Stop the wedding!

Castiel Novak sat at his kitchen table with his regular cup of black coffee and his dry toast. Just the way he liked it. He spent every morning reading the daily newspaper and scoffing at what they called 'news'.

He wiped the sleep from his eyes for what felt like the millionth time before flipping to the engagement announcements on page seven. He was twenty seven now and not getting any younger so naturally, most of his previous classmates would appear in this section of the local paper looking as happy as can be. It was sickening.

He chuckled to himself when he noticed a girl he once failed to hook up with when he was going through his embarrassing existential crisis during his freshman year of college. She was now marrying some wealthy businessman. 'Nice,' he thought to himself before taking another sip of coffee and scanning the next page quickly.

Black coffee sprayed out of his mouth, landing perfectly on the photo that shocked him so much. He grabbed the papers edges hard causing it to crinkle harshly under his tight grip. He reread the words silently to himself to make sure he wasn't missing anything.

Yep. This was real. "Balthazar Roché, linguistics professor, and Michael Shirley, son of billionaire Chuck Shirley, announced their engagement Friday evening. The couple plans to have a quick wedding already booking their venue in Los Angeles, California for May 2nd," he read out loud. Double checking every single detail of the text.

May 2nd. That was a week from today. What was with the sudden rush? And California of all places?

But wait. Cas and Balthazar barely called it quits less than three months ago! Was he really that easy to forget? He groaned to himself and let the newspaper drop to the ground while he slumped in his chair. This cannot be happening.

XXX

"Good morning, Castiel," the sweet familiar voice of a close friend rang out as soon as he entered his workplace.

He smiled and greeted his red headed friend with a hug. "Good morning, Charlie."

"What's with the sour puss look? Not looking forward to another long day of tech support?," she smiled back at him.

"Hell no," he commented back before walking to the break room for another cup of coffee before clocking in with Charlie still at his heels.

"Hmm. Something tells me there's something more to that little frown of yours," she persisted on.

Cas rolled his eyes and poured another cup of black coffee into the tiny Styrofoam cup. He waved her off. "It's nothing," he mumbled before taking a sip of the warm liquid.

Charlie crossed her arms defiantly over her chest and eyed him up and down in a way that was just so her. She opened her mouth to say something more but was cut off by their boss entering the room.

"Mr. Novak. Ms. Bradbury, please tell me why it is nine a.m. and you two are still in here lollygagging and not answering phones," Crowley growled in his unpleasant accent.

Charlie snapped her mouth shut and bowed awkwardly at the short balding man before practically running out of the room. He turned his attention to Castiel and eyed him suspiciously as Cas took yet another sip of coffee. He was going to need a lot of this if he was going to make it through today.

"Your survey scores are low," he said finally when he realized Cas wouldn't scurry away like a frightened animal.

"What?," Cas asked and glowered down at him.

"Your survey scores from customers are dangerously low, Mr. Novak. Now, it seems to me that you are just not a people person so either you fix that problem or you walk away," his boss challenged.

Cas gripped his coffee cup a little tighter and wished so desperately that it was his boss' head underneath his grip. He debated internally on whether he should say something smart to Crowley and get written up again or play nice and go about with his shitty day.

Crowley raised an eyebrow obviously expecting the first option to happen but was taken back when Cas smiled tightly at him. "Of course, sir. I'll fix that right away."

Crowley chuckled. "Your damn right you will," he replied before winking and sauntering out of the room.

Cas tightened his hold on the cup even more and didn't even flinch when his fingers ended up puncturing holes into the weak cup. The coffee had cooled considerably and trickled down his hand.

He dropped the broken cup in the trash can and washed his hands. Damn. This was absolutely not how his post college years were supposed to turn into. He was supposed to be with Balthazar forever and become an accountant somewhere far away. That was always the plan.

The plan was never to answer fucking phones for a living. But plans and people change and there's nothing you can do to get them back. He hated his life.

XXX

"Have you tried turning it on and off again?," he asked the dim customer as he rolled his eyes.

The lady began mumbling about how she would get right on it. Cas placed himself on mute and turned to Charlie who was hovering over him.

"Ready for lunch?," she asked enthusiastically as if she didn't have a care in the world. He envied her.

