Never Again (Chapter Five)
Jul. 27th, 2008 07:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
missmara13Title: Never Again
Author: Mara
Fandom: The OC/One Tree Hill
Word Count: 1850
Rating: R
Warnings: Some violence (Mostly in flashbacks), language, possibly sex
Summary: "You hit me, even once, and I swear to god it'll be the last time you ever lay a finger on me."
Notes: I like this one... it explores Ryan's relationships with the other people in his life, his boss and coworkers, a bit. Paulie has appeared previously in my one-shot 'Goen So Long', where he owned the pub Alex worked at and got Ryan a job at. I think the actor that most closely resembles my mental image of Paulie is Joe Mantegna (Will Girardi on Joan Of Arcadia, David Rossi on Criminal Minds). He's not an exact match, but if I had to have an actor playing Paulie, JM would be more than acceptable to me... lol...
Never Again: Chapter Five
Ryan heard the yelling in the kitchen and forced a smile as he set the plates down in front of the customers. "We're a little short handed tonight," he said with a smile, hoping they couldn't hear the yelling as clearly as he could. Once he'd made sure they didn't need anything else, he hurried back into the kitchen, arriving just in time to hear both the manager and the assistant manager quit. The two men went to storm out, and Ryan quickly moved in front of them. "What, you're just leaving?" he asked. "We're short handed already, and you're just walking out?"
"Yes, we are," the two men said at once, shoving past him.
"If they're going, so am I," one of the waiters said. "I can't take this tonight!"
"Just wait!" Ryan said firmly, his mind working. "Sarah, we don't have that many on the terrace tonight, right?"
"Right," Sarah replied.
"Okay, close it down. The people already out there can stay out there, but no one else gets seated there. Then I need you guys to cover some of the inside tables, if your section fills up, we'll try to get a little help to you, but as long as you've only got a couple tables occupied, I need you to help out in other people's sections, alright? Same thing if all your tables are happy, but someone else has a couple trouble tables, help them out."
Everyone nodded slowly in agreement.
"Sarah, can you cover my tables for about 15 minutes? I'm going to call around and see if I can get some people to come in and help us out."
"Sure," Sarah agreed, nodding. "Maybe you should call Paulie and let him know?"
"It's his anniversary, I don't wanna bug him unless I can't get us any help on my own," Ryan said. "Let's get to it, try to keep this going tonight."
"Hey, Paulie?" Ryan asked, knocking on his boss' office door.
"What's up, kid? You enjoy your extra day off?"
"Yeah, for the most part," Ryan said. "But I wanna confirm that I have from this coming Thursday until the Monday two weeks from now off, too."
"You finally tell her about your surprise?" Paulie asked.
"Yeah, the day after she told me I'm gonna be a dad," Ryan said, unable to help the smile that came across his face.
"You're kidding?" Paulie said, grinning as he got up and pulled Ryan into a warm hug. "Congrats, kid, you'll be a good dad. And damn straight you've got the time off. And if you need time later on, both before and after the baby's born, just let me know, we'll work it out."
"Thanks, Paulie," Ryan said. "I... Uh... I really appreciate it."
"What's wrong?" Paulie asked. "You should be over the moon."
"I am," Ryan said quickly. "But... I saw my... I saw my former family on Friday," he said.
Paulie nodded, sitting back down and gesturing towards the other chair. "And how'd that go?"
"Sandy's sick, cancer," Ryan said. "He might be dying."
"I'm sorry, kid," Paulie said.
"The thing is... they made me feel like I was the bad guy for leaving when I did," Ryan said. "Like I abandoned them... and... and I still don't want the fucking asshole to die. I still want him to be okay."
"Which is what makes you a better man than them, and hell, most of the world," Paulie said gently. "I remember the first time I saw those scars of yours, kid, and you know what my first thought was?"
"What?" Ryan asked.
"That I needed to find out that asshole's name and adress so I could go tear him apart," Paulie said. "You'd been there a couple weeks, and I knew you were somebody I wanted to stick around.
"I was so scared everyone would look at me differently," Ryan admitted. "I thought they'd think I was a freak."
