Rody placed the plate in front of the couple that sat before him. He gave them a polite smile before walking back into the kitchen. Finally he had a break. His eyes landed on the chef in the corner. A smile appeared on his face as he approached what was probably the most feared man in all of France. "Heyyyy, Vince!" Rody said as he slid right next to the chef. Vincent was annoyed as usual. Yet Rody began to notice how much Vincent softened. He had started to shout for Rody to get back to work, and even was willingly to talk to him. So that had to be something. Even Vincnet's annoyance began to feel fake. "What Lamoree?" Vincent said as he took a huff of smoke. Rody leaned against the wall and smirked. Vincent had taken up to calling him by his last name. Rody assumed it was revenge for continuously calling him Vince. "Are you sure you should be smoking in the kitchen?" Rody asked Vincent took another huff. This time blowing in Rody's direction. Rody wafted away the smoke holding his mouth closed. Though the smell of cigarettes filled his nostrils. "The chefs cook with stoves, they are used to it by now. Is there anything else?" Vincent replied. While getting more into conversation Vincent still kept their conversations as short as he could. Rody opened his mouth to say something. Though nothing came out. He heard a small chuckle coming from Vincent. Rody's eyes widened as he looked over to see a small smile appear on Vince's face. "Did you just smile?!" Rody exclaimed a little too loud. Causing some eyes from the chefs to glance in their direction. Vincent's face quickly went back to the dead scary look it almost always had. "Get back to work Lamoree!" Vincent shouted as he pointed over to the dining area. "Yes chef!" Rody exclaimed as he dashed back out into the dining room as another platter was presented on the counter.
Another hour had passed. Customers were pleasant, but plentiful. Making it harder for him to talk with Vincent. Though Rody wasn't entirely complaining. He got Vincent to give him a smile. That was enough for the day. Though the image replayed in his head. Making him nearly forget a few orders. Though by now the trash was full. Rody walked in to clean it out. Just as he lifted it he felt a sharp sting in his finger. Rody dropped the trash looking down to see the metallic red droplets leaking from his finger. Footsteps approached him and he looked up to see the cold eyes of Vincent. Rody could feel his heart pound. "I'm sorry." Rody stuttered out as he looked over at the mush that had leaked out of the newly opened bag. "There was something sharp in the bag. I don't think I threw away anything I wasn't supposed to. I'll clean it up." Rody stammered as a hand came flying towards. Rody closed his eyes expecting a sting to his cheek. Then nothing came. At least nothing came to his face. But a sting to his finger. Rody let out a hiss as he opened his eyes. Vincent pressing down on the bleeding injury. "You don't need to worry about it. Someone else will clean it up. Now get your ass up. You can't be seen by customers with a bloody finger." Vincent said. His hand still squeezing Rody's bloody finger. Without another word Rody followed over to a corner where a first aid kit was strapped onto the wall. Vincent placed Rody's hand on the counter before grabbing the kit and pulling out the bandages. Rody was about to protest, yet all words died in his throat as Vincent grabbed his hand once again. Wrapping the cut before taping the bandages in place. "Be more fucking careful next time." Vincent said as he slammed the kit shut. "Yes chef." Vincent paused for a second. He didn't say anything but his expression showed confusion, maybe even concern. Rody didn't know, so he just went back to work. Serving customers as usual. Everything was back to normal. Until another outburst began, and once again Rody had to be the recipient of it. "This isn't what was brought out to us yesterday." A man yelled pointing at the salda that had been placed in front of him and his date. Rody sighed, this wasn't an uncommon occurrence. Though it hadn't happened in a while. "Sir, with all due respect , we have a strict menu that changes daily. I apologize that the plate I brought out to you wasn't the one you had yesterday. We aren't serving what you had yesterday today." Rody explained calmly. It was always a gamble when he had to explain to customers how the menu works. You never knew if they would suck it up and remain quiet, or if they would shout and complain about it until they either left, or a manager had to get involved. Today was the latter. "Can't you just make what we had yesterday?" The woman accompanying the man asked. She was just as annoyed as the man. "No ma'am once again I..." "If you were really sorry you'd give us the food we had yesterday." Rody gulped, hands now trembling. Some nearby tables were starting to glance in their direction. "Sir we can not do that." The man slammed his hands down on the table. Now all eyes were on them. "The customer is always right. Now go back there and bring us what we fucking asked for you pathetic slob." The man shouted as he threw the plates at Rody. Rody stumbled back against a booth catching himself on a table. Though with his hands catching himself on the table it meant he had to let go of the two platers. Leaving them to drop next to him. The first platter didn't cause any damage. The same could not be said for the second platter as it had been carrying the wine bottle, and glasses. Almost all of the glasses shattered on the floor. But the wine bottle was the worst. As soon as it shattered, wine splattered landing on his pant leg and seeping into his shoe. Several gasps, and whispers filled the room. Followed quickly by a yelp. Everyone's attention turned to the lady. Rody raised a brow in confusion, and most other guests seemed to follow his expression. "You imbecile you ruined my skirt!" The woman shouted. Rody looked down at her skirt. It was completely fine from where he stood. Though what he couldn't see was that when the man had thrown their salads back at the waiter the table had rocked due to the force. Knocking their own glasses onto the floor and splattering wine on the other side. "Do you know how much this cost me? I demand a refund." Rody could feel his pulse pounding in his neck. His chest rising and falling at a rapid rate. His body was frozen. No matter what he tried he couldn't move. Until the kitchen doors burst open. Vincent walked over calmly. His posture straight and his head held high. It would easily look graceful, if it didn't look so wrong. "Rody." His head snapped over to Vincent. Despite being taller than the man Rody felt himself shrink down. Feeling smaller as Vincent's gaze burned fire into his soul. "Back office. Now." Vincent commanded. Rody's heart was still pounding in his neck as he stood up. It was accompanied by a sharp pain stinging his foot. Rody ignored it. He didn't have to be told twice to leave the scene. Though the closer he came to the office the more fear engulfed him whole. As he shut the door behind him he couldn't help but seal his fate.
