Chapter 3: Rat-face, Pink tequila shirt? Could this day get any worse?

AFTER THE INTERVIEW, when everything was reassured with the trial plan, Mr. Lopez shakes Aaron’s hand with a firm but polite grip “Thank you so much for taking the time to talk today Mr. Lopez.”

With a small laugh, Thomas replies “I think I should be to say that, but I truly hope things work smoothly for you Mr. Blackwood. I am grateful for interviewing with you today.”

Releasing each other’s hand, with that said, Aaron respectfully leaves the office with all his notes required for the duration and extended from there onwards

But as he left the manager to his thoughts, he flops back against his seat, taking a moment to breathe he murmured to himself “I need a drink.” Reaching over to his lower draw, pulls the handle, finding 2 bottles labeled THE BREEDER’S CHOICE, WHISKY

Grasping a bottle, he pours himself a glass, and gulped in down, receiving a thin and watery taste

He admitted tiredly “This is going to be problematic . . . I can feel it.”

Pouring himself another glass, gulping it quickly as if it were air, remaining in a moment of silence he grumbles with annoyance “I should probably stop…..”

Glancing at the clock reading 12:25 PM resulted in one of his longest interviews. “....well it’s nearly lunch break, another glass won’t hurt….hopefully.” Repeating the pattern to refill his glass, before he guzzled it all down in one swoop

After a few more glasses, he soberly thought “One of these days I’m gonna get a stronger drink.”

Before he continued a knock was heard, causing him to falter, as he already knew who it was, a voice on the other side called out “Sir? Are you drinking again?”

Hesitantly he responds “What!? h-How could you accuse me of such a thing!!” Trying to clear his desk

He only had a mere second, before the door was wide open revealing the Supervisor, who strolled in casually, at first glance he gave both the demeanor and appearance of a CEO or company assistant given by how expressionless he looked

“Mhmm, if I recall you were drinking in the middle of the day when customers filed many complaints when Mr. Guzman was an employee.” He reminded

Just the memory of that situation, caused a vein to pop, he barked in annoyance “If you were in my position you would too!” After all they lost half of their profits, and the boy had the audacity to be calm and prance around freely

That day, was the day he considered murder

Especially with the amount of filed complaints of harassment, which resulted to many suing them, it got to the point he broke his oath and drank a bottle of whisky to cope with the lose, which resulted in mayhem

And ever since then he’s been constantly called out for drinking and most of the times it was when he was fully sober

Diverting himself from the memory, expressing a neutral look, he said out of the blue “Things . . . are about to change.” This grasped Emilio’s attention when he spotted a change in the man’s eyes, as of late he’d been so worn out, stressed, and somewhat hopeless

Yet now all he could now see was a restful look

Which got him wondering “What happened in that interview?”

But didn’t voice his concerns, so swiftly he leaves the papers on the manager's desk, and makes his way to the door, but just before he swings the door behind him

He advises his superior “Don’t drink too much.” And left with that

As Thomas reminisce his thoughts, he knew change was inevitable, but the idea of how far had things would change was the ultimate question, but of course, he would remain as a bystander and see what would become of it

AFTER AARON excited the office, making a beeline for the exit while rereading his notes, took no mind of his surroundings, which of course was no surprise when he had bumped into someone, which of course resulted in a few drinks on the tray to spill on him

As it dripped down his entire torso, he cursed to himself “Son of a-“

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry- wait . . . Aaron?” At his name, his eyes trail from the stain to familiar eyes

“Paula?” He called out

Both were left in a daze, but Paula broke out when she remembered why they stopped “Oh! Here let me get you a cloth” placing the tray down “..and perhaps another shirt. Please follow me.”

The pair made their way to the employee room, Aaron tried to clean the stain off his shirt, while Paula searched the cabinets as Aaron remained still on the spot, he thought to himself with annoyance about his dilemma “Be optimistic they said. Nothing bad will happen, they said. Honestly, I should have just-“ He mockingly added

Grumbling to himself, glaring at the measly stain

Paula on the other hand had found a cloth for him to use, she pauses in her search and calls “Hey--catch!” throwing the piece of cloth, Aaron managed to catch it just in time, looking at the cloth he searches the room for a tap

Which he spots on the opposite side of the room

He proceeds to the dampen the cloth before applying it to the stain, trying to soak out what he could

As Paula checked the cabinets for spare clothes, she had somewhat managed to find a shirt, however, what was on it, a small guilty expression was on her face, as she returns, she holds it up by the shoulders, and once it was presented his immediate response was “You have got to be kidding me.”

