Chained to a Contract

The adventures of a broke part-timer

The endless chatter of businessmen made Elias' brain melt. 

It was irritatingly boring, but it was unavoidable since he was the cashier serving their drinks. The cafe was busier than normal, but he's not complaining. More people means more bonus pay, he can practically smell the scent of his sweet pay check. 

"Hey, are you alright?" Elias turned his head to face Harper, she was the manager of this cafe and the kindest person he has ever met. "I'm fine, just tired." Harper nodded but her face still contained worry, "You can leave early, you're going to an interview after your shift, right?" Elias nodded, his heart filled with gratitude, "Thank you very much Mrs. Harper, I'll just finish one last customer." The older woman smiled and went away to tend to some customers. 

Elias greeted the businessman in front of him and the man crossed his arms, "Can you go a bit faster? I'm late for my interview and it's your fault for moving so f*cking slow. Just so you know, unlike you, we got places to be-" Elias gripped his apron as to not punch a customer out of pure instinct but before he could say anything else, the doors to the cafe suddenly swung open and the previously loud talking inside the cafe became hushed whispers. 

It was so quiet that the footsteps of the person who entered can easily be heard. Elias looked around as his curiosity grew, he wasn't the tallest of the bunch so he had to stand on his toes to get a glance at who was walking towards the counter.

As soon as he saw him, Elias felt like he was running a marathon. His chest was about to burst open from how hard his heart was pounding. It was a man in his early thirties, he had jet-black hair and piercing green eyes. The man was dressed like he was going to receive an oscars, everything he wore was sleek and black which makes his complexion even lighter. A weird sense of deja vu washed over Elias, the man seemed familiar but he can't pinpoint where exactly he saw him, was he an actor or model of some sort? Why is he getting closer? Wait... 

Elias snapped out of his thoughts when he realised the man was directly in front of him, leaning on the counter. "Won't you take my order?" the man said, his deep voice surprised Elias and he didn't know what to say, it's like he's in shock from the encounter, so he accidentally blurted out something stupidly obvious.

"Sir, you skipped the line. We can't serve you."

The man stared at Elias in disbelief, then started laughing uncontrollably. "My, my, where are my manners. Can you spoil me just this once?" Elias looked over to his previous customer and the businessman nodded his head vigorously. Elias sighed and took the mystery man's order. "Thank you very much...-" his eyes wandered towards Elias' name tag and Elias felt like there was a sudden shift in the air "-....Elias." The cashier nodded and grabbed the cup size the mystery man ordered, "Alright, what's your name sir?" Elias asked casually to try and ease the tension, the whole cafe was busy and bustling again but it wasn't as bad as earlier. 

Eyes roamed around Elias, like he was being examined, or observed. 

"Trystan." Elias' head whipped to look at the man again, something was definitely wrong, there were too many coincidences and Elias was sure he saw recognition in the man's eyes. But he won't think about it any further, it was all a strange coincidence. Nothing more, nothing less.

Elias was wandering the building for a few minutes already, it was incredibly huge and it had a large chandelier and fountain at the middle. The halls were crowded but everyone seemed to be busy or in a rush, so he didn't really want to disturb other people. He was about to lose hope and call it a day, but he saw a familiar figure in the distance. s**t.

The business suit that Elias wore felt like it was choking him, though he'd rather pass out than deal with the only option he has left. 

"E-excuse me, sir." his voice came out more timid than Elias intended, Trystan turned around and Elias felt his face heat up when he noticed that the other man was on the phone. "Oh! I'm sorry, please don't mind me." Elias turned to run away but he felt something grip his arm tight, "I'll call you later." Trystan said to the person he was talking to on the phone and released Elias' arm, "Oh, it's you again, what are you doing here?" Trystan said, his full attention was directed solely on Elias, which made the younger man's face become redder than a tomato. "Sorry to disturb you, that must've been an important call." Trystan smiled and shook his head, "It's alright, I don't mind." he answered, "Ah, I'm here for an interview but I can't find the location, do you happen to know where it is?" Elias felt a bead of sweat on his temple, the look that Trystan was giving him was a bit... concerning.

"Yes I do, just go straight that hallway and head left, it's the door at the middle." Trystan pointed to the hallway and Elias followed his directions. 

'What the hell was that about? Weird.' Elias thought as he sat together with the last batch of applicants, "Please wait a moment, the CEO would like to evaluate you himself. Consider yourself lucky." The interviewer smiled. 

The door opened to reveal the same man from earlier, Trystan winked at Elias as he took his seat, "What a pleasant surprise. This is Mr. Trystan Laurent, he is the CEO of our company Laurent Inc."

'I want to be buried already, please just go faster.' Elias watched as all the other applicants slowly disappeared, until only he was left.

"Mr. Elias Brooke, shall we start the interview?" Trystan had a way more formal and professional tone, but Elias could sense a hint of amusement in his voice. 

"Should I just write my last will and testament already?" Elias accidentally said out loud and slapped his mouth, while Trystan let out a snicker, "We could have that arranged at a later date. I will forgive that mistake just this once, since you have also given me a chance earlier at the cafe. But please remain serious from here on out."

Elias straightened himself up, "Thank you for your consideration. Yes, we can start Mr. Laurent."