Untitled

Chapter Five

  At eleven fifty-five, Alek made his first mistake. He walked up to Sebastien with the most terrified look in his eyes.
  Sebastien took a moment to realize that Alek was coming to him with a problem and continued to work. "Yes, Alek?"
  "Um...I- I um...I didn't mean to. I messed up and they're mad. I don't know what to do." Alek said, his face scrunched up in panic.
  Sebastien finished clearing the table and gave Alek his full attention. Turning to him very briefly felt like a mistake, as he was completely taken aback by Alek's appearance.
  Alek had pulled his hair half up, two small curls framing his face and the back half just long enough to brush his neck. The style complimented Alek's sharp features and made it even harder for Sebastien to not get stuck staring at his eyes or his lips.
  Sebastien had to try really hard to focus on work instead of Alek because he looked so fucking pretty. But Alek was in crisis right now and he needs to focus on that, not how much he wants to kiss him.
  "I'm sure it's fixable. What happened?" Sebastien sat the tray of dishes on the table that he just realized he was still holding.
  "I gave them the wrong order and they got so mad. I said I was sorry, but they just yelled at me and told me to fix it, but I don't know how to do that." Alek said quickly, his words mixing together between his lips.
  Sebastien chuckled and placed his hands on Alek's shoulders. "Hey..calm down. It's okay. I've fucked up way worse than that before and I'm still here. I assure you, these assholes do everything in their power to make it worse."
  Alek nodded and took a deep breath. Sebastien slowly let his hands fall down Alek's sides, gently rubbing their fingers together for a second.
  "I'm going to take you over there and explain what happened. I'm going to lie, but it will comfort them and they'll get free shit. They will also probably ask that I fire you, but we get to be passive about that because that's not their place." Sebastien smiled.
  Alek nodded and followed closely behind Sebastien, directing him to the right table. Sebastien recognized the couple immediately, having served and dealt with their entitled asses more times than he can count.
  "Hello Mr. Valdo, Mrs. Valdo." Sebastien placed his hands behind his back and bowed his head slightly. "I would like to apologize for any inconveniences. We are training some new employees and they're still trying to get the hang of things."
  Mrs. Valdo scoffed. "Maybe if you trained your employees better, they wouldn't make mistakes."
  "I assure you, we do the best we can. If you tell me what you ordered, I can get that out to you as soon as possible, free of charge." Sebastien said politely, offering them a fake smile.
  "We ordered what we've ordered every day for the past three years from you." Mr. Valdo said stiffly.
  Sebastien clenched his jaw, annoyed at the entitlement radiating off of them. He serves hundreds of people every day, how dare they expect him to remember them and their fucking order. Luckily for him, he actually does remember because like Mr. Valdo said; they order the same thing every fucking day. Old ass, boring ass white people.
  "Of course, just wondering if you needed anything else? A drink or a dessert on the house?" Sebastien kept his even, calm tone.
  "I'll take a scotch." Mr. Valdo said.
  "Alright, and could I get a drink for you, Mrs. Valdo?" Sebastien asked, grabbing the plates of untouched food off of the table.
  "No, just the correct food. And if you know what's good for you, you will fire him. We've been members here for years and no one has ever treated us with such disrespect." She huffed, giving Alek a disgusted look.
  "I will place the order to make sure it's right for you and Alek will bring it out. Let him know if you need anything else because he is waiting on this section. If there are any more problems, our manager will happily help you out." Sebastien smiled and then walked away, Alek in tow.
  "Why are you making me take it out to them?" Alek asked, his tone still panicked.
  "Because if I do it, that teaches them that they get what they want by being assholes. Just because they have a personal problem with an employee, doesn't mean they get to dictate whether they are worthy of keeping their job or not. You may not officially work here, but for the rest of this week, it's my job to treat you like you do. I deal with this shit every day and I will tell you that letting them get away with it just makes them do it more. They're like children." Sebastien explained, as he jotted down the order and then pinned it to the front of Robbie's line.
  "I can see that. I was nothing but nice to them and she acted like I was the most rude person she's ever seen. Little does she know, I'm the same guy she was gushing over weeks ago because of how lovely and respectful I was." Alek scoffed and rolled his eyes.
  "Just goes to show that class really is everything to these motherfuckers." Sebastien chuckled, shaking his head as he poured scotch over ice. "Take this to Mr. Valdo. Say here is your scotch on the rocks, sir. I apologize for the mix up, your food is almost ready. Anything else I can do for you while you wait?"
  Alek nodded and grabbed the glass, mouthing the words to himself quietly. He slowly left the kitchen and sent Sebastien a scared look before the door closed.
