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cloveroctobers · 2 years

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JOHNNY “COCO” CRUZ x black! Reader / SPRING PROMPTS!

A/N: since I don’t/didn’t write nearly enough for him. *sigh* that’s all I’m going to say on that. My spring prompts were intentionally supposed to be fluff but…

WARNINGS; mentions of mental health, drug habits, some fluff, language, and dark times! Sad times!

Using: #11. fresh baked bread + #12. Walk in the woods from the spring OTP prompt list.

Track listened to while writing?

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They always say you don’t have enough time in the world. Most usually think the opposite and unconsciously live life like it’s any other day, that it’s limitless yet it’s anything but. For the last week it felt like there was just something weighing on your chest and your gut was telling you that time was running out. You tried to blame it on your clinical depression but this was different.

At the start of the new week you started to pay attention to everything more. How everyone in the house was on the go, you always at the bakery at the crack of dawn, preparing breads and pastries with your small crew for the morning rush, Letty doing instacart and showing up whenever she wanted or whenever her piece of shit boyfriend decided to pick her up, and with Coco…he was always on call. To you it just felt like none of you were spending enough time together lately and you wanted to change that.

Well…you attempted to.

The electric dough mixer down at the bakery decided to break after just spending $800+ on it a month ago—thankfully you had warranty on it so another one was being shipped out to you free of charge while the delivery service took the broken one off your hands. Bad news? It was on delay since apparently all the bakers wanted this dough maker so you had to wait two weeks for it. Which also means!! You all had to use your hands more, since there were only three available table top mixers.

“If the work becomes too much, just shut down for a few days, mamita. You deserve it.” Johnny suggested one night, the both of you sitting on your bed as he rubbed at your shoulders.

You leaned into his touch, reaching one hand up to rest against his hand, “Only if you take a break from the club.”

“…we’re not doin’ that tit for tat shit. And I already took a long enough break, don’t you think?” He stopped massaging you for a moment.

Sighing you answered, “yeah against your will, we all know you’re dealing with a disease.”

“Let’s,” he started to raise his voice and lowered his tone and softened his touch, “not go that route tonight. It was just a suggestion, you’re clearly stressed out and could use a break. And I’m trying to get back on track so it sounds like we all gotta do what’s best for us.”

You hummed, too exhausted to argue with your boyfriend for the night and slowly moved from his grasp. Coco’s intense eyes watched your entire being as you slid over to your side of the bed, reached into your night stand to tie your headscarf over your hair.

“Okay.” You finalized, reaching to toss the covers back as you rested underneath them with a yawn.

The man watched you for a moment before he got off the bed to flip off the light switch. Once beside you, he tangled your legs together and pressed his forehead in between your shoulder blades. Once you felt that you began to slowly close your eyes until he asked, “is it though?”

“I’m willing to spend time with not only you but letty. Our family. We have to find balance for each other here and you don’t want to call your health condition what it is…fine. You only want to share that at meetings? Oh-kay . We’ll do that your way but that’s part of life, we have to make time for each other. So…y’all let me know when we can fit into our busy schedule’s.” You mumbled, “goodnight.”

Johnny huffed out a breath against your back but tightened a hold on your waist for the night.

It was a Wednesday when Coco told you Marcus encouraged him and others to head out to Oakland this weekend and of course he took that opportunity. Coco could see that you were disappointed that he would be leaving and Letty seemed indifferent since she could always find something else to get into. Although the both of you shared deep conversations (only when Letty felt like being vulnerable that is) you knew that half of that was for show.

Although you knew this trip was for good measure, you had that sinking feeling sitting in your gut again. You were tight smiles as Coco talked about how good this would be to honor their fallen brothers yet you couldn’t help but to feel selfish about it.

“What’s your weekend, plans?” Coco asked, as he shifted you from the mirror as you finished twisting a section of your hair into a final knot.

He shuffled through drawers.

Pressing your tongue into your cheek, you breathed out a laugh and exited the bathroom. Coco shortly followed after you, tossing a arched tattooed leg up onto your bed to moisturize.

“What’s up your ass, huh?”

Your eyebrows raised as you glanced at him from over your phone. Facing your body in his direction, you turned your eyes into slits, “did our conversation two days ago not mean anything to you?”

The long haired man furrowed his brows, “you mean everything to me, you’re basically the other side of my heart, so yeah any conversation means something.”

Chewing on your bottom lip you deeply inhaled at that. You’d be a fool if you said those words didn’t make butterflies float around in your belly but you were more of a actions kinda person. Talking about the fairytales were always peaceful and it was always tough to get there but lately it felt like you were getting off track again.

Everything was becoming a routine rather than a necessity.

“So…you’re going to Oakland.”

He dipped his head, “I’ll be back early Sunday morning. You know it’s for a good reason.”

“Which I get…but it doesn’t feel right. Why can’t you honor your brothers here? Close to home instead.” You softly said.

Coco moved around the bed to plop down beside you, “‘Cause Marcus saw what efforts I’ve been putting in for this club. He trusts me to go out there and bond with another charter by paying our respects to something we share in common, the lost of family. I can’t pass that up. I know you understand that, right?”

“Of course I understand,” you huffed, “it’s a given when you get involved with someone in a risk taking club but sometimes I just wish you would put this family first too…what if you lose us?”

Instantly coco gripped your hand, getting you to meet his gaze. “Hey, I don’t ever want to hear you talk about that possibility. I don’t want to go back to that thought either, I had enough of that shit back on the mm.”

He searched your eyes which held worry in them. With his free hand he gripped your chin and ran his thumb gently over your brown skin, “I hear you though. As long as I got you and you got me, that’ll never be a lost. I even got plans for the both us tomorrow…oh yeah, I forgot to mention you’re taking a personal day from the shop.”

