The House of Allen

Six

“Good afternoon, sir!  Have a great lunch!” A worker, probably from the factory, greeted them as they passed by the table where Levi, Alex, Erwin, and Ben were sitting at the mess hall.  Levi nodded at the worker in acknowledgment even if he had no clue who the heck just passed by.  The workers here seem to be really friendly especially towards him, but he has remained wary towards these people despite the encouragement from Erwin and Alex.

“I’ll go out to have some fresh air, alright?  I’m already full.” Levi cleared his throat as he packed his remaining sandwich inside his lunch bag and stood up, waving goodbye to the small group he was sitting with.  Alex raised her head from where she was digging into some of the leftovers from last night’s dinner and let her eyes follow the man who was on his way towards the exit of the mess hall.

“It seems like Levi has still not warmed up to his new environment, huh.” Alex sighed as she playfully slapped Ben’s hand that had sneakily stolen a sausage from her canteen.

“Don’t worry about it, Alex.  That’s just the way he is.” Erwin reassured the female through a mouthful of lettuce and bread.

“What do you mean, Erwin?” Alex asked curiously.

“How do I put this?  He’s the more boring one out of the two of us.” The man stated, nodding his head as if to convince the woman sitting in front of him to believe his absurd statement.

“You’re just saying that.  Do you have a complex about your older brother or something?  Don’t worry, we still think you are cool, bro.”Ben snorted, making the younger man eye him warily.

“Hear me out first, will you?  It’s not even his fault that he’s this – well – boring.” Erwin insisted as the two nodded for him to continue.  

“He’s the older one and since we were young, it has been emphasized that he will inherit all of this someday.  He also got his fiancé at what, eight?  Long story short, he’s been so absorbed in studying and preparing to become the heir and handling his piece of work of a fiancé that he became really awkward and unsociable.  Most of his friends he met through our cousin Jaxon, who is a pretty friendly person.  You two should really meet him.  I think you would really get along.  Oh, he’s from the Allen-Worth branch of the family.” Erwin finished his story with a huge bite off his third sandwich,

“And you’re saying you’re more fun than him, because?” Alex asked, eyeing Erwin worriedly.  The last time she checked, two sandwiches were the recommended serving size for a single person’s lunch so when Erwin showed up today saying that he’s going to eat four, she was surprised and a little worried.

“I don’t have the pressure of being an heir or an upcoming engagement to stop me from doing things I like.  My dad was very lenient with me as long as I didn't do anything illegal.  I was surprised that he even let me work here while going to med school.  It is unheard of for someone like me to do manual labor, but here we are.  Also, I got a car first.  Levi’s getting his first driving lesson this weekend.” Erwin snickered.

“The pressure, I can kind of relate to.  Minus the arranged marriage stuff, I went through almost the same thing.  Hopefully, he will warm up to the people here later when we go to the pub.” Alex mused, missing how Ben has successfully stolen a slice of potato from her canteen.

“Yeah, hopefully.  He’s not going to be a very effective owner if he could not recognize the workers here like what his father is doing, if you ask me.” Ben added, grinning at Alex as she finally noticed the missing potato.

---

“You ready, Levi?” Alex asked as she finished locking up her cabinets and packing her bag.

“Yes, I’m done here as well,” Levi said, picking up his satchel from the table and standing up to join Alex at the entryway.

“Alright, let’s go.” Alex smiled as she motioned for Levi to exit and locked the door behind them after exiting herself.

“Where are we going, by the way?” Levi asked as he walked beside Alex to the queue where people were all lining up to punch out after a long day at work. 

“It’s a small pub just a few minutes’ walk from here. It’s called ‘Pub Boris’.  They said they think it’s owned by a Slav man or something.  Some workers found out about it and we tried it out one time.  It has been our regular place since then.” Alex answered as the line inched its ways towards the Bundy clock at the exit of the property.

After clocking out, the two began their walk downtown towards Pub Boris.  Levi has never been in this part of town ever since he graduated high school and he cannot help but observe how many things have changed in three years.  As they walked, people of all ages kept stopping to greet Alex and Levi observed how the female also took time to return a wave or a greeting.  Maybe this is why a lot of people liked her, and Levi could only dream of becoming as sociable as she is.  She does not have to go through the pressure of being an heir or anything, after all.  All she has to worry about is how to make do with what she has until the next paycheck arrives, Levi thought.

