“Attention! Attention! Okay, everybody look over at me now,” Glenn tried to get the attention of the employee’s but failed, looking at Dina and Faustino miserably,”Okay, that's as loud as my voice goes, so I'm-I'm not sure what to do here. Um, Clover could you-” he tried to ask
Sighing, Faustino cleared his throat,”Quiet, quiet,” he mumbled lazily, and then looked at Glenn with a shrug,”Didn’t work,” he told him, his actions causing Dina to roll her eyes as Glenn sighed sadly
Going over to an empty table, Dina banged on it silencing the room and then gestured for Glenn to continue.
“Okay. Okay. Today is a very exciting day because "Stratus" is doing a profile on our store. Yeah,ooh! oh, yeah!" Glenn revealed excitedly, clapping his hands
"What's "Stratus"?" Jonah asked, looking around at everyone
"Only our internal corporate magazine!" Mateo scoffed at his cluelessness, holding up one of the Stratus magazine’s and handing it to Amy who reached for it
"Magazine" isn't exactly accurate. It's more like misleading propaganda." Amy chimed in, flipping through the book
"No, it's not!" Glenn defended, only for Amy and Faustino to roll their eyes in sync
"Minimum wage is maximum fun!"Amy read off the headline, mocking excitement
"It is!" Glenn agreed, nodding
"Work it off: A Guide to Injuries on the Job," Jonah read through an old issue of the magazine
"Ooh, there's a jingle-writing contest. Bo could enter that. If he won, he could stop dancing for his Mom's friends." Cheyenne said, reading a recent issue of the magazine, earning a concerned glance from Faustino
“Cheye?” Faustino spoke up, causing the teenager to look at him with a soft smile
“It’s not the bad kind. He doesn’t do that anymore after your talk with him,” Cheyenne told him, causing the man to nod at her
"It's my responsibility to show the reporter around, so, please, let's put our best foot forward, okay?” Glenn continued, and looked at the pregnant girl,”Cheyenne, that means no falling asleep in the bedding department,"
"I get tired, Glenn. I'm pregnant," Cheyenne defended, rubbing her growing belly
"Not today, you're not!" Glenn replied, smiling brightly at her encouragingly
"Okay," Cheyenne said sadly, looking up at Faustino who shook his head
“If you need a nap see me in my office, Cheye,” Faustino told her, the girl’s face shifting into a smile
“Thanks, Clover,” Cheyenne thanked, as many of the employee’s smiled at the interaction
It was known that Faustino had a soft spot for the girl. They held a father daughter relationship and were extremely close. This also somewhat reached out to Bo as well as the boy went to the store regularly for Faustino’s guidance.
"Uh,oh, and Sal, I'm gonna need you to take the creepiness down to about a two, okay? Garrett, um, I love those nicknames you come up with for me, but, uh, some people might see them as insulting, so why don't you just get 'em out of your system now,” Glenn further announced, trying to make things go as smoothly as possible
"Glennda, G-Nothing, Glenngarry, Glenn Loss, Glennema,Glenntil Soup, TransGlennder." Garrett listed fluently, not missing a beat causing many to smirk and stifle their laughter
"oh, that's a new one," Glenn commented with a smile, failing to see the insults within them
"You got to keep this reporter away from me. I hate reporters,” Dina revealed, putting her hands in her pockets,”My school paper once misidentified me as a scoliosis victim. I mean, the joke is, my spine is perfect, okay? I can bench 160,” she said, then glanced at Jonah,”165 in the right situation," her words causing both Jonah and Faustino to side eye her
"Okay! Let's get out there and have a newsworthy day. Do it for the old uh,G-Spot! See? You're not the only one who's good at nicknames," Glenn tried but only made a fool of himself causing them all to look disgusted
“Dios mío,” Faustino sighed tiredly, his eyes then lightened up when he saw a cup of coffee being handed to him,”You save my life, Amelia,” he told his sister
Chuckling, Amy pulled his hand to have him follow her,”C’mon,” she said, taking him to go work with her
..
The twins were in mens wear folding clothes when Glenn came over to them in strange clothes.
“'Sup, fools?” Glenn greeted, leaning back with a smirk
“Nice,” Amy raised a brow, as Faustino stared at him blankly,”Why are you dressed like you're going undercover at a high school?”
