The drive to work was the same as always. The sounds of chirping birds were drowned out by the noise of busy streets and impatient drivers. Leon sat in his car at a red light, feeling the nice sun warm his chest through the glass of the car’s windows. Today was an off day for him since he didn’t normally work the morning shift, brutally reminding him of the awful morning traffic in his city.

In an odd way, it was peaceful. Simply going with the flow, not in a rush to be anywhere since he left a bit earlier just in case. The full streets felt serene to Leon. Cars all going in the same direction. Lights and signs to guide him to his destination. Considering that he was at the steering wheel, it strangely felt as if he wasn’t. At least, he wasn’t the one needing to make decisions and be in control. Driving to him felt like a break from his constant worries and decisions that needed to be made. It was just him following directions.

The restaurant’s parking lot came into view.

PATEL’S DINER

The restaurant’s name stood out as its bold letter lay across the front of the building, contrasting the rather plain brick appeal of it as a whole. Small vines enveloped some wooden planks set aside the front walls, adding a nice “homey” feeling to the building as they scaled the walls. ‘I think Mr. Patel called the wooden design trellises,’ Leon thought as he recalled all the times his boss would talk about how much he loved them.

Getting out of his car, his eyes met with a familiar face. “I see you came early today as well,” Drake said.

Receiving a nod, the two went inside and proceeded with their usual daily routines. The day continued with nothing out of the ordinary. Families with crying children or picky teenagers came and went. Regulars came and complained about their week, hoping for some sympathy from the employees as they ate. Of course, there were happier groups like friends coming to celebrate birthdays and such.

Nothing to write home about but Leon enjoyed it, or at least, didn’t hate it. The mundane repetition kept him somewhat sane. At least something stayed consistent in his life. ‘One less thing to need to worry about.’ He thought as he cleaned off a table.

“There’s something in my potatoes!” A voice angrily spoke.

‘Jinxed it…’

Glancing up, a couple of guys sat at a table. The one speaking was drunk based on the red blush upon his face and his body language. If that wasn’t enough, out of the corner of Leon’s eye, the table plainly had too many glasses on it. ‘I know business equals money, but you need to place a limit on alcohol, boss.’

After mentally debating about the questionable business choice, Leon’s eyes widened when he realized that the person on the receiving end of the complaint was Julia. She wasn’t handling it well.

“There isn’t… anything in the potatoes,” she spoke as she glanced at it.

“Are you saying I’m lying?” The man uttered.

With his voice increasing in volume, the atmosphere became awkward as many other customers were drawn to this outburst. Julia just stood there for a moment, likely knowing that the other party was drunk. “I- I can go get you a new plate if you’d like.”

To this, the man continued to complain and even broke the glass he held as he threw it to the ground. Julia stepped back, undoubtedly not accustomed to dealing with this type of confrontation. His friends were smiling and even laughing at times.

The events made Leon irritated. Less for how Julia was being treated but more for a selfish reason. They were interfering with his peaceful repetitive routine. The one place where he preferred to not have problems was the restaurant. Needless to say, he did feel bad for Julia.

No one had gone to help her so far, which was strange. Normally, this sort of dispute was put to rest rather quickly. This being with the help of another one of his coworkers escorting them out.

With no progress being made, Leon, surprisingly to himself, found himself standing in front of their table.

“I’m going to have to ask you all to leave,” he said with confidence he didn’t know he had. All of them looked at him for a moment before they all looked at each other.

They burst out laughing. “Get a load of this guy,” the main perpetrator scoffed. The rude comments didn’t stop for a while. Leon’s face was turning red from anger and embarrassment. At this point, Julia stood behind him with eyes of concern.

”Leon, please stop,” she let out meekly.

Leon’s teeth were grinding against each other as he stared at them, ignoring his coworkers pleads. ‘These… assholes’ was the only thought he could muster. One of the guys began to notice this. He was the one who had said the least but nonetheless seemed to enjoy the experience. He was dressed well in a suit and had slicked-back hair.

“I think it’s about time we head out” he spoke to his company. Which was followed by some subtle eye contact between him and the drunkard. Without another word, the man grabbed a glass of alcohol and threw its contents onto Leon. “You b-better cool off bud!” The drunkard slurring through his words. “You’re lookin’ aw-awfully red!”