"Hate to break it to you, kid, they already did," Paulie teased. "How many 19 year-olds have the balls to step into the Manager's shoes like you did?"
"How many are that utterly insane?" Ryan countered, chuckling.
"And look how it turned out? I got the best manager I've ever had."
"Thanks, Paulie," Ryan said.
"You tell Brooke to expect a call from Beth with unsolicited advice anyday now, and that I apologize in advance for it," Paulie said.
"I'll warn her," Ryan promised witha chuckle.
"Go do some work before you take off for a week," Paulie said, pretending to be stern, which only made Ryan chuckle more.
"You're not fooling me, Paulie. I haven't been scared of you since the night from hell."
"Damn it, I knew I shouldn't have been nice to you," Paulie said with a grin.
Ryan turned away from dealing with yet another minor emergency and found himself face to face with Paulie and Beth Montenegro, the owners. "Uh... hi," he said awkwardly. "I know we should have called, but I didn't want to interrupt you anniversary unless we had to, and I think we got things under control... but I'm really sorry if we should have called, and it's my fault no one did..."
"Ryan," Paulie interrupted, putting his hands on the younger man's shoulders. "We're here because one of my friends called to tell me what I great choice I made in a new manager. He said there was chaos around here, until 'that blonde kid, the short one' started shifting people around."
"Chris and Brad walked out, so did Martin, Kelly, and Greg, and... someone had to do something," Ryan said awkwardly.
"Sounds like you did a good job," Paulie said. "Keep up the good work while me and Beth have dinner, and you might be looking at a promotion."
"Wh... what?" Ryan asked, momentarily stunned as Paulie and Beth headed for the table they kept reserved for themselves and family. "Pro... did he just say something about a promotion?" he asked John as he turned and saw the other waiter standing beside him.
"Yeah, he did," John said, slapping Ryan's shoulder before going back to work.
Ryan felt the smile slowly spreading across his face, and turned to head over to check on his own tables before the next emergency erupted. "Hi, how is everything?" he asked a table full of older women.
To Be Continued...
Author: Mara
Fandom: The OC/One Tree Hill
Word Count: 1850
Rating: R
Warnings: Some violence (Mostly in flashbacks), language, possibly sex
Summary: "You hit me, even once, and I swear to god it'll be the last time you ever lay a finger on me."
Notes: I like this one... it explores Ryan's relationships with the other people in his life, his boss and coworkers, a bit. Paulie has appeared previously in my one-shot 'Goen So Long', where he owned the pub Alex worked at and got Ryan a job at. I think the actor that most closely resembles my mental image of Paulie is Joe Mantegna (Will Girardi on Joan Of Arcadia, David Rossi on Criminal Minds). He's not an exact match, but if I had to have an actor playing Paulie, JM would be more than acceptable to me... lol...
Never Again: Chapter Five
Ryan heard the yelling in the kitchen and forced a smile as he set the plates down in front of the customers. "We're a little short handed tonight," he said with a smile, hoping they couldn't hear the yelling as clearly as he could. Once he'd made sure they didn't need anything else, he hurried back into the kitchen, arriving just in time to hear both the manager and the assistant manager quit. The two men went to storm out, and Ryan quickly moved in front of them. "What, you're just leaving?" he asked. "We're short handed already, and you're just walking out?"
"Yes, we are," the two men said at once, shoving past him.
"If they're going, so am I," one of the waiters said. "I can't take this tonight!"
"Just wait!" Ryan said firmly, his mind working. "Sarah, we don't have that many on the terrace tonight, right?"
"Right," Sarah replied.
"Okay, close it down. The people already out there can stay out there, but no one else gets seated there. Then I need you guys to cover some of the inside tables, if your section fills up, we'll try to get a little help to you, but as long as you've only got a couple tables occupied, I need you to help out in other people's sections, alright? Same thing if all your tables are happy, but someone else has a couple trouble tables, help them out."
Everyone nodded slowly in agreement.
"Sarah, can you cover my tables for about 15 minutes? I'm going to call around and see if I can get some people to come in and help us out."