  Sebastien gave him a thumbs up and smiled, gently chuckling to himself because Alek is so fucking cute.
  "Are you really going to just let him get away with that so easily?" Ben asked.
  Sebastien turned to him with his arms crossed. "You let me get away with way more when I first started."
  "Yeah, that's because you needed a job and you actually wanted to work. I knew you had potential. He's just making a mockery of the working class by doing what he's doing." Ben rolled his eyes.
  "He's trying, Ben. If you took more than five seconds to actually pay attention to him, you would realize that. You would also realize that every assumption you've made about him is wrong." Sebastien said.
  "He's not helping. He's only making things more difficult by being here, Bash. I'm not trying to be rude, but we're all trying to get work done and make a living. This is just a game to him. He doesn't fucking care. He gets to go home to mommy and daddy's money, feeling no repercussions from his fuck ups, meanwhile we all will feel it because customers will tip less and they'll complain. Our jobs are at risk with him out there." Ben huffed.
  "Oh fuck off. He's doing fine. He made one fucking mistake. I made way more on my first day waiting tables and the building didn't collapse. He knows those assholes way more than we do, so if anyone can treat them the way they want to be treated, it's him. And whether you think so or not, he's fucking learning and he actually cares. He is making an effort with me, Robbie, work, and even with you, but you won't get your head out of your ass long enough to notice." Sebastien huffed.
  "If anyone's head is up their ass, it's yours. I want to be here for you, but you're making it really fucking hard when you keep siding with Aleksander fucking Rochester over me." Ben made a point to brush harshly against Sebastien as he walked away.
  Alek walked back into the kitchen with his notepad opened and a smile on his face. "I got a tip!"
  "What? Really? From who?" Sebastien asked, unconsciously mirroring Alek's facial expression.
  "That old guy at table seven...Mr..Collins." Alek said, then pulled it out of his apron. "He gave me a hundred dollars and all I did was take his order."
  Sebastien's stomach flipped, but he tried to not let it show. "Yeah, he does that. Did he say anything to you?"
  "I just smiled at him and took his order the way you taught me and he gave me the money and said that I was lovely or something." Alek shrugged.
  "Sounds like him. He's a fucking creep. He waited until I turned around to tuck the money into my back pocket once." Sebastien made a face.
  "Ohhhh he's like...a creep."
  Sebastien nodded with wide eyes. "Yeah."
  "I didn't think I was hot enough to catch a predator's attention." Alek laughed.
  "You don't have to be hot, you just have to be willing to suck his dick for money, right Bash?" Ben walked by, not sparing either of them a glance.
  Sebastien clenched his jaw and tightened his arms over his chest. He exhaled sharply and glared at Ben from across the room.
  "Well that was a dick move." Alek said, looking at Ben and then back to Sebastien.
  Sebastien rolled his eyes. "He's just trying to get under my skin."
  Alek nodded and didn't question the interaction further. He held the hundred out to Sebastien. "Here."
  "What? I'm not taking that." Sebastien said, even though his brain was saying cigarette money! Take it!
  "Bash, it's no secret that my family is rich. I don't need this. I'm not being charitable or anything. It's just a fact that this is rightfully your tip. If I wasn't here, he would've given it to you. I'm just making sure it ends up where it belongs. I'm here to live out a bet and learn, not to make money." Alek said, still holding the bill out to Sebastien.
  "I mean, I can't argue with that." Sebastien slowly grabbed the bill.
  "Not asking you to." Alek smiled and started leaning forward.
  "If you think you're gonna kiss me right now, you better step back and think again." Sebastien chuckled.
  Alek stepped back. "I don't. I'm not. I have work to do." He messed up the back of his hair, sniffed harshly, pointed somewhere, then fumbled his way over to the plates Robbie placed down.
  Sebastien shook his head and watched Alek grab the plates and leave, still visibly flustered.
  Around fifteen minutes later, Alek came back in a panic, his eyes wide and his hands ripping off his apron. Every trace the of the calmness he had found earlier was gone.
  Sebastien furrowed his eyebrows and followed Alek into the locker room. "Hey, what's up?"
  "My parents." Alek unbuttoned his shirt and threw it onto the bench. "They're back." He grabbed a shirt from his locker and pulled it on, leaving it unbuttoned as he undid his belt. "They texted..and said they wanted to have lunch. They need to talk or something." He took his pants off. "I said okay, thinking they'd give me a time and location." He changed into his visibly nicer pants. "But they're here. And I guess they think I'm still home with Alice because they said see you guys in a few. So I have to go home and come back here with Alice."