Coco watched as your frame brightened, almost like that special flower that needs the night to grow, at the news; despite the darkening bags that sat underneath your eyes. It was your turn to grip Coco’s now bare shoulder, “where are we going, johnny?”

“It’s a surprise, mamita. You better rest up.” He leaned forward to press a kiss to your cheek.

“How do you expect me to sleep when you just told me I get to spend time with my best friends tomorrow?”

Coco laughed pinching your chin, “you’re so fucken cute, mamita. I’m just happy that I can make a piece of my heart happy too.”

Pressing your lips to his, you pulled back while knuzzling your bulbous nose against his crooked pointed one.

“…Think you can help put me to sleep?” You questioned, caressing a finger against his bare waist.

His famous lopsided smile appeared on his lips, “I’d be honored to.” Before he pounced on you.

Letty wasn’t home by the time the two of you headed out. He sent her the address and told her to meet the two of you there if she wanted to be part of this moment and she sarcastically sent back some emojis in her typical teenage fashion. The two of you rode out of santo padre for at least half an hour and stopped on the side of the road, just for coco to blind fold you.

“So I know this is one of your kinks and everything bro but um, couldn’t we have discussed this before? I’m still trying to hold onto these lash extensions considering that money’s tight.” You responded, trying to loosen the hold on the back of your dome.

One thing about Johnny Cruz? The man was definitely heavy handed.

“We’re another ten minutes out, it won’t be that long. You can handle it, I promise.”

“I guess…” you trailed off, turning your head to where the passenger window would be.

You convinced your long time boyfriend that taking your car over his bike would be best, just in case Letty wanted to ride back home with you two. If you would have known you’d be off-roading a bit you would have saved your sweet Hyundai hatchback the trouble. Your eyes went wide as you felt the car rocking from side to side and thought you were on the verge of a car accident but Coco’s laughs and squeeze to your thigh gave some reassurance.

Once the car was in park, you sighed touching your chest before fumbling to unbuckle yourself from the car. Coco assisted you out of the car and stood in front of you to take the blind fold off.

Flinching at the partly cloudy sunlight you glanced around the man to see nothing but huge trees, dirt, and the smell of evergreen.

“Where are we?”

He didn’t answer your question, reaching forward to grip your hand, “Want to go for a mini hike?”

“Is that why you wanted me to wear these itchy ass gym pants?”

His free hand slid down your side before reaching backwards to give it a nice smack, “yeah…they’re also my favorite on you.” He winked while you shoved him back playfully.

“Nah, I just wanted you to be comfortable and enjoy the view. C’mon.” He led the way, intertwining his hands with yours.

The walk through the woods made the both of you feel at ease, despite you being clueless on the area ,you felt safe with the guy you’ve known since you were seventeen and it blew your mind to still be standing here after everything the both of you went through.

It truly was a blessing.

You felt yourself wanting to be closer and pulled yourself underneath his arm as you slowly walked through the woods, simply enjoying each other’s company. After a moment you found yourself looking up, feeling much smaller underneath the trees that stood above the both of you. You were chilly underneath the spring air and coco always felt cold but the weight of him surely blocked that feeling out. A white butterfly flew by your eyes, pulling you from the sky while the birds chirped along with each step you both took.

Once you approached a white bridge, you stopped to peer out at the lake to your right.

“…what you think?” Coco asked after a moment of white noise.

Blinking you looked at him, “there’s swans here?”

“Huh? Oh yeah they’re were fuckin’ annoying the last time I came out here so don’t get too excited about ‘em, they might turn up missing.” The braided-haired man glared at the green water while you snorted at the irritation on his face, “but I wasn’t talking about that. I’m talking about the house.”

The what?

Coco easily picked up the confusion on your face and lifted his chin in the direction of the said house that sat over and back from the water.

“Let’s go.” He smiled at your speechlessness and tugged you over the bridge and down a slope and over to what appeared to be a deep- red single family home.

Your eyes kept wandering around, the large plot of dirt that covered the driveway had you in awe. Even if you could afford multiple cars, it would take plenty to fill this lot but any parties hosted here you were sure everyone could fit here…as soon as you figured out another route to get here that is.

“That makeshift garage over there that Gilly fucked up, we can store the bikes and of course your car there, especially when we get those sandstorms.” Coco casually said before carrying on to the white picket fence that boarded the home.

He undid the latch before leading you into the front yard. A white door contrasted against the darker tone of the house and another covered by a Spanish lace black steel security door. There were large and medium sized windows on each corner of the house and to your left a white gated area (which also seemed to hold a chicken coop behind?) followed by a pathway in between.

“Want to head in?”

“Johnny…don’t play with me.” You started with a inhale, “what is this?”

He lifted his shoulders nonchalantly, “A house. Our house if you want it to be.”

Clenching your eyes shut you shook your head, “we can’t possibly afford this. How much is this? Is it renting or to purchase?”

“It’s ours mamita.” He pressed, gripping your forearms, “don’t stress, I got us. Remember months ago you said we needed our own space to grow together and it’s bigger than what we have now.”

Yes you liked the idea of having something new for the three of you, to grow better. It may have been what you needed but the both of you knew Johnny wasn’t the best when it came to money and that was before the dr*g habit swerved in.

“It’s got enough space for us, two bedrooms until leticia actually means what she says when she wants to get the fuck out, and two bathrooms. Our own laundry area, more storage space, a extra living space, our own lake.” He listed with his fingers.

You interrupted, “what is this madness, Florida?”

