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Rody Lamoree was never one to express endearment through letters, but he absolutely adored the gesture. The tenderness and devotion all conveyed on a piece of paper, written with such care and love that he found appreciation.
Although, if he tried, such words could never come out. A blank slate. He'd grip onto the pen, leaving the ink to sink onto the sheet of paper, but not even a single letter would appear on that page. It wasn't that he didn't express such devotion, quite the contrary. It was that he never had the right words to express how he truly felt.
Letters always gave Rody this tender feeling in his heart, it was that they also reminded him of Manon. His ex-girlfriend was a sweet and attentive young woman. Manon would've worked hours on a single piece of paper, capturing her feelings for Rody. He always imagined she did it with such a sweet smile after she lifted the pen off the paper. He'd received the letters written by the wonderful woman mere hours after their date, and wouldn't waste any time reading such endearing letters that were written for him.
Sometimes, Rody would've shown his appreciation through tuning a sweet melody on his dusty guitar. Serenading the sweet woman as he brushed his fingertips against the strings of the instrument. He thought that, perhaps, Manon was the one.
Oh, how he missed her. Her sweet voice, her smile, her radiant beauty and how she cared so much for him. Yet, that's how their relationship came to an end.
He should've seen this coming. Honestly, he should've. How could he have been so blind?! Rody replayed the events in his head what felt to be a million times, and it all made sense the more he thought about it. Just days before the separation, Manon was much quieter. Her answers were short, and seemed to always be lost in thought. Always a sad smile.
It happened just at the end of their date. The two walked out of a relatively cheap restaurant, but it was nice. It was the nicest one that Rody could've afforded, and he insisted on paying for Manon's meal. He was broke, but he didn't care. Because it was all for her. He was content with that. Rody was prepared to schedule another date. He considered maybe somewhere nicer. He definitely needed to keep job hunting. He thought it was ideally somewhere that gave him decent pay. Somewhere that might allow him to live comfortably, perhaps even save up money faster. Not only for their dates, but also his apartment and even-
"I don't think I can keep doing this with you." She suddenly said, Rody stared at her. Alarmed, yet unable to say anything about this exchange. He trembled slightly, he didn't want to know what she meant. He didn't understand. What happened? He panicked. Who wouldn't? His heart was breaking, he pleaded with her and scenarios ran through his head. But... the least he could've done was listen. He knew she was right. This way of thinking, sabotaging his own life to preserve hers. Despite his efforts, despite his love. It wasn't enough.
Love wasn't enough.
She turned her heel, faced away from Rody. Despite what had just happened, underneath the moonlight's gaze she still looked radiant. He still adored this woman, despite his eyes threatening to spill tears. He resisted. He couldn't. Not right now.
"I'll see you around Rody."
It constantly echoed through his mind. The last words Rody heard from Marianne Vacher. He didn't want to let go, let go of what they had. He told himself that if he worked hard enough, earned more money and afforded nicer expenses, then maybe... maybe he could win her back. At least that's what he told himself.
His heart shattered at that very moment. Just moments ago, he was planning to take her out again, to a nice fancy place. He even planned out a gift for her, ready to present it to her. A letter just for her.
It had been days since that night... maybe even weeks. Rody lost count. Everything seemed like a blur. He couldn't keep dwelling though, he barely had enough money to pay rent and needed a new job fast. Somewhere temporary? Anything will do.
Rody skimmed through the local newspaper, searched for any available positions. The paper featured many articles and reviews of all sorts of businesses, but none of them advertised any openings. It almost seemed hopeless. That was until he turned the page to an overwhelming number of positive reviews for a small bistro, La Gueule De Saturne. Advertising in need of a new waiter, which enlisted the bistros number at the bottom of the page.
Rody stared at the number, momentarily hovered his hand above the telephone and sighed.
'I mean the worst that could happen would be that they say no.' Rody reassured himself, as he picked up the phone and turned the dial.
No...no...no-no-nono- It couldn't be. This must've been some sick-twisted dream, just like those horrid dreams he'd had the past week. It must be. This... was HER locket-why was it there?! Why did Vince have it?! Did-he... no. Surely he was mistaken.
Surely Vince wasn't- he wouldn't-
Rody gripped onto the locket and held it closely to his chest, he tried to contain the tears that started to overwhelm his eyes. The man heavily breathed, distantly unaware of the looming presence that was behind him. Pierced eyes that were locked onto the man, and before Rody realised the man behind him, he felt a hard smack on his head and collapsed onto the ground.
'How disappointing.' The audacity this man had was a little amusing but unfortunately predictable. Vincent knew that Rody would attempt to unlock the door at some point after he realised that he had stolen the key last night, but he didn't anticipate he would've tried the day after.
