The night passed in the blink of an eye for Bart, who once again did not get the sleep he felt he sorely needed. It took him a full minute in his tired state to remember the event of the previous night, and even longer to determine whether it had been real or the weirdest dream.

Greeting his family downstairs felt particularly awkward for him as he felt like what had happened with Bob was written all over him for everyone to see.

"Sooo, how was it last night?" Lisa asked in an overly curious tone. Bart hesitated, wondering if she knew anything. But given that she was just innocently teasing him, there was no way she knew exactly what happened, or else her reaction would be radically different.

"It was fun, thanks."

"Who did you say you were with, exactly?"

"Uhm... You know, the guys."

"Milhouse, too, then?"

"Well, Milhouse is a guy, so yeah," Bart answered and cut the conversation short, not really wanting to slip up during her line of questioning. She looked far from convinced, but he had to play along. When he left for work, he promised himself to go to bed extra early the next evening.

Bart put on his apron and started his shift under the worried eyes of his colleagues.

"Party hard, I see," Sarah joked. "Well, I hope you've got enough sleep, we want you in top form again today! No pressure. Yeah, actually, a little bit of pressure."

"Haha, yeah, I'll be fine," he dismissed awkwardly. Great, now he had to perform just as well every day, like he hadn't got lucky last time. He recalled Bob's words – that he was capable – and decided he would trust him on that.

Early in the afternoon, before the daily rush of customers, he noticed Bob sitting at his usual spot away from the entrance, waiting for Bart with his obnoxious smile. He couldn't understand how he could act so normal and keep his composure given the circumstances and he hated him for it. Eventually, he walked up to him with his usual order.

"You look tired today, Bart," he pointed out, his voice singing with fake concern, looking him up and down to assess his current state.

Bart simply glared at him. "Yeah, I had a long night."

"A pleasant one, I hope." A small smile found its way on Bob's lips.

He cursed the man internally. That teasing jerk just loved making him uncomfortable.

"Yeah," he replied half-heartedly after a moment and left him to enjoy his drink. He could tell from a mile away that Bob was pleased with himself.

For almost a full hour, Bob was sitting across the room, reading – or pretending to read – his book, taking his sweet time in the café. For all Bart knew, he only stayed that long just to torment him in the workplace. And it was working, as he risked a glance at him every now and then. There was something different about him - black rectangular glasses were propped up on his aquiline nose, probably for reading purposes, though Bart found it only made him more attractive, somehow. Bart shook his head, trying his best not to recall the previous night, but with the main person involved sticking around, he found the task damn near impossible. For a director, he sure had a lot of free time on his hands.

Eventually, Bob waved at him.

"Don't you have work to do?" Bart asked, not bothered to hide his irritation.

"My hours are flexible, you need not worry about it," the director answered, closing his book.

"Really. That must be convenient to come see me here everyday, huh," he grinned evilly.

"Time off work I will have to catch up later. Consider my friendly visits a privilege."

"Yeah, Bob. 'Friendly'." Bart rolled his eyes at him, not buying his innocent act.

Leaving a twenty-dollar bill on the table, Bob got up to his feet and leaned towards Bart so close the blond could smell faint perfume emanating from him.

"If you think you enjoyed last night, I'll have you know – that was nothing," he flirted in a low voice.

Bart gulped with difficulty. He barely registered Bob leaving as he was now more preoccupied with the hardness in his pants. He rushed to the restroom to spend a few minutes alone there, time for his reaction to subside. Bob had realized he now had a powerful weapon against him and knowing the maniac he would use it just to torture Bart in the worst moments. He tried hard to come up with images in his mind to calm himself down.

"Homer naked... Dave naked... Oh my God, Bob naked..."

Bob's slender body appeared uninvited in his brain, shirtless, and pantless, and - it wasn't working at all. He vowed he would get back at him somehow, and from what Bob had said, they might indeed spend some more time together. But for the time being, perhaps he could relieve himself quickly in the bathroom stall...

"Bart? You alright?" Dave called, knocking on his stall and making him jump.

"Yeah, I'll be right back... Just gimme a minute."

"Okay, just so you know, your family's here."

Bart froze and panic was quickly replaced by relief. Just a few minutes earlier and his family would have run into Bob, leading to some very unpleasant questioning. Now he had to switch to family mode, but at least the news had solved the problem in his pants entirely.

"Hey, guys!" He smiled awkwardly at his parents and sisters, all sitting around a table looking delighted to see him at work, especially his mother who seemed proud to see him wear his ugly apron.

"Hello, sweetie, surprise!"

"Hey, Bart!" Lisa and Maggie greeted him together.

"Do you guys have anything to eat? I just got off work and I'm starving."

"Just look at the menu, Homer," Bart sighed and took everyone's order.

It felt strange interacting with his family in his workplace. They barely had any time to chat before Bart had to hurry along to take care of the other customers just as equally so as not to let his colleagues down. At least it kept his mind away from his other source of headache. As soon as he had a few minutes, he came back to talk with them.

"Was it your idea?" he asked Lisa discreetly.

"It was Mom's, actually, she figured it would make you happy, and I agree," she smiled at him encouragingly. "We talked with your colleague, she told us you're doing good."

"Oh, you've talked with her?" He turned quickly around but Sarah had gone away to the kitchen. "What did she tell you?"

"She told us about some blunders you've done!" Homer revealed, apparently proud of him. His work ethics were definitely no example, but Bart didn't mind so much as long as Sarah didn't tell them about one particular customer.

"B-but also that you're getting better!" His mom quickly added while nudging her husband with her elbow.

"That's it?" He turned to Lisa.

"Yeah, why?"

"Okay, no reason," Bart answered, relieved; Sarah didn't mention anything about what she liked to call 'his favorite customer' so he was safe. He made a mental note to find a way to tell his colleague to keep quiet about Bob without raising suspicions. Then again, he thought, even if she did talk about him, his family wouldn't make the connection between the name Robert and Sideshow Bob.

Still, their presence was definitely weird to process for Bart. On one hand it felt good to see them here, it was a note of comfort in a place that kept getting stranger by the day. On the other, it felt like mixing two opposite universes that if handled wrong would explode and destroy everything around them. Or maybe he was just overreacting.

"You have a cool family, Bart," Sarah said during their smoke break once the other Simpsons had left. "Here, they gave me a tip, it's all yours."

"Nah, keep it, I'll be fine."

"Oh yeah, I forgot your favorite customer almost pays your full salary," she grinned. "Speaking of which, here you go. A small advanced payment, I'm sure you can use it."

"Sweeet!" He grabbed the check and admired it. It felt good to get paid for a job.

"Take it easy. You gotta remove the taxes."

His joy was short-lived. "Oh."