Cold Soup

Chapter Two

Rody groaned, sitting down at one of the bistro's tables exhausted. His shift had finally ended, but he needed a moment to breathe before he could leave.
He'd had a long day, and had ended up with a few dead plates on his hand.

He hated whenever he messed up, it made him feel like an idiot. Normally he'd expect Vince to yell at him, or slap him, something like that. But for some reason he never did, he even said Rody could just take the dead plates home as leftovers.
This was odd to Rody, but he was rather grateful. He really hadn't expected Vince to be understanding towards him at all, but for some reason he was.

Rody didn't mind however, it was actually kinda nice having someone be nice to him for a change.

A lot of his old bosses hated him, just like Vince had when he first started working there. Rody wasn't even sure if Vince still hated him or not, there were a lot of things that made him think he possibly didn't.

He gave him his umbrella, had wrapped his finger up for him, and even one of his friends from that dinner party said he must have taken a liking to him.

So, maybe there was a possibility he didn't hate him after all.

"Rody, why are you still in my restaurant?" Vince's voice asked from behind Rody, startling the poor redhead.
He sighed, and looked back at Vince. He looked like an absolute mess. His hair was messy, his tie was crooked, his uniform in general looked horrible, and he himself just seemed like an exhausted mess.

"Heh- sorry Vince. I just needed a moment to relax or catch my breath, today was exhausting for me." Rody said, standing up from the table he was at while quickly pushing the chair in.
Vince looked over Rody, and sighed softly. "I can tell, you look like a mess Lamoree." Vince said, grabbing hold of Rody's tie, startling him once again.

Rody watched as pale hands straightened his tie, his heart skipping a beat. "Thanks Vincent.. I gotta love whenever you point out how horrible I am at this." He said, rubbing the back of his neck slightly.

Vince tightened the tie around Rody's neck harshly, causing him to choke slightly before he untightened it. "Either call me Chief or Vince." He said, pulling away after he'd fixed Rody's tie.
"Err- y-yessir.." Rody mumbled, his voice a tad bit shaky. Vince was one hundred percent prepared to choke Rody to death if he called him the wrong title, oh how Vince that was.

"Go home Rody, I have to close up." Vince said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Yeah, alright." Rody said, getting ready to head to the door before he paused.

"Could I- maybe help you?" He asked, looking at Vince with a nervous smile. Vince's eyes widened slightly, and he looked away from Rody. He thought for a moment, before replying.

"Fine, I guess you can help." He said, walking past Rody over to the kitchen doors. Rody smiled, and followed after him like an eager puppy dog.

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Rody had helped Vince close the bistro up, and was actually kinda happy to spend a bit of extra time with Vince.

He was actually about to leave, before he remembered the umbrella thing. He still needed to ask Vince if he wanted it back or not, he'd feel bad if he just kept it for God knows how long.

"Hey, Vince?" Rody said, grabbing the umbrella from the place he'd set it earlier that morning. "Yes, Rody?" Vince asked, glancing over at Rody with a curious look.
Rody froze for a moment, holding the umbrella tightly in his grasp. He wasn't really sure why he paused, he just got distracted by something for a moment.

"I-i umm.. I was wondering if you wanted this back." Rody said, holding the umbrella up. Vince tilted his head slightly, and walked over to Rody.

"I told you I live above this place, didn't I?" Vince asked, crossing his arms as he stood in front of Rody. "Yeah.. but I feel bad for just- keeping this. I mean, it's my fault for not already owning an umbrella." Rody said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

Vince sighed, and gently grabbed the umbrella from Rody. He scanned over it for a moment, before giving it back to Rody.

"Keep it, I can easily buy another one." He said, turning away from Rody so he could lock up.
Rody paused for a few seconds, looking down at his hands where the umbrella now rested.

Vince was really okay with him keeping this? Now suddenly, an umbrella had more value to him than anything else did.

"Go home Rody, it's getting late." Vince said, getting Rody's attention. Rody smiled slightly, and nodded.

"Alright, good night Vince. I'll see you tomorrow." He said, waving goodbye to Vince as he walked over to the exit.

"Goodnight, Rody." Vince muttered, watching as Rody left. He was glad Rody was back, even if he was annoying. It was still nice to have him back.

He didn't know why he'd missed him, or why he was glad he was back. But, he was still glad he was back.

Maybe he just missed having him around, or he missed the way he'd always stop to talk to him about something, even if it was short.
He missed him, for some reason he'd missed him.

He'd missed those green eyes, that fluffy dark red hair, the way he smiled nervously every time he messed up on something. For some reason he missed all of that, and he was slowly starting to understand why.

He didn't know if he wanted to accept the reason why, especially since it was Rody of all people that made him feel this way.

He was an idiot after all, one who constantly messed up on his job, and made the bistro receive bad reviews on customer service.
But still, for some reason, Vince was slowly starting to like him.

Maybe in more ways than one. He really didn't want to accept these feelings, they were stupid. But, nonetheless, he felt them. He wished he didn't though.