Coco snorted as he continued, “and the kitchen? I know you’re gonna love it. Me, Gilly, and Creeper just finished the floors the other day. Mind you it still needs a shit ton of work but I’m down to do it for us, you know?”

Your silence was beginning to make Coco anxious as his hold on your hand became fingers linked with yours instead.

“Take me inside then, show me what we’re working with.” You waved him forward.

It was his turn to beam at you as he gripped both sides of your face to kiss you. Smiling into the kiss, he gripped your hand and fished his jean pockets to find the key. As you stepped into the home you always kept in mind that the living situations here always required dim lighting since majority of the homes were built in the 1950’s and up. You were met with tile floors with a rug rolled off to the side, you weren’t sure what this open space was truly meant for but it could work for what it seemed like it was made for, a nice entrance way: coat racks, benches to put your shoes on your way out, large mirror against one wall, a runner on the floor, a large circle table with a floral arrangement, with possibly a nice light feature installed to brighten it up.

Excitement began to show on your face as you briefly touched the walls.

“This was originally a dining area? The kitchen is up to the right and the living room is right across from it.” Coco explained, “listen to me sounding like a preppy ass real estate agent.”

“If you were, maybe my room would be even bigger.” A voice called out making the man roll his eyes.

Easily recognizing the voice you followed it, glancing over at the carpeted living room which had a wood oven tucked in the corner, you entered the kitchen instead to find Letty leaning against the counter. The counters were on the lighter side, tan and looked fairly new. Your eyes immediately went to the floor and you were in love. Clasping your hands together you looked back at Coco who causally shrugged his shoulders.

“You did this?!”

“Mostly, yeah. The refurbishing the cabinets were a real pain in my ass though.” He commented.

“You did that!” You looked over at the white fridge, “I apologize to you Nene but as long as it works I don’t really care!”

Letty snorted as she also looked over at the fridge herself and then went over to the oven, “so what’s the verdict, y/n?”

“Oh I want it. It’s going to be a commute to work once we actually live in this but it’s a new beginning and I think we all need it.” You answered, still looking around, moving to peek at the indoor porch area?

“Are you sure?” Coco asked.

You stared out the window located in the indoor porch and felt a smile appear on your lips as you thought about the new memories that will be made here. Spinning on your heels you kept that smile on your lips as you held your arms out and tossed them around Coco’s neck.

“I still need the details about how this all went down but I’m too happy right now to worry about it.”

“Good,” he pecked your lips, “I don’t want you to worry about a thing anymore.”

“I love you, Johnny.”

“I love you too, even when you’re being all gushy and shit.” He smiled down at your lips which you smacked with a roll of your eyes.

“Alright enough of this romance shit, let’s eat this over baked bread which coco wanted me to bring here for you. Don’t worry before you even ask, yes it’s fresh…I think y/n!” Letty shoved her way in between you two; holding a charcuterie board?

Shaking your head at the girl you peaked down at the board spotting some type of cheese you wouldn’t be eating, grapes, salami, and your favorite: pumpernickel bread waiting for you.

“Did you call this over baked bread, leticia?” You pulled a large piece apart and shoved it into your mouth as the girl nodded, “it’s supposed to look like this. Just extra melanin to it, nothing wrong with that.”

“Well when you put it that way, of course not.”

“This is one my top favorite breads. Keeps you full since it’s heavy, slightly on the sweet side and made with sourdough and ground rye. Originally from Germany too.” You summarized as you held out the other piece to share with Johnny who tossed it into his mouth.

Letty widened her eyes and spun away, “and here I thought I dropped out of school.”

“Yeah…we’re gonna discuss that soon too.” Coco addressed, making the girl slightly frown at him but said nothing more, not sure if she really believed that.

You felt your own brows raise at that statement but the smile of your face out-beat it. You went over to the counter touching the material before grabbing another piece of bread.

“Did you show y/n the haunted part of the house, coco?” Letty grinned, lightly elbowing you.

Choking a bit, you peered at Coco who glared at his daughter who bit back a laugh.

“It’s not haunted.”

“Gilly thinks it is too.” Letty added, “it’s definitely eerie. You’ll see what I’m talking about soon, I’m sure.”

“Uh uh, now I don’t want to finish that part of the tour. I told y’all my grams is a preacher and she always told us any evil can latch onto you and that’s the last thing I need.” You did a cross motion over your chest.

Letty hummed, “isn’t your dad also a pro-golfer? Damn girl you should have brought a club with you then.”

“Letty shut the—stop talking! She’s kidding, matter of fact we’ll all go and see it’s not even that bad. We got to walk through there to get to the laundry room anyways.” Coco waved you along but you weren’t budging.

Coco sucked his teeth and charged over to the both of you, grabbing the both of you and going out the other door which led back to the front yard. Down the first narrow pathway you went—against your will, which led to another wooden gate leaving coco to unlatch that as well before turning to the right which led to the supposed haunted area. You spotted a light switch to the right of the house and cautiously stepped forward with Letty’s arm holding onto yours.

Coco was up ahead, sliding some doors open to show what would be the laundry area. When he looked back at the two of you, he sucked his teeth.

“Could you two move any slower?!”

“Hey!” You called out, “I’m putting my faith in my girl here…this area is giving Jason voorhees.”

Letty exclaimed, “see!”

Once you got next to the man, you stood in silence for a bit eyeing the laundry area and slightly nodded your head before leaning towards the dark haired man.

“Ki Ki Ki, ma ah ma.” You muttered the famous theme song making Coco pull his body away from you in pure annoyance, while you and Letty both shared a laugh.

“Alright then,” Coco sniffed before he latched onto your wrist.

Oh no.

“Wait!” You pleaded, “I don’t think I should be man handled right now, I just ate. Can we do this a little bit later when my bread digests?”

