The mailroom was actually larger than Sam had been expecting. Though, the amount of physical mail that sat and waited on middle sorting tables and in bins was surprisingly scarce. There were a few people busying about, but Sam had the feeling that at one point, this room used to be a lot busier.
"No, no, no, you moron." A man with dark gray hair and glasses swatted a stack of sealed envelopes at a younger man, "This says 7th floor, not 1st. Christ, would it kill these people to have legible hand writing…" he groaned, then threw the stack of envelopes into a metal cart.
"Good morning, Frank." Michael called out to him as they approached.
Frank swiftly turned around, eyeing the three of them skeptically. "Well I know that one is your brother, so that must mean you are Sam Winchester." Frank stepped up to Sam, looking him square in the face, scrutinizing him.
"Um…" Sam wasn't sure if he should be doing anything, but he did take a slight step back, highly confused.
After a few more moments of silent staring, Frank backed off, huffed, then grinned to Michael, "He's tall."
Lucifer and Michael both laughed, "Yea, we've noticed." Lucifer mumbled.
Sam sighed to himself, and he was starting to really hate how many people who have down right weirded him out today.
After the formalities, Sam is introduced to some of the other mailroom sorters, and he was shown around the mail room. Since it was below the first floor, underground, mail was slipped into a chute upstairs and it fell into bins down in the mail room. The bins were then dumped onto a sorting table where sorters split them up by what floor they belonged to and piled them in stacks. The stacks were then loaded into a shelved cart which was then taken by the deliverer up every floor, then hand delivered the mail to its recipients. He was eventually told to go on a routine route with one of the deliverers, Ash, to learn the ropes. Sam was relieved when he and Ash got into an elevator, and it felt like he could finally breathe.
"Hey, man, it looks like somebody took a hot rock off your back. You okay?" Ash asked, his southern drawl evident.
Sam chuckled, "I'm just glad to finally be able to loosen my tie." He mumbled, and then actually loosened his tie, relaxing. "I've been walking on stilts all day." He then began to take his outer coat off, then set it on the bottom shelf of the delivery cart, where it was out of the way. He then started folding up his sleeves, "I hate suits…" he mumbled.
"Hey, me too." Ash chuckled. Sam then glanced back at Ash and noticed he was wearing jeans, a white tee shirt with a red button up shirt. "You don't have to dress all fancy for this job." He then chuckled again, "That's why I took this one and not one upstairs."
Sam furrowed his brows at Ash, "You could've had a job upstairs?"
"Hell yea." Ash replied, "But they have a thing about attire, and hygiene or some crap." Ash scratched a hand through his scalp, "They would've made me lose my doo." He huffed, then flipped some of his hair off his shoulder. Ash had a mullet, reaching just at his shoulders.
Sam chuckled, shook his head, then grinned at Ash, "Yea, I don't think I would've liked a job upstairs either." He told him.
"So, tell me again. What does he look like?"
Castiel chuckled, "How many times do I have to tell you?"
"Well, I wouldn't have to keep asking if you'd have taken a picture of him." Anna countered, grinning to her younger cousin.
Castiel sighed, though he wasn't annoyed, not in the slightest, in fact he could keep rattling off about Dean all day, if they'd let him, "He has green eyes, and dirty blonde hair. He's almost a head taller than I am, and he looks like he does a lot of physical labor." He smiled lightly to himself, "When he smiles, it's like a sun's rays beaming down on me, because my face gets so hot…" he said, and Anna giggled.
"I feel like he's around my age, and I can sense that he's been through a lot." He told her, looking down at the floor as he imagined Dean's features.
Anna quirked a brow, leaning her head against her younger cousin's shoulder as they sat on the couch, "How can you tell that?"
Castiel gave a sad smile, "Even though he looks my age, he acts much older." He looked down to his cousin, then let her lay her back against his chest, running a hand through her brilliantly red hair, "You only act older than you are when you've had to grow up fast."
"Castiel, you are such a gentle soul." Anna smiled up to Castiel and he returned the smile. They'd been sitting like that for a while, the TV turned to the weather while Samandriel showed Gabriel the pictures he took in Connecticut over the past summer on the couch opposite he and Anna. Castiel may have taken a few good shots in his younger years, but Samandriel was the photographer. His pictures have been featured in galleries and one even managed to become the cover art of an album.
Anna wasn't as artistically talented as some of the others in the family, but she didn't let that stop her from being successful. Though each of the cousins were given the chance to have a place at the Autman family company, they'd both respectfully declined, and Anna started up her own business. It's a young women's boutique which was made famous a few years ago after a Pop star stopped in to browse and eventually bought half the store.
It was such a huge event that she'd been able to open a second store in New York. Last time he and Anna spoke, before the news of his father, he was told she was thinking of opening another in Los Angeles.
"What time are you meeting him?" Anna asked, mindlessly watching the TV, not necessarily listening to it.
