THREE
Jupiter's Moons
It had quickly become a thing.
Marco's little group, that is. Nearly every morning they came in, whether all together or only one or two of them. The only constant seemed to be Roman, who ate the same thing (a plate of two waffles drenched in syrup and hashbrowns) and drank the same thing (iced caramel coffee).
He didn't go for anything else. Elias wondered how he did it â ate the same thing every day. He could never do that. He got sick of things too fast.
And every day he came, he sat in the same spot, only spoke through Elias' notepad and lazy hand gestures. He had gotten the hang of what he was trying to say quickly; it was surprisingly easy to pick up. Double tapping on the menu meant he wanted a large coffee, not a medium one, for example.
Elias wondered if he knew sign language. It would be easier to communicate with him. Unless he just really didn't like speaking unless he needed to.
He hadn't heard his voice, even when his friends were making conversation with him. As much as Elias hated getting into other people's business, he was curious. Was there a significant reason behind Roman's choice to stay silent? Was it medical, a preference, did something happen?
Elias had to remind himself they were still strangers who only met through one serving the other every morning. His business was not Elias' business, and that fact went both ways, not just one.
"Rome, come on," one of the guys said. Elias had finally learned all their names. Marco, Felix, Roman â the last two were Anthony and Anthony. Yes, they had the same name. Elias called them Thing #1 and Thing #2 inside his head for his own sake.
Roman glanced at Thing #1, brows furrowed. Anthony sighed heavily. "The last time you talked to us was like, a week ago, and that was to say we were too loud."
"Yeah," Marco added, slurping his drink even though there was nothing left. Elias took it to refill. "Thanks, pretty boy. Anyway â Rome, let us hear that sexy ass voice."
Roman scoffed, shaking his head. As Elias slid Marco's new drink toward him, the man grabbed him by the arm abruptly and stated: "Pretty boy wants to hear it."
Elias flinched. "Uh, no, it's okay. He doesn't have to talk if he doesn't want to."
Marco squeezed, making Elias hiss. "He actually means he wants to hear, he's just trying to be nice. Niceness is for losers. Rome, speak for the pretty boy."
"Elias," he corrected in a mumble, but Marco just ignored him.
"Yeah, speak!" Thing #1 exclaimed, Thing #2 nodding his agreements. The only ones not pressuring him were Elias and Felix, the latter looking on the verge of tossing three of them outside.
Roman looked stressed. He leaned his forehead into his palm and stared down at his half-finished plate. Elias felt some sympathy slither into his gut. Even if his friends were just messing around, the pressure could still be annoying.
When they started chanting, Elias slapped a hand on the counter, making the noise stop as they all looked at him. "Keep it down," he ordered. "And leave him alone. He doesn't want to talk. He'll speak when he wants to. Now shut up and eat. The food wasn't made for it to just get cold."
Truly, Elias hated the contradiction of adults having the capability of being more childish than actual children. These guys couldn't be far from his age, and yet half of them acted like they were twenty years younger. It sometimes felt like Elias was looking after toddlers, especially when Marco was involved.
"Yes, Mom," Marco droned, making a big show of shoveling egg into his mouth. Elias twisted his face in disgust and stepped back, deciding to go check on other tables.
Putting the five musketeers aside, the morning was the nice middle ground between slow and busy. He could actually keep up with everything while still having something to do.
As much as he liked to think he was constantly irritated by that group of men, he was actually a little relieved each time he saw them walk through that door. They were a nice difference from his usual monotonous workdays, and despite hating unnecessary conversation, the talks he was included in weren't that bad.
Well, weren't that bad until Marco decided to go wild with his questions. A couple days ago, he'd asked if Elias had any sex in the last year because he seemed "too pent up," then gestured toward his clenched jaw and purple bags underneath his eyes.
Elias charged him extra.
When Marco took note of that, he didn't even complain. He knew damn well he deserved it.
"You know, pretty boy â "
"Please. My name is Elias. Hell, you can call me Eli if it means you stop calling me that."
Marco was quiet, then opened his mouth and completely disregarded Elias' statement. "You know, pretty boy, you need to get out more. When was the last time you got to have fun?"
Felix, ever the smart one, slapped Marco's head. "Stop it, jackass."
"Is that any of your business?" Elias asked with a frown, crossing his arms against his chest.
"Well, no. But â you seem tense. You should go out with us this weekend."
"No thanks." He pointed at Marco's plate. "You done?"
Marco pushed it toward him. "Why not?"
Elias scowled, handing the dirty plates to Jack, a new employee in charge of washing dishes. "Did you forget the fact that I have a kid? I have responsibilities. Why would I go out and get drunk?"