He held up a finger to her and placed himself back off of mute as the lady cheered into the phone about how her device works now. He pursed his lips and nodded to himself even though she couldn't see him.

"That's great. You have a good day now. Okay. Buh bye," he hung up the call and placed his call status for away.

He groaned dramatically and stood up from his chair. Charlie giggled and ran a hand down his back as they walked back to the break room.

Cas pulled out the rickety chair at his and Charlie's usual table. He slumped down and began to pick at his boring bologna sandwich that he brought every single day. When did he get in this slump?

Or is he just now realizing it because of how his ex's life is now going? He frowned as his self depreciating thought dragged him into an even bitter mood.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong now?," Charlie asked pulling him out of his thoughts.

"What are you talking about? Nothings wrong," he said quickly.

Charlie raised her eyebrow and gave him a knowing look telling him that she knew better than what he was saying right now. Damn. She always knew.

He sighed and dropped his sandwich onto the table. "Fine." He rolled his eyes when she flashed him her 'I knew I could break you' smile.

"It's just… do you remember me telling you about Balthazar?," he asked nervously while looking around just in case any prying ears were around to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"The guy that dumped you after dating for three years? Of course I remember that asshole," she replied with disdain.

Cas nodded and ignored the stab in his chest he felt at the reminder of him and his ex.

"Well, turns out he's getting married. Next week," he continued on hoping Charlie would pick up on where he was going with this.

"What the fuck?," she nearly cried out.

Cas laughed but hushed her so they wouldn't get in trouble by Crowley for vulgar language. Again.

Charlie shook her head and furrowed her brow. "Oh hell no! He can't do that to you, Castiel. He can't!," she yelled getting angrier and angrier.

Cas shrugged. "It's his life," he said as if this whole situation didn't bother him even a little bit.

"No fucking way in Hell is he doing that to you. You guys just broke up!," she continued yelling causing a few glances at us from coworkers.

"What do you want me to do, Charlie? Go to Los Angeles to stop the wedding? Don't be ridiculous," he scoffed at her.

Charlie's face dropped before she began smiling deviously at Cas. She raised an eyebrow as the idea flowed silently through both of them.

Cas shook his head quickly. "Oh, no. No. No. No. Are you out of your mind? Now there's no way I'm doing that, Charlie!"

She nodded up and down quickly and animatedly. "Yes, Castiel! You are. It's exactly what you're going to do and you know why?"

Cas frowned. "I don't want to know why but I have a feeling that you're going to tell me anyways."

She grinned. "You're doing this because Balthazar is the love of your life and if there's one thing I learned in life, its to always fight for what you love! Now Castiel Novak, go get him back."

Cas chewed his bottom lip in between his top and bottom teeth. Could he really do this? He wasn't usually one to go out of his way and actually quite liked the routine of his predictable life.

But on the other hand, she did have a point. Balthazar promised him forever and he'd be damned if he didn't live up to that promise.

"Novak! My office! Now!," Crowley's voice boomed across the room.

He could feel all the eyes on him as he and Charlie exchanged worried glance with one another. He stood up slowly and made his way to Crowley's office.

He poked his head in where his boss sat at a large brown oak desk with no personal photos on it. "Sit down," he instructed waving his hand in the direction of the small chair across from his desk.

Cas did as he was told with no arguments and ran his hands down his legs nervously. "Is something wrong, sir?," he asked quietly.

"I thought we already had this discussion this morning," he replied back calmly. Shit. Calm is not good. Its definitely not good.

"I'm sorry?," he asked hoping for a clearer response.

"Your bloody survey scores! They're terrible! You know what, maybe customer service just isn't for you," his boss said irritated.

Cas clenched his fists at his side. No way was he getting fired on top of the day he's already been having. He stood up and glared daggers at Crowley.

"Well, you know what? That is perfectly fine with me! Because I quit!," he shouted feeling more free than he has in a very long time.

Crowley's face fell. "You can't quit! I just fired you!"

Cas shook his head. "No you didn't. I quit before you could say those words so technically I quit. Oh, and I'm doing as you said and walking away."

He grinned like a madman and walked proudly out of his office with Crowley right behind him. "What are you going to do with your life, Castiel?," he yelled after him causing a few curious glances in their direction.

"I'm going to get the guy."