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Vincent adjusted his tie as he got ready for the talk show that night. He made sure not a single strand of hair was out of place as he walked out of the dressing room. Seeing there were five minutes until it started, he decided to get some coffee from the break room. And as he assumed that it would be a slow day, he saw an unfamiliar face chatting with the producers. It was a black looking guy–probably mixed, dark brown curls and maroon brown eyes—exactly what Vincent hated. He gave a glare paired with a disgusted grimace on his face to which the man responded with the same simple creepily smug grin he had when he walked into the room. It wasn't sincere—Vincent would know. It was one of those show smiles, like the ones he always practiced. Something was... wrong... Vincent was lost in his thoughts until someone called,
"Whittman! The show's about to start."
Vincent immediately rushed over, forgetting the interaction.
"I'm coming!"
After what felt like three hours, his shift was finally done and as he was about to leave, the new employee tapped his shoulder.
"Good evening! I saw you very rudely staring at me in the break room so you might aswell tell me your name since you probably already know me."
Vincent adjusted his posture, scowling internally as he put on an annoyed smile.
"I'm Vincent. Vincent Whittman. And no, I don't know who you are. I don't even have a reason to, anyway."
He muttered the last part, already wanting to leave. The new employee seemed very uncanny to Vincent but to others, it was fine. The new guy was probably some rando anyway.
"Well, Vincent. I'm yours truly, Alastor! You might've heard of me from my radio broadcast!"
Vincent was familiar with the name. It was all around town ever since last week. He didn't think he'd meet the real deal in person, though. But at the mention of radio, he scoffed.
"You're still into that old timey stuff? It's a new era! Go big! TVs are the biggest hit these days."
Vincent subconsciously put a hand on Alastor's shoulder before it was nudged off. Alastor simply responded.
"TVs aren't my thing. This man was made for radio, afterall!"
Before Vincent could argue, a guy ignorantly bumped into them in a 'get out of my way' manner. Alastor let out a polite one-way apology, Vincent on the other hand was annoyed as hell. Did they not know who he was!? Vincent was literally the talk of the town, who WOULDN'T know who he was!? They heard the man mumble and grunt something while walking away.
Later that evening, Vincent prepared to murder the guy—totally not an overreaction. As he was looking for the guy, knife in hand, he heard a scream. A blood curdling scream from an alley nearby. Out of curiosity, he checked. There he saw it, Alastor was licking his bloodied fingers, still with that uncanny smile on his face. Vincent stepped back, a click on the ground. Alastor noticed him, standing up.
"Oh, Vincent, don't you know it's rude to interrupt someone's dinner? Unless you want some, of course."
To Vincent, Alastors voice seemed almost flirty—seductive even. What was he thinking!? He didn't need that kind of attention from other men. It was kinda weird that he was focusing on the fact he might be homosexual more than the fact that his co-worker was a cannibal but oh well. Vincent couldn't think of anything to say, his heart was beating fast.
Suddenly, police sirens wailed, coming closer.
"Well, I better run along now."
Alastor said his goodbyes as he left, leaving Vincent to deal with the cops.
The next morning, Alastor wasn't all too surprised that Vincent didn't snitch on him. Although, it left him wondering why... why would Vincent be so... strange..? Vincent was unique, he didn't scream, didn't call him a freak for eating human meat. For now, he just had to wonder.