Marco grinned. "Who said anything about getting drunk? See, pretty boy! You are tense. You need to get wasted, huh? That's why your brain went to alcohol."
Felix scratched the bridge of his nose. "I can't even argue with him on that one, Elias," he said, offering an apologetic look.
"You four are a colossal pain in my â "
A damp towel slapped the back of his head. Elias whipped around to find Gale clicking her tongue, waving a finger as she brushed past him. He almost rolled his eyes. Almost. She acted like she didn't cuss up a storm when with familiar faces.
"Four?" Marco squawked. "Who the hell do you accept?"
Elias pointed at Roman, who paused with a forkful of hash brows halfway to his mouth. "That one," Elias answered. "He's the only one who hasn't wronged me."
"What?" Thing #1 asked in disbelief. "What did we do?"
"You're enablers," Elias stated, keeping a stoic face. "And you, Felix. You just betrayed me by saying I needed to get wasted."
"This is â hey, the fuck're you smiling about?" Marco barked, pointing an accusatory finger at Roman, whose curved lips faltered. "What? You think you're better than us?"
"That's because he is." Elias looked to Roman,
offered a small smile and said, "You're my favorite."
Roman choked on fried potato, then let out a strained, "Fuck," before coughing up a storm.
Elias couldn't believe the first word he'd ever heard out of him was that, and while choking, nonetheless. He hadn't heard his real voice, technically, but from what Elias could tell, it was deeper than he thought it would be. It seemed Roman wasn't even exempt from being a mess.
His friends startled howling with laughter, and Elias had to quickly shush them when people started looking their way. "You're in public," he hissed. "Stop being so loud. Did you forget it's still nine in the morning? God, you all act like teenagers."
"Excuse you, I'm thirty two," Marco stated in offense.
"That makes it worse, Marco."
Marco opened his mouth, then closed it, because for the first time he realized he didn't have a comeback. Instead, he decided to change the subject.
"So, you're really too busy to go out once?"
Elias sighed. He didn't want to admit that Mars would be gone Friday and Saturday, because then Marco would take that as a confirmation that he'd go wherever the fuck they were going. Or he just wouldn't take no for an answer. One of the types of people Elias hated most.
"Even if I wasn't, I still wouldn't go," Elias told him, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "I barely know you guys. How do I know you aren't buttering me up so you can all kidnap and kill me?"
Marco snorted. "And I thought Felix was an overthinker. Dude, if we wanted to kidnap you, we've had so many opportunities. Did you know your back left door of your car doesn't lock?"
Elias stared in alarm. "What? How do you know that? Did you â "
"Chill, I thought your car was mine," Marco explained, waving a hand as if telling him to calm down. "Remember that one day I came with my car? Yeah, we have the same model. I opened the back door because I was gonna grab something, then realized it wasn't mine. You need to fix that."
Elias let out a disbelieving exhale, shaking his head. "Oh my God," he whispered.
"I think you broke him," Thing #2 said.
Elias did not want to go to a repair shop and get something that small fixed. He couldn't afford that. He pinched his bottom lip and stared down at the counter top, where his free hand was gripping the edge.
How long had it been like that? What about all those times he left Mars in the backseat for a couple minutes just to quickly grab something? He always locked the doors. Had one of them not locked that whole time? Had he almost risked losing her?
He was snapped out of his thoughts by a hand holding his notepad and pressing it against his arm. Elias looked up and found Roman offering it, and when he grabbed it to read what was on it, he almost laughed. How convenient.
I can fix it for you. You don't have to pay me or anything. I work at a repair shop.
Elias gave him a weak smile. "Thank you," he said. He wouldn't pass up on something that was free. "When?"
Roman shrugged. Elias held up a finger, went to the back to grab his phone, then held it out to him. "Give me your number. I'll give you mine. Just let me know when you're free and I'll work around that."
The man nodded. "Thank you again," Elias said. "I appreciate it. And I'm free Friday and Saturday, so â "
"So you're not busy!" Marco exclaimed. Elias shut his eyes for a moment.
Fuck.
___
A/N: this is based on a true story the back left door of my car doesnt lock except i still haven't gotten it fixed ð¿ð¿good thing i don't leave the house ,,,,,,, havent been outside in a month
anyway might be getting a job as an editor ð¤¸ð»ð¤¸ð»it's the way i only like editing if it isn't my own stuff
also i love writing this story sm so i like posting chapters to see comments and ur reactions (: that is why i have already posted 3 chapters (HEY . u can read up to chapter 8 on patreon wink wink) i write very frequently for this book
ok i've talked too much bye <3