This wasn't supposed to happen today, but the chapter basically wrote itself. Especially the first half. The rant about Lu's job... yeah, that's my old job. In fact, I put him in the exact same store I used to work at, and the exact same name. (It's just not in California - it's in Michigan.)
If you haven't voted in my poll yet, go do it! And thanks to Keefer, Sexy. Lil. Emo, and Kathrin J Pearl for reviewing the last chapter! *hugs*
For Mems, who gripped me tight and raised me from Perdition.
Lu sat in Raphael's truck at the gas station while his friend hurried inside to pick up a pack of cigarettes. The strawberry blonde was hunched over his notebook, rubbing his forehead and finishing up the lyrics he'd started writing the week before. He actually rather liked this song. The problem was, it wasn't the band's style. It probably wouldn't see the light of day once he finished it, but he'd complete it anyway.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Raphael approaching. He quickly closed up his notebook and stashed it in his backpack just as the other man slid into the driver's seat. Raphael quirked his eyebrow at Lu's apparent secretiveness but knew better than to comment. He understood that Lu was weird about his songs. Until he was sure they were absolutely right, it was best not to even mention it.
"Here," he said, handing Lu a Dr Pepper. "Maybe some caffeine will help your head."
"Thanks." Lu cracked it open and the first swig of free soda never tasted so sweet. Even though Gabriel was the one with the sweet tooth, Lu had a minor soda addiction. His withdrawal headache had kicked in early this morning, but he hadn't said anything. Raphael just knew.
"So what time are you off work today?" he asked Lu, pulling out into traffic.
"Seven, unless it's slow. I'll call you if I need an early pickup. Either way, I have a change of clothes." Lu toed at his backpack containing the jeans and shirt he planned on wearing at the show tonight. He definitely wasn't about to rock it out in his Oak Ridge Market polo shirt.
Raphael nodded. "Sounds good. Hopefully you do get let out early." Even though they didn't go onstage until nine, it was always better to be ready to go earlier. Usually Lu's job was pretty good about making sure he had a few hours in between work and shows, but today had been an exception.
The two of them rode the rest of the way in silence, passing a cigarette back and forth. As soon as Raphael pulled up in front of the grocery story, Lu swung his backpack over his shoulder and unbuckled. "See you later," he said and hopped out of the truck. He crossed in front of the idling pickup and headed into the store, resigning himself to eight hours of boredom and general bullshit.
He punched in his code on the digital clock next to the main office and started toward the back when the office window slid open behind him. "Hey! Lu! C'mere for a second!"
Lu doubled back. "Hey, Ash. What's going on?"
The man with the epic dirty-blond mullet didn't look too happy. "Zachariah was looking for you. I think he's doing stock in aisle eight. Go find out what he wants."
"Fuck. I'm not even late!" Lu sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Alright, thanks." He headed in the opposite direction, toward aisle eight, bracing himself fir the inevitable shit-storm. If Zachariah Dillard wanted to see you, it was only bad. Sure, Lu had shown up hung over on more than one occasion, but he generally wasn't late for work and he kept his offensive tattoos covered. Wondering what the Hell he'd done wrong now, he finally swung into aisle eight and located his boss at the far end.
"Zach, you wanted to see me?" he called, approaching the perpetually angry man in the business suit.
Zachariah looked right up at him and set down the package of Oreos in his hand. "Ah, Pellegrino. Yes, I did want to talk to you." He paused, looking pensive for a moment. "Well, I'm not really sure how to say this, but we're letting you go."
Lu blinked. It took a solid three seconds for it to sink in. "I'm… I'm being fired?"
Zachariah smiled in that way he had, the way that only breaking bad news could make him smile. It was infuriating even though Zachariah seemed to think it was reassuring. "You're not being fired, Pellegrino. This has nothing to do with you personally. We're just being forced to make some cuts and your name was on the short list. That's all."
Lu couldn't stop the fury from seeping into his voice. "I've been working here for two years. That other douche-blower in produce, you know, Andy, has only been here for three months. How the f…" He just barely restrained himself from cussing out Zachariah. It nearly slipped out. "How did I end up on the short list?" It wasn't that he didn't like Andy, because he did kind of like the guy. He wasn't irritating or anything. It was that he supposedly had seniority over half the store, and he still got the ax.
Zachariah, for his part, looked remarkably cool. He seemed not to notice Lu almost dropping an F-bomb, or at least like he expected it. "You really just answered your own question, Pellegrino. You've been working here for awhile. You expect certain advantages—flexible scheduling, overtime, that kind of thing. Andy, though—Hell, he's just trying to keep his job. I say, 'Jump' and he says, 'How high?' You don't do that anymore." He thought for a moment. "Come to think of it, I don't think you ever did."
"Yeah, because I have my dignity." Actually, that was a straight-up lie, but Zachariah knew nothing about Lu's struggles with Balthazar. He was getting a little better at playing it cool around him, keeping him distant, but he knew it wouldn't be much longer before Balthazar upped the stakes again. Lu growled in frustration and turned on his heel, preparing to make his dramatic exit, when Zachariah called from behind him, "We'll send your last paycheck right to your apartment."
