Usually, when you arrived at work, Dave would already be there. But, there was a surprising lack of the Texan this morning. You knew that he should be here, you even asked Mr. Guy. Jeremy got his hopes up about Dave not being there at all, which you ignored.
Fortunately, Jeremy was disappointed. Dave showed up thirty minutes late for his shift. You were the first to see him (not because you were waiting for him, you were just in the area at the time), and you could see something was off.
"Finally, you're here. I'll go make sure Mr. Guy doesn't fire you," you joked. Dave nodded his head, acknowledging your words. You began to walk away before you heard him grunt. You turned back around, to see him hunched over. "You okay, Dave?"
"Yeah, uh, could ya get me a chair?" He asked. Though confused, you complied and grabbed him a chair from an empty table. You brought it over to him and Dave immediately sat down. "Thank ya, darlin'."
"Are you going to explain or...?"
"My leg seems to be in so much pain today," Dave says.
"Just like how your arm hurt the other day? And your back the week before?" You asked. You already knew that this is an excuse to get out of work. You couldn't begin to count how many times he's tried, whether it worked or not.
"I don't think I can do any work today. I mean, I can barely move. The pain is just too much, (Y/N)!" Dave exclaimed. You stared at him, clearly not believing his act. "What are ya starin' at?"
"You do realize people are going to notice you aren't actually injured, right?" You questioned. Dave put his hand on his chest, offended. "Ever heard of The Boy Who Cried Wolf?"
"I'm not fakin' it!" Dave argued.
"Whatever. You're telling Mr. Guy, I did it for you last time."
Not surprisingly, whenever Dave had something new to tell our manager, like an excuse, he'd get you to do it. He would pull you out of whatever you were doing, and ask you to. You do consider it sweet that he trusts you. You just wish he didn't do it as often as he does.
"Well, can you help me to his office? I told ya, my leg is killin' me!" You rolled your eyes, before walking behind his chair. You put your hands on the back and began to push. "Wait-"
Dave fell off the chair, landing on his stomach. You failed to conceal your laughter and looked down at him. Dave stayed on the ground, muttering words you couldn't make out.
"I'm sorry, Dave, I really am," you continued to laugh. Dave rolled over onto his back, propping himself up with his hands.
"Are you tryin' to kill me?!" Dave shouted. You went over to him and reached a hand out for him to take. He took it and you pulled him up. Dave leaned on you for support, still keeping up with the injured leg act. "Doncha dare put me back on that chair! I don't trust it anymore."
"So, you want me to carry you Mr. Guy's office?" You asked, jokingly. Dave thought for a second, before nodding. "That's not happening."
"Well, you can always tell him for me, darlin'."
"Fine! I will. Just don't bother Jeremy, he's going to be pissed to see you."
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Even though there were three employees supposed to be working, you could only ever see two. You, Jeremy, and Dave (especially Dave and Jeremy) had been told to set aside our differences and work together. You can see why Mr. Guy said that, considering this party was pretty big. Lots of possibilities for disaster.
Of course, the ones who needed the reminder, didn't listen. You hadn't seen Dave this entire party. You assumed he was in the parts and service room, but you weren't going to go check. No way. Jeremy was helping the kids, along with you.
You felt a tug on your shirt, so you looked down. There was a little girl staring up at you. "Do you know where the washroom is?"
"Oh, it's just down the hallway over there," You pointed in the direction of the washrooms. The girl smiled and went to the hallway. You glanced around, right before hearing a sound that usually doesn't mean good; splashes. You look towards Jeremy, finding out what the source of the sound was. A kid had thrown his drink all over Jeremy. You grabbed some napkins, and walked over to him.
"I don't think these will help, but here you go..."
You handed Jeremy the napkins, and he swiped them from your hand. You could almost see the anger radiating off of him. Jeremy stormed off toward the stage, still soaked with the kid's drink. He opened the door, and yelled for Dave. You followed him, curious about what Dave's been doing this entire time.
When you entered the room you saw Dave in a strange position, asleep on the stage. He looked so peaceful, it made him seem cute. Though, you wouldn't tell anyone that's what you thought.
"Hey, Dave!" Jeremy yelled. You watched as Dave quickly woke up.
