Cold Soup

Chapter Eight

Rody groans, exhausted and so, so very much on the edge of completely breaking down.

He hates himself, hates how pathetic he is, and how he can't do anything right. He had a particularly rude customer come in, one that was cold and demanding, one he never wanted to deal with again.

Who was this customer? Manon's father.

He'd come in alone, asking for several bottles of wine to go, since apparently La Gueule de Saturne has some of the best wine money can buy.

Rody remembered that to-go items weren't something the bistro did, and while he tried to calmly explain this to his ex-girlfriend's dad, the man slapped him.
It's not the first time Rody has been slapped before working this job, but this, this was a lot different.

The man didn't even show any remorse, and just kept yelling at Rody while demanding he bring him the wine.
Rody never visited Manon's family for a reason, a good reason.

And it was exactly this. He was treated like garbage, which was normal for Rody. But when it was his ex-girlfriend's parents, it felt worse.

He really didn't need a reminder of how horrible and pathetic he was, yet here it was, having just slapped him.
He was so close to just snapping, completely breaking down and losing his mind. Which he did, pretty quickly too.

He just took a deep breath, handed Manon's dad the wine he was forced to carry around, and walked back through the kitchen and to the outdoors.
Where he promptly collapsed to the ground, and pulled his knees against his chest.

Tears pricked his eyes, and his held onto himself tightly. He wished he could rip himself apart right then and there, just tear himself open and die.
But he couldn't do that, so he just sat there, holding back tears.

His cheek stung, and his body ached from exhaustion. He felt sick, horrible sick. His body trembled, the weight of the past week threatening to completely crush him.

He just wanted to go home, lay down, and just let his emotions out. He couldn't handle all of this.

He couldn't handle Manon's disappearance, he couldn't handle his questions about Vince, and he sure as hell couldn't handle being slapped for simply doing his job.
If he had the guts, he would have slapped that man back, maybe even do worse, but he couldn't- it would just end horribly.

Rody sighed, he just needed a break. He needed just a few minutes of peace, where he was alone and could rest. That was all he wanted.
And thankfully, he was able to have it.

His eyes began to feel heavy, and before he knew it, he'd drifted off to sleep.
Sure, he was outside under the cloudy sky next to a dumpster, but it was better than nothing.

He just needed rest, that's all he wanted. Plus, it wasn't like anyone would care that he'd disappeared for a bit. Why would they anyway? He was horrible at his job, so everyone was probably gald he was gone.

Probably.

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Rody woke up to the sound of thunder, and the feeling of cold water against his skin. He thought he was still outside for a moment, but he wasn't, surprisingly.

He was inside, wrapped in a towel and laid down against what felt like a bed.

He sat up, looking around dazed and confused. It was dark outside, rain pouring down heavily. He was inside Vince's apartment, in his room.
Why the hell was he in Vince's room?!