Sweet Devil [BL]

Chapter 149. New Colleagues

"What the—?"

Misha choked on his words and bit his tongue; he instinctively took a step back as horror filled his face, his eyes widening in fright. He had just entered the café, and the door closed behind him with the ring of a bell. The usually soft sound resounded like thunder in his ears, so deafening it seemed to pierce his eardrums.

"What are you doing here?!" he heard himself ask.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Vanessa paused to show off the round tray of dirty dishes in her hands. She raised an eyebrow and continued with a playful smile, "I'm cleaning up the tables."

"I can see that, but why?!"

"Because I'm working here, of course!"

Misha blinked, taking a moment to process the words. So. Vanessa was now working at the café, meaning that she was a new employee and thus his colleague. Nothing to make a fuss over, right...?

Right his ass! There were so many things wrong with it that he didn't know where to start. But first off, he had someone to scold.

"STEPHAN!" Misha screamed as he dashed upstairs to the man's office, slamming the door open. "You—!"

"Good evening to you too," Stephan interrupted in an even voice. He lifted his eyes from the financial report spread on the desk and reminded him, "You have around five minutes left before your shift starts, so maybe you should go downstairs and get ready."

"Who cares about that! What is Vanessa doing here?"

"Well, isn't she working?"

"But why?!"

"Because I hired her."

Misha pursed his lips, giving Stephan the look of an abused puppy.

"Don't pull that face on me! A certain someone skipped work for an entire month, so I had to hire new people to substitute for them."

"You also skipped work."

"Wrong. I was on vacation; it's not the same. Anyway, Vanessa just so happened to give me her curriculum vitae, and I was quite satisfied with what I read. Even though she's young, she has a lot of experience, and all her previous employers had only praise for her work ethic. I'd have been a fool not to hire her."

A shadow darkened Misha's eyes at these words. Unknown thoughts swirled in his mind as he glared at Stephan, seemingly wanting to cut him to pieces.

"Stop it with the daggers," Stephan rolled his eyes, "We talked, and I offered a salary that should be enough to cover her daily expenses and help with the rent. Her working hours are mostly on the weekends, and I made sure her workload wouldn't interfere with her studies. So, don't worry. Her work conditions are more than satisfactory, and she quit her other jobs."

"What...?"

Stephan winked, a knowing smile stretching his lips. He propped his chin on his hands and patiently waited for Misha to process the underlying meaning.

A silence fell, and they stared at each other— it went on until Misha snapped out of his daze. A foolish smile bloomed on his face as he nimbly leaped over the desk to hug Stephan. He hugged him so tightly that the man could barely breathe.

"You're the best!" Misha laughed in relief. "Seriously, that's one of the best news I heard in a while!"

Now, his friend wouldn't have to pull all-nighters working left and right to scrap a bit of money however she could. He had been so worried lately, seeing how even the make-up couldn't hide the dark circles under her eyes. Vanessa was just about to collapse from exhaustion, and it was reassuring to know she wouldn't have to juggle with several part-time jobs anymore. And she could finally catch up on sleep!