Cold Soup

Chapter Four

Rody quickly rushed back and forth from the kitchen, looking like an absolute mess once again. It seems that even after Vince had straightened him up, he still managed to end up looking like a trainwreck halfway through his shift.

Vince had watched him through his peephole, along with whenever he stood in the kitchen to supervise, and had noticed how horrible he looked now.
He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. What the hell was he supposed to do with this man?

He was constantly messing up, taking too long on people's orders, and always had an attitude whenever addressing Vince or the chiefs.
It was annoying, to say the least. And Vince had to deal with this everyday, he'd give himself a raise if he wasn't his own manager.

Vince wasn't sure why he kept Rody around, he'd fucked up enough to where Vince had every right to fire him, but he didn't.

For some god awful reason, Vince wanted to keep him around. He didn't normally gain a soft spot for his staff, let alone anyone really. Yet here he was, allowing Rody to get away with all kinds of things.

Vince had somehow gained a soft spot for the red head, and even though he found him to be insufferable, he still enjoyed his company.

Rody continued dashing from place to place, quickly taking the trash out, saying hi to Vince for a second, before immediately getting back to work.

Even though he was a sloppy excuse for a waiter, he got the job done fairly decently. He was kind to customers for the most part, and was quick when it came to taking orders and submitting them to the chiefs.
But, he still messed up, a lot.

He'd sometimes argue with certain customers, would always end up with at least one dead plate, and for some reason would always pester the chiefs about how they aren't doing their job quick enough.

That role was for Vince, only he could boss around his cooks like this. After all, they were his cooks. He was allowed to do whatever he wanted with them.

For some reason Vince allowed Rody to get away with the things he messed up on, and he didn't even know why.
He was a professional, everything about the bistro was supposed to be professional. Yet, here he was, allowing someone like Rody to wait tables for him.

Maybe Vince had developed a soft spot for Rody, so what? He wasn't going to give Rody special treatment or something like that, he wasn't his friend, he was just his employee.

Just his employee, that's right. He meant nothing else to Vince, he was just supposed to be his employee.

Yet for some reason, he still had a soft spot for him.

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Rody dashed around frantically, trying to finish up with the last of his customers before his shift ended.

He only had a few more tables to wait, and by a few, more like five.

Today was a busy day for whatever apparent reason, and Rody was stuck going around table to table, frantically trying to get everyone's orders in at a quick enough time that they didn't leave.

He was sick and tired of always ending up with a dead plate, he hated being this much of a disappointment.
He was desperately trying to get better at his job, wanting to impress Vince and his customers.

He was hoping that if he got better at his job, he'd get a raise. Cause god knows he needed one.

He was still trying to make something of himself, so he decided he'd save up money for a better apartment, and maybe a new bike or other form of transportation.
He wasn't sure if he'd be able to buy a car really, but he could try and save up for one.

He knew how to drive, he knew how to do a lot of things most people his age did. Did he do them often? Not really.
He was barely able to afford to live, so it wasn't much of a surprise that he wasn't able to do things most others could.

Sometimes he wished he was like Vince. Rich, looked up to, well known, fancy, all that stuff.

Rody regretted dropping out of college, a lot. He was barely even eighteen when he started, so he didn't really have the skills and understanding a college student needed.

A lot of people at that age started college though, and they managed to make it through just fine. But Rody, he couldn't.

Maybe if he'd stayed in college he would have actually gotten somewhere in life, maybe Manon wouldn't have left him, and maybe he wouldn't be stuck waiting tables for a living.
He was a disappointment, and he knew it.

Finally, after a long day of waiting tables, Rody had finished his shift. He sighed in relief, grateful it was over and that he could go home.

He decided he'd quickly clean up and take the trash out, and then head home. He didn't want Vince to be upset that he left several tables stacked high with dirty dishes, he was better than that.

Rody quickly cleaned up the tables, throwing the trash away and taking the dirty dishes to the kitchen where the chiefs would take care of them.

He walked over to the trashcan, pulling the almost overfilled bag out, and tying it shut. He walked outside with it, and nearly dropped it as he was startled by Vince.

Apparently the head chief had decided to go outside for a smoke, even though he mostly smoked in his office.

"Oh- h-hey- there Vince!" Rody said nervously, walking past his boss with the trash bag still in his hands. He smiled at Vince weakly, and threw the trash away with a small 'oof.'
"Rody, what are you doing?" Vince asked, putting the cigarette he was smoking out by pressing it against the concrete wall.

"Just cleaning up after myself?.." Rody said, sounding a bit confused by Vince's question. "I wanted to do a better job at things today." He added, rubbing the back of his neck slightly.

"Well, you already did do pretty good today. This is probably one of the first times you didn't end up with a single dead plate on your hands." Vince said, walking over to Rody.

"Wait- really?! I did a good job for once?!" Rody asked, he sounded absolutely thrilled. That was probably the nicest thing Vince had ever said to him.
"Yes Rody, don't make me regret saying that though." Vince said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Err- right sorry.." Rody muttered, smiling awkwardly. "I'm just glad I did good at something work related for once.." He said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously as he gave Vince an awkward smile.

Vince rolled his eyes, and gave Rody a small genuine smile. "Then keep it up, and I might actually give you a raise." He said, his voice dripping with sarcasm that Rody didn't understand.
"Really?!" The redhead asked excitedly, his eyes lighting up like those of a dog being presented a brand new squeaky toy.

"I was being sarcastic Rody, but maybe, eventually." Vince said, sighing softly at Rody's stupidity. He was like a puppy dog, getting overly excited over the most random of things.
Although, Vince did find it quite charming every time Rody lit up like this.

Rody smiled, scratching the back of his head slightly. "Eventually is better than never." He said, chuckling awkwardly.
"Don't get your hopes up, that eventually could easily turn into a never." Vince said, his arms uncrossing and falling to his sides.

"Yeah yeah I get it," Rody said, rolling his eyes slightly. "Thank you though, Vince." He added, smiling softly.

Vince felt his heart skip a beat, and he quickly looked away from Rody. That smile of his always seemed to get him.

"Whatever, you're welcome. Now go home, it's getting late." He said, walking over to the back entrance of the bistro.

He was right, Rody had stayed at least an extra hour to clean up after his customers, so it was a bit later than it normally was when he left.

Vince wasn't worried about Rody or anything, he just wanted him to go home already. He needed to close up still.

"Actually Vince.. I was wondering.." Rody started, following Vince as he opened the back door.
Vince glanced at Rody as he stepped inside, thinking about letting the door swing into Rody's face.

"Maybe we could umm- hangout together sometime?"