Work Text:
Vince had noticed that Rody’s work had been lacking the past two days. First he was slouching and he always looked tired. He was rude to the guests. He never made eye contact with anyone anymore and what worried Vincent the most was that he didn’t wear the goofy grin all the time anymore.
One of the chefs set a dish for Rody to run and Vince saw it all play out. He saw Rody grab it loosely, He saw as Rody bumped into one of the tables, and he saw Rody drop the plate and he saw as Rody fell to the floor in a sorry attempt to clean his mess. Vince walked out the kitchen and once Rody saw him, he freaked out, “I’m so sorry, chef. It won’t happen again, it’ll come out of my paycheck, I’m cleaning it right now. Please don’t fire me.” He pleaded quickly and desperately as he still tried to clean.
“Wait in my office, Lamoree.”
Rody opened his mouth to argue but one glare from Vincent shut him up. He stood up and did the walk of shame into the kitchen.
Vince finished cleaning, apologized to all the guests, and gave the guest who lost their dinner to the floor a free meal.
He walked into the office to find Rody pacing the entire room. Once Rody saw him enter, he bounded up to him. “Please don-“ but before he could continue his groveling Vince cut him off, “Sit down, Lamoree.”
He saw Rody’s knees bend as if he were about to sit straight unto the floor but hesitated and then walked to the chair.
Vince sat down in his chair across from Rody.
“What the hell is going on Lamoree? Your work has been awful, you constantly making mistakes and don’t get me started on your demeanor!” He scolded.
Rody was silent. He was looking at his feet and after a minute Vince noticed his shoulders going up and down. He was crying.
“Rody… What’s going on? Are you ok?” Vince’s voice laced with seriousness and concern.
Rody took a while to stop crying but once he was done, Vince politely offered him a handkerchief.
“I saw M-Manon at a park a few days ago and I ran up to her and asked her what was going on a-and she screamed at me and i-it was horrible…” Rody curled in on himself a little.
Vince walked around his desk and patted Rody on the back. He hadn’t ever been good at comforting people but Rody looked like he needed it a lot.
Rody suddenly stood up and wrapped his arms around Vince, “T-thank you.” Rody sniffed
Vince patted him awkwardly and then stumbled as all of Rody’s weight fell on him. Luckily Vince balanced himself before they fell. Rody had fainted in his arms. He lugged Rody up into his apartment and laid him in his bed. He got a glass of water to put on the bedside table for when he woke up. 4 minutes later Rody shot up. He looked around until he spotted Vince. “You fainted.” Vince said plainly. “Sorry… since the incident with Manon I haven’t been eating very well.” He admitted sheepishly as he saw the water and grabbed it. “That’s okay. I’ll make you something.”