Rody woke up to the sound of loud banging, which immediately made him jolt awake. Surprisingly, he was still in Vince's apartment, and had fallen asleep on top of him.
Vince was already awake, and had been trapped underneath Rody for quite a while. He thought about pushing him off when the banging started, but didn't have to since it woke him up pretty quickly.
The banging was actually knocking, coming from Vince's front door.
"Wha-" Rody tried to speak, but was immediately silenced by Vince. "Don't even think about it, don't say it, do not even think it." He said, standing up from the window seat where they'd fallen asleep at.
Rody's face flushed slightly, as he thought back to the night before.
Him and Vince drank together, and he fell asleep against Vince. Rody, fell asleep, against his boss.
Rody sat up straight, his face a deep red. Now that he thought back on it more, he'd felt something wrap an arm around him before passed out. Did Vince do that?
He didn't even bother to move him so he could go to bed, he just slept there at the window with Rody. Why on earth would he do that?
Why didn't he wake Rody up, or push him away, he could have even just laid him down on the cushions and left! But for some reason, he didn't.
Vince walked over to his front door, taking a look through the peephole, before he sighed and unlocked the door.
Rody couldn't quite understand what Vince and the other person were talking about, but he did recognize the other voice.
He let the curiosity get the best of him, and he walked over to where Vince stood. Vince noticed Rody, and was completely prepared to shove him away, but wasn't able to.
"Rody, is that you?" The person Vince was talking to asked, a smile spreading against their face. It was Richard, Rody's old college friend.
Rody wasn't that big a fan of Richard, even if he was a good guy. He just, didn't like anything or anyone that reminded him of college.
Stuff like that also reminded him of how much of a disappointment he was, and he really didn't need to be in that mental state at the moment.
"Rody, was I not clear on you staying put?" Vince asked, gritting his teeth in annoyance as he looked at Rody. "You made it clear you wanted me to shut up, you never said anything about moving." Rody mumbled, putting on a tired and annoyed smile.
"Oh, I didn't realize I was.. interrupting something." Richard said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously as he looked to and from Vince and Rody.
Rody immediately froze up, his face turning red as he understood what Richard was insinuating.
"No we weren't- i-its not like that really! I-i just-" Rody started stammering, holding his hands up defensively as he stepped back slightly.
"I was not doing anything you're thinking of with my waiter right now Richard, I just let him crash here for the night." Vince explained calmly, quickly shoving Rody away into the main living room.
Rody tripped and fell, landing on the ground with a thud. Vince glanced at him, making sure he was alive before he put his attention back to Richard.
"Uh huh, sure. You just happen to let the conveniently attractive red head crash at your place.." Richard said, a small grin on his face as he crossed his arms.
"What do you want Richard?" Vince asked, leaning against his doorframe with an annoyed and tired look on his face.
"Well, I wanted to personally invite you to a small little get together I'm hosting in a few weeks." Richard said, uncrossing his arms so he could grab something from his pocket.
It was a note, or card, or invitation, whatever word best suits it, that's what it was. A piece of paper with a date, time, and address on it.
Richard paused for a moment, glancing into Vince's apartment. He sighed, grabbing another one of these notes and handing them both to Vince.
"Rody can come too. I haven't seen him in a few years, so it'd be nice to have him around to catch up." Richard said, immediately causing Rody to perk up.
Rody was being invited to something? By one of his old college friends no less. This was new, he thought everyone from college had just forgotten about him, or didn't care enough to try and keep a lasting friendship with him.
"Alright, thank you Richard." Vince said, glancing down at the two pieces of paper he had in his hands.
Great, now he'd be stuck with Rody again, surrounded by more people. He'd have to keep track of him so the poor man didn't get lost.
"You're welcome Vince, hope to see you there." Richard said, before waving goodbye and walking off.
Vince sighed, and glanced back at Rody. He closed his apartment door, before walking over to the redhead and having him the invitation.
"Looks like i have an excuse to be stuck with you again." He said, placing the other invitation for himself in his pocket.
He wouldn't mind that much if he got to hangout with Rody more, but then again, it was Rody, so.