Coco shifted his eyes, thinking about it. “No. you’ve been talking shit so it’s two strikes and you’re out.”

‘That’s not really how it works…’ you thought.

“What did I do?! I didn’t say anything negative, just that it’s giving Florida and camp crystal lake combined! You need to talk to your daughter and her smart mouth. I love our new home because it’s ours! I’m super thankful. So whatever idea you got stirring in your Scorpio brain just forget it, let’s finish the tour, papi.” You attempted to plead your case but there was no going back when you became coco’s target.

He latched onto your thighs and flipped you over his shoulders with ease. Letty followed after the both of you, phone out recording the whole ordeal as Coco wrestled you to ground and legit sat on you.

“Johnny!” You screamed, “Get off me! You’re getting grass in my hair.”

“You got those Bantu shits in you’re fine,” He dismissed, “Letty get the hose.”

“I think the fuck not.” You mumbled as your self-defense class skills came in handy as you wrestled with the man you loved.

Now sitting on coco’s chest, you scrambled as he bucked to get you off him. Letty tossed you the hose and now it was your choice to turn it on and when no water flowed through, you frowned.

“Ha! The water hasn’t been turned on yet but I could always throw your ass into the lake out back.” He explained.

“And you’ll never see me again if you do.” You rolled your neck down at the man.

Coco kissed his teeth, “you ain’t goin’ nowhere, you’re mine.”

“You promise?”

“Obviously. I’m letting that perfect ass crush our heart right now for nothing.” Coco slightly wheezed, making you roll your eyes as you leaned over to kiss his lips.

That’s when he flipped you two over, but you didn’t seem to mind as much with his tongue fighting for entrance pass your lips and him hitching your legs up and over his hips.

“Ugh! I thought we were gonna get a beat down but it looks like it’s headed The Kim k and Ray J route so I’m outta here, gotta cut the cameras!” Letty scowled going back to her phone while you laughed and you were pretty sure Coco flipped her the bird.

He muttered against your lips, “ours is better anyways, much better! Those two don’t even know what a true masterpiece is.”

“Johnny, shut up!” You covered his mouth while he winked at you and Letty scrunched up her lips as she went back inside and far away from you two.

He laughed, pecking your lips again but not without lightly nipping your bottom lip before he moved to sit beside you. He searched his jeans for a cigarette as you rested your head in his lap.

“Tell the truth, you like it, you love it, or you not feelin’ it?” He said around the stick in his mouth.

Which you snatched from him and lightly tugged on one of his pigtails to grasp his attention, “I love it, you said it’s ours. Its home and you’re here which is where I want to be so it gets a stamp of approval from me. Also I see so much potential here so I’m sold, that’s all.”

“Way to narrow it down, simp.” He teased.

“Just had to be clear.”

“Crystal?”

You gasped while he winked at you.

That whole day played in your mind constantly after you got the worst news of your life. It was forever embedded into your mind along with lifelong memories that bled into your brain. It was too painful right now but it wouldn’t stop even when you closed your eyes, he was there. His voice, his touch, his longing stare…except this time he wouldn’t be coming back and you didn’t know how to stomach that. First you were incredibly sad but more angry than anything and that only amplified once you caught angel fucking Reyes zipping up his pants inside of your house.

It didn’t take long for you to peek and see Letty curled up on a arm chair staring blankly at the tv, for you to go into full attack mode.

“Y/n.” The taller thick bearded man started, raising his hands in surrender, “it’s not—

You clenched onto a golf club by the door and dropped everything else you had in your hands. All you saw was black as you began to frantically take deep breaths, “For as long as I’ve known you, I didn’t think you could stoop this got damn low. You are a shit stain and I’m gonna swing until your big ass head deflates!”

The amount of fear that actually appeared in Angel’s eyes was evident as he began scrambling around the house while you banshee screamed; swinging everything in sight, hoping it would catch your supposed “old friend” on his way out.

“Y/n!” Letty yelled, “stop!”

“Don’t you look at her and don’t you dare come by here again, you hear me?! I’ll kill you! And I hope Johnny haunts you even after your death.” You managed to catch a nice swing to his shoulder as Angel struggled to get the door open.

He yelped, “Ow, fuck! That hurt!”

“Get the fuck out of our house!” You got another hit to his lower back as he finally got out of the house.

With one last chuck, the club left a dent in the front door. Panting you turned to Letty who eyed you, unsure what to do.

“The hell was that?!”

Your eyes flicked up to the girl who almost straightened up at your appearance. It was almost sinister with the way you stared at her, holding your hands out as you slowly backed away from the clueless teen. Stumbling into the bathroom, you locked yourself in there and turned on the shower. Struggling to get a grip you held onto the counter for a moment, your head was pulsating and it was getting harder to breathe. Snatching a towel off the rack, you dropped to the floor and curled up into a position and pressed the towel to your mouth as you let out some screams which quickly turned to sobs.

Letty sat right by the door, head in her hands as she could faintly hear you in pain. It would now just be the two of you picking up the pieces to be each other’s person now. The common denominator would always be Johnny Cruz but Letty always felt like her time was limited with him, she’ll always think about the what if’s but at least she knew what she had. No doubt it sucked and it would always hurt but at least she still had you. She hoped that gave her dad—her coco some peace in his final moments.

Time is not always on your side but sanguinely you conquer it with the life that you choose.

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Continue along with my spring anthology prompts here.

#Mayans mc #mayans mc fx #mayans mc x reader #johnny el coco cruz #johnny coco cruz #coco cruz #johnny coco cruz x reader #coco cruz x reader #coco cruz x black! reader #Johnny cruz #richard cabral #letty cruz #leticia cruz #Angel Reyes #neron creeper vargas #gilly lopez

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lucysweatslove · 10 months

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Things I did today:

Met with PMHNP and developed a plan for going forward this next week

Finished a book! That I already talked about.

