Another Story: Tales of a Shitty Boss

Sinclair Garrett was a shitty boss. That was the easy way to view things. He worked his employees to exhaustion, valued the stockholders above all else, and never took a day off when a project came close to deadlines. All in all, everyone in the workplace hated him, and he was fine with that.

However, as he prepared his suit and tie, he had the briefest of doubts that the way he operated was for the best. He shook off this thought and looked at himself in the mirror. As he made sure everything was up to snuff, a smaller, plump figure appeared behind him.

“You look so handsome, honey!” Garrett’s wife said with a smile. “It reminds me of our wedding day~”

Garrett chuckled, rubbing his balding head. “Yeah, except I’m down quite a few follicles from there.”

“Oh, nonsense. Hair doesn’t make the man. Your work does.” She pulled him into a close hug and a kiss. “Please be safe while there, honey. I don’t want Denise to find out that her father was killed in some nudie bar. It would be a very awkward funeral.”

“Honey…” He blushed and laughed. “I’m not going to someplace like that.”

“Oh, don’t try to fool me. I know what bachelor parties are all about. I was not born yesterday.” She laughed with a hand on her mouth. “Just promise me you’ll be safe.”

With a nod, Sinclair hugged his wife close. “I love you, Eunice.”

Eunice wrapped her arms around her husband and squeezed him. “I love you too, Sinclair…”

~~~

Garrett arrived at The Trash Heap with a bit of a stiff feeling in his body. He wasn’t exactly used to being informal with his employees, even former employees. Still, he was invited by both Jacob and David, so he wasn’t exactly going to refuse.

As he entered the bar, he was greeted by David at the bar counter. He was sipping water and flanked by both Jacob and a very small-looking man. Along with them, a very feminine man that Garrett recognized from pictures as David’s ex was rubbing the groom’s back with a concerned, caring look. The bartender, a man with a grizzly beard, motioned for him to come forward. He complied, and the bartender nodded.

“You’re Garrett, right? Pull up a stool, let me know what I can get you.” His voice was gruff and gravelish, and his gaze had a look of resentment. Garrett had a slight feeling his reputation preceded him.

“Rum and coke,” Garrett nodded as he took a seat. The bartender nodded back and prepared his drink as quickly as he could.

Jacob laughed at David as the groom drank his water. “You’re NOT drinking?? Seriously, that’s a first. I would have expected you to at least slam Two-Fisters.”

“Yeah, ummm… The trip to visit Morgan’s family kind of gave me a lot to think about. I’d rather just stick to water for now.”

“Heh, more booze for me.” Jacob threw back his head as he chugged down a pint. The small man patted David’s back in an understanding manner. Sinclair wondered what had happened during that period of time. He decided to try and find out.

“So, David. How have things been between you and Ms. Mathers?”

“It’s… Fine.” David shrugged and finished his water. “Her family were seriously adamant at my proposal not going through. It took a lot to get them to agree.”

“Right…” Garrett nodded with a smile. “But you managed to do it, right?”

“In a sense, yeah. Although, now I need to get through the actual ceremony.”

“Heh, yeah… That’s always been a bit of a challenge for me,” Garrett replied as he took the drink. “I think you got it though. You’ve dealt with worse.”

“Yeah, yeah I have.” David looked down at his chest. There was definitely something that was on his mind, and Garrett felt that he needed to see just what was wrong. Before he could actually ask, the doors burst open. Standing at the door was a dusty skeleton adorned in some odd floral patterns.

There was a collective yell from the three bar patrons, as well as a dual groan from David and his shorter companion. The smaller one spoke, asking in a posh, refined manner. “Master Moreno, shall I deal with him?”

“No, just… Let’s see what he wants. I want to try and keep this party from going too insane.” He stood up and walked over to the skeleton. Garrett watched as the two conversed. Did David know who this was? What was going on?

David would return with the skeleton in tow, sighing softly. “So, there’s something I need to tell you all…”

~~~

Sinclair wouldn’t believe what he had heard. Morgan Mathers, the Devil? An actual demon, Lucifer’s daughter? He couldn’t believe such a notion until, Sebastian, the small man by David’s side had turned into some small demon. It was all too much, and he needed a drink to try and calm down.

Jacob, weirdly enough, was pumped at the prospect, saying it was like one of his “Japanese animes”, whatever that meant. With that out of the way, things could only get more interesting.

The skeleton, calling himself Mamón, the ex-boyfriend of Morgan. He was there to wish David luck in his marriage and to congratulate him. It could have been weirder, as Jacob was talking Sebastian’s ear off.

“So you know any cute demon girls??”

“I suppose…”

“Think you can introduce me to them??”

“No.”

“Aw, come on! Just one succubus-!”

“If you do not cease, I shall chuck you through the door.”

“Awww, the midget thinks he’s a threat-!”

