A couple weeks had passed since Zariah had begun working at the pizzeria and job wise everything was going smoothly. She picked up quickly on the normal routine the other waitresses/waiters had, and Ellen praised her daily on how well she was doing.
Now if only Zariah could say the same in regard to a certain purple man, who was constantly watching her….
At first, it didn't really bother the female. She had heard from basically all the employees how big of a flirt Vincent was, and that when someone "caught his attention" he'd stalk them for a couple days but would move on; especially if his on/off again girlfriend Amelia was around. However, after a couple weeks of still feeling eyes burning on her and catching glimpses of purple wherever she went in the work place…. Zariah knew this time was going to be different than the rest.
*Le Time Skip Brought to you by Toast (?!)*
Sitting in the empty break room, Zariah took a huge bite of the food currently sitting in front of her….quietly chewing and flipping through her phone. She had already been on lunch break for about 15 minutes, which meant there was only 15 left. She tapped her foot repeatedly before standing up and walking to the sink – leaving her phone on the table but taking her empty dishes.
"I wish I could have some more to eat, I'm starvinggggg~"
Zariah whined with a pout as she rinsed out the container, not noticing the presence in the room with her now. The female's appetite was very unusual and many people couldn't believe it, but that's how she'd always been. In fact, she vaguely remembered an old friend she had use to tease her about all the food she ate, which made Zariah self-conscious. But hey, a girls gotta eat right?
Letting out an annoyed sigh, Zariah spun around and let out a squeak of surprise…dropping the container on the ground with a 'crash'.
"U-uhn….what are you doing?"
Zariah croaked out in confusion as she stared at Vincent who was helping himself by looking through her phone casually, not even phased nor looking up from what he was currently looking at when the female questioned him. How had she had not heard him, Zariah wasn't sure...but as she stared at the tall male she felt her heart begin to beat quickly as his fingers moved quickly over the lighted up phone screen.
"Hang on…I'm doing something…..mmkayyyyy, there we go!"
Vincent grinned widely and tossed the phone in Zariah's direction, who clumsily caught the cellular device in her hands, her blue orbs wide in confusion/shock. She glanced down at her phone and noticed nothing different about it, and when she looked up the purple male was towering over her. Zariah gasped and instinctively began backing up until she was against the counter.
'Shit shit shit shit shit shit.'
She thought nervously to herself as Vincent pursued until his body was basically leaning against hers. Zariah felt her cheeks burning as she quickly whipped her head to the side in order to avoid eye contact with the eerie man in front of her. Noticing this behavior, Vincent let out a low chuckle as he leaned towards Zariah's ear.
"You've always been so cute when you're flustered~!"
Shivers went down Zariah's spine as Vincent whispered huskily in her ear, his lips brushing against her ear lobe as she felt a knot forming in her stomach. Gulping and letting out a shaking breath, Zariah glanced sideways towards the male and was met with two white orbs staring her in the face.
"W-w-what do you mean 'always been'? Have we met before or something….?"
Vincent slowly moved so his face was mere inches from Zariah's, their noses practically touching as the grin grew wider and the poor female's face turned a tomato red from the close proximity of the male.
"You honestly don't remember anything? This isn't some sort of joke?"
Feeling herself gulp, Zariah quickly shook her head a couple times as she stared back into the white orbs burning into her soul, feeling her heart rate pick up rapidly. Confused couldn't even begin to describe how she was feeling….when they had first met she felt like she'd met Vincent before but quickly dismissed it after pondering it over and over. But now, that confusion came back at the male's words as they continued their staring match.
"Well….this is awkward. Hmm. As much as I'd love to violate you right now, I'm going to refrain – I have more respect for you than that. But I'll be around, later my dear~!"
Without another word, Vincent spun around and casually exited the break room, leaving Zariah staring after him with wide eyes and a heart that threatened to fail due to how fast it was beating. Sinking to the floor in a sitting position, Zariah let out a shaky breath and covered her face with her hands. Respect? For her? Why would Vincent Bishop, the flirtatious security guard that all women (and some men) fawned over, want to treat a simple woman like Zariah with respect?!
Suddenly, the break room door opened once again, and Mike walked in. At first he didn't notice Zariah on the ground by the counter, but then he glanced over in that general direction and stopped once his blue eyes landed on her form sitting on the ground with her face covered.
"H-hey…are….are you okay, kid?"
Quickly glancing up, Zariah met Mike's concerned frown as she nodded slowly a few times, getting to her feet and dusting herself off.
"Yeah…just thinking is all."
The male raised an eyebrow before shrugging his shoulders casually. He walked over to Zariah, bent over and picked up the container she had dropped earlier with her encounter with Vincent and handed it to her….making her blush the slightest bit as he let out a soft chuckle.
"Gotcha. I find myself thinking a lot lately too…sooo…have you ate lunch yet?"
"Y-yeah…I had some rice cakes and fruit, but..I-I'm still kinda hungry. Heh heh.."
Mike walked over to the mini fridge that was sitting in the corner of the break room, opening it and pulling out a brown paper bag. Digging through it, he pulled out a brownie and tossed it to Zariah. Catching it, the female blushed more and looked at Mike who was offering a sheepish smile, as he nodded towards the brownie.
"Go ahead. Have it. Not much of a fan anyway..."
Zariah offered Mike a smile in return as she joined the blonde male at the table and began chatting with him. It was just small talk but after the encounter with purple guy, it was a relief to have a normal conversation after such a strange one.
Mike, who was casually eating his sandwich, raised an eyebrow as he asked,
"So, what's going on between you and barney?"
"E-eh?! Vincent..? N-nothing…why?"
Mike swallowed his food and shrugged a shoulder carelessly as Zariah blushed and looked down at the table….not having touched her brownie yet. Oh great…why was Mike asking this?!
"Just curious, actually, a lot of us are. We've never seen him act so….normal around a woman, like he is around you."
'That's normal behavior?!'
Zariah thought as she let Mike's words sink in before she looked at him with a puzzled expression.
"What….what do you mean?"
"Well, we've noticed that he's obviously super stalker-ish; he does that to almost everyone attractive. But one: it never lasts more than a week at most, unless he's shacking up with the boss's brat, and two: he isn't nearly as…erm, sexual with you, as he is with other people. He even appears nervous whenever you're around, and that's fucking strange. Vincent Bishop is far from nervous….so I was just wondering how you two knew each other."
"I…. well, I feel like I know him from somewhere, he seems very…. very familiar, but I can't remember for the life of me how I know him."
Mike nodded and stood up, crimping up the paper bag and swiftly tossing it into the garbage can behind Zariah. She too stood up, quickly shoving the whole brownie into her mouth and devouring it whole and began walking out of the break room with the male as his words burned into her mind.
'"He appears nervous whenever you're around…."'
'Why would he be nervous of me?'
Zariah and Mike exited and went about their job duties, as the camera in the break room flashed red before dimming and dying.
[A/N: Sorry it's short/semi-boring! Kinda in a funk right now, but I wanted to give you guys something at least! :D]