“Yeah, this is not a good look on you, chico,” Faustino added, continuing folding the clothes
“Oh,Well, it looked cool on him,” Glenn mumbled, pointing to the mannequin behind him and sighed,”With the reporter coming…I know I'm not the most exciting person in the world, so I thought I'd jazz myself up a bit,” he explained his change of clothes
“Come on, Glenn. You're an exciting guy,” Amy tried to cheer him up, though her brother scoffed quietly,”You remember that time when, um, you know, uh... you know,” she failed to find a memory
“Thanks for trying,” Glenn said sadly, causing Faustino to sigh
“Glenn, "Stratus" is just a stupid corporate rag,” Faustino told him, giving him a pointed look,”Nobody reads it, Glennito,”
“I mean, maybe if the break room TV is broken and I'm locked out of Candy Crush,” Amy chimed in, shrugging but still proving her twin’s point
“I know that, but for once, it'd be nice to be the star,” Glenn stated poorly, and gestured to Faustino,”That’s why I asked Clover to let me do this on my own. I can’t compare to that face or his accent, he’ll take up all the shine,” he admitted
“Flattering,” Faustino drawled, his face blank as Amy hummed in agreement with Glenn
I mean, I... I know I'm never gonna be Madonna, but, for one day, it'd be nice not to be Glenn,” he said in a dull tone,”but to be... Glenn,” he said with a lighter happy tone causing Amy to give him a sympathetic smile
“We’ll help you, okay?” Amy told him and dragged her brother to find Mateo and Jonah who both happened to be in the stock room,”Hey, I need you to help me give Glenn a makeover,” she said and quickly left the room leaving all three men
“Which one of us was she talking to?” Jonah asked, Looking at Faustino
“Whichever one of you uses moisturizer, Gringo,” Faustino replied, and also left in the direction his sister went in
They quickly made their way to Glenn and got him to try on different presentable outfits.
“You know, I have to say, almost everything works on him,” Mateo said, holding up three different ties to use for Glenn’s suit,”I guess that's the one benefit of having a face with zero character,” he both complemented and insulted causing Faustino to chuckle which Jonah heard and smiled a little, loving the sound
“Thank you, Mateo,” Glenn thanked, finding his words very sweet
“You look good, Glenn,” Amy complimented, offering him a soft smile as Mateo handed her a tie,“Just remember to maintain eye contact, give a good, firm handshake…”
“Give compliments, and try to make some jokes,” Mateo chimed in, earning a nod from the twins
“And smile a lot, chico. You have a nice one, use it to your advantage,” Faustino told him, his face blank but his words kind
“You'll be fine,” Amy reassured
“Umm... hmm,” Jonah hummed indifferently, causing the twins to roll their eyes
“What now, gringo?” Faustino groaned, annoyance clear on his face
“A reporter doesn't care about how you look. They want to hear your big ideas,” Jonah explained with small confidence, not liking Faustino’s dispositions with him as he hoped to gain a closer relationship with the man
“Ideas?” Glenn questioned, looking at Amy who held back an eye roll
“Okay. You know what? It's not "The New Yorker." It's "Stratus." They just want some nice photos and a quote saying how great it is to work here,” Amy stated, not minding Jonah’s comment as she helped Glenn with his tie
“Jonah, I think Amy's right,” Glenn said,”I'm just gonna stick with a firm handshake and an enthusiastic "Howdy-do!" he said with confidence
“Exactly,” Amy agreed with him, then winced,”But don't say ‘howdy-do’," she added
“Rodger dodger,”
..
"Cloud 9, come inside. Society's a mirage and sex is a prison Uhh! Yeah, what do you think about that?"Bo rapped, looking at Cheyenne as Faustino walked by and stopped to listen in
"I absolutely love the first half. I'm just not sure about the second line." Cheyenne grimaced, catching Faustino’s stare and waved him over
"Are you serious? We've cut so much out. That's the only part left I even like," Bo whined, and then saw Faustino,”Oh, Padrino (godfather), what’s banging?” he asked, holding up his fist for a fist bump which Faustino accepted
“Not much, what’re you two up to, compadre?” Faustino questioned, taking a seat at the piano
“Oh, we’re making a song for the store. Y’know, being creative and all that,” Bo explained, earning a nod from the man,”But Cheyenne’s jamming on my style,” he complained
"It’s just that the first line's a little bit more like a jingle, you know? It's catchy,” Cheyenne tried to explain her side, but it was the wrong thing to say as Bo got fed up
"Catchy? Nah, na-na-na-na-nah,” Bo raved, shaking his head frantically,”Okay? That's not what my music's about,yo. It's been described as a lot of things, like edgy, dangerous,terrible, but never catchy! That's not how I am. Forget this, I quit.I'm out of here. Uhh," he ranted and tried to leave but Faustino stopped him
“Bobo, look I understand you don’t want to be, how do you say..’sellout’, but think about it,” Faustino started, looking between the teenagers,”With your situation, sometimes you’re gonna have to ‘sellout’, compadre. You don’t just have you and Cheye to think of anymore, you have a small one to look out for, Bo,” he said wisely, Cheye nodding in agreement with him
“Yeah,”Bo sighed, nodding in understanding,”I get it, I’m hearing you padrino. I feel it, we can uh, we can try again,” he said, looking at Cheyenne who perked up
“Thank you, Clover,” Cheyenne gushed, hugging him and ushering Bo to continue writing the jingle
..