Got an email from the rural program director in my state bc the mail rural office was like “this student hasn’t finished her rural clinic assignments” (that are due on Friday??? Not today??) and she was letting me know to get them in ASAP. Emailed her back to say I was on top of it and will have them all in by Friday (I have 2/4 done and the other 2 are just quick page-max write ups). She emailed back and said they may have gotten my dates mixed up or something bc it did seem like a real fast turnaround. Listen, i haven’t even gotten a tuition statement yet, I’m gonna protect my peace and give myself a couple days to relax before finishing these assignments thanks.

Mom called to talk about school stuff and check in, asked about tuition, what else she can do to support me

Figured out how much tuition should be so they can get ready for that (yes I am incredibly fortunate that my family can pay for school- that said my tuition for this first term is literally only like $3400 and it’ll be like $12k for the first year which is amazing considering that the other school I got into was $90k a year. That tuition rate isn’t forever tho, my program is weird with tuition)

Figured out what medical equipment I need this year and got tuning forks and a set of reflex hammers (a few different types to figure out which ones I like best, I’m putting my bets on babinski or tromner and not the annoying Taylor one) and a penlight and pocket eye chart AND a fancy set of bp cuffs. My mom was all “why is it $215? This set on Amazon is only $60” well bc it’s Welch-Allyn? Designed to last as long as I want them? Lifetime calibration warranty?

Ordered 3 books I’ll need for my first real class. Technically recommended and not required but I need them. I think there may be more I need for some longitudinal “threads,” and I’ll look into them more tomorrow, the ebooks are available for free via the school’s library but I know me and I’ll probably want my own physical copy.

Also learned that apparently when people ask for feedback on what could be better, you’re supposed to not actually tell them anything? Or like sandwich it very delicately? My mom told me this and so I asked why do they even ask specifically for the negative feedback?? And it’s an accreditation thing, they have to ask, but they don’t want you to actually say anything. Wtf. Why are neurotypicals like this.

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syni-s · 3 months

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Shoutout to the time my workplace was fucking horrible but I had worse self esteem so I kept working there story.

"Just gonna quickly pop this in here cause I'm pissed as fuck and don't want to forget this.

Quick rundown that I can explain later is:

[S] went on his lunch break so I was at the service desk for a bit. I do not do any servicing work anymore as I can't handle the workload at the same time as warranty stuff the moment, and I am not qualified for it, so I pass then to [S] as he handles it all.

So a customer came in recently who wanted his [Product] taken a look at as it wasn't getting [service]. Recently during the COVID-19 stuff we were no longer offering paid repairs, however [S] seemed to be doing it when I came back so I handled it like normal.

I told the customer the basics and went to get [S] to do the service. As a quick why I would interrupt him during his lunch break, he would do the same to me every time a warranty case came by, and he would constantly yell my name whenever a customer came back for warranty.

As I told [S] to do the servicing, he told me to just get the customer to write their details down for him to contact them after his break (that sentenced was EXTREMELY paraphrased, it was more of a mumble, grumble and irritated spitting at me to "just get customer to write issues I do later"). I went back to the customer to explain that the technician was on his lunch break and he'd have to wait for his stuff to get fixed then. As I was about to tell him to write his details down, [S] came out and yelled at me, in front of the customer, and began angrily lecturing me. He angrily told me where the pages were and to use them to get the customer to write down his details...again.

The customer then got agitated and after I told him it would be $50 to just look at the [Product], he then left. Apparently non-warranty Labor costs don't exist in his mind and he wanted a free inspection. Before he left I said, "when you call a contractor you have to pay a call out fee even if they don't do anything, you can't expect something for nothing."

So, after the customer left I went back to [S] and told him that if he wanted me to not disturb him during his lunch break then he should not do it to me either. He didn't respond, so I said , "okay?".

[S] then proceeded to lose his shit at me and started yelling at me about the whole thing. So I yelled "Fuck you" back at him, flipped him the bird, and walked away as he continued to yell at me.

[Boss] came around and listened to [S] as he complained about me in [Language I don't speak]. [B] didn't handle our complaints about eachother and instead just inquired me about the customer and what was happening there.

[B] then tried to explain to me what to do from now on regarding repair services and to not do them at all as we weren't. Only [S] will handle repairs if he wants to do them.

I told [B] that my problem was not with this but with [S], and that from the moment I have started working at [Business], [S] has always been incredibly rude and disrespectful to not only me, but to every passing customer that he deals with and I have no idea how he still works here. [B] changed the subject back to procedure.

[S], after the fact proceeded to complain again and try to lecture me again on warranties. Before the whole incident, I had left an [Brand] warranty on his desk as he would always always handle them. He turned around and said, "I do no warranty" as he noticed the [Brand] thing there and tried to lecture me on the subject of warranty. Then after about 2 minutes he got mad and told me about it again because I hadn't gone over to him and taken it away from him. I replied, "I'm sorry I haven't walked the 1 metre over there to pick it up (sarcastically), I have other things to do."

A little bit later when I received a replacement [Product] from [Supplier] that had no documentation on it other than "[S]" on the warranty paper, I placed the [Product] on [S]'s desk (not extremely hard but enough for it to make a soft 'clunk' sound as it hits the table) and he started screaming at me not to do it that hard and that I damaged the [Product] by 'dropping' it on the table.

[S] continued after that to continuously talk under his breath, and talk loudly in [Language I don't speak] around me, popping in "warranty" and "[myName]" in his sentences.