"He told me he gets off of work at three, so I suppose I'll leave to go to the bar sometime around that." He told Anna, still combing his fingers through her loose hair. He'd always been most affectionate with Anna, and that's possibly due to the fact that she was the only sister figure he's ever had. While Michael, Lucifer, Gabriel and Gadreel were causing trouble inside during their childhood summers together, Castiel, Samandriel and Anna were by the pond in the garden, stroking their hands through the water to see if the Koi fish would nibble on their fingers.
He'd always felt more in tune with Anna and Samandriel, and he thought it was a shame they'd never been able to spend more time together as children. His brothers had always been a bit on the rowdy side, and if he wasn't being forced to interact with them because of some special occasion, he was trying to avoid them. This avoiding behavior passed, though, when he was around 13. That's when Lucifer and Michael stopped hanging around the house so much and started going to more social gatherings.
"Hmm…" Anna hummed, not questioningly, or interestedly, but only in an acknowledging way. Castiel was glad she hadn't been asking questions about Castiel's intentions with Dean. She saw it at face value, and she knew the situation, she knew that it was still a tightrope walk. This budding relationship could go either way, and she was playing it by ear, just like Castiel.
"Be sure to dress casually." She mumbled.
Castiel looked down at Anna, "I was planning on it."
She grinned, and without looking up continued, "I'm just saying…" she giggled, "You're not trying to impress him anymore, he's already hooked. Be yourself." She told him simply.
Castiel gave a half smile, then looked up to the TV, noticing that it was going to be sunny later on in the afternoon. It would be a nice change from the cold weather they'd been having.
Sam had gone to every single floor with Ash, delivering mail to busy workers in their cubicles or sliding them in slots right outside office doors. By the time they made it back to the mail room, a couple hours had passed, and it was nearly twelve o'clock. There was a lot less mail downstairs, and there was even some mail collected after they'd left. He was told it'd be sent out tomorrow morning.
He sighed, setting the empty cart next to the sorting table then looked to Frank, who was sitting at the only desk in the mail room, reading a book.
"Hey, Frank. Where'd Michael and Lucifer go?" he asked, leaning against the sorting table.
"Oh, yea…" he looked up, as it he'd forgotten something. "They said when you were done to send you back up to Michael's office." He then made a 'shoo'ing hand gesture at Sam, not caring to make sure he'd seen as he went back to reading.
Sam gave a nod, mostly to himself sense Frank wasn't looking, then headed back for the elevator, but before he got too far, he stopped and hurried back to the cart to grab his coat jacket, and decided to leave it off. He held it, folded in half over his forearm as he got the next elevator back upstairs.
On the long ride up, he realized how much more relaxed he felt from the first ride on the elevator. He leaned back against the handrail, glad things were actually working out for him for once.
Then his phone rang.
Sam furrowed his brows, because he knew Dean was at work, and he wouldn't call unless it was important. Once he'd fished his phone out of his pocket, he realized he'd wished he'd put his phone on vibrate, silencing it, because it was Ruby who called.
He clenched onto his phone, staring at the screen as it kept blinking Ruby's face… He thought very hard about possibly ending it right then and there. He'd been in such a good mood, then she called. She made him feel like he was stuck in a hole that he'd never be able to get himself out of. She was a constant reminder of his past mistakes, and Dean wasn't an idiot. He was catching on, Sam could tell.
He slipped his phone back in his pocket, ignoring her. He knew he'd get hell later, but right now he didn't care. Sam was getting to that point where he didn't care much about what she had to say, and he knew it was only inevitable for one of two things to happen.
Either Sam would get the balls to break it off with her, or she'd break up with him.
But no matter what happened, he knew Ruby would be coming out with the one thing that she's been holding over his head this whole time, the only reason why Sam hasn't broken up with her sooner.
Blackmail wasn't exactly the best thing for a relationship, and he had no idea why Ruby even thought things would be like they were before Sam realized the mistakes he was making. He'd told her he was done with that lifestyle and he wanted to focus more on school, which also meant he wanted to break up with her. She didn't take it very well and threatened to tell Dean and everyone else at the university what Sam had been doing.
That's the only reason why things are the way they are between him and Ruby.
And he hated it.
When the elevator doors opened, revealing a few people sitting and chatting in the small waiting room, Sam let go of the railing and quickly made his way to Michael's office. Walking down the hall, he could hear more movement, more action. The morning hours had been quiet, and it seemed the work force was wide awake and going about their business.
He sighed, his eyes closing momentarily as he stood in front of Michael's office door, trying to get Ruby and his issues off his mind. He then knocked, not wanting to simply barge in.
A moment later, the door was opened, and he was greeted by Lucifer.
"Hey, buddy. How was the run?" he asked, letting Sam in with a grin.
Sam chuckled, "Long and boring. But it's a job, so I'm not complaining." He told him, taking a seat in one of the chairs in front of Michael's desk.
Lucifer chuckled, taking a sip from a Starbucks coffee cup, his eyes half lidded, almost lethargic.
Sam furrowed his brows, "Didn't you ask Becky to make you a pot of coffee?"
"Yea, but she likes to spit in my drinks." He responded, nonchalantly, taking another sip from his coffee.
Sam scoffed, then quirked a grin, "So why did you ask her to make a whole new pot?"