“Framples?” Faustino questioned, a small grin on his face as Amy finished filling him in on the tour Glenn did
“Yeah, it was a sorry effort,” Amy laughed, when suddenly Jonah came over to the twins,“Hey,” she waved him over
“Hey, haha,”Jonah greeted, the grin on Faustino’s face wiping away immediately,
”About before..” Amy trailed off with a sigh,”I was just trying to cheer Glenn up, but I should not have said that the reporter was only interested in your ideas because she was attracted to you,” she told him sincerely
“So…” Jonah trailed, not really knowing what to say
“I am sorry,” Amy apologized, earning a nod from Jonah
“Don't worry about it,” Jonah responded, causing Faustino to sigh in relief thinking he would leave,”But for the record, if someone had said that to you, as a woman, you probably wouldn't have been cool with it,” he continued, causing his manager to internally groan
“Yeah, I know. That's wh-” Amy tried to say but was cut off by Jonah
“Don't worry about it. It's done!” Jonah said, a teasing tone to his voice,”Teachable moment.Uh, you know, if the roles were reversed..” he started but saw the way the twins both looked at him blankly,”Oh, okay. Nope, sure,”
“Yeah, just stop talking,” Faustino muttered, not noticing the way Jonah’s face dropped
“Attention, Cloud 9 employees: emergency meeting in the break room,” Dina’s voice ran through the store,”Now!”
Sighing, Faustino sipped his coffee as Jonah looked at him with a questioning glance causing him to raise a brow
“I'm sorry, I've just never seen someone drink coffee in the afternoon..” Jonah commented, not getting a response as Faustino stood and walked away
“Why does he hate me?” Jonah asked, glancing at Amy who smirked
“Let's go,” Amy said, walking to the break room
“That's not an answer!” Jonah called after her as he followed
"I'm sorry to interrupt all of your days, but I think this would be a good time for me to go over Cloud 9's policy on inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace." Dina announced, confusing them all
"Oh. You said this was an emergency!" Glenn whined as he stood in the doorway of the room, his face scrunching in frustration
"I know what I said." Dina responded, shrugging her shoulders with confidence
“De, let's speed this up,” Faustino quipped, sipping his coffee as he sat on the counter
"Right. Now, before I start this seminar, does anyone have something they'd like to say?" Dina asked, looking specifically at Jonah as an awkward silence filled the room
"Okay, fine. Sal and I are having sex in the dressing rooms." Sandra admitted, causing everyone to glance at the two in disgust and shock,"I don't even like him. I have self-esteem issues, and I think being with him is a way of me punishing myself. It's messed up-" she began to explain pitifully
"Shut up,Sandra!” Dina yelled, rolling her eyes,”God, you are such a whiner. Sit down.Anyone else?” She asked again, still looking at Jonah who averted his eyes,”Okay. Well, then without further ado, please watch this video on inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace,"
She turned on the screen and started the security footage of the warehouse, a video of Jonah and some Blonde woman getting all hot and heavy being broadcast to all of them
"Okay! Jonah! well,well, well,” Garret cheered, patting Jonah on the back
Jonah blushed as multiple people cheered, he scooted down in his chair at Amy's stare as he then made eye contact with Faustino and the man stared at him blankly with a hint of a raised brow.
"I think we've seen enough," Jonah shouted, rushing up to cover the screen with the span of his arms, his blush deepening as he spoke.
