Vincent

It was a busy afternoon at the restaurant. The cooks were rushing back and forth while Vincent supervised everything with his usual serious expression.

Suddenly, Rody appeared at the kitchen entrance.

"Vincent, can I ask you something?"

Vincent looked up.

"Sure. What do you need?"

One of the cooks let out a giggle.

"Look, here comes Rody again to flirt with the boss."

Rody looked at him, confused.

"What? What are you talking about? Vincent treats us all the same."

The cooks looked at each other.

"All the same?" one repeated.

"Yes," Rody replied.

"He yells at us whenever something goes wrong," another said.

"He gets angry over anything."

"He even cuts our pay when we mess up."

Rody blinked.

"Really?"

"Yes. Now compare that to you."

One of them pointed to Vincent.

"He talks to you differently."

"Way differently," another added.

"He doesn't yell at you."

"He doesn't lose his patience with you."

"He explains things to you patiently."

"And he almost always does whatever you ask."

Rody's eyes widened.

"That's not true..."

"Oh, really? Last week you asked him to change your schedule and he agreed."

"You also asked to come in after your shift and he let you."

"And when you asked him to taste a dish you prepared, he stopped what he was doing to try it."

Rody got a bit nervous.

"Well... maybe he's just being kind."

The cooks let out a small laugh.

"Kind? Not with us."

One of them smiled.

"Rody, Vincent treats us like we're part of the furniture. You walk in and he seems like a different person."

Rody looked toward Vincent. As if sensing his gaze, Vincent looked up.

"Are you finished talking to the others?" he asked calmly.

"Uh... yes."

"Then come here. You said you wanted to ask me something."

The cooks watched the scene.

"See? He doesn't even talk to us like that," one whispered.

"There's definitely something weird going on there."

Vincent frowned.

"I heard you."

The cooks froze.

"We didn't say anything, boss!"

Vincent sighed and looked at Rody again.

"What was it you wanted to ask me, Rody?"