Vincent watched as the waiter made his way hastily back into the kitchen. Vincent's eyes followed his every movement. It wasn't until he heard the door shut did he even acknowledge the barbarians one would call customers. "What seems to be the problem?" Vincent asked in his usual gruff manner. Yet the way it came out was under-exaggerated to his actual emotion. His blood was boiling. It took every ounce of control he had to not bash the man's head into the wall. For now he had to be collected, calm even. "That waiter brought us the wrong dish. We did not have this dish the other day. He refused to do as asked and then ruined my wife's skirt. We demanded our dishes and a refund from the restaurant." The man said. Vincent was sure he was turning red with anger by now. Was this man an idiot? Clearly blind to his presence in the back corner of the kitchen. Did he just assume Vincent was as blind as him? "Allow me to understand, you did not read the chalk, and framed paper sign that informed you of our menu changes daily. Was furious that a waiter refused to serve dishes that we were not making and proceeded to throw the made dishes that were perfectly cooked onto a waiter, and be made when your toss involved the shattering of several containers of wine and ruined an expensive skirt, and ask for a refund after breaking multiple dishes?" The man seemed confused, scared even. Before Hesitantly nodding before a cheap smile appeared on his face. "Yes that's it." Vincent took a deep breath. This man is acting like he's in the right. Without another word Vincent grabbed the man by the head before slamming it down. The man fell landing face first away from the big pile of glass, but Vincent was sure he would at least hit a few shards. Before the man could do anything else Vincent placed a foot on his back. Pressing down hard enough to unfolding in front of her. "If you thought all of that then perhaps you should rethink everything you've ever been taught the next time you step foot in this restaurant again. That is if you ever do. Based on the amount of shattered glassware you're looking at doubling the cost of your original meal especially after you wasted those other two dishes. Now you're looking at roughly 20,000€. Considering your wife cried about her skirt costing a lot, and the fact you stepped foot in a fancy restaurant you should have the money. So here's the deal, you either pay up the cost for your actions, and be able to return when you're done with the visit to the asylum, or." Vincent removed his other foot from the ground. Leaving his only standing pressure to be the one on the man's back. Giving him a suffocating pressure. He used his free foot to brush the glass pieces onto the man below him. "Keep what pocket change you have and consider yourselves banned from this establishment." Vincent spat out before removing his foot from the man. His eyes turned over to the woman. Her whole body trembling as she held onto her purse. "I-I-I'll call on your manager." She threatened. Vincent rolled his eyes. "I am the manager." He said oddly relaxed, yet he ended it with a psychotic grin. The woman shut her mouth and the man stood up quickly. "We're out, we're never coming back." He shouted and with that he and his wife left. Vincent looked back down at the glass. A few drops of red stained the tile floors. His grin turned into a smirk, before sliding back to a frown. "Ethan." He shouted as he turned back to the kitchen. The shortest of the chefs emerged. "Get a broom and clean this up until I'm done with Rody." Vincent said as he began to walk around. Without another word he could hear the quick footsteps of the chef's shoes against the tile rushing over to the janitor's closet as he opened the doors. Making a sharp turn and quickly walked into the office. When the door opened Vincent froze for a second. Rody was on the floor, on his knees. One arm supporting him. The other was holding a hand to his chest. Panting heavily he stood up. His grayish colored eyes turned to Vincent. Who by now was shutting the door. "Are you alright?" Vincent asked, he was concerned, but it came out more confused. "Yeah, just peachy?" Rody huffed as he sat in one of the chairs. A nervous grin coming onto his face. Vincent looked down at the floor. Half expecting to see vomit. Only to see nothing. Well no fluids at least, but the glint of light from pieces of glass embedded in his shoes. Vincent's eyes widened. "I'm not fired, am I?" Rody asked, holding his hands closer to his torso. Vincent looked back up quickly realizing Rody had spoken. "No you're not. Let me get the first aid kit." Vincnet said as he rushed out of the room. Just barely catching Rody's words. "But I'm not hurt." Vincent snatched it, and returned to the office shutting the door. "Yes you are, look at your damn shoe." Vincent said as he knelt beside Rody. "Oh that explains the pain." Rody said as Vincent sighed. "Take your shoe off." Vincent said as he walked over to the trash can. By the time he returned with it Rody