[R], who the previous day complained about [P] and I chit-chatting together every now and then while in the front warehouse area then proceeded to join [S] in talking to eachother next to me trying to do warranty work, which he does every single day.

[B], shortly after the whole situation had been mildly defused, came up to me while I was at the warranty shelf and said, "can you read this?" and proceeded to lift a note to me which says, "I always support you".

This coming from the guy who I recently found out had been quite consciously taking advantage of me as an employee in multiple infractions on Australian Federal Fair Working laws, was quite frankly, extremely insulting."

#work story #vent #toxic workplace

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drowning-in-neon · 3 years

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every time i feel myself managing to cling to some semblance of feeling like i’m on top of my life, something drags me down again and you know what, you know what, i’m sick to fucking death of constantly doing this if i’m just gonna end up at the smae place i started lmao

#personal #venting #idk #i've been doing so well lately overall with lots of plans on how to get my life together #but not enough motivation to get those things together. that's fine. i can work on it #was gonna save up money to take my cat to the vet cause i'm pretty sure she has some sort of cancer #and then my fucking phone breaks #and the warranty i pay for apparently got me? juack shit.#so i had to buy a whole new phone so now i didn't even have enough money to eat this week #if not for my friends sending me some money i wouldn't have been able to #so fuck taking my cat to the vet ig i have to start saving up again #and i have a job coming sure but it's just a weekend job #and i'll prolly go off unemployment meaning i won't be making all that much #but it's the only fucking job that will HIRE me #i fucking hate.......idk #i don't hate that people i care about or know are successful #but it makes me so upset and pissed off at myself when i see my friends or my brother and how they're so fucking successful #like ones who are able to live on their own and/or have steady jobs and/or are in a loving relationship and/or at an ideal body weight #and just in general have their shit together #not becvause i'm not happy for them but more that i'm pissed at myself cause hey fucker what the FUCk is wrong with you #why the fuck are you so! so fucking useless!! holy SHIT #ugh

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leemarkies · 3 years

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$499 to repair my computer. that’s gonna be a no for me

#my warranty already expired apparently #and i don’t have that kind of money to spend all at once #bc i don’t have a fucking job #speaking of which heb rejected me which makes NO sense #i have years of retail and customer service experience and it’s a bagger position?!?!#god i’ve been looking for a job since november i hate hate hate everything #soon as i have a more permanent housing situation i’m gonna pick up a waitress job bc i have stuff i need to pay for #bruh i got a degree in government and i’m not doing anything with it i love my life #marie.txt

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biggest-gaudiest-patronuses · 3 years

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So I (finally!) bought a pair of really good noise cancelling headphones, and it has changed my life! It's the fanciest thing I've bought in years, so to recoup some of the cost, I’ve researched & written a little essay based on my experiences with extreme noise sensitivity.

Hypersensitivity to sound is something I’ve dealt with all of my life, but I only recently found out it's medically known a Hyperacusis. (Please note this is a separate condition from Misophonia.) If you consistently struggle to cope with noise, the info below could be helpful! I’m including a link to my ko-fi, and I will be answering questions in the notes.

(skip to the bottom to read fun facts about my tax return and/or street organs vendettas!)

DISCLAIMER: I am not a professional, this is based solely on my experiences as a patient, and on what I have read and been told by professionals. Please notify me if you have corrections or concerns about accuracy!

BACKGROUND: Sensitivity to sound is a common type of sensory issue. While anyone can experience such issues (most people, for example, might be bothered by loud music in a crowded restaurant), some people are more sensitive than others, to the point it becomes a quality-of-life aka a medical issue.

If you consistently struggle with environmental stimuli that other people aren’t bothered by (background noises, bright lights, certain textures and tastes, etc), to the point it causes daily discomfort or limits the environments you can be in, I recommend reading about Sensory Processing Disorder.

SPD and sound sensitivity are both super common in autistic folks (like me!), but allistic (non-autistic) people can experience them too. Weep, ye prisoners of mortal coil, for none are safe, nothing sacred, not in this thy most accursed tomb of human flesh!

Anyway.

SOUND SENSITIVITY or HYPERACUSIS: Noise issues are particularly difficult to navigate in a world that is increasingly...noisy. The relatively new phenomenon of constant overhead music in restaurants, grocery stores, shopping malls etc—all of this means that public spaces are increasingly inaccessible to people with auditory issues.*

As a kid, nothing quite triggered sensory overload/meltdowns for me like the constant exposure to noise I couldn’t control—the background chatter of other kids in the lunchroom, the constant noise in public spaces, being trapped in the car with the radio on.... I had so many fights with my siblings about the car radio, and who got to choose the music.**

But it’s not just loud sounds that are the problem. As an adult who lives alone and works from home***, I’m lucky enough to be able to avoid loud environments most of the time. This does wonders for my general levels of anxiety and discomfort. But even in a mostly controlled environment, I still experience problems. Because part of sound sensitivity is that even normal or quiet sounds can feel loud and intrusive. Here are some “normal” sounds that can cause me discomfort (ranging from annoyance to outright pain, depending on the day):

refrigerator/AC/ceiling lights humming

dishwasher/washing machine noises

ceiling fan making that damn ceiling fan noise

faint sounds of traffic

riding in a car

other people having a normal conversation in the background

someone talking to me in a perfectly normal inside voice

Unfortunately, even in a “controlled” environment, many triggering noises can’t be controlled. And many parts of life can’t be lived in a controlled environment. This presents...some incredibly freaking annoying problems. Luckily there are solutions!

Sorta.

There are sorta some solutions.

They are imperfect, but they help.