Sheepishly she replied “It’s better than nothing.”

Aaron sarcastically thought to himself with a deadpanned gaze, “This day keeps getting better and better.”

As he groaned in annoyance he take a deep breath, to calm himself, turning his gaze away from Paula, he holds out his hand signaling for her to give him the shirt, swiftly handing it to him

She points in a specific direction “The changing room is over there.”

Turning her head to check the time which read 12:34 PM “I’ve gotta get back to my shift-“ as she stands at the doorway she reassuringly but quickly said “-If you need anything just call out for me or one of the staff.”

Before Aaron could reply, she left within the blink of an eye

As Aaron was left to his lonesome, he groveled in despair and annoyance at how fate was playing on him or his luck being quite simply horrendous as of late, and that’s counting the events along the way here, however he told himself “Let’s just get this over with.”

MEANWHILE WITH PAULA, as she proceeded serving customers she was intercepted by Roja, who gave a huge smirk as she snuck behind a distracted Paula “So~ Did you see anything good?” She teasingly inquired

Blushing madly bright red at what she was implying “Roja!” she screeched between her teeth, however, her reaction was what Roja wanted

“So I take that as a ‘Yes’ then?” Without even hiding her intent

Paula retorted, “Shut up.” picking up another empty glass on the tray, however before she could make way to the kitchen, she was intercepted by Pedro who looked like he was going to have a fit

Mentally she complained “You have got to be kidding.”

Placing an annoyed expression “What do you want now? Can’t you see I’m working?” Pushing him out of the way, despite her words and actions, he followed behind and replied with confidence and certainty

“Come on Paula, I’ve been polite, at least talk to me.” However, that statement made him appear more faulty and perverted

“Don’t punch him, Paula, restrain yourself, and take deep breaths.” She reminded herself, doing her mental exercise to not lash out at the nuisance, however despite her efforts, he somehow managed to always strike a chord that broke her patience

She had to bite her tongue at his next comment, “Come on, one date is a I ask..” as he reached to grasp her hand but was intercepted by another “Hey! Wh-“ Before he could finish he was interrupted by the intruder's words

“You are honestly trying my patience.” They said in a very low and dangerous tone

Instantly recognizing the voice “y-y-y-You!?” Pedro said with fear, as he had forgotten that this man was still here, however, he hadn’t forgotten who his father was “d-Do you know I am!? Once my father finds out he’ll-“

“He’ll what?” Aaron glared “If anything you should be more worried, about what I’ll do.” He stated with an unimpressed tone

Pulling Pedro close, he whispers in his ear “If you ever disturb this establishment's workers again, do not be surprised by what will come after.” Without giving him the chance to reply, Aaron pushes him lightly towards the entrance

And with a calm tone, he said “Now. Please leave, you are disturbing the customers.” Despite his calm expression, there was most certainly a vicious aura of some sort oozing out of him

Pedro wanted to retort back, but as soon as he heard the whispers from everyone, he knew better than to escalate the matter “Tch. Let's go.” He bitterly commanded

And one by one each of Pedro’s lackey’s followed pursuit, at their departure Pedro could only grumble and curse in annoyance, to being one-upped by some nobody who not only had the gull to threaten him but embarrass him out in public

After a few minutes had passed with a mix of awe and relief, Aaron slowly turned to Paula, however that silence was later filled with snorts and laughter

“Pfffft hehe!!” Trying to hold it in, Paula slapped her free hand over her mouth, however that didn’t stop the small chuckles that escaped her lips

Roja queried with a raised brow “What are you-“ but as she turns her head to Aaron, her eyes widened with realization, and she gasped in surprise

Knowing why the pair responded as such, the tip of Aaron’s ears turned bright red, while his cheeks had a mild blush, his eyes diverted away, and remained silent, I mean what could he say when he was wearing a Flamingo pink shirt, inscribed on with TEQUILA 24/7

Honestly, he doesn’t blame their reaction one bit

Roja, who could only stare, questioned “Are you meaning to tell me….that You. scared the living daylights out of Guzman. While wearing That?”