  "Damn." Sebastien chuckled. "That's a headache waiting to happen."
  Alek nodded and put his rich boy watch and shoes back on, as well as his signature 'A' necklace. "I'm really sorry. I'm leaving in the middle of the day and we didn't agree to that. I feel bad and it's still busy and-"
  "Hey, it's alright. I work every day without you, I will manage. It's not a life or death situation we agreed on, just a stupid little bet. Missing half a day isn't a crime. I know your parents are difficult and I figured we would have to work around them at some point." Sebastien assured him, placing his hands on Alek's arms, making him look down at them quickly.
  Alek nodded. "I know. I still feel bad, though. I'll make it up to you. I promise."
  Sebastien smiled and kissed Alek quickly, then pushed him towards the door. "Go."
  Sebastien took a deep breath and mentally prepared himself to deal with Alek's parents and an Alek that he can't kiss or make jokes and simple conversation with.
  He continued waiting tables and watched the door for the Rochesters to arrive, so he could serve them. Why he wanted to put himself in that situation, he's not sure. Maybe he didn't like the idea of someone else getting to serve Alek. Maybe he wanted to see if he could eavesdrop on their conversation. It was definitely the latter.
  Sebastien walked over the second the Rochesters sat down. Call it efficient, but it was definitely eagerness pushing him.
  "Good afternoon, Mr. Rochester, Mrs. Rochester." Sebastien nodded his head politely and got his notepad out. "What can I get started for you today?"
  "I will have the special and a scotch. Neat." Mr. Rochester said.
  "Fish and a salad. No croutons. White wine, leave the bottle." Mrs. Rochester followed, her voice stressed.
  "Alright. And for you?" Sebastien turned to Alek and his stomach flipped. Oh he likes this way more than he thought he would.
  "Beer and a burger." Alek said, his stiff persona oddly turning Sebastien on.
  "I would like the salmon and rice with a side of mixed vegetables. And a glass of red wine." Alice smiled.
  Sebastien grabbed the menus off of the table, catching Alek staring at him with a smirk and hooded eyes.
  Fuck.
  Sebastien looked away, feeling himself starting to enjoy this a little too much. "I will have your drinks right out."
  Sebastien let out a loud sigh as he entered the kitchen, thinking about kittens and grandmas and other shit that doesn't arouse him.
  "What was it you said about my assumptions being wrong?" Ben asked, his arms crossed over his chest.
  "What are you talking about?" Sebastien sighed, giving the orders to Robbie.
  "He can't even keep his word, Bash." Ben followed him around the kitchen.
  "His parents are here and asked him to have lunch. He has to sit with them." Sebastien defended, grabbing glasses to prepare the drinks.
  Ben just rolled his eyes. Sebastien finished the drinks and left before he could say anything else.
  Sebastien caught the end of the Rochesters' conversation as he approached the table slowly.
  "Don't make things more difficult, Aleksander."
  "He's the one who makes things difficult. He fucking hates me." Alek huffed.
  "Then don't give him a reason to hate you. Just try to get along for once. I'm sick of your fighting ruining our schedule."
  Alek sighed and leaned back in his chair.
  Sebastien sat the tray on the table. "Your drinks."
  Alek grabbed his beer and chugged it for a few seconds, staring blankly.
  "Aleksander sit up." Mr. Rochester snapped. "Have some fucking manners."
  Alek quickly sat up straight, his eyes seeming unfocused. He suddenly turned to Sebastien, "Why are you still here? Shouldn't you be getting our food?"
  Sebastien was taken aback, but couldn't do anything except turn and leave. He waited for the food to be done before leaving the kitchen again, so he could go straight to their table.
  He sat the plates down, saying something formal that habitually fell out of his mouth.
  "What the fuck is this?" Alek snapped.
  "Your order, sir." Sebastien was now genuinely confused because Alek didn't have to pretend to be an outright asshole to get by. Was he actually mad about something?
  "No. I ordered a burger, which I know comes with tomatoes, onions, and lettuce. All this has is fucking cheese and ketchup. Where's the fucking rest of it!?" Alek was looking at Sebastien like he had never kissed him until he was out of breath. His eyes were hooded in a way he had never seen them before.
  Sebastien was really confused. Generally and sexually.
  "I am so sorry, sir. The kitchen is very busy and they must have forgotten. I will fix that for you." Sebastien grabbed the plate.
  "Hell yeah, you will. Might as well pay me too since I'm doing your job for you." Alek said.
  Sebastien threw a glance to Alice, who looked just as shocked as he felt.
