It Was Only A Cut In Another Universe

Trigger Warning: Violence

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The next day Vincent finally felt well enough to return to work. Truth be told he was still a little sore but he didn't want to sit around anymore. When he returned Rody had managed to hire two more waiters. A young brunette who looked to be fresh out of high school named Casper, and a woman in her mid thirties named Karen. Casper was rather shy, but willing was pretty nice. Karen was also rather nice, though she took her work very seriously. Vincent didn't mind the two. He was actually rather grateful to have some more people to help with waiting tables. However a lot of people noticed the bruises that were peeking out from his neck. His cheeks were still a little puffy, and people could barely see the bruises from underneath his sleeves. White button up shirts were such a pain at covering wounds up. A lot of his day had been customers and other staff members asking if everything was okay. Vincent had gotten annoyed by it really quickly, especially knowing damn well he could not tell the truth. 

"Why couldn't you stand up for yourself?" 

"You're a MAN aren't you?" 

"Why on earth would a MAN let a Woman push him around?" He just lied and told people he fell down the stairs. That seemed to horrify people a bit more. So much so that he got a lot more tips than expected. Probably because they thought he would need it for medical bills. Vincent found he didn't mind. With that money he could surely get repairs for his bathroom. Especially now that he didn't have a girlfriend to get stuff for. A small smile began to appear on his face as he realized all of the things he could do now. He could work on repairs around his apartment. Pay for more groceries. Get new furniture, like an actual bed. Oh things were looking up for Vincent. So much so that his day slowly became a lot more tolerable. For once it felt like things were sunshine and rainbows. That was until Vincent walked over to seat the next client. 

"Hello, how many will be dining?" His face dropped as he saw Manon standing right there. She looked so sweet, and yet all Vincent could feel was fear as he was staring at her right in front of him. His heart was pounding so loud he almost couldn't hear anything else. His hands were shaking, yet he knew he had to keep it under control. 

"Table for one." Manon replied, her voice once again dripping in honey. 

"Follow me." She was taunting him. A trick. Trying to lure him back all to repeat the cycle of abuse. But was it really abuse if he deserved it? He didn't manage to make enough money to take her out. Then again his needs were never really focused on. Whatever he could just ignore their relationship for now. He needed to focus on work. That proved to be more of a challenge as Manon would constantly be calling him over to flirt with him. Even when he was in the middle of taking orders, and when he didn't she got a bit angry, yet never had an outburst. This was odd for Vincent. She had shown up at his previous jobs so many times to flirt with him. Trying to distract him, and if he didn't pay attention to her, she would scream and cause a giant outburst, promptly getting him fired. Yet she wasn't doing any of that now. That's what Vincent feared. She must be waiting for the right time to spark some sort of complaint. And that time was soon. 

"Vincent." He looked up to see Rody at the doors. 

"Do you mind coming to my office? We need to have a talk." His tone was calm and his posture was relaxed. Yet Vincent was entirely put on edge. He nodded as he walked back into the kitchen. Just as he was. 

"EXCUSE ME? Where is MY food?" Manon shouted. The bistro went completely silent as Vincent turned around slowly. Seeing the anger in her face. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could.