Chef's Kiss

Chapter Four

Rody lay on his couch wide awake, unable to sleep. This time, the reason for that wasn't Manon.

It was Vincent.

And no, Vincent didn't die, Rody just.... was confused. God, what was wrong with him? Ever since Manon's death, Vincent was Rody's best friend, the one who helped him get through it, the one who was always there for him. Whenever Rody broke down, Vincent was always so patient with him. Rody always thought of Vincent as a best friend and as a person who he loved platonically, but now.... why did he have to feel this way? What even was this feeling? He couldn't decide whether to hate it or to love it.

He didn't want to admit it, but Rody felt like the day years ago, when he realized... he realized he liked Manon... Does this mean he liked Vincent? No, that can't be true- he couldn't like Vincent! He was straight? Why did he think of that like a question? He was straight... right? He had to be straight!

Rody sighed. He really did love Manon before, so he couldn't be gay.... but there was no point in dodging the truth, he... felt something for Vincent. Something more than just platonic feelings. Did this mean he was bisexual? And did he really like like Vincent? First of all, Vince was Rody's boss. He was supposed to be just Chef to Rody. He couldn't feel this way. Even so, there was no way Vincent liked Rody back- he was probably straight! And even if Rody managed to get past all that, being a part of the LGBTQ+ was dangerous. After all, being LGBTQ+ is wrong... right? But again, it felt so right... But that wasn't the point. Even if Rody managed to get past the slim chances that Rody would be able to date the Chef, his boss, and he liked Rody back, then their relationship would have to be kept a secret, for if anyone found out... things weren't going to end well for them. He definitely wouldn't be able to marry him- NO! WHAT WAS HE THINKING? He shouldn't even be thinking about dating Vincent, forget marriage... He wasn't in love, he couldn't be... at least not yet. It was too soon, there were too many things going on...

What was Rody thinking- even if he liked Vincent, with the chances that he would be able to date the chef, him liking him back, and being able to keep their relationship a secret- it would be impossible. There way no way this could work. And how was Rody able to move on from Manon in just around three months? He should just throw his feelings away- No, he did not have feelings for his boss, he was probably just confused with admiration, haha...

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It was confirmed. Rody had feelings for Vincent. He was in denial for a whole week, and he was visibly not getting enough sleep, but all he could think about all night was Vincent, when it would usually be Manon. After what felt like years but was only a little over a week, Rody realized and finally admit to himself that the affection he felt for Vincent wasn't platonic. It was pretty obvious based on the way Rody started acting whenever he was around Vincent, how his heart sped up whenever he touched him, how he started blushing every time he looked into his eyes, how he couldn't help but glance at him whenever he got the opportunity. Rody was just trying to deny it, and to be honest, Rody wished he could deny it for longer. He thought the feelings were a confusion, that they would fade away in a few days, but nooooo. They just had to get stronger. Anyway, his feelings got so strong and irresistible that even Rody had to admit it now: Rody was bisexual and he had a huge crush on the Chef. Yep, he hated this feeling.

♡ · ♡ · ♡ · ♡ · ♡

The next few days felt like decades. To be put short, it was absolute torture for Rody.

Now that he was head-over-heels for Vincent, every single day at work, he was distracted. He started noticing just how.... well, hot Vincent was. He was literally so hot. He kept glancing at him and staring at him every second, and once he even tripped over nothing just because he was too focused on the Chef. Yep, Rody was even more distracted by his thoughts now than he was during the first few weeks of Manon's death, and this time, his thoughts weren't about Manon. At all. 

"Hey Rody, you okay? You seem pretty distracted by something," Vincent asked, looking concerned. Rody's shift was over for the day, so he was getting ready to leave.

"O-oh!! Uh, I'm... totally f-fine, d-don't worry about m-me," Rody stuttered, then immediately started blushing. He couldn't even speak normally around Vincent anymore!

"Are you sure there's nothing wrong? If this is about Manon, then you know I'm here for you-" Vincent started to say.

"N-noo! I mean, its not a-about Manon this time... I guess, uh, I guess I'm just t-tired today, ahahaaa," Rody said. God, this was so embarrassing!

"You seem pretty tired every day, if that's the case... what's on your mind?" Vincent asked. Rody just realized how close Vincent was. Rody turned red and his heart thumped so loud in his chest that he was pretty sure Vincent could literally hear his heartbeat. If he leaned forward, he could just.... No!! That would ruin everything... He shouldn't be thinking about this...

"Uh, are you sure you're okay with... being this close- I mean! Uh, I didn't mean it in that way, its just uh, I... don't you have a girlfriend or- I mean, you're probably- You're really hot- I MEAN GOOD-LOOKING AND NICE AND I THINK A LOT OF GIRLS WOULD LIKE YOU, I DIDN'T MEAN IT IN A WEIRD WAY-" Rody realized he sounded like an absolute idiot. That probably would've been taken the wrong way...

"I'm bisexual!" Rody blurted out, then immediately regretted it. Why had he chosen to say that, out of all the things he could've said? He probably sounded even weirder now! "I mean, uh, it's not like I like youbutyoumightbeuncomfortablewiththisbecauseyourstraightand-" Vincent stopped Rody. "Rody, its fine, we've had physical contact before, this isn't really a big deal. Maybe you should go home and get some rest now, though, because you seem really stressed out." 

Rody was mentally screaming at himself. He wanted to crawl into a hole and never appear again, he felt like it would be so awkward to even show his face around Vincent. He definitely thought Rody was weird. "Y-yeah... I'll go now..." Rody said, looking down.

Just as Rody was walking out the door, Vincent called out, "Oh, and one more thing before you go: about me probably having a girlfriend."

Rody froze. This was it, Vincent probably wanted to end their friendship or something, he definitely hated Rody now, it was over now... Rody wanted to drown himself. He would've just run out the restaurant, but he decided to stay and listen to what Vincent had to say, although he almost knew it wasn't going to be good.

Vincent smiled.

"Rody, I'm gay."

-End of Chapter 4-