Fuck. He turned back around. "Eve dumped me and she still has the apartment. I'm coming to pick it up myself," he snapped. Zachariah looked incredibly annoyed with that information, but Lu would be damned if he let that bitch pick up his last check. Nope, fuck that. He didn't care if Zachariah didn't want to see him in the store ever again—he didn't trust Eve with his money.
Lu stormed back to the front of the store as Ash slid the glass window open again. "Lu, what happened? You look pissed."
"Really? I look pissed? I wonder why," Lu said sarcastically. He tried to remind himself that his anger was currently misplaced, that Ash had nothing to do with this decision, but he couldn't help lashing out a bit. He punched in his employee code again, signing himself out, and dropped his backpack on the floor. "Here," he said bitterly, tossing his burgundy work shirt at Ash. "I just got fired. No, not fired," he corrected himself suddenly, "'let go.'"
"What the Hell? Really?" Ash seemed stunned. "Why would he—?"
"Basically because I expect too many privileges. Seniority is my downfall, apparently." Lu swung his backpack over his shoulders again and tried not to crack his knuckles. "I'll take my paycheck and I'll see you in a week." As soon as Ash handed him the envelope containing his second-to-last paycheck, he tore it open and headed for the registers.
He went to register one because it was the only one free and signed the back of his check. He handed it to the cashier, a short girl named Eva who, despite having an eerily similar name to his ex-girlfriend, was actually nothing like her. Actually, Lu rather liked Eva. She was the only other person in the store who laughed at his inappropriate and frankly rude jokes, she listened to the same kind of music he played, and she dyed her golden-blond hair black. "Want me to smash out his headlights on break?" she asked him softly, peering at her screen.
Lu snorted with laughter. "No, but if you have a crowbar under your register, I'll bust his windshield." He sighed with anger and hopped up onto the conveyor belt. "This is not what was supposed to happen. I was not supposed to give two years of my life to this place just to get traded in for a newer, douchier model, you know?" He kicked at the metal grate beneath the belt.
"Are you telling me you really wanted to work here for the rest of your life? Because that's a sure way to end up just like Zach." She looked up at him, sliding his check under the till in her register, and pulled out a stack of twenties.
Lu sighed. "No, but I was supposed to quit on my own terms. Like right before we went on our huge world tour, you know?"
She shrugged and started counting out his cash. "Hey, it just happened a little earlier than you expected. Now you have more infuriating dicks to write about." She handed him the $354 and change he was owed and slammed her register shut.
Lu folded up his money and shoved it into his back pocket. "Hey, are you coming to the show tonight?"
She shook her head, looking pained. "Meeting my girlfriend's parents tonight, or else I would. I'll catch you at the next one, though. I'm sure you'll do great."
"Yeah, thanks." He felt a bit calmer now that he had his cash on him. He picked his backpack up again and playfully ruffled her hair. She was only three years younger than him, but she had the look of a fourteen-year-old boy. "Don't let this place eat you alive, kid."
"Yeah, you too," he heard her call after him. The moment he was through the sliding doors again, though, his inner calm broke. Fuck! Now he had to call Raphael and have him pick his ass up again. This shit, getting the rug yanked from under him at every turn, was getting old. He pulled out his phone, muttering angrily to himself. "New fucking singer, kicked out of my own damn apartment, fucking fired…" Well, at least it can't get much worse.
"Lu?" Raphael's voice sounded strained and confused.
"Yeah, it's me, and no, this is not a butt-dial. I need you to come get me."
There was a few seconds of silence. "What happened?"
"I got fired, okay? I came in and my boss basically told me to go home. So now I'm just standing here in the parking lot like an idiot. Can you come get me or not?"
"Yeah, I'll be there in about ten minutes." Raphael sighed and the speaker crackled in Lu's ear. "Your day's about to get worse, though."
Spoke too soon. He must have jinxed himself by thinking today couldn't get much worse. "Why? What now?"
"I… I'll tell you when I get there, okay?"
Lu rolled his eyes. "Alright, but hurry up. I'm seriously thinking about slashing Zach's fucking tired right now."
"I'll be there as fast as I can."
After they hung up, Lu paced in front of the store, fuming and hoping Zachariah wasn't about to call the cops on him for loitering. All he wanted was to be away from this black hole of a grocery store. Oak Ridge Market had the ability to make even the most patient person become either a stressed-out prick or a stoner by necessity. He couldn't count the times he'd seen the cashiers and baggers come in high as a kite. He at least had it lucky—produce department dealt with the delivery trucks most of the time and the guys driving them weren't generally assholes, at least not to the minimum-wage fucks. Cashiers, baggers, and people in the deli department were seriously screwed, and the ones behind the deli counter didn't even have the luxury of being able to show up high unless they wanted to risk losing a finger on the slicer.
