Forbidden Appetite (Rody × Vince)

Candle Light

After a surprisingly tranquil sleep, Rody awoke feeling refreshed for the first time in a while. He got ready and flipped through the newspaper.

The page turning came to a stop when he saw the ‘Missing Person’s’ page. There was a very familiar face printed below the head title.

Rody ran his fingers over the black and white picture of Manon smiling over her shoulder before reading the details beside it.

“She's been gone a week and a half…” He muttered under his breath.

The newspaper was placed to the side, his right hand keeping it open on the table while he looked between the paper and his telephone, calling Manon's parents.

The phone was picked up almost immediately, as if someone were waiting for it to ring right beside it and Rody quickly spoke. “Hello?” He spoke out.

“Rody?” A deep voice on the other end asked.

“Yes, it's me, Mr. Vacher. I saw Manon is missing? What happened? Why didn't you call me?” Rody asked, concerned.

“We didn't know if Marianne was just busy or if she couldn't get to the phone. My wife and I tried to go see her at work but they said they haven't seen her, she wasn't at home either.” Mr. Vacher explained, his voice cracking a bit. “We don't know what to do… there's no evidence of anything and the police aren't much help, I think they've given up on our baby since it's been a long time.”

Rody was silent for a few long moments. “I'll find her. I swear I will.” He finally said. “Could I stop by after work? I have a few small things of Manon's I think she'd rather you have”

“That's sweet of you.. I know you two weren't exactly in a good place so I appreciate it.” Mr. Vacher sighed. “I'm sure my wife would like that.”

“I'll see you then, goodbye Mr. Vacher. Hang in there.” Rody said before placing down the phone and shuffling his shoes on to run to La Gueule de Saturne.

Vince was in front of the restaurant receiving a large amount of roses and a small container of rose petals. Upon seeing Rody he tried to wave in greeting but quickly realized he couldn't since his hands were occupied.

“Hey, you need help with that?” Rody asked.

“Could you open the door for me?” Vince asked. Rody nodded and held the door open for Vince.

Inside, there was a table decorated with unlit candles where Vince placed the roses and container of rose petals.

Rody was curious, closing the door and walking over. “Is today a special event?” He asked.

Vince looked at Rody over his shoulder before walking over to him. “We have an important reservation.” He said, before reaching his hands out and buttoning Rody's shirt up all the way to the collar to tie the bowtie as well. “Pay attention, they know what they want and don't want you to speak. Just be observant to refilling their glasses and taking away dirty plates.”

Rody was taken aback but he allowed Vince to fix him up. “How am I going to take their orders then?” He asked.

“Rody, we went through this when you started, we have preset dishes, the only thing changing today is that you're not speaking at all and there's only one customer today.” Vince reminded him, turning around to get the container of rose petals. “Oh, and they've paid beforehand so don't charge them, if they leave anything on the table it's yours. Now, go make a path from the entrance to the table with these.” He added, giving Rody the rose petals .

Rody repeated every instruction in his mind as he made the path, making sure it was well covered. He had petals left over when reaching the table, sprinkling some on the table.

Vince was busy placing candles in different locations. “You're going to have to watch your step, the lights will be off.” He said. “Here, place these two candles by the entrance”

“This is pretty important, huh?” Rody asked as he saw how seriously Vince was taking this, receiving a quick nod in return.

When Rody came back to the table he saw Vince struggling with different colored ribbons on the table.

“Uhh… what are you doing?” Rody asked, standing beside him.

“I have to choose a ribbon for the bouquet… I think the red is romantic… but is it too much red?” Vince pondered.

Rody had gone through enough of Manon asking what color ribbon to put in her hair for different outfits to doubt himself, he reach out and took the black ribbon. “This one” He said, handing it to Vincent.

Vince looked doubtful but he nodded and took the ribbon.

“This is nice, someone doing this for you. Especially all these roses.” Rody commented, looking at the large bouquet.

“Do you like roses?” Vince asked Rody, arranging the roses in a bunch.

“Mhm, they're a classic flower” Rody answered.

Vince looked at the roses for a bit before taking one out of the bunch and giving it to Rody.  “They won't notice if one is missing.” He said, finally tying the black ribbon around the stems and placing it on the table to the side.

Rody chuckled a bit. “Not as long as we don't tell them.” He said, going to the counter and putting it on the shelf where no one would see it.

They finished decorating the table with occasional small talk before the reservation time rolls around. Vince goes to the back and Rody seats them, pulling the chairs out for the couple before going to the kitchen.

The couple stayed for hours yet Rody didn't feel at all fatigued, he disappeared into the shadows whenever he wasn't directly needed.

Afterwards, Rody was cleaning up the last dirty plates from the table, taking them to the sink. Vince came out of his office and stood by Rody. “Everything went well?” He asked.

Rody nodded. “Yeah, they actually left me a big tip!” He said happily.

“That's good.” Vince replied as they walked back out to the table. Vince sat down and motioned to Rody to sit down as well as he put two glasses on the table he had gotten from the kitchen.

“I think you deserve it.” Vince commented, pouring some of the leftover wine at the table.

Rody accepted it and took a sip, the ambience in the candle light making him feel at ease. “I guess I get why people do this.” He sighed, feeling refreshed.

Vince nodded. “This one was easy but next time might not be, I'll tell you more about our reservations and how they can differ when we train after cleaning up, it'll take a while.”

Rody winced. “Actually… umm.. could we skip training today?” He asked.

“Skip? How are you going to improve if you stop halfway?” Vince asked, slightly annoyed.

“Sorry, I have an important thing I need to do. I promise I'll make up the time, I'll even stay double the time tomorrow but I really need the evening off after cleaning.” Rody said apologetically.

Vince sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Whatever. Just go. I'll clean up myself.”

Rody was going to say something else but he knew he would most likely end up irritating Vince further. “Sorry” He added quickly before standing and leaving quickly.