My boy is in love

It was past 6 p.m. when Brad arrived on his street. He had deliberately stayed out until late because there was nothing he would do at home. He opened the door to the small dessert cafe, which was on the first floor of the building he lived in, and was surprised when he saw his father sitting there. 

The cafe was empty, left for his father, the owner, who was a girl in her mid-twenties, her fiance, whom she lived with and also ran the business with; he was in his mid-twenties. The three of them were having a conversation. 

"Brad!" The owner, Stella, called excitedly.  

"How was your first day of work? Aren't you back a little early?" She asked.

Brad kept his eyes on his father, Peter Morgan. He was 43 years old but looked like he was already in his late 50s. His father had a nice look, and he believed his handsome features would show if he tried to take care of himself. 

Peter hadn't shaved for weeks, if not months, so he had a lot of facial hair. His hair had some grey streaks scattered all around it, and the clothes he wore looked very old and rumpled and made him look haggard. It didn't help that he always reeked of alcohol. Peter spent the bulk of his time drinking, and no matter how much Brad tried to stop him, he just wouldn't. Rehab wasn't something they could afford, and even if they could, Peter wouldn't go. 

"My boy, I heard you got a job." Peter said, smiling at him. Unlike his appearance, he had a very beautiful dentition. If there were some traits he got from his father, they were his height, dentition, eye colour, and build. Other traits; he had gotten from his mother, who was a beauty queen. 

"It's nice to see you sane." Brad said to his father, sitting on the last empty chair around the table. 

His father had been wasted for the past few days, so it was a surprise to see him sober. It was the reason he knew nothing about his new job, even though Brad had mentioned it to him several times during the weekend.

"I was not insane. Just a little bit... out of it." Peter said, wrinkling his nose. 

It was obvious Peter wasn't fully sober, but Brad was happy to see him like this. 

"How was the job? Did you have a hard time?" Stella's fiance, Fletcher, asked him.

"I'm still on trial. The other person got the full employment while I was given a temporary role. Not sure what is going to happen though." 

"Ouch! That's sad to hear." Stella sympathized with him. 

Brad didn't want to go into details about his conversation with Grace because he didn't think it was necessary to tell them. 

"So... how did it go? Meet any girl you like yet?" Peter asked. 

"Dad! Seriously?" 

"What?" Peter asked with an innocent look. "I am just worried about my boy. I heard you were working under a woman. Do you think you can nail her?" 

"Dad!" He exclaimed with a horrified look, causing the couple to laugh. 

"Uhm, that is a farfetched dream, sir. Have you never heard of Grace Anderson?" Fletcher asked. 

"Grace Anderson?" He thought about it for a while. "I think I have seen the news about her, or maybe not? I don't know." 

Fletcher nodded. "She is pretty nasty." 

"Really?" 

"She is not!" Brad defended her, causing the three to look at him with raised brows. 

"You are already in love, my boy?" Peter teased. 

Brad rolled his eyes. "No. But she is my boss and I cannot just let you all talk about her like that." 

"Oh... my boy is in love." Peter laughed and put his hand on Brad's shoulder. 

"Now I really want to see what she looks like."

"I'm on it!" Stella exclaimed and opened the browser on her phone to search for Grace Anderson. After a few seconds rolled by, her pictures popped up on the screen and she handed the phone over to Peter. 

"Holy shit! This is your boss?" Peter asked with his wide eyes glued to the screen before he whistled. 

"You sound like a perv." Brad frowned at him. 

"Look son, do not even think about hitting on her. She is way out of your league." 

"Jeez... thanks a lot." Brad said, standing up from his seat. Sometimes, he preferred his father getting drunk and minding his own business. 

"There are a lot of bad things about her here. She isn't even smiling in any of the pictures." Peter said, scrolling through the screen. Then he smiled. "She is so my type." 

"Gross!" Brad said, snatching the phone from him to hand it over to Stella. 

"That's not very respectful, Bradley Morgan." Peter frowned at him. 

"I beg you with everything in me, Dad. Please try not to mess up this job for me. And try to restrain yourself from coming to my workplace drunk and complaining about how a plot twist in the movie you are watching doesn't make sense." 

"Fine! I will try. Oh... I was a great dad today and made you dinner." Peter announced proudly. 

Brad was startled. 

"You know I'd rather let you drink than let you cook. Do you want to burn down the apartment?" Brad asked in alarm. 

"There was only a little smoke, son. But nothing happened to the apartment, I promise." 

"Oh Jeez!" Brad said in a panic, and ran out of the cafe to check the state of the apartment. 

His father hurried after him, leaving the couple laughing their asses off. 

"It's so nice to see Peter sober." 

"I'm not sure Brad would agree with you on that." Fletcher said while snickering.