But now he didn't even have a fucking job, which wasn't going to help him when he tried to find a new place to live. He was just getting fucked left and right this month, and not in a good way.
Raphael finally pulled into the parking lot a few minutes later, and Lu tossed his backpack onto the floor before climbing in. "Alright," he said, slamming the door shut. "Out with it. What's up now? Show get canceled? Someone break an arm? Someone in jail?"
Raphael put the truck in gear. "My parents want you out."
Lu blinked. "Like… out, out? I'm…" He groaned. "Fucking damn it!" He knew it wasn't really Ray's fault and he couldn't blame the Burbanks for wanting him out of their house, but this was the crowning moment on a day that wasn't even half over. "Where the fuck am I supposed to live?"
"You could suck it up and ask Gabe or Cas. I know you don't want to wake up in the middle of the night and hear them going at it with their respective Sinchester, but it looks to me like you're pretty much out of options. You could ask Bizarre, too."
Lu groaned again. Given the choice between living at Balthazar's place or waking up to hear Gabriel's breathless moaning, he'd pick Gabriel any day. That wasn't going to make it any easier, though.
"I can still drive your around and everything, alright? I mean, as long as I'm not working. Just… My parents just want you out, that's all. Sorry," he added.
Lu sighed in frustration. "I know it's not your fucking fault, okay? Just… fuck. This has been the shittiest month of my life, okay? And now, not having a job is going to make it so much easier to find a new apartment," he added sarcastically. He leaned back against the seat and ran his fingers through his hair. "Alright, let's go throw my shit back in your truck." He was getting far too used to moving around.
When they pulled into the parking lot behind The Garrison nine hours later, Castiel and Dean were already there, leaning up against Dean's '67 Impala. That meant Gabriel and Sam were around somewhere, too—most likely inside. With a quick survey of the rest of the parking lot, Lu picked out the bright-red '72 Mustang that belonged to Balthazar right underneath one of the lights and noted with a small amount of dissatisfaction that they were clearly the last ones to arrive. Lu slammed the door behind him and he and Raphael went around to the back—Raphael to unlock the truck bed and Lu to get his bass. As soon as Raphael had it open, he went to talk to Dean and Castiel. They were going to need all the help they could get with bringing Raphael's drum kit inside.
"Going on a trip?" said a smooth, snarky, and definitely English voice behind Lu. The strawberry blonde nearly jumped out of his skin before looking from Balthazar to the back of Raphael's truck. All of his worldly possessions were back in Ray's truck bed, but so what? There was no need to be snotty about it.
"Fuck you," he spat, brushing past him and gripping the neck of his bass a little tighter than necessary. It was through the gig case, though, so it probably wouldn't cause damage.
"You would!" Balthazar called after him. Lu ignored him even though he was sure Raphael, Castiel, and Dean had heard the taunt. He was in no mood to deal with Balthazar's bullshit right now. All he wanted to do was find a new place to live and hopefully a new job.
As soon as he burst in through the back door, he heard Crowley say, "Well, looks like the last two angels have arrived. About bloody time, too."
Lu moved further into the room and set his bass down on the sofa. The door opened again but all his attention was right on his manager. "You're gonna have to forgive me—packing up my entire life for the second time in two weeks is a lengthy process," he spat.
"What happened now?" Crowley asked. His tone hinted at disinterest, but his eyes fixed sharply on him.
"Well, first of all, I got fucking fired today. Then Ray tells me his parents want me out of their house, so I need to find a new job and a new place to live. So in less than a month, my whole life's basically gone to shit. Can you sense my frustration, even a little?"
Crowley was far too used to Lu's moods to be bothered. That was one thing Lu and Michael had in common, probably the main reason they fought so much. They were both Class-A divas, but while Michael was just an all-around asshole, at least Lu could be nice when he wasn't pissed off. Today just hadn't been his day. Crowley could forgive him for being hacked off.
"You need a place to live?" Balthazar asked from behind Lu. No, today was definitely not Lu's day.
"Yes, I do," he said icily, turning to face the other blonde. He was just happy he was taller than Balthazar. It was much easier to glare down at someone than glare up.
"I've got a free room at my place. You're more than welcome to it," Balthazar said cheerfully. He was actually flashing him an innocent smile.
Yeah, I think we both know how that's going to play out. As if it wasn't hard enough to not think about him when there were miles between them. Now he'd have to deal with that with Balthazar in the next fucking room.
"Well, that works out quite well," Crowley said. "Cookie for you."
"Fine," Lu said, gritting his teeth. Fuck my life.
Poor baby, getting fired and evicted all in one day! But wait! It gets worse in the next chapter! *laughs evilly* No, but seriously, I love the Devil (that's awkward to say) but he's not a "good" guy so it's easier to ruin his life. I'd feel bad for doing this to, say, Dean. *shrugs*
In case you were wondering, Eva is not a character in the show. This is the first and probably last time she'll ever show up in the story, either. (LOL SHE'S ME OKAY.) I simply could not resist.