The Office Worker and The Tramp

Chapter 2

Dumb, fucking alarm clock. Just today, the day of the event to advertise that new restaurant, the battery had to run out. Now his entire schedule was delayed, and he couldn't manage to make coffee. Great, reheated from yesterday. Note the sarcasm.

Angel got into the shower, took a quick cold bath, and then went to the kitchen. He made himself a simple lettuce and ham sandwich and resigned himself to drinking some of the coffee he had left yesterday. Sure thing, it tasted like plastic, but that was better than nothing. He couldn't survive without his daily cup of coffee.

Today was an important day for Ángel. He was assigned to lead the opening event for the new family restaurant, and if all went well, he would hopefully be given a long-awaited promotion. He knew he deserved it much more than his co-workers who, despite being good at their job for the most part, were not as nearly dedicated as him.

After eating breakfast and brushing his teeth, Ángel left his beautiful contemporary apartment, closing the door behind him. He checked that in his pockets were the keys to his old Volvo, which he planned to replace once his salary was increased. He wanted a "higher level" car: one that would raise eyebrows in admiration among his colleagues, and in which he wouldn't feel cramped every time he got stuck in traffic.

After going down the elevator, internally grateful that he didn't meet anyone there and that he wasn't forced to greet them with a forced smile, he headed towards his car. Traffic was heavy like every morning, and Ángel became even angrier when a "strayman," as he called them, tried to clean his windshield without permission.

"Go away, you, shoo!" Ángel told him, almost shouting.

Angel had a bad temper. However, he did his relaxation exercises to arrive calmly at the inauguration event. Otherwise, he would only generate discomfort among his colleagues, and a bad image of himself.

"Good morning, Mr. Holligan" Ángel greeted his boss, squeezing his hand and with a fake smile, once he arrived at the restaurant.

"Good morning, Ángel" his boss greeted him in return.

There were still almost two hours until the inauguration, but Ángel's team had to check that nothing was missing.

"Have you contacted the actors yet?" Ángel asked Beth, one of his subordinates.

"Yes sir. The first group is two blocks away from here, and the second is around the corner".

"Good. Make sure the first group leaves within fifteen minutes of the opening, and the second one within twenty-five".

"Okay".

Angel's plan was quite simple. He hired actors who would pretend to be customers of the place, and once inside, they would attract the attention of other pedestrians by making them believe that they liked that restaurant. Easy peasy.

"And David, take that horrible sign out of there," Ángel said to another of his subordinates.

"The owners insisted on putting it in".

The restaurant owners had already hired him to take care of all the advertisements. Why the hell didn't they understand it? All they had to do was sit still like lapdogs while he turned their business into a success.

With the horrible bright green sign they put up at the entrance they would not only scare families away by making the restaurant look like a cheap lunch joint, but they would risk his chance of getting a promotion at work.

"Well, tell them not to worry, that we will take care of the tiniest announcement" Ángel ordered "so take it away now".

"I already tried, but they insist".