"Because I knew it'd piss that Wendy Torrance wannabe off." He replied with the same lack of enthusiasm.
Sam outright laughed, clapping his hands together once. Lucifer was grinning by the time Sam looked up to him, "Okay, so listen," Lucifer spoke up, "Michael is in a meeting right now, but he wanted us to go out for lunch and he'd catch up with us in a bit."
"Alright," Sam stood, unfolding his jacket and fitting it back over his shoulders, "Lead the way."
"Great." Lucifer tossed his coffee cup into the trash can just to the left of Michael's desk, and the two left the office.
Lucifer led the way through town in his corvette to a Chinese restaurant Sam had never been to, mostly because the cuisine was described as authentic Chinese, and Sam was fairly certain that meant a lot of things he would be uncomfortable with eating. He wasn't going to say anything, though, because he was sure Lucifer knew where the best places would be to eat, seeing as how it was a part of his profession.
After they parked in front of the cozy looking restaurant which looked like a converted book store on the outside, with the store front windows displaying jade and porcelain figures on the platforms that jutted underneath the window, presumably for when it was a book store.
Looking through the windows, Sam could see how ornately decorated the place was on the inside, with hanging red and gold lantern chandeliers. Though the restaurant exuded the Chinese heritage, it wasn't done in the normally tacky way, like most cheap Chinese restaurants. The place actually looked more formal, and Sam was glad he was still wearing his suit.
"This place looks great." Sam commented, already smelling what the restaurant had to offer from right where he stood.
"Yea, my buddy owns it, and besides mine, this is one of the only other places in town that's received top marks on all reviews." Lucifer told Sam with a grin before he reached for the door.
Sam was impressed, and shocked at the same time. He followed Lucifer inside, admiring all the decoration while Lucifer spoke to a very small Chinese lady at the podium. She was grinning and giggling at whatever Lucifer was telling her, leaning up against her work post. Eventually he'd had his fill with conversing with her and went to seat them himself.
As they sat, Sam had wanted to ask what Lucifer was talking to the woman about, out of pure curiosity, but his phone started to vibrate in his pocket. As a result, Sam's mouth hung agape, staring at Lucifer with a blank expression for just a moment.
Lucifer narrowed his eyes at him slightly, not sure what Sam was doing, and was going to comment on it, but then Sam quickly reached his hand into his pocket, pulling out his phone.
Of course it was Ruby, who else would it be?
Sam's jaw clenched, staring almost vehemently at his phone, but Lucifer broke his trance of anger with a question.
"Who's that?" he asked, leaning back in his chair across from Sam.
Sam slowly looked up to Lucifer, hiding his distaste with a grin, "No one." He answered, sliding his phone back in his pocket.
Lucifer grinned back, nodding, and soon thereafter a waitress came to take their drink orders and handed them their menus.
Sam was able to keep up light conversation with Lucifer, glad he wasn't as flirtatious as he was this morning. He was surprised to find him to be quite enjoyable, and he was actually able to relax even further from earlier today.
Their drinks had just been given to them when Michael finally arrived and sat with them at their table. He looked a little tired, a little weather worn, but he still smiled to him and his younger brother.
"Sorry I'm late. Uriel's being unusually imperious today." He told them, sighing as he bent forward and backward, and from side to side. "And my back has been acting up again." He groaned.
"That sucks. Did you take any Ibuprofen?" Lucifer asked, one hand idly gripping at his glass of cola.
"Yea, and it should be kicking in any moment." He told Lucifer, then Michael looked to Sam, "So how did you like your day at the office?"
Before Sam could answer, Lucifer interjected, "He said it sucked." He mumbled lowly, as he was already flipping through his menu, obviously joking.
Sam chuckled, shaking his head, "I actually really enjoyed it, and I'm excited to get started." He told Michael with real enthusiasm.
"Good. Just give me your information and I'll be sure it's given to the right people to put you on the pay roll as soon as possible. I can't say when you're actual first day will be, but it'll be coming up soon." He told Sam with a resolute nod.
"Awesome." Sam replied, sighing with a huge sense of relief. He felt like anything else after this point couldn't ruin his day. This was like winning the Olympic qualifying rounds. There was a building sense of excitement in Sam, knowing there was still much more he needed to do to get to where he wanted to be, but that was part of the excitement.
So I was asked a question by some of my other author friends about what songs I associated with Destiel, and I thought it would be fun to share them with you all.
Such Great Heights By The Postal Service
Losing My Religion By R.E.M
Why Can't I Grow a Beard By The Gay Blades
Drops of Jupiter By Train
My Hero By The Foo Fighters(Though when I think Destiel, I think more of the Paramore cover.)
Take Me to Church By Hozier
Plowed By Sponge
Light in Your Eyes By Flyleaf
Butterfly By Lenny Kravitz
Kiss Me By Sixpence None The Richer
And that's only just a few. I hope you found some enjoyment out of this little list, and now I'm proposing to you that if you have any questions like this or any others that you'd like to ask, go ahead and I'll either PM you my response, or if its short enough I'll post it here in an A/N. I love getting questions from you guys!
(BLD)