Aaron could only nod softly, the pair of girls who were questioning him began to laugh hysterically, clutching their stomachs, capturing a few guests' attention, as they turned to the source of both their laughter and dealing with Guzman

However their eyes diverted to the shirt, those who could see the writing and couldn’t help but shiver as they tried to save the boy further embarrassment, but failed miserably as small chuckles and snorts escaped the mass lips

This only resulted for Aaron to cover his face with his right hand, but despite the coverage the blush at the tip of his ears revealed his embarrassment, as they grew a brighter shade of red, one would have fought they were glowing given by how bright they were

Aaron lectured to himself in his mind “This is what happens when you think before you act--you end up wearing a pink shirt that says tequila twenty-four, seven….in a bar no less.”

Thankfully someone who had some sense to not leave him stranded with all eyes on him, gave him a jacket to cover himself, though it was more out of guilt than pity, since they too were laughing at the dilemma

“Okay everyone I think our friend here has faced enough.” At this statement the laughter slowly died down, and small replies agreed, Aaron felt at ease, but still felt as if he lost a bit of his pride

A hand rests on his shoulder, he uncovers his hand and trails up the unknown person’s arm, finding a young man within his early 20s and instantly Aaron could see by the wide smile and glee in his olive eyes that he was mischief maker, or in better words a jokester

And he felt relieved, because he found someone to divert the situation

However that didn’t last long when the stranger exclaimed “Y’know I would have thought you’d be a wimp, but I see you got some guts. What’s your name?”

With a blank stare, Aaron thought to himself “Nope . . . this is even worse.”

Thankfully before another word was spoken Roja scolded the man “Noah stop pestering the new guy.”

Mentally Aaron thanked her, but the one known as Noah decided to go against it, as he explained “Oh come on Roja, don’t you find it thrilling that someone had the balls to knock down the whack job.” The ‘Whack job’ being Pedro

“Still you're bringing too much attention..” She added in her “As always.” Letting out a tired sigh, she then shouts to everyone “Apologies for the disturbance everyone, for compensation everyone gets a free round, courtesy of Noah.”

At that statement the man’s eyes widened so much one would think they would pop right out of his head “h-Hey wait a minute I didn-“

His cries were drowned out by the customers cheers, as they all ordered their preferred beverages, Noah fainted miserably in Aaron’s arms and grumbled a few words of nonsense, but a few words that were salvageable to hear were

“My allowance-“

“Damn it-”

“Curse-”

And lastly “Roja.”

Most of which Aaron could comprehend to what he was trying to imply, and he felt somewhat guilty, since he was partially the reason why the redhead called him out, so he offered “I’ll pay half of the first round.”

At this statement Noah had come back to life in full spirit, with wide eyes that were becoming damp, stuttering “r-r-Really?”

Aaron responded “Well it’s the least I can do for the jacket.” He reasoned, and to his surprise he was pulled into a tight hug

He felt as if he was losing air. “How strong is this guy!?!” He shockingly thought, while seeming to lose air, Aaron proceeds to rapidly slap the other’s shoulder communing through his actions that he couldn’t breathe

But it seemed that Noah was oblivious to his message, however a customer from the audience did, and it so happened to be someone who was both familiar and acquainted with, at least that was what Aaron estimated when the individual literally slammed a fist on Noah’s head

Noah released Aaron from his death grip

Allowing Aaron to both compose himself and breathe, while Noah clutched his arms around his head, to ease the pain from the blow, which left a minor bruise to swell

Aaron turns to glance at the figure who gave the iron fist, and finds a man around his early 20s, dressed in attire that was very much out of date

40 years out of date

But before he could utter a word Noah was smacked a few times, and simultaneously listened to the scolding remarks that were given by the raven haired individual “Honestly you need to control your strength. Not all of us are meatheads like you.”

On the final word the one slandering poked his finger into Noah’s cheek

Foolishly Noah made a witty remark “Geez ya dingbat why are you harassing me like an old geezer?”

At the term ‘Geezer’ you could see the raven haired individual twitch, and repeated the word with a venomous tone “Geezer?”