had removed both of his shoes, and his socks. Vincent knelt back down, placing the trash can beside Rody. Opening the first aid kit he grabbed a pair of tweezers, disinfectant spray, bandages, and tape. He began pulling out the glass shards stuck into the sides of Rody's foot. Thankfully nothing cut the bottom of his feet, and the pieces lodged into his foot were a bit bigger. Though Vincent became even more concerned for Rody when he heard the sound of glass pieces falling and landing in a metal can. Vincent looked over to see Rody dumping a surprising amount of glass shards into the trash can from his shoe. "What did you do to your shoe?" Vincent asked as he pulled a shard out. Rody hissed a bit before looking down at him. "Well these are the only pair of shoes I have for work." Rody explained Vincent blinked twice looking back at the shoe. It looked almost like an alligator head as the sole was almost completely removed from the actual shoe. "Considering your shoes are like that it's an actual miracle that your feet aren't completely red." Vincent replied back as he pulled out another shard. Causing another hiss from Rody, and more blood starting to pool on the floor. Vincent sighed knowing he have to clean it up afterwards. In the meantime he pulled out the thankfully final shard. He sprayed the disinfectant spray on the cuts before quickly wrapping the cuts up, and taping the bandages in place. He walked over to the cabinets on the side, opening one on the lower half to reveal several shoe boxes. "What shoe size are you?" Vincent asked as Rody dumped more glass shards into the trash can. "Forty four." Rody answered as Vincent searched around before landing on a size forty five. Vincent searched around some more but couldn't find any the size Rody said. When he returned back to Rody he was already about to put his shoes back on. "Don't do that." Vincent said as he handed Rody the new pair. "Finish cleaning the glass out when you get home." Vincent said as he returned the supplies to the first aid kit, and eventually returned the kit to its spot in the kitchen. He returned to the office with Rody still inside. He seemed confused on what to do. "What?" "What am I supposed to do?" Rody asked as Vincent rolled his eyes. "Get back to work. Or can you not walk?" Vincent replied back sarcastically. "You're not going to yell at me? Fire me? Or I don't know, dock my pay?" Rody asked. Vincent gave him a dead faced stare. "Why would you..." Vincent took a deep breath. "You didn't do anything wrong, now get back to work." Vincent said Rody stood up stunned. His movements as he left were slow. He hesitantly reached out a hand out. Before pulling back and walking back out to the dining room. Vincent didn't know why but a sudden fuzzy feeling filled his chest. He quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out his box of cigarettes. Flicking the lighter on and taking a quick hit. The smoke provided him relief for whatever feeling had been bubbling inside. keep him in place, but not enough to choke him. The woman let out an audible gasp at the scene.
The rest of Rody's shift thankfully went without conflict. He even got a few extra tips than usual, so that was a plus. As soon as Rody arrived home he collapsed onto his couch. Tossing his worn out work shoes to the side, and kicking his new pair off his feet. He wanted nothing more than to just remain where he was. Then his stomach growled loudly. Rody groaned, forcing himself up and over to the kitchen. Opening a cabinet revealed a few snacks lying around. Rody just grabbed a cracker package and called it a day. As much as Rody would be willingly to eat anything he knew it would be a risk for him to even touch anything in the kitchen. So prepackaged food it was. He crunched down on the small square. The salt and crumbs lingering in his mouth. Then his phone began to ring. He quickly shot up and fumbled off of his couch and grabbed the phone. Landing on his knees."Hello?" "Hi Rody." Rody's shoulders slumped upon hearing Richard's voice from the other end. "Oh hey Richard. What's up?" Rody asked now once again fearfully. His heart was pounding against his chest. "I'm hosting a party on Saturday, are you available that day?" Richard asked. Rody held back the urge to let out a deep breath. "Yeah I can make it. Can I ask why you're hosting a party?" Rody asked. "Because me and some college friends were planning a get together, but I have a big house, and it would be boring if it was just us five. So are you still coming?" Richard asked. Rody thought about it. There may be food. "Sure I'll be there." Rody replied. "Alright see you there on Saturday." With that Richard hung up. Rody groaned as he slammed his phone down on the receiver. He had gone through the first week just calling nonstop. Yet she never picked up. He never saw her anymore. Even now his heart still cries out. Wanting her back in his life, but by now he has accepted that he may never see her again. But at the same time he wanted to see her one more time.