  "Did you invite Chloe?" Mrs. Rochester asked, as if her son didn't just unreasonably yell at an undeserving, hard working employee.
  Alek finished his beer. "No because you said we needed to talk. I didn't think she should be here." He rubbed his face harshly and sniffed as he pushed his hair back.
  "Well, we've finished talking and I'd like to see her. I'm sure she'd like to join us."
  "Okay." Alek took his phone out and turned to Sebastien. "Another beer and a martini for my girlfriend."
  Sebastien nodded, leaving even more confused and honestly kind of hurt.
  "So Mommy and daddy show up and suddenly it's okay that he treats you like shit?" Ben followed Sebastien into the kitchen.
  "He doesn't treat me like shit." Sebastien rolled his eyes.
  "Right. He just acts fine behind closed doors, makes you think he's a decent person, but treats you like garbage when his parents and his girlfriend are around."
  Sebastien didn't really have a response. He couldn't defend Alek in this specific situation because Ben was right. Alek was treating him the way all the other members do. Like he doesn't matter. Like he doesn't deserve respect. He hopes that he was just playing a part; pretending to be the perfect son. Pretending to be straight and in love. Oh how Sebastien hopes that he has a good reason for acting like a total dick.
  Sebastien walked back out to the Rochester table, Chloe now sitting next to Alek and leaning against him. He sat Alek's beer and Chloe's fucking martini down, resisting the urge to throw it in her face. He then placed Alek's corrected burger down, apologizing for the mistake.
  Alek took a bite and quickly spat it out onto his plate, taking a drink. "What the hell!? Can't you do anything right!? Why are there fucking pickles on here!?"
  "You asked for everything, sir. They come on the burger." Sebastien said calmly, his mind working fast to decide whether to be turned on or pissed off.
  "No. I don't think I did. I would remember asking for pickles and I did not. Where's your manager?"
  "In the kitchen-"
  "Take me to him. You've messed up my family's orders multiple times and I'd like to talk to whoever is in charge of you." Alek stood up and followed a confused, and now horny, Sebastien to the kitchen.
  Before Sebastien could turn and ask Alek what the fuck just happened, he was pulled sideways to the locker room. The door audibly closed and locked, Sebastien being thrown against it.
  "I'm sorry." Alek muttered against Sebastien's lips before harshly kissing him.
  Sebastien kissed back and pissed off officially lost the battle in his head. He gripped Alek's sides, exhaling sharply through his nose and kissing him back enthusiastically.
  Alek pulled back and didn't hesitate to remove his and Sebastien's pants enough to roughly fuck him against the door.
  Around seven minutes later, Sebastien was buttoning his pants and trying to catch his breath, Alek doing the same.
  "I'm uh...really sorry about before. I like.. you know I have to fake it, but that was more than I should've said, I'm just really stressed out." Alek sighed, rubbing his face. "And it calms them to know I'm an asshole, I guess."
  "It's okay. I was confused, but for the most part it was kind of hot, not gonna lie." Sebastien exhaled. "What's going on?"
  "My brother is coming to stay with us next month." Alek sighed.
  Sebastien furrowed his eyebrows. "You have a brother?"
  Alek laughed humorlessly. "Oh yeah. Half brother. Same dad. You see, my mom found out she was pregnant with me, but my dad didn't want another kid; he didn't even want Alice--because he's fucking selfish--so naturally, he went out to blow off some steam and had an affair. Joke's on him, he got her pregnant too. Talk abut learning your lesson the hard way, am I right?"
  "Holy shit."
  "Yeah. He hates me, despite what my parents think. I get it, though. The kid hasn't had a normal life from the second he was born. He has always been like the lesser sibling. I mean he's a fucking bastard child, but has to pretend like he's part of our happy family. It's gotta suck." Alek said, the words passing his lips quickly; the speed of his mouth not at all matching the heaviness of his eyes.
  "Just when I thought I had heard all of your dirty laundry." Sebastien chuckled, shaking his head gently.
  "That's still not all of it." Alek made a face. "My piece of shit dad pays hella fucking child support and he's still going to pay her for basically the rest of her life, so she doesn't tell anyone. So we get a brother for public events, holidays, photoshoots, and birthdays because no one can know that my parents aren't fucking perfect."
  "That's messed up. How are people not suspicious of the times he isn't around?" Sebastien asked, never having seen him in the time he's known Alek.
  "They say he studies abroad. I always get the fucking it must be difficult being away from your twin so much. Yeah, we're fucking fraternal twins in the media. How else could you explain two kids being born around the same time? And since Adam comes here for his birthday, that's my birthday too. I mean having two birthdays is fine, but it's the fucking principle. It's all lies and pretending to be someone I'm not and it's so fucking suffocating, Bash." Alek rubbed his face again, his eyes and nose becoming red.