The young man was at a loss as he continued to stare at Rody. Vincent rubbed the bridge on his nose. God. He itched for a smoke right now, but resisted the urge. The bistro was still open, but fortunately it's quite late, and he could wrap things up in the restaurant quite quickly.
However, Vincent had to ensure Rody couldn't escape, especially not after what he discovered. Right after, he prepared a special meal for the man. He needed to tie Rody up, he'll deal with this later.
It had been a couple of hours since Rody was knocked unconscious, just like he intended, closing up the bistro proved to have little issues as he sent the other employees home. Vincent remained still in his office, the only light emitting came through the streetlights outside that peered from the window. A cigarette in between his fingers, the flickered flame reeked the room with its smoke. Vincent glanced towards the empty wine bottle that rested near the edge of his desk. He should've gotten more.
What was he doing? There was no way he could keep Rody alive now. Vincent pondered as he stubbed the cigarette into the ashtray. Perhaps he should get this over and done with. Nobody else was there. It was just the two of them. However, he wished for a moment to be in solitude... that was until he heard some sort of ruckus outside his office.
Perhaps that was Rody, who finally woke inside the freezer, or even the unlikely event that someone else was inside the bistro, whatever it was. Vincent quietly grabbed the knife that rested inside the desk drawer. He approached the door and slowly turned the knob, he took a step outside his office.
There stood Rody. Right in front of the leftovers.
How he managed to escape left him speechless, his heart dropped.
No...
"Hey maybe we can talk about this-" His speech trembled, and Vince's eyes were locked onto Rody. His grip tightened onto the kitchen knife.
"-wait, d-...DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!!" Rody screamed, his body stiffened as Vincent swiftly made his way towards him. Rody's body couldn't move, his own body fought against him as the threat approached him.
He lunged at Rody. The man trembled beneath him as he gripped on tightly to Vincent's wrist. He persisted when he felt Rody's grip loosen, who was shaking profusely, his eyes were begging for his life. However, Rody hesitated for a moment. Vincent took that opportunity, and pierced the sharp knife into the man's neck.
The light in Rody's eyes were lost, just like the last breath he had drawn.
Rody's corpse then collapsed onto the ground. The open wound gushed out large amounts of blood while it stained the tiled floor. Lifeless eyes now stared back at Vincent as he grasped what he had just committed. The man could've only sighed.
He held onto Rody's wrist as he dragged him into the freezer. His body ached, his muscles ached, and only static screamed in his head. But he had to move him. Out of sight, at least then he could figure out what to do. Except it didn't matter anymore.
'Ugh. Why did you do that Rody?'
He wished that he hadn't had to have done that. This was supposed to go differently. It was supposed to be another day at the bistro, with Rody doing somewhat of a decent job of serving the customers with that cheerful smile of his. Vincent supervised the restaurant intently just like any other day, but Rody just had to snoop around, didn't he? How incompetent did this man have to be? And how insufferable this man proved to be just under a week after being hired.
If he hadn't snooped around, then Vincent wouldn't have had to do that. It was supposed to end like any other day, and perhaps even gathered insight from Lamoree about those leftovers. The leftovers for sure would've given him insight into what it was like to serve with love. It was meant for him. To enjoy it and savour it.
Vincent observed the trail Lamoree had left behind. It was stained and smeared with fresh blood. What a nuisance to clean up after. The chef was just about to leave the freezer, until he saw something peculiar that rested on the coated floor. From what Vincent could've observed, it looked like a piece of paper that was now drenched in blood.
'It must've fallen out of Rody's pocket', Vincent thought.
However, the chef pondered about the small piece of paper. What could it be about? Especially since he kept it on himself. But, this was Rody Lamoree.
Vincent leaned down towards the piece of paper, careful not to touch the layer that now stained the tile floor. As he rose back up, he noticed that it was addressed to 'Marianne Vacher'. Of course, it was. Vincent was not at all surprised about this, but the chef wished to pry into what seemed to be a love letter. Half expected that it was some dedicated note, full of hope and wonder.
It wasn't like she could read it anyway.
"I love you."
Vincent stared closely, re-reading the letter that was written for another. It had very few words, like it was incomplete, yet it was signed by the waiter himself. But, apart of him pretended. No. It was pathetic, yet Vincent continued to stare. Rody used to always ramble about this one young woman, how much he loved her and how much she meant to him. When, in fact, the same woman never spoke a word about Rody. It was quite amusing, yet Vincent couldn't help but be a little envious. His love towards her, his devotion and all of his efforts. Wasted within moments.
With such melancholy, he took a glance at the corpse that lied at Vincent's feet. Lifeless eyes stared back at the young chef. Even in death, he still found Rody Lamoree insufferable, incompetent and... endearing.