Rody immediately lit up, and held onto the piece of paper like his life depended on it.
He really hadn't been invited to anything in a while, he didn't really have that many friends that he hung out with anymore.
After leaving college he never contacted anyone, and nobody ever contacted him. He was kinda just, alone for most of the time.
He never wanted to call anyone he used to know, because he knew they'd all think he was a disappointment if they found out he dropped out.
Everyone else did after all.
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Vince had reminded Rody they had work, and for once Rody wasn't late because he was literally right above the bistro.
He found it so convenient how Vince was able to just wake up, get dressed, and then walk down a flight of stairs to work.
Rody only wished he had that type of luxury, Vince's life was a lot better than his own, and he was still a bit jealous of it.
He wished his life was easier, he wished it was more like Vince's.
He actually looked up to Vince quite a bit, even if he wasn't the best person you'd want to look up to, Rody still did.
Vince was younger than him, and was rich and owned his own restaurant. Rody didn't have half the luxury that Vince did.
He was lucky to be able to work for Vince, even though he still didn't understand why he kept him around.
He was a screw up after all, so really, what was the point in him being kept around?
Rody was actually surprised that he hadn't been fired yet, or that he was replaced by someone more professional. This was still just a temporary job, one that paid him well enough he could start focusing on saving up.
At least he had a chance like this to turn his life around, he was sure that if he hadn't been hired for this job, that he'd still be broke and more depressed than ever since Manon left.
Maybe Manon was right, maybe he wasn't ready for a relationship.
In every relationship he'd been in, he'd tried his hardest to spoil and show his partner a significant amount of love, but it was either never enough for them, or they didn't want to see Rody hurting.
He just wanted to be a good partner, unlike certain relationships he'd dealt with in the past, where he was the victim and had been treated horribly.
He was honestly starting to give up on the whole love and relationship thing.
What was the point if each time he was just used, manipulated, or hurt? Maybe he deserved all of that pain.
Manon's disappearance was absolutely destroying him from the inside out, and even though he seemed completely fine while he worked and waited tables, he was completely shattered to bits on the inside.
He was starting to slip up, and was desperately trying to distract himself, and just focus solely on his job.
Maybe if he just thought about something other than Manon or his life, he'd be fine.
Except, thinking about anything ended up leading him back to himself or Manon, or how horrible his life was.
Thinking about having people to hangout with would lead to him thinking about how nobody cared enough to stay, that led him to thinking about how much he'd failed in life, and that would all lead him back to Manon somehow, where he'd remembered how much he failed as a good partner to her who looked out for both himself and hef.
His thoughts were just a mess, a jumble of regrets and self loathing, that led to much worse thoughts.
Luckily though, he was snapped out of his thoughts by Vince, who had noticed his inner turmoil.
"Rody, are you alright?" Vince asked, having just grabbed Rody's arm when he was walking by so he could talk to him for a moment.
He didn't normally care about his employees well-being, but this was Rody. Rody had an expectation.
"Oh, I-im alright. Just, kinda lost in my own thoughts, sorry." Rody said, nervously. He'd probably messed up on something without realizing it, and that's why Vince had stopped him.
It didn't even occur to him that Vince might have actually been worried about him, after all, it was Vince.
Vince sighed softly, letting go of Rody's arm. "Alright, if you say so. If you genuinely need a break or something, I can cover for you." He said, glancing away from Rody.
He couldn't believe he was actually offering this.
"Really? You'd do that for me?.." Rody asked, sounding genuinely surprised yet grateful. He didn't really feel like he needed a break, although he most definitely did.
He knew he still needed to work, and he didn't really want to bother Vince by taking a break now, so he decided he'd wait until he was on the verge of completely breaking down before he did that.
"Yes Rody, I'm offering to aren't I?" Vince said, crossing his arms over his chest. He didn't know why he had a soft spot for Rody of all people, but he did.
"Thanks Boss, but I'll pass for now. If the offer is still available later though, I'll let you know." Rody said, giving Vince a weak smile before he left the kitchen to tend to his customers.
He knew he'd probably regret not taking that break later, when he'd most likely snap or break down.
But he honestly couldn't care less about his own well-being.