  Sebastien stepped forward and held Alek's face in his hands. "I'm so fucking sorry. We still have a few weeks until he gets here, one of which will consist of me doing whatever you want." He rested his forehead on Alek's. "Let's just make the most of it and whenever he gets here, you can always come over to my apartment. No matter what fucking time it is, okay?"
  Alek nodded and kissed Sebastien softly. "Thank you. I have to make a scene and yell at you now."
  "Scream at me, baby." Sebastien smirked.
  Alek laughed and pushed Sebastien away. "You can't make me laugh, I'm supposed to be pissed off."
  "Sorry." Sebastien held his hands up. "Be mad."
  Alek's face fell and he clenched his jaw. He walked over and threw the door open.
  Sebastien followed him, freezing in place when he turned around.
  "There's no reason why that should've happened! This is your job, you're supposed to know how to do it!" Alek yelled.
  "I'm sorry. I will do better from now on." Sebastien said.
  This jumping back and forth from yelling and fucking was really giving him an adrenaline rush.
  Alek propped the door open. "I want your manager present every time you're getting an order for us, so you will stop fucking up."
  Sebastien just nodded as Alek left quickly.
  "So..what was that you said earlier about my assumptions being wrong?" Ben repeated, crossing his arms.
  "For fuck's sake, Ben!" Sebastien huffed. "You don't know fucking anything! Stop looking at two seconds of a situation and making your fucking assumptions about it!"
  "Oh I'm sorry! Let me just stand by and let you get used and mistreated by a fucking douchebag like Aleksander Rochester."
  "Can you please just trust me one fucking time? If he was a douchebag or anything of the sort, I would not be friends with him. Why don't you get that? It's like you think I'm fucking stupid! You're the one who needs to look closer at who he is, not me." Sebastien walked through the crowded kitchen and out the side door.
  He took a few deep breaths and grabbed the cigarette and lighter he put in his pocket earlier today. He propped his left foot up on the wall and deeply inhaled the smoke.
  He could feel his body relax as the nicotine entered his system. Once he finished the cigarette and crushed it under his foot, he found himself wishing he put two in his pocket instead of one.
  "Want another?" Ben asked, holding his pack of cigarettes out to Sebastien.
  Sebastien turned to him and hesitantly took one, immediately lighting it.
  Ben placed one between his lips and Sebastien wordlessly lit it for him.
  "So, what do you see in him exactly?" Ben asked, exhaling smoke around his words.
  Sebastien sighed.
  "I mean like...what am I not seeing? All I see is his rich boy persona. You claim that that's not what he's like. So I want to know..what's he like?" Ben reiterated.
  Sebastien smiled and took another drag. "The real Alek is lovely. He's energetic and nice and humane and not homophobic, by the way. He has really great friends too."
  "You've met his friends?"
  Sebastien nodded. "I've been over to his house a few times. I'm like ninety percent sure that not all of his friends are straight and Seven is genderfluid."
  "Seven of them are genderfluid?" Ben turned quickly.
  Sebastien laughed. "No, his friend's name is Seven. Just one person."
  "Ohh okay." Ben exhaled a laugh. "That's cool. What about Alice? She doesn't seem too bad."
  "Oh she's great. I was friends with her before Alek. She's taken care of my cat for me, we're pretty close." Sebastien said.
  "When did she take care of your cat for you?" Ben furrowed his eyebrows.
  Sebastien froze for a split second, but tried to play it cool to not raise suspicion. "The first day Alek worked here. I stayed at their house and had her get my uniform and feed my cat so we wouldn't be late."
  Ben nodded. His lack of questioning irked Sebastien, but he brushed it off.
  "So, how are you out here, Mr. Manager?" Sebastien changed the subject.
  "Lunch is over and the kitchen is being prepared for dinner, so I'm not needed." He said, taking a drag afterwards and exhaling slowly. "I'm sorry."
  "What?"
  "I'm sorry." Ben repeated. "I shouldn't have been so harsh to him. You're right. You're the one who knows him, not me. You know more about his life and his personality. I shouldn't judge the snippets of conversation that I see, no matter how concerning they may appear."
  "I promise you, they are not concerning. I'm sure you'll be roped in soon. I just think Alek is still scared of you." Sebastien chuckled.
  "He's scared of me?"
  "You can be quite intimidating. Especially to people who don't know you." Sebastien said with a look.
  Ben rolled his eyes. "Okay, fair."