TREATMENT: And now I have something rather shame-faced to admit. In all the years of managing my symptoms, it never once occurred to me to see a hearing specialist for my issues with sound. I wasn’t even aware that treatment options exist, because none of my other doctors mentioned it. Instead, I’ve spent years finding my own coping mechanisms and tools, with help from therapists and psychiatrists, but without ever consulting an audiologist/ENT. It was only while researching this post that I found out that was even an option, holy shit.

So it turns out I am going to be making an appointment with my local ENT practice. shit.

Apparently treatment options include sound/acoustic therapy, systematic desensitization/exposure therapy, cognitive behavior therapy, sound machines, and other options that I had no idea even existed, goddammit.

MANAGEMENT: In the meantime, here are my current coping mechanisms. I’ve relied rather heavily on hearing protection, which is very useful when used in moderation. Unfortunately, it can cause its own problems: it’s important not to overuse hearing protection, because in the long-term this can increase your sensitivity. So again: a useful tool, but be careful not to overdo it.

With that in mind, here are some of the coping strategies I’ve used over the last decade to manage my symptoms. This is not a perfect system and you should contact your local ENT clinic for better, long-term solutions, but in the meantime here are some tips I use to just get myself through the damn day:

Regularly spending time in a quiet controlled environment, to allow my nervous system to decompress.

Wearing earplugs, (I use two different grade, depending on the level of noise prevention I need), and always carrying an extra pair in case I need them unexpectedly. I bought a 50 pack for $7 and put spares in all my bags and jacket pockets.

(I mostly use Mack’s Ultra Soft, but there are so many types and materials and brands, including foam, silicone, wax, custom moldable etc. Even if you have trouble wearing things in your ears, you might be able to find something comfortable.)

Similarly: hearing protection earmuffs, the kind used in gun ranges and on construction sites. I bought mine online for $10. they look like normal wireless headphones, so I've never gotten comments when wearing mine in public (other than “cool heaphones” bc i added skull glitter stickers).

Sometimes I wear the earmuffs on top of earplugs, when life is just too damn LOUD.

Listening to music w/ earbuds or headphones is a great way to balance out background noises, especially if you can find soothing playlists that help you concentrate. Also useful to put in just one earbud when you need to pay attention in class/at work.

Pro tip: if your hair is long enough you can wear wireless earbuds without anyone knowing.

White noise, rain noises, ocean noises etc can be helpful! Some people like whale songs although personally this activates my primal fear response

Active noise cancelling headphones: the reason I wrote this post to begin with—I finally bought a pair! As in, a really good pair! As in, a depressingly expensive pair with noise cancelling technology that actually WORKS, holy shit. I probably need to wear them a little less at home (bc overprotection causes problems in the longterm) but they have absolutely transformed my ability to go out in public and i never ever want to take these suckers off again please take a power screwdriver and nail these to my head, bury me in the sweet sweet shroud of silence. holy canoli and cream puffs I want to marry form a civil partnership with these headphones. Plus they have a bunch of features, like being able to control the level of noise cancellation, so I can hold a conversation or be aware of some ambient noise for safety reasons.

Oh, and also they play music I guess?

Sorry sorry I promise this post wasn’t supposed to be me shilling for Big Electronics. I’m just excited, I’m an excited flabby little ball of expired flubber. ANC headphones aren’t a perfect solution, and I still sometimes wear earplugs underneath, and I will always be uncomfortable some of the time, but for me it’s been a big step.

Unfortunately the cost of good quality ANC technology means this isn’t an option for everyone, and the (much cheaper) gunshot protection earmuffs I mentioned earlier still provide an impressive amount of protection and bang-for-your buck (maybe even an equal amount of protection, if you can find ones that fit well). But if noise consistently prevents you from enjoying public space and life in general, and you’ve already tried earmuffs & earplugs and find they don’t offer enough comfort/convenience/protection, and if you’re in a position to save up for a one time non-necessity purchase of $150+, noise cancelling headphones are an option to be aware of. (Please always check the return policy so you can try before you buy. I ended up buying and returning 2 pairs before finding what worked best for me. And please look for a retailer that offers an extended warranty. You want those motherforkers to last).

There are cheaper options available, including some under $50. The ones I tried didn't work as well as my hearing protection earmuffs, but some people report good experiences, so that is something to consider. it's always good to know your options! Passive noise canceling is another affordable alternative.

Medication: A final tool in my toolbox, which for me personally has helped as much as every other method combined. Like, a lot, it’s helped a lot. It turns out some anti-anxiety medications can also help sensory issues. There’s not much research on this, and I only discovered it firsthand when a medication my doctor prescribed for anxiety ended up significantly helping my sensory issues. I no longer need medication for anxiety, but my psychiatrist still prescribes that same medication off-label for my sensory stuff. Ask your psychiatrist to research your options (they will probably have to do some digging to find relevant research, but you deserve to know all your options, even the obscure ones). Fyi, the medication I use is in the benzodiazepines class, but there are other options for those concerned about dependency or side effects.

(I'm also told anti-anxiety supplements may be helpful, though I haven't tried this yet. If you're on prescription meds, always talk to your doctor about contraindications before taking anything over-the-counter.)

So there you have it, my main coping strategies for sound sensitivity! They are not a replacement for medical treatment (except that last one which is in fact...medical treatment), but I find them helpful and I hope some of you will too! I’ve struggled for a long time, and I’m very pleased to have reached the point where I can just do things in public. Eating out in loud restaurants? I can do that now, and even enjoy it, holy shit! I can comfortably travel in cars for hours at a time, and walk around shopping malls and grocery stores with overhead music, and, and —and just exist. It is so so freeing, to feel like maybe, after everything, you are actually allowed to just exist in a world that wasn’t really designed for you.

