The Alpha's Pretend-Boyfriend

The Conflicts

Louie's Tuesday began with a phone call from his father. He and Dane had just gotten to Hestia's then, and he was changing into his work clothes when his phone rang. The first week after he arrived in the city, his parents called him every day to check up on him, and again when he landed the job at Hestia's. So he didn’t find it odd that they were reaching out to him again. They probably just wanted to check if their son hadn’t been eaten alive in the jungle of a city he had gone to.

Louie learned, however, that that wasn’t the reason for his father’s call.

“Mom's in the hospital?” he whispered to clarify if he had heard him correctly. Thankfully, the rest of the staff were already outside.

“She was admitted last night because she suddenly felt a pain on her back, which caused her to fall down the stairs,” his father said. He sounded tired, and Louie knew he probably didn’t get a wink of sleep last night. “The doctor mentioned a slipped disc or something, that’s why her legs suddenly gave out. I told her I’d carry the books down the stairs,” he sighed.

“How is she? Did she break anything? Should I go there now?”

“She's still asleep from the anesthesia. They had to replace her hip from the fall, but they said she'll be okay. Don’t worry about it, Louie. I just called you so you’d know. It’s nothing too serious. Besides, the neighbors have been coming here every hour to give food and flowers,” his dad tried to assure him. “Are you at work?”

“Yes, but dad, are you sure you don’t need anything?” Louie insisted, “I can tell my boss that I need some time off to—”

“Don’t be silly,” his dad interrupted, “you’re on your what, third week of work? You can’t take time off now. Don’t worry about us, kid, alright? Your mom's stable and I might be able to take her home in a day or two. I’ll call you when she wakes up, okay? Oh, here comes the doctor. You go ahead and work hard! Mom and I love you.”

“I love you too,” Louie muttered, but the call had already ended. He helplessly looked at his phone, not knowing what to do. His father had told him not to worry about it, but how could he not when his aging parents were hours away and his mother was sick?

He sighed and finished changing his clothes. There was nothing he could do for them at that moment except go to work. His father had said that he would let him know when his mother wakes up. There was no need to worry, Louie repeated to himself. No need to worry.

But he did end up worrying about it the entire day. It was a good thing that Tuesdays were relatively slow, but Louie was so distracted waiting for a call that he began to make mistakes he normally wouldn’t. He got an order wrong, tripped over a leg of a chair, handed a take-out bag to someone else.

It also didn’t help that Fig was in an equally blank headspace. Like Callie had said, Fig entered a depressed mood after yesterday’s events, and so the usually bright and flirty demon suddenly seemed so distant and quiet. He didn’t even try to mess with Louie as he usually did. It came to a point that even their regulars noticed how different the restaurant's ambiance was that day, even if Dane tried to bring up the place by doubling his cheerful smiles.

As they neared the end of the work day, Louie’s worry doubled when he found no text or call from his father. He stood by the side and anxiously checked his phone as he waited for the last set of customers to finish their meal and leave. It barely even registered to him when he received an earful from Gadreel just a while ago for messing up another order. Meanwhile, Fig was standing right beside him, staring blankly at the wall. The two barely noticed when one of the customers made a sign for the bill, until Dane walked up to them and said, “You two, go ahead to the staff room. I’ll finish up here.” He didn’t look angry, but he wasn’t pleased either. Louie and Fig glanced at each other and did as they were told.

Fig headed straight to the door leading to the alley behind the restaurant. Louie immediately took out his phone and rang his father, only for no one to pick up. He tried to call again when Dane entered the room.

“Where’s Fig?” he asked. Louie looked at the door he went through and Dane nodded. He was about to say something more when Louie placed his phone back in his pocket and said, “I better clean up outside.” He didn’t wait for a reply and walked out of the staff room.

***

Wednesday was even worse for everyone at Hestia's. Louie’s father finally returned his call the night before to say that his mother was awake, but has to prolong her stay in the hospital due to some complications. Germain and Gadreel came into work separately, but unlike their usual fights where they glare at each other and make snide remarks, they didn’t acknowledge each other the entire day. Callie, who shared the kitchen as a working space with them, found that she preferred hearing their loud fights rather than the heavy silence. Fig was no better. He appeared at the restaurant late, his clothes disheveled and smelled like alcohol, swaying as he walked.

Suddenly, Wednesday—which was a typically boring day for everyone—was suddenly tension-filled and a wreck before the restaurant even opened.

With the obvious silent treatment between Germain and Gadreel, Louie's sullen mood, and Fig's drunk mess, Dane decided not to open up the shop at all and gathered everyone in the staff room.

“Alright,” he exclaimed, a serious look on his face as he slammed the door close behind him. “What is wrong with all of you?” he asked.

