Work Text:
Rody Lamorre had three items sitting on his coffee table. A bouquet of roses, a box of chocolates, and a letter. All three for his girlfriend, Manon. He was planning on giving her these the next day, Valentine’s Day, but Manon in the past week or so, hadn’t answered any of Rody's calls. Typically, Rody would call once or twice a night, but this night he called at least twenty. Like always, she wasn’t answering.
The man was pacing around his room becoming increasingly worried about what had happened to his girlfriend. When it hit him like a ton of bricks. What the hell is he going to do with these gifts if she doesn’t pick up the phone? It’s only going to be a matter of time before the roes wilt away and the chocolates won’t survive much longer with Rody around them.
Instead of thinking about what might have happened to Manon, he started wondering about who he could give these to. He didn’t know many people. Rody could give them to one of the chefs, but what if all the rest get jealous.. He could give it to a costumer, but that would be kinda creepy. Finally, Rody decided he’d just give it to his boss, Vincent, he’d just have to rewrite the letter and explain why he was giving it to him of all people.
When writing the letter, Rody wanted to make it crystal clear he wasn’t into Vincent at all. He was straight, he wasn’t gay. However, he had to admit he would be lying if he said Vincent wasn’t attractive. Rody was just appreciating his looks is all. That’s at least Rody convinced himself was the case.
Finally, he started writing the letter,
“Dear Vincent,
Happy Valentine’s Day! Manon wasn’t
awnsering answering the phone again, and I didn’t want any of these to go to waste, so I thought you would you’d be the next best person! I hope you enjoy everything :)
Love,
Sincerely,
Rody Lamoree”
It was pretty much perfect. He decided “love” was too much, so he toned it down to “sincerely.” Rody was happy with the letter, so he went to sleep on his couch.
—————————
The next day, Rody woke up to his alarm clock blaring in his ear. Instead of doing his usual routine of groaning, “five more minutes,” he actually got up on time for once. Rody knew it was a semi-important day and Vincent wouldn’t want him to be late even if he knew he had a gift prepared for him. The bristo Vincent ran would be booming with couples coming in for dates.
Rody first started getting ready by putting on his shirt, then pants, and roller skates, almost forgetting to brush his teeth and at least brush his hair, but to no avail. All whilst doing this, he pondered when he was going to be able to take Manon out on their next date. It had been awhile since they last talked. Sure, she dumped him but Rody was convinced she didn’t mean it. It was probably some late April fools' joke in February. Right?
Grabbing his tip jar and bike, Rody was off to the bristo. On his way, he almost fell multiple times due to the fact he was biking in roller skates. Rody would not recommend riding a bike with skates. After about ten minutes of biking and a lot of close calls, he was finally at the restaurant, and on time for once.
Walking in, Rody was met by a very confused Vincent. Vincent was confused for two reasons. A) Rody was on time and B) Rody had Valentine’s Day gifts?
“Did you get someone to actually be your valentine this year, Rody?” The chef walked over towards his waiter.
“No actually I didn’t..” Rody stated, feeling a bit attacked, “the gifts are actually for you.”
At first, Vincent was confused. Now he was shocked. Vincent thought Rody was straight and trying to win back Manon. Unless this was like a “friendship” kinda thing. Either option didn’t make sense to the chef because Rody is straight, and they aren’t friends.
“Why did you get me Valentine’s Day gifts?..” Vincent asked, sounding a tad condescending.
“Well…” the taller man paused for a moment before continuing, “Manon wasn’t answering, and I have no one else to give them to so…”
The two men shared an awkward silence for a minute. Before Vincent took the gifts.
“Thank you.. I guess?” The pale man mumbled. It wasn’t exactly what Rody expected to happen, but he’d take it.
“You’re welcome chef!” Rody responded, scratching his neck. For a moment, Rody could’ve sworn he saw a slight tint of pink on his boss's pale cheeks.
“I’m just going to go put all these in my office”, Vincent walked away confused about what had just happened