Complementary Colors

When I First Saw Him

Eugene's POV

I remember this day, because it was probably one of the hottest days at the restaurant. It was unbearably warm, a single movement felt like an enormous effort, and any more movement around would only make the place's temperature rise even higher. The kids running around the place weren't exactly making things easier. Those little ones seemed immune to the heat as some of them would jump in the numerous ball pits, chase each other around the tables, and overall play any kind of game they could think of. Just watching them run around was making me sweat bullets.

I was just doing my usual shift, which consisted of basically making sure none of these little gremlins were hurting themselves or breaking any rules, or I would eventually be cleaning around a bit, although that last part was more or less an extra from me when the day was quieter than usual and I'd have nothing much to do.

On some days, it could either be incredibly boring, or on the other hand, far from relaxing.
It depended on how much clients the restaurant would receive. But in either of these cases, no matter how my day went, there was never anything crazy. Nothing particularly out of the ordinary.

It was my little routine, and I was comfortable in it. Well.. I don't know if comfortable is the right word. Let's just say I was used to it. No matter how hard some days could be, or how tiring the job could get at some point, I never minded any of it. It was a pattern I knew how to deal with, and I don't think I would've wanted it any other way back then.

Which is why when he walked into the restaurant with this nonchalant attitude, one hand in his pocket and the other one running through his hair, a look of what seemed to either be disdain or disinterest at best on his face, I knew this day wasn't going to go like the others.
This man. He was a grotesque stain on an immaculate canva. At least that's what first came to my mind when I saw him.

The main clientele of the restaurant mostly consisted of families coming in to please their turbulent kids, to have a moment of peace while they unleashed their munchkins to go and be troublemakers somewhere other than home. There would be moms with twins, triplets even. Sometimes a mother and a father reluctantly stepping into the place because their sweet little child whined for 20 minutes in the car for some pizza.

On some rare occasions, we would get either a couple with no kids coming in because the restaurant was the only one open at certain hours.
But we practically never had anyone coming in alone. This was a family restaurant, and a grown man with no kids stepping in was a rare sight to say the least. This was the first weird thing about him, and what made me have this feeling in my guts that this was no regular client.

Secondly, just the way this dude looked seemed off. Now, we live in a society that holds a whole variety of living beings. Humans of course, but also less common.. People.
Some like myself.
Some like him.
He was a tall, slender looking man. He looked to be around his early 40s. His skin was a dark, faded kinda looking shade of purple, which made me think it had probably been brighter in his youth. He looked like he hadn't shaved in a few days, which contrasted with his rather well kept, slicked back hair. His hair was also purple, with just a deeper lavender shade. Greyish stripes were running through it in a few strands.

The most surprising element about his hairstyle was these two pointy strands of hair that were sticking up on his head, which made him look like he had actual devil horns. He had dark circles under his eyes, eyes that were a pale shade of a blue-grey mix. They were so clear compared to the rest of his body that it gave him some kind of a piercing, hypnotizing look. He was wearing a rather elegant buttoned up black shirt with a black tie around his collar, dark jeans with jet black pointy shoes, which created an echo with each step he took. He looked rather elegant over all, but boy was he an unusual sight.

Yeah.
You get why this dude created such a contrast with all of the other regular families and kids around in the place.
What the hell was he doing here??
He didn't look like the type of guy to go to a children themed pizzeria. This situation was completely absurd.
When I saw this, I spaced out for a moment. I was so perturbed by the arrival of this guy that I unconsciously kept my eyes fixated on him for a bit and wasn't exactly paying attention to the kids running around anymore.