn't take long for him to regret the decision. He is driven crazy by the rude people he is required to cold call every day. He is kept on one phone call for 2 hours by a man that thinks the president is listening to their conversation. Later he receives a death threat from a man that thinks Kai is cheating with his wife with since he called her from an unknown number. Staring at a computer screen and the fluorescent lights all day gives him a headache daily. His life and happiness seem to go down a  steeper slope as he works here. After a long and draining day at work, Kai returns home, parks in the garage and closes the door behind him. Without thinking he forgets to turn his car off for a while as he sits in his car on his phone. He almost accidentally kills himself before his mother finds him asleep. 

In an attempt for a taste of his old life, Kai calls Mick for a job. While working for the Chew Crew Kai receives a delivery from Pete's. He is excited to see his old co-workers but is sad to find out Pete's is not doing well after signing on with the Chew Crew. Keeping the company car clean and showing up on time is hard for Kai in the beginning but he eventually gets a routine down. Even when Kai is being rewarded by Mick there is always a backhand comment after his compliments. He eventually becomes fed up and decides to actually start his big plan to move to Mexico. Kai meets Li the next week to discuss his plan and Li wants nothing to do with it. He expresses his frustration toward Kai not growing up and accepting the fact he will never follow through with anything. He explains how he is too stressed from work to discuss this and leaves. 

Kai and Li do not speak for weeks after their argument. With being lonely Kai has put his full attention into work so that he can save enough money to move in a year. He has become Mick's goto guy and Cameron is annoyed with this. While delivering some papers to Mick's office, Mick receives a phone call and leaves Kai alone and unattended. He begins to snoop out of curiosity. He notices Mick left his computer unlocked and gets on it. He gets a good laugh from seeing that Mick is apart of The National Association for Self-Esteem and has professional pictures done with his cat. While on his computer an email pops titled Building Health Permit. He only becomes curious when the address listed was not familiar to him as they are only located in a small office. He hurries off when he hears Mick approaching in the hall. 

On Kai's next day off he takes a trip to the address listed in Mick's email. It takes him to an old warehouse. While there is a delivery going on from a large truck he sees a kitchen inside. When Kai goes into work he volunteers to do more tedious work for Mick to have more opportunities to snoop wherever he can to find more information about the building but there is nothing until he comes across a piece of mail with that reads The Brew Crew.

He decides to make the 3-hour drive to visit The Brew Crew. After arriving Kai uses his reward, Mick gave him a few weeks ago for his work performance even though he knew there weren't any nearby, for a cup of coffee while he checks out the place. A barista starts conversing with him and he learns that he use to own his own coffee shop until The Brew Crew opened with prices they couldn't compete with. 

Offer Pete a job. Cameron and 4 guys shift lead. 

Kai rushes home to go see Li and tell him about what he's learned. He finally arrives at Li's parent's restaurant and pulls around the back to see Li screaming profanities and pacing while he beats his chest. He stops to lean on the building, gasping for air. When he hears Kai approaching behind him, Li's cry is silent and he gathers himself in one second before turning around. He tries to fake a smile but quickly breaks down about his panic attacks worsening due to the stress of work. After a small pep talks about doing what he wants and not what his parents expect he breaks the news that their restaurant could be in trouble. 

He takes Li to see the warehouse. When they arrive Cameron is standing outside with a few of Kai's other co-workers. Kai gets out of the car to ask Cameron what's going on. Before he can speak Mick walks out of the front entrance and plays off that he was meaning to talk to Kai about helping him open his new food court restaurant. Mick expects him to help with hiring staff.

Kai goes out of his way to order terrible crew members. The only ones that qualify are those with hairy bodies and without experience. He also hires Amberly since Pete had to cut her hours. She, of course, didn't want to work for Mick at first after watching what he has done to Pete's business but is happy to be apart of Kai's plan to sabotage and expose Mick. Cameron mentions the hopeless employees to Mick but he is too cheap to rehire a staff. 

With the opening less than a week away Mick calls for a mandatory meeting for new and old staff. He arrives with Cindy. She becomes annoyed and ignores Kai when he warns her of Mick. When they are alone later she begins to ask Mick more detailed questions about his businesses. His responses are short and he changes the subject. She later sneaks into his home office to look through his stuff. Later she meets with Kai and Li to apologize after finding out about Mick's fraud. She made a copy of a key to the restaurant. 
The night before opening Kai, Li, and Cindy meet at the restaurant. She goes into the office to rearrange the week's schedule while the guys turn off all the coolers in the restaurants and release a couple of rats. The next morning Amberly arrives to open with the manager. They find out the coolers have been off all night. The manager stops her from throwing any food away. He hesitantly claims the food will be okay to serve for the first day. Throughout the grand opening, things become hectic. Kai misinforms the staff regularly to cause more chaos. He also directs Pete and Li where to deliver their businesses food to save a customers dinner that he has ruined or just completely ignores. 

While the restaurant slowed down in the middle of the day they only kept a handful of employees on. Mick realizes employees are not showing up the night rush begins. He calls in Cameron and Kai. Cameron showed up in 15 minutes and Kai walked in about an hour and a half later with Li just to see the damage. Mick yells profanities at the guys for just standing around loud enough for the whole restaurant to hear. 
Kai refuses to cook any of the meat and informs the guest that it is all bad and the manager and owner refused to throw it away. Mick begins to throw a tantrum much like a tired toddler. The town has turned against Mick and any of his business, which is being destroyed by all the legal trouble he is in. 

A few years have past and the guys and Cindy have relocated to Cozumel, Mexico. They have finally pursued their dream of living and working on a yacht. Li's parents still call to criticize but Li is far enough away to fake a lost signal often. The friends live in content.