The pair arrived at the pub to be greeted by loud cheers from the people from the estate.  Turning their heads to where the sound came from, they saw Ben, Erwin, and the others had already reserved a table for them and were waving enthusiastically to catch their attention.  Alex smiled at Levi and urged him to move forward.  A few people scooted over to make space for them which ended with Alex sandwiched between Erwin and another worker from the factory while Levi found space between two people from the farm whose name he could not recall.

“Welcome to Pub Boris!  What can I get you guys today?” A man with a thick accent approached the group and Erwin enthusiastically made the order for their group which consisted of an assortment of finger foods and some wine.  The man then bowed and left to get them their orders.

“That’s Boris.  He owns this place and he’s pretty fond of us now.  He says he’s got more customers since we started coming here.” The man sitting beside Levi who introduced himself as Fred told him enthusiastically.

“Maybe because the word travels fast in the estate?  I have to admit, I haven’t been to a place like this before, though.” Levi answered politely.

“Really, sir?  But you have gone out drinking before, right?”  The man sitting on his other side asked, bewildered that a man has never gone drinking in a pub before.

“Yes, of course.  My cousin and I used to drink a bit after our exams in university.” Levi answered.  By this time, more people from the group have given the current conversation an interest and were closely listening to what the young heir has to say.

“I bet Jaxon brought you somewhere fancy, knowing both of your tastes.” Erwin piped in, to which Levi shook his head shyly.

“It’s not really fancy.  We just went to a few social clubs near the university.” Levi corrected, receiving confused stares from most of the table’s occupants.  By this time, the finger foods had arrived and Alex had begun pouring out wine for the people around the table.

“What is a social club, Erwin?” Ben asked innocently, as he took a slice of cheese from the platter near him.

“It’s sort of an exclusive place where only people of a certain status can go.  You have to be invited in to be able to enter.  The drinks and food there are pretty pricey.” Erwin explained as best as he can to the audience at large.

“As expected of Mr. Allen’s eldest!  You really have a great taste in things, huh?  I hope the cheap wine we are having today will not disappoint you, sir.” Another worker chimed in, pouring Levi another glass of wine once they noticed that his was already empty.

“No, of course, not.  I find this gathering quite enjoyable.” Levi politely answered even if he would rather be at home and drinking alone than spending time with these people that he barely knew. 

“Here, sir. Have a taste of these sausages.  They are really good!” Another worker from the end of the table said, handing Levi a platter of sausages.

“Sure, thank you.” Levi took a piece to taste, grimacing slightly at how greasy the sausage is.  Soon, his glass is being filled by different people while others keep offering him food from all sides of the table, making him feel more overwhelmed than ever.

“Sir, you want more gin with that?” a middle-aged worker eagerly offered Levi another glass of gin.

“No, sorry, I think I’ve had enough for today.” Levi shook his head, but the overeager employee was not giving up without a fight.

“But you haven’t had this one, yet! I’m sure they don’t serve these in your fancy social club.” The worker insisted, leaning in to fill up Levi’s cup.

“I said, enough, ok!  I don’t care if that gin or wine or whatever is something new.  I don’t care for your cheap excuse for booze and I have already had enough trying to put up with your yapping left and right.  I get that you are trying to impress me because I may be your boss in the future, but I have had enough.  If it was not for my father or Alex encouraging me to get to know you all, I would not have gone here in this filthy place, to begin with.  I’m done. Here’s some money and get drunk off of these second rate grape juice you’re having.” Levi stood up hastily from his seat and took out a couple of bills from his wallet and slammed them down on the table as he stormed out of the pub after his little outburst.

“I’m sorry, I should not have insisted.” The worker bowed his head in shame as he set down the bottle of gin on the table.

“No, Bert, it’s not your fault.  I’ll go and talk to him.  Erwin, Ben, make sure nobody gets in trouble.” Alex said as she picked up her things and ran after Levi.