That Stupid Little Waiter

Chapter 9 - Whistles of Your Heart

"Fuck."

Vincent's disgruntled voice could be heard within the kitchen. Every one of the employees present there knew Vincent was not above cursing, evident in the way he would sometimes curse under his breath upon returning to the kitchen after an irritating conversation with a difficult client, mumbling about "all that money and they couldn't afford some manners". However, cursing loudly like that while slamming his fist on the wall behind him? It was so unlike him, it was off-putting. Even if he was strict at times, Vincent was a man of rationality and reasons. Never would you catch him full-on raging, ever, even if you tried to get him to. Why would someone try it, anyone who had known him had not a clue. Was it for attention, some kind of leverage, or just for their strange, sick entertainment from seeing such a calm individual losing it? Whatever it may be, it had certainly happened and every attempt had resulted in failure, along with their name being put on the restaurant's blacklist. Some found his composure scary, while others thought it was admirable, and anyone who had attempted to break it, he would make sure they received the adequate consequences of their idiocy. Nothing, no one could get him so upset, it started showing.

Except Rody, apparently.

If the employees had not been aware of the reason behind their boss's agitation, they would honestly think he had gone insane, he was possessed by something or it was his lookalike impersonating him. But they in fact knew why-the new waiter Pierre had just come to inform Vincent that he had received a call from Rody, who had asked him to tell Vincent he wouldn't be coming to work today. The thing was, it wasn't just this that had given Vincent such distress. It was the second day he had been gone from work, and along with the fact for both days, it was always Pierre he called to inform of his absence when usually he would call Vincent directly, it had left Vincent restless. For the past two days, he had been antsy pretty much all the time, his feet taking him back and forth around the kitchen, and his focus was as though it couldn't stay on work. Even if he put some effort in it, his attention would begin scattering all over and end up becoming a mess. For the past couple days, Vincent hoped that Rody was just running late, but then before he knew it, it was afternoon and Rody was nowhere to be seen. Every time he heard the sound of the back door, he would turn to look, praying to see Rody's silly face peaking in with his forever disheveled hair. Every time there was something about Rody, his face would perk up, but would go back to grimacing, if not more than before, when it was just about Rody taking yet another day off work. It had only been a couple of days, and Vincent already felt like he was losing his mind.

"I'm sorry, that-wasn't aimed at you." Vincent adjusted his posture and sighed into his palms, his eyes exhausted. "Thank you for telling me, you can start work now."

"Yes chef, but..." Pierre fidgeted with his fingers, wondering if he should ask the forbidden question. The chances of him getting a bad reaction from Vincent was high, but he knew he had to. It was the question the chefs had been tempted to ask as well but didn't want to make the situation worse. "A-Are you alright?"

Vincent widened his eyes, as though not expecting this. "Huh-?"

"I-Just-We've noticed you've been antsy and-Yeah-"

There was a long stare from Vincent to Pierre, the former's eyes blinking a few times before he let out a grunt and pinched his nose. It became apparent to everyone at that moment that he probably didn't even realize how bad it had become.

"Yeah, sorry-I'm fine. Just-concerned about Rody is all." Vincent averted his gaze before turning back to Pierre. "Did he, by any chance, tell you why he's been absent for two days?"

"Oh actually yes, he did leave you a message." Pierre paused for a quick moment before continuing. "He uh-said something about being sick and he'd try to figure it out."