Finding Yourself: Book Three

Chapter Ten: Green Caffeine Machine Latte

"So, you're a botanist?" Nick asked nicely to his new coworker, Johnathan. It was the next day, and after a whole day to spend with his kids and a night with Vincent, Nick was feeling very refreshed and at peace. It was too bad that Nick had to go to work, but he didn't have to work as many hours that day. Trent had already been given the order from Elian to give Nick fewer working hours and double the pay. Nick still wasn't perfectly comfortable with Elian giving out that order, but he assumed that he couldn't do anything about it.

However, a part of himself questioned why Elian was being so nice for seemingly no reason.

"Organismal and field biologist," he said, almost dismissively. Nick had a feeling that Johnathan didn't like him that much, but he wasn't sure why the boy wouldn't like him. The kid looked about a decade or more younger than Nick, yet Johnathan was taller. A lot of people were taller than Nick, but it still felt unfair.

Johnathan was handsome for his age, but he still had some child-like features: big eyes, no wrinkles, and full cheekbones. His dusty brown hair was so curly and unkept that it stood 6 inches up from his forehead. Nick was sure that one of his gay teenagers would be fawning over Johnathan if any of them were still single.

"Oh?" Nick responded, not sure what an organismal and field biologist did. "That is cool. And how many years until you graduate college?"

"One," he said, keeping his eyes on the dough he was kneading. Nick and Johnathan were both making bread during the calm hours while Trent managed the coffee and cash register at the front. Technically, Nick was training Johnathan, but Johnathan was not very responsive to the training.

Which was another reason why Nick thought that Johnathan didn't like him. Johnathan seemed really happy and friendly toward Trent.

"Is it okay if I ask you something, Johnathan?" Nick asked. If Johnathan really disliked him, he wanted to go ahead and get to the root of the problem. He didn't want his coworker to hate him forever.

"I guess," Johnathan responded.

"Do you not like me for some reason?" Nick wondered. They were both focused on their bread rather than looking at each other. "Did I say something wrong? Because if I did, I am sorry. You just seem distant." He heard silence from Johnathan for a moment. Johnathan finished kneading his bread, then folded it over to plop in into the bread pan. 

"I'll talk about it, but it might p*ss you off," Johnathan claimed. He then looked at Nick directly. Nick had also finished his bread and plopped it in the pan. He then looked at Jonathan.

"Go ahead," Nick started, hoping that Johnathan wasn't a homophobe that was about to give him a hypocritical speech.

"I hate that you are so privileged," Johnathan stated. Nick paused to gawk at Johnathan as if he grew a third head.

"Me?" Nick scoffed, "Privileged?" He said it as if the two words have never been associated together. "What do you mean by that?" Nick asked, yearning for clarification. He felt completely in the dark. Since when did he appear privileged?

"Trent told me that you got hired because the big boss told them so," Johnathan shrugged, "Not that Trent doesn't enjoy your employment. But they also told me today that you were getting double the pay, because the big boss said so. It just makes me frustrated as a broke college kid, like why do you get that and not me? What did you deserve to receive that?"

"I-" Nick felt a little guilty because Johnathan was right. Nick didn't really deserve it any more than his coworkers. It wasn't fair. "If it makes you feel better, I had no say in the matter. He wouldn't let me say no."