"Why would anybody be attracted to Jonah? He looks like a villain on the CW." Mateo scoffed, causing many to laugh
“Maybe it was because she thought all of his brilliant ideas were inside his mouth, so she had to, like, get in there with her tongue and suck 'em out." Amy joked, her brother giggling at her words causing Jonah to glance at him quickly
‘God, his laugh is adorable,’ Jonah thought to himself, living the way Faustino’s nose crinkled with his giggle, a small smile working its way on his face
"Oh, my God. You will spread your legs for anyone who will write a story about you,won't you?" Mateo scoffed again, rolling his eyes at Jonah's actions
"That has nothing to do..." Jonah's attempt to defend himself failed as his words were drowned out
"Jonah. There's about 50 store rules broken on that tape" Dina spoke sternly, hands on her hips
"I know." Jonah let out a deep sigh, clearly having given up on trying to defend himself over the very visible evidence
"It is disgusting," Dina insisted, her gaze firmly on Jonah as she spoke,"And there's just one thing left to say. You're safe now. Bring it in. Wow. You fit right in there perfectly,don't you? You've been sexually assaulted," she said, surprising everyone
“Um, Dina, what're you talking about?” Faustino questioned softly, his confusion on ten as he tried to see how this was sexual harassment
"And I was hoping you could start to heal by admitting that here in a safe place, but..." Dina continued, still holding Jonah tightly in her grasp,"You are obviously very ashamed," she said, rubbing her hand up and down Jonah's back as she supported him
“Well, then I guess you'll need to meet with Clover about this,” Glenn spoke up, Jonah perking up at the mention of ‘Clover’
He had learned a couple days ago that ‘Clover’ was the co-manager. He didn't know his actual name and was half convinced that it was Clover as that's what everyone seemed to call him, even though he'd heard some people call him godfather.
“That's right,” Dina chimed in, releasing Jonah,”It's protocol. He handles all harassment related incidents. Your safe in his hands,” she said, and gestured for Faustino to take Jonah to his office
When they walked into Faustino’s office, Jonah held back a gasp at the peaceful environment.
There were plants littered around the room, white LED lights on the ceiling, bean bag chairs, and aroma diffuser’s along with a set of oils on his drawer.
It was a very earthy vibe and relaxing area. Honestly, if he didn't already find Faustino attractive he would've been head over heels now.
“Take a sit, gringo,” Faustino muttered, his face blank as usual when it came to Jonah
“R-right, sorry,” Jonah stuttered, and looked between the regular chairs and bean bag chairs,”Um, wh-which one do I- uh..” he asked but was met with silent annoyance,”I’m just gonna-”
“Insufrible, gringo,” Faustino grumbled, sighing as he pinched the bridge of his nose,”Please just sit down,” he practically pleaded
“Sorry,” Jonah mumbled, taking a seat in a regular chair,”I um, I wasn’t harassed-”
“I know,” Faustino cut him off, shrugging his face going back to its emotionless state,”I don’t know what Dina was thinking but she seems to think you have been, but in all honesty..I don’t care,” he stated clearly,”But I have to at least pretend I’m actually talking to you about it,”
After a few moments of silence, Jonah spoke up in a small voice,”Do you um, do you hate me?” he asked, causing Faustino to furrow his eyebrows
“Qué?” Faustino questioned, taking one of his oils and rubbing it on his wrist
“I mean you always seem to have a problem with me and I just..I don’t know what I did,” Jonah said, speaking with a little bit more confidence
“I do not hate you,gringo,” Faustino muttered, rolling his eyes and leaning his chin in his hands
“So we’re friends?” Jonah asked, hope filling his eyes as Faustino held back a smirk
“No,” Faustino said simply, causing the brunette to deflate
“So, wh-”
“I have no feelings towards you, gringo. You’re just an associate, an employee that I happen to be the manager of,” Faustino shrugged, his words hurting Jonah a little,”I don’t know you enough to be a friend,”
“So I’ll make you know me, then you can decide to be my friend,” Jonah said with a rush of happiness as Faustino’s lip turned up slightly
“You’re a stupid, gringo,” Faustino said, standing up and guiding Jonah to the door
“Maybe, but I’m persistent and a very likable person,” Jonah told him, smiling brightly as Faustino mocked interest
“Really?” Faustino asked sarcastically, raising his eyebrows
“I like to think I grow on a person or way them down, whichever you prefer really,” Jonah revealed as he finally walked outside of the room and looked back at Faustino who stood by the door,”This is gonna be fu-”
He was cut off by Faustino shutting the door in his face, though Jonah didn’t deflate from it, he instead smiled more and laughed.
“He doesn’t hate me,” Jonah mumbled to himself, fist pumping