As realization dawned on Noah, he stuttered apologetically “w-w-Wait i-i-I d-d-didn’t mean t-t-t-t-that you we-“ But was cut short when the other clicked his knuckles in a slow manner “Eeek!”

With a piercing glare directed at Noah “We are the Same age….” His head leans at an angle “....Maybe I should knock that knowledge into you. . . . with a knuckle sandwich.” Before Noah could plead the unidentified acquaintance’s fist was already in trajectory for Noah’s face

However to everyone’s surprise once again, when a hand reached out blocking the fist, trailing to the source stood none other than Aaron Blackwood

Who politely said “I believe that’s unnecessary. Don’t you think?”

Implicating on the stranger’s response to violent actions, backing up, sheathing any thoughts of violence, responding with a simple sigh before retreating his movements, he slowly replied “True as that maybe. This blockhead..“

Pulling Noah into a headlock “....has a strong forehead.’ knocking on the forehead, Noah didn’t even flinch or even blink “See.” Tapping a few times up to the point Noah’s annoyance skyrocketed

Whacking the shorter individual “Knock it off Helio.”

The one known as ‘Helio’ replied “If I can deal with you burning my clothes. You can deal with a few whacks to the head.”

At the reminder, Noah sheepishly diverted his olive green eyes, which caught Aaron’s attention, not so much the movement but rather the colour “Why am I getting a sense of deja vu?” Trying to recall why it was familiar “...Olive? Olive, olive.” Repeating the word in his head hoping to remember something

It was then another stepped into scene, and in finding Noah in a headlock the newcomer scolded Helio

“Helio….that better not be my grandson in a headlock. Or so help me- Huh? Mr. Blackwood?”

Instantly recognising the voice Aaron’s immediate response was filled with surprise “Mrs. Meza!”

As soon as they made eye contact, he now recalled why Noah eyes were so familiar, looking from her to her grandson and back to her, he could see the strong relation, of course his thoughts and speculations weren’t unnoticed

“Well I see you’ve met one of my tykes.” She cheerfully said

Mentally he sarcastically said to himself “That is an understatement of the century.” Recalling the death-hug he received

Paula calls out to the famous ‘Gallina Madre’ with an enthusiastic tone “Afternoon Gail.”

“Paula dear. How have things been?”

A conflicted expression developed upon the waitress’ face, and it was all Abigail needed to understand, releasing a tired sigh “....I see . . . that boy never learns, you’d think he’d learn some decency.” The reason left unsaid since it was common knowledge of who the Guzman’s were

Helio openly says while releasing Noah from his grasp “That is a dream that will never come true.”

His sarcastic but nonetheless true comment, got a few murmurs of agreement, since they grew up with the boy and whatever he was thinking was drilled into him, so there was little point to expecting change, since he was as stubborn as mule

However the topic was diverted when a customer called out for service, Roja spoke up “That’s my table, call me if you need me.” She said as she went into customer service mode

Abigail then turns to Aaron with a motherly smile “And how have you been Mr. Blackwood?”

“I’ve been well. And please call me Aaron….” He mentally added “....it makes me feel older when an elder calls me that.” An image of him with wrinkles appeared and instantly dispersed it

“Then call me Gail.” She insisted

‘It’s a deal.’ Aaron complied

After the mutual acceptain the sweet grandam then remembered the previous situation, and despite her warm smile, underneath it lied a cold and vengeful demon, just waiting for the right moment to attack

“Now . . . Helio….” Just at his name alone, raised a shiver up his spine, as his hazel eyes widened in horror, with sweat dripping from his forehead

He thought to himself “God….please help me.” He pleaded

“....why was my grandson in a headlock? Hmmm?” She emphasized

Helio instantly turns from his left and right, and each and everyone of them avoided his gaze, with sweat dripping faster, he turns to the only person who stood up against him in hopes to be saved, but even he the irk to look away

Cursing Aaron mentally “You little bastard- You had the gull to face me, but now your outing.” glaring as if he hoped to drill a hole in Aaron’s skull “I won’t forget this coward.” Growling while tearing up awaiting his death

Aaron apologetically thought “I’m sorry. But I won’t risk facing her wrath.”

In leaving Helio in the hands of Abigail Meza others turned a blind eye, because everyone knows to never mess with the Gallina Madre