The taunting was cut off by Jacob being flung right out the door. He hit the floor and groaned in pain for just a moment. Afterward, he ran right back in and began to valiantly lose a fight with the imp that went up to his knees.

Garrett eventually broke the fight up, with Jacob declaring a tie even though his body was in much worse shape than Sebastian’s. As a celebration (and a form of compensation), Sebastian provided entertainment in the form of a number of succubi with very lovely voices.

As they performed for the group of men, Sinclair sat back at the bar with Harold the bartender. He simply enjoyed a few drinks and watched as the other men enjoyed themselves.

“You aren’t going in?”

Garrett shook his head, chuckling. “Nah. Too old for that kinda fun. I’m just here to congratulate David on his success.”

“Uhuh…” Harold nodded. “And why is that? You think you can get some kind of sweet favor out of him?”

“Of course not, what would I even want from him?”

Harold crossed his arms. “Maybe some kind of luxury from the people who own your business?”

Garrett just chuckled, setting the glass back on the counter to be filled. “Seems like you don’t know much about me. See… When I started my business, I was young, hopeful… I expected that my growth would be slow, but I could be one of the big titans. Then, the big break happened. A contract with a client that would change everything. It was with Synoware, one of the last deals Morgan’s father ever pulled before he… Retired.” He looked at the drink as it was filled. “She came down hard on me when we couldn’t do the work in time. Even though it was something that was in the bag, we never managed to finish it in time…”

“Woah, pretty heavy…”

Garrett nodded to the barkeep. “She took ownership of the company. From then on, she had us doing many different projects I didn’t want to do. I knew though, if we pushed ourselves, I could use the money I saved to buy back the company piece by piece. Every little thing I did, I did to get my life’s work back.”

Harold watched as Garrett sat back and looked up at the ceiling. The boss continued to speak. “You’re lucky. As far as investors are concerned, you’ll probably never have to worry about any of that stuff. It’ll just be you and the customers for as long as you want to run it.”

“I… I suppose you’re right…” Harold nodded. “I would suggest you treat your employees nicer, but given what happened, I can see why you’re hard nowadays.”

Garrett nodded and looked at David, who was blushing at the sight of the succubus dancers and looking away. “I knew the moment I hired that kid, he had a bright future. He just didn’t know what that future would be.”

“And you think that this is it?” Harold leaned against the bar.

“Well… It beats being trapped in a cubicle for hours on end,” Garrett laughed as he drank his cocktail. “Plus, I think that boy needs some proper love in his life.” He watched as Casey danced with the succubi, the demon women excited to have him join in. “After what happened, I was sure I was going to be looking for a new employee and attending a funeral. This… This is good for him.”

Harold chuckled and prepared some bourbon for himself. “You know, you’re not as bad as I suspected after everything I’ve seen you put him through.”

“Hey, what can I say?” Garrett stood up and threw up his arms with a smile on his face. “I’m a shitty boss. That’s how things go.” With one last downing of a drink, he walked to the bathroom. He was a shitty boss, and he was going to work until he didn’t need to be anymore.

~~~

Bethany let out a guttural yell as she through a table. The news that they had received was absolutely distressing and was not something that they could not stand. Gabriela was doing everything in her power to keep Bethany calm.

“It might not be this way,” she attempted to interject. “There are no guarantees that this could come to pass.”

“With all of this evidence, Gab?? An oracle’s prediction, a letter from him to those bastards, and the recordings?? You really think that we cannot ignore this??”

“N-No, it is concerning!” Gabriela crossed her arms defensively. “But maybe we wait until God or a Judge gets hold of the evidence and checks it-”

“Are you serious?? Every time we did that, they ignored it!” Gabriela moved a hand out in rage. “How many angels fell to lose something to Hell, all because we ignored it! I’m tired of ignoring shit, Gab!”

Gabriela looked down at the letter from David to Lucifer. It was clear proof that after the wedding, they planned to rally Hell against Heaven. She never suspected him to do such a thing. They even monitored him. However, there was a massive gap of time that they couldn’t observe him, so it was possible that he did send this. Along with all of the video evidence of him making dealings with the Lords of Hell, the picture painted was bleak.

“What… What do you propose we do?”

“If they’re going to start Armaggedon, I say we don’t give them the opportunity.” Bethany tossed the golden pistol on the table over to her partner. Gabriela stared at it for a long time, contemplating if this was truly the right decision.

“I’m going whether you don’t or not. I don’t need anyone holding me back.” Bethany turned and looked down at her sword. She gripped it tight from the memories of that day. The day she was slain for her God.

Gabriela quietly pulled Bethany into a hug from behind. She made a promise to stand by Bethany’s side, and she never failed it so far. She whispered softly, “Okay, Beth… Let’s do it… Let’s end this already…”