That Stupid Little Waiter

Chapter 4 - Lemon on Your Lips

No, definitely not that.

How the interview went was a blur. Rody didn't remember the exact details of it, probably because his brain had blocked it out in an attempt to not remind about the stress he felt during those short minutes. The only tiny bits he managed to recall was him practically pleading to get the job, along with Vincent's stare on him. He wouldn't describe it as "intense", but there was just something about it that still stuck to Rody now. He would be lying if he said he didn't feel like he was being judged, probably from his lack of qualification and lack of care to his looks, but it wasn't just that, and it could honestly drive him crazy trying to figure out what it was—

Ring ring ring...

The sound of the telephone snapped him out of his thoughts. How long had he been here, he did not know, but it had certainly been a habit of his ever since Manon initiated the break. They had not talked for a week and more, so now, every day in the past week, at the usual time they would talk on the phone together, he would instead sit there on the couch, stare at the telephone and wait, and wait, and wait... He wasn't really sure what use it would serve, but it also didn't hurt to anticipate her call. Besides, if he wasn't spacing out to wait for her to call, then what else would he be doing? After all, the only thing he would look forward to every day after work was talking to her on the phone or going on a date with her.

Hopefully, it was Manon who was on the other side of the phone right now and that his effort had paid off.

"Hi, hello? Manon, is that you—?"

There was a long silence between him and Manon, or at least the person he hoped was Manon. It wasn't until a good few moments before he heard a voice from the other side and unfortunately, it not only was a male voice, but it belonged to someone he had been seeing at work and would continue to see at work until the end of this week.

"Pardon?"

"Oh, Vince—"

A small part of Rody died on the inside. He wasn't sure whether to be sad, disappointed, mad or embarrassed. Perhaps it was a combination of both.

Even so, besides the intense debate inside his mind about whether he should dig a hole to hide in or abruptly end the call and end up embarrassing himself further, he couldn't help wondering what was happening. His boss Vincent was the last person he would expect to call him, especially not at this hour.

"Sorry about that, I thought—" Rody scrambled to explain his undeniably desperate voice but all the words were stuck on the tip of his tongue, so he just let out a sigh. "Never mind, what's up?"

"Are you free tonight?"

"Uh—"

It took a while for Rody to truly process Vincent's question, and panic began to run down his body. That could arguably be the worst question to ever ask someone out of nowhere, especially if they were your boss. What did he mean, "are you free tonight"? That could open up to so many possibilities. And it was way past business hour, what could Vincent possibly ask from him at this time of the day? While he was tempted to lie from the anxiety regarding what Vincent was thinking about, a part of him was curious and wondered if it would be a bad idea to lie, considering it could very well be an unexpected late shift and a chance for him to make some extra money. Another part of him said it was unlikely, but it was definitely a possibility to consider as it had happened before at one of his previous jobs. 

There was also another possibility based on Vincent's treatment towards him this week, but truth be told, Rody just wasn't daring enough to go anywhere near that. If people considered Vincent a danger zone—although some didn't mean it as a bad thing—then the idea just popped up in Rody's mind was the nuclear weapon zone and he should leave it the fuck alone.