The well-dressed man seemed bored at this point as he got up and his entourage followed him out. Their final appearance being that of the drunkard flipping Leon off as they exited.

The restaurant fell into piercing quiet, only hearing some muffled chewing, whispers, and the sound of the stoves and ovens in the kitchen. It felt like a long time. Leon finally let out a long breath and he regained himself, finally recognizing the mess all around him. Shattered glass, empty bottles of alcohol, and stains galore.

Leon wasn’t sure himself of everything. ‘Why did I get involved… and who the hell did those guys think they were?’ The confidence that he had when the situation first unraveled vanished. He told himself that it was because they affected his peace, but he wasn’t entirely sure anymore. Leon had never done something like this before.

“Thank you,” a familiar voice spoke, interrupting his train of thought.

To his side, Julia stood looking concerned, placing a hand on the upper arm. Leon just stood there staring for a moment. Many thoughts were running through his mind. Ultimately, he brought himself back and simply looked at her. “No problem.”

There wasn’t much emotion behind it. The words had come out rather monotone which complemented his current facial expression. “Let’s clean this up.”

Without allowance of a reply, he strolled back to the table he was cleaning to grab the supplies. As he was turning to bring them over, a voice penetrated his ear.

“Leon!”

Pulling his eyes in the direction of the sound, he saw his boss. Mr. Patel’s face spelled out annoyance as clear as day. With his hand gesturing for Leon to come to him, Leon clenched his teeth once more as he took a breath in. Heaving a loud breath out afterward, far louder than it should have been. ‘Great…’

Carrying the cleaning supplies to Julia, he handed them to her and walked to the boss’s office without granting any words to be exchanged between the two once more.

Closing the office door as he entered, he was met with an irritable-looking man still wearing his cooking garbs. Mr. Patel pointed to a chair and Leon followed suit and sat in it. The poor quality of the chair was recognized at contact, rendering the chair Patel sat in no more appealing as it looked the same.

“Do you know who that was?” was the only thing Patel said as he rubbed his temples.

‘The hell?!?!’ being his mental response. ‘These asshats come into the restaurant and wreck the place and I’m being questioned?’

After a few seconds of silence, Leon responded. “Can’t say I do.” His face still full of obvious disdain about the whole situation or a more fitting word would be indifference. Patel’s jaw dropped slightly, not only due to his words but due to his expression.

It felt like he was talking to someone else because this definitely didn’t feel like the Leon he knew to just space out, panic, and just overall mind his own business. The whole situation didn’t make much sense.

“The man in the suit that YOU confronted...” Patel let out then paused. “He is the son of Evan Avalon.”

This bit of information didn’t hit Leon right away. ‘Where have I heard the name Avalon before?’ Thinking hard on it, it finally dawned on him as his heart sunk. His indifferent facial expression crumbled a bit.

“It seems you remember now.”

Leon nodded.

“Well… thanks to your actions, I wouldn’t be surprised if he sent some men down here.” They both seemed to sweat a bit at the thought.

This felt ridiculous to Leon. All he had done was ask them to leave. ‘Surely there isn’t any need for their gang to come here, right?’ Which he repeated aloud to his boss.

“I know you’ve only been in the city for a little while, I think you’ve been working here for four months now… but here’s the thing. This ‘gang’ is practically a full-fledged mafia here. I and many other business owners are only in business because they allow us to be. I told you this when I hired you.”

Every word spoken made Leon feel the situation was even more ridiculous. ‘Fuck. We’ve never had problems before with them. Maybe because I mind my own business… or maybe because I’m just some broke restaurant employee.’ Mentally shrugging, feeling somewhat annoyed at his forgetfulness.

The conversation didn’t last long as Patel ranted about the possible problems with all of this. The time was 9 p.m. by this point. Silence consumed the room eventually, making Leon believe it was time to leave. Standing up, he forced out an apology and intended on heading to the door.

A breath reverberated through his ear as he faced the door. “Sorry kid, I really can’t take any chances. Don’t bother coming back to work.”

Leon’s eyes widened at this statement as he turned back to see an obviously conflicted Patel sitting in his chair. ‘I’m fired?!?!’