"Sure," Sarah agreed, nodding. "Maybe you should call Paulie and let him know?"
"It's his anniversary, I don't wanna bug him unless I can't get us any help on my own," Ryan said. "Let's get to it, try to keep this going tonight."
"Hey, Paulie?" Ryan asked, knocking on his boss' office door.
"What's up, kid? You enjoy your extra day off?"
"Yeah, for the most part," Ryan said. "But I wanna confirm that I have from this coming Thursday until the Monday two weeks from now off, too."
"You finally tell her about your surprise?" Paulie asked.
"Yeah, the day after she told me I'm gonna be a dad," Ryan said, unable to help the smile that came across his face.
"You're kidding?" Paulie said, grinning as he got up and pulled Ryan into a warm hug. "Congrats, kid, you'll be a good dad. And damn straight you've got the time off. And if you need time later on, both before and after the baby's born, just let me know, we'll work it out."
"Thanks, Paulie," Ryan said. "I... Uh... I really appreciate it."
"What's wrong?" Paulie asked. "You should be over the moon."
"I am," Ryan said quickly. "But... I saw my... I saw my former family on Friday," he said.
Paulie nodded, sitting back down and gesturing towards the other chair. "And how'd that go?"
"Sandy's sick, cancer," Ryan said. "He might be dying."
"I'm sorry, kid," Paulie said.
"The thing is... they made me feel like I was the bad guy for leaving when I did," Ryan said. "Like I abandoned them... and... and I still don't want the fucking asshole to die. I still want him to be okay."
"Which is what makes you a better man than them, and hell, most of the world," Paulie said gently. "I remember the first time I saw those scars of yours, kid, and you know what my first thought was?"
"What?" Ryan asked.
"That I needed to find out that asshole's name and adress so I could go tear him apart," Paulie said. "You'd been there a couple weeks, and I knew you were somebody I wanted to stick around.
"I was so scared everyone would look at me differently," Ryan admitted. "I thought they'd think I was a freak."
"Hate to break it to you, kid, they already did," Paulie teased. "How many 19 year-olds have the balls to step into the Manager's shoes like you did?"
"How many are that utterly insane?" Ryan countered, chuckling.
"And look how it turned out? I got the best manager I've ever had."
"Thanks, Paulie," Ryan said.
"You tell Brooke to expect a call from Beth with unsolicited advice anyday now, and that I apologize in advance for it," Paulie said.
"I'll warn her," Ryan promised witha chuckle.
"Go do some work before you take off for a week," Paulie said, pretending to be stern, which only made Ryan chuckle more.
"You're not fooling me, Paulie. I haven't been scared of you since the night from hell."
"Damn it, I knew I shouldn't have been nice to you," Paulie said with a grin.
Ryan turned away from dealing with yet another minor emergency and found himself face to face with Paulie and Beth Montenegro, the owners. "Uh... hi," he said awkwardly. "I know we should have called, but I didn't want to interrupt you anniversary unless we had to, and I think we got things under control... but I'm really sorry if we should have called, and it's my fault no one did..."
"Ryan," Paulie interrupted, putting his hands on the younger man's shoulders. "We're here because one of my friends called to tell me what I great choice I made in a new manager. He said there was chaos around here, until 'that blonde kid, the short one' started shifting people around."
"Chris and Brad walked out, so did Martin, Kelly, and Greg, and... someone had to do something," Ryan said awkwardly.
"Sounds like you did a good job," Paulie said. "Keep up the good work while me and Beth have dinner, and you might be looking at a promotion."
"Wh... what?" Ryan asked, momentarily stunned as Paulie and Beth headed for the table they kept reserved for themselves and family. "Pro... did he just say something about a promotion?" he asked John as he turned and saw the other waiter standing beside him.
"Yeah, he did," John said, slapping Ryan's shoulder before going back to work.
Ryan felt the smile slowly spreading across his face, and turned to head over to check on his own tables before the next emergency erupted. "Hi, how is everything?" he asked a table full of older women.
To Be Continued...