"Oi, wot in-" Dave stopped himself. If you didn't know any better, you would think Dave spoke in a British accent. But, you've heard him say "Texan blood in my veins" too much for that. Jeremy stared down at Dave as the two made eye contact. "...Tarnation?"
"Uh-huh, wakey wakey. There's a party in there waiting for you. I'll be back when I feel like it." Jeremy said, still enraged. He stomped off towards the washrooms. Dave got up from his sleeping position, his eyes landing on you.
"How do you sleep like that?" You asked, confused.
"Uh, it's comfortable?" Dave replied. You shrugged.
"Well, we have to get back to those kids. I don't want them to cause any trouble while I'm gone."
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"Did you know that Dave steals napkins?" Jeremy asked you the minute you walked through the door. You look at him, not knowing how to answer.
"No? Why would I care if he's stealing... napkins?" You answered.
"It's company property."
"Still, it's napkins."
"Point is, if I tell Mr. Guy, Dave could get in trouble. So, I can get him to do something for me, in return for me not telling Mr. Guy!" Jeremy explained. You stared at him, not knowing if he understood what he was saying.
"You're going to blackmail Dave?"
"Well, don't say blackmail, and it sounds fine. I'd say I'm returning the favour he's doing for me, by doing this favour for him. It's simple (Y/N), I don't get how you're not understanding."
You went to respond, but you heard the door open behind you. You stepped to the side and stood there. You looked at Dave who seemed confused about why you and Jeremy were there to greet him at the door. "The hell d'ya want?"
"Quiet, country boy. I know your little secret."
You saw Dave's eyes widen, before he turned around to go back out the doors. "Wait, Dave!" You called out.
"I'm not going to tell Mr. Guy!" Jeremy added. Dave stopped, and stepped closer to Jeremy. He glared at him.
"What do you need, money? Is that what you want, you fockin' muppet?" This time, you couldn't deny the accent change. It's certainly strange, but not worth looking into.
"Huh? Do you have something in your throat, or...?" You asked.
"...You two... do know my secret, right?" Dave asked.
"I sure do! Don't worry, I won't tell Mr. Guy if you do one thing for me." Great, here's where the 'favours' begin.
"And that thing is?" Dave asked, equally confused as you.
"Could you use one of your cheap excuses to get me out of work for the day?" Jeremy answered. He's going to leave you to do work with Dave all day? Some friend he is. Not that you had any problems with Dave, it's just that he never works. Unless you force him to, which you might end up having to do.
"Hah! Nice try, but if yer not workin', who's gonna run the place?" Jeremy tilted his head towards you, and stared at Dave. "...Oh."
"Have fun you two! I've got a Mr. Pibb in the break room. If you touch it, I'm telling on you!" You glanced at Dave, who was watching Jeremy leave towards the arcade machines. Dave then walked off to Mr. Guy's office. Who would've thought that Jeremy's blackmailing would actually work?
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"Fitzgerald, manager says it's gonna be a light day, but yer off the hook."
"Sweet! Have fun!"
Dave finally catches your attention, after watching Jeremy play games for the past few minutes. "At least I'll have you to keep me company, darlin'."
"True. By the way, I don't think your secret is too bad. It could get you into trouble, but lots of things can," you tell Dave.
"Uh, thank you? I don't-"
"Oh god, where'd Jeremy go?" You asked, cutting him off. You knew Jeremy well enough to know that he was planning something. And when he's planning something, don't let him leave your sight.
"I'm sure Fitzgerald is gettin' somethin' from the back. He'll be back soon."
"No, Dave! He's been planning something all morning, and I honestly don't want to find out what. We need to go find him."
You got up from your seat and grabbed Dave's hand. You pulled him along with you as went to the front of the restaurant. You and Dave stopped in your tracks at the sight that awaited both of you. You looked at the sea of people flooding through the doors. Dave squeezed your hand. You knew you shouldn't have let Jeremy out of your sight.
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So, thank you so goddamn much for over 100 reads in like two days? Three? I don't know, but thank you so much. You're all so nice, and I hope you're enjoying it so far! I know it's like moving pretty slow, and I can't promise that it'll go any faster anytime soon. I just hope you don't have too many complaints about this. I didn't edit this yet, because it's currently 2:30am where I live. It takes me so long to write these chapters, yet I have fun doing it. So whatever. Thank you, and have a good day/night!