Germain and Gadreel stood on opposite corners of the room and looked away. Louie looked down at his phone with a worried expression. Fig sat slouched on a bench while Callie sat beside him to prop him up and make sure he wouldn’t fall to the side.

Dane sighed at the silence that greeted him. “Germain and Gadreel, you two are obviously in a fight and can’t even do prep properly. Do you need couple's counseling or what?”

The two kept their mouths shut, but looked down ashamed.

“And you,” Dane pointed at Fig, “I know you’re heartbroken but you’ve got to get your crap together at work. Or call in a sick day if you’re just going to come in smelling like alcohol. I can’t have you puking at our customers.”

“I’m not drunk,” Fig slurred.

“And Louie.” Louie raised his head to look at him. Dane said with a sigh, “I don’t know what’s wrong with you but you’ve been getting a lot of orders wrong since yesterday. Even now you don’t seem like yourself.”

“I’m sorry,” Louie mumbled.

“Since the restaurant can’t run with only Callie and I being functional, we're closed for the rest of the day,” Dane announced.

Gadreel stood up straight to complain, “You don’t need to do that, we can—”

“No,” Dane firmly said. “Everyone take the day off and get your s**t together, alright? Sober up, talk it out, whatever it is you have to do, do it. Meeting adjourned. Go home.” With that, he turned around and left.

The rest stayed in their places for a while, sharing a sullen silence. It wasn’t every day that Dane walked out—in fact, it was the first time Louie had seen him act like that, which was saying a lot considering the nature of his employees.

Germain was the first to move. He picked up his things from the locker and left. Gadreel disappeared soon after. Louie grabbed his stuff as well, but before heading out, he stopped in front of Callie who was still on the bench with Fig dozing off next to her.

“Do you need any help?” Louie asked in a whisper.

Callie shook her head and gave him a small smile. “It’s fine. He’ll be alright in a while. Demons sober up pretty quickly so he just needs a small nap.”

Louie nodded and went out. He was prepared to take the bus home, thinking that he couldn’t possibly expect a ride from Dane after that, so he was visibly surprised when he found the man standing by his car, waiting for him out front.

“You haven’t left,” Louie muttered, making Dane look up at him.

“Of course,” he answered, gesturing towards the car. “I promised I’d be your ride every day.”

It was obvious that Dane's mood hasn’t completely lightened up, evidenced by the silence inside the vehicle as they drove away.

“I’m really sorry for messing up,” Louie spoke first. “I just had something on my mind and I didn’t notice that I jotted down the wrong orders a couple of times, and…” he trailed off as he heard what he was saying—a bunch of excuses.

“It’s alright, you know that you did wrong. Just don’t let it happen again, okay?” Dane glanced at him with a kind smile, and he nodded. “What was it, anyway? If you don’t mind me asking. What’s bothering you? You’re usually pretty quiet but attentive, so considering that this is the first time your head was someplace else, I’m guessing it’s a pretty big deal.”

“M-my…” Louie hesitated for a second. He was used to getting dragged into his coworkers' drama, not bringing other people into his. But he realized that he didn’t have any friends in the city except for them, and out of everyone, he figured that if he had to find someone to talk to, his best option was the werewolf beside him. So he continued, “My mom's in the hospital.”

“What?” Dane exclaimed, stopping the car by the side of the road so he could turn to Louie. “Wha—why didn’t you say anything? What happened? Is she alright?”

Louie couldn’t help but smile at his reaction. They had only known each other for less than a month, and it wasn’t like they had even talked about his mother before, yet there Dane was, looking extremely worried for someone he had never even met.

“Why are you smiling?” Dane asked. “Are you joking with—this is not a thing to joke about, Louie!” He said in a scolding tone.

“I’m not, I’m not,” Louie sighed. “I just—it's nothing. But my mom really is in the hospital. She fell down the stairs and had to get surgery. My dad's looking after her. I want to go to check up on her, but dad won’t let me skip work since he says they’re fine, and they know it’d take me hours on the bus filled with other creatures.”

“Then let’s go,” Dane replied without missing a beat.

Louie frowned at him, confused. “What are you saying?”

“I mean it, let’s go. I have a car so you don’t have to get on a bus, and I’m technically your boss. We can go to your parents right now and I’ll close down the restaurant tomorrow so you can spend time with them.”

Louie stared at him like he just proposed something crazy. “You can’t just close down the restaurant,” he argued.

“Uh, I can,” Dane stated. “Besides, do you really think one afternoon is enough to get Germain and Gadreel's lovers' quarrel fixed? And for Fig to straighten up? If anything, I should close down Hestia's until next week!” He laughed, even though Louie could feel it was half-meant.

“But… It's going to take us hours of driving,” he said, still unsure.

“Then we better get going now!”