Again, be careful not to overuse hearing protection—the goal is to allow you to be less uncomfortable and to function better, but if you find you are becoming more sensitive to noise, it is time to dial it back a notch. Or maybe consider listening to music (at a reasonable volume) to block out background noise instead.

*(This also includes people with hearing loss and related issues, btw. While that’s not my area of knowledge, I would welcome it if any of my HoH followers want to share their experiences.)

**A sign of sensory issues that parents often miss is when a child complains about music being too loud—but has no problem listening to their own music at high volume. This is because music that is already familiar to the listener (and that the listener enjoys) is much easier for the brain to process, since it knows what pattern of sounds to expect. Loud music that they get to control can be soothing for people with sound issues, especially when it blocks out background noise and sensations. This is why repetitively playing the same songs can be a helpful form of stimming.

***(working on this blog, actually. since it’s my only source of income, my 2020 income tax return literally lists my occupation as ‘Tumblr Blogger.’ Oddly, my parent didn’t feel this achievement was worth including in the holiday family newsletter.)

bonus fun fact: Charles Babbage aka “father of the computer” may have been autistic and hypersensitive to sound. He definitely had a huge problem with public noise pollution, and spent his later year waging a war on street musicians (and organ grinders in particular).

(bc like, yeah. screw organ grinders.)

Sometimes when I’m out in public and the overhead music is particularly unbearable, I’ll take a moment to look up to the sky and scream out: “HE TRIED TO WARN US! THE FATHER OF COMPUTERS TRIED TO WARN US!!! we should have listened, sweet heaven we should have listened!”

except i don’t scream it, i say it very quietly under my breath

(i have issues with noise)

so yeah that is my short essay. and here is the ko-fi goal

k ciao i gotta go pick out glitter stickers for my headphones

#actuallyautistic #not a shitpost #holy shit how did i spend 3 hours writing this what even is my blog #this blog is supposed to be blue whale anxiety and uncomfortably sexy clown jokes #what am i doing #sensory processing disorder #sensory issues #mental health #actually autistic #NOTIFY ME OF ANY TYPOS #i proofread this 5 times my eyes weep an unceasing flood of blood and regret #adhd #actuallyadhd #autism #sensory problems

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mypoisonedvine · 3 years

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Getting In Tune | Chris Evans x reader fluff

summary: taking house calls as a piano tuner doesn’t usually mean meeting hot guys… mostly just old ladies who offer you lemonade, which is great and all, but did not prepare you for an appointment to tune chris evans’ full grand.

word count: 3.7k

warnings: swearing, dirty jokes about pianos, allusions to nsfw things?? vaguely?, mostly just fluff and flirting and awkwardness

Checking that the address on your worksheet matched the one on the door in front of you, you reviewed the nature of the appointment as your boss had written out for you:

Customer: Christopher Evans

Appointment type: Warranty tuning and check-up

Arrival time: 10 a.m.

You checked your watch and saw that it was 9:58, but hopefully that wouldn’t bother him too much. Leaning forward, you knocked on the door and waited. You could hear a dog barking inside, running up to the other side of the door as someone unlocked the bolt and cracked it open, poking his head out while he held the dog back with his leg.

He seemed a little surprised to see you standing there, made even more apparent by the fact that he was obviously wearing pajamas— specifically, a baggy tank top and gingham flannel pants. A few tattoos were visible on his arms and collarbones, though you tried not to stare at them or anything.

“Did you not know you had an appointment today?” you asked him. When he didn’t answer, you tried to give a bit more of a prompting. “I’m here from Boston Steinway…?”

“Right, right,” he agreed, “uh, let me put the dog out, and… put on a shirt…”

“Good idea,” you suggested, “I’ll be here!”

He smiled at you one more time before shutting the door again, his footsteps shuffling away as you waited for his return. Thankfully it was a nice day out so you weren’t too cold in your work uniform (yes, you felt like a total dork having to wear a polo with a nametag on it, but such is the life of a piano tuner). When you heard the dog run into the backyard, and the sound of Chris coming back to open the door, you took a moment to straighten yourself in hopes of looking like you’d been waiting patiently.

“Come in please,” he offered as he opened the door one more time, wearing a navy sweater and jeans now (and a NASA ball cap, for whatever reason) and stepping aside to invite you in.

“I hope I didn’t scare you too much,” you smiled as you stepped past him, letting him shut the door behind you, “a lot of people forget when I’m supposed to show up, trust me.” You shuddered as you remembered those times you caught people in a lot worse than pajamas.

“No, I knew somebody was coming today, I just… wasn’t expecting…” he trailed off.

“A girl?” you finished for him with a smirk.

“I… yeah, I guess I wasn’t expecting a girl,” he laughed, looking a little embarrassed.

"Well, piano tuning is a real boy's club," you joked.

"Is it?" he asked sincerely.

"Um, no, not particularly."

"Oh."

After an awkward moment passed while you cringed internally at your failed joke, he finally guided you across the house to where the piano was; you set your toolbag down beside it, stepping back to admire the instrument. “It’s gorgeous,” you told him.

“Oh, thanks,” he smiled a little. “Yeah, she’s a beaut.”

“How long have you been playing?” you asked. “Or are you one of those people who keeps it mostly for decoration.”

“Decoration?” he repeated incredulously. “Do people do that?”

“Yeah,” you nodded, “more often than not I end up doing cosmetic repairs instead of internal ones because families are basically using this as the most expensive object possible to put framed family photos on.”

“That’s ridiculous,” he scoffed, “I mean, I’m sure I’m not using this thing the way it deserves, cause I’m still not very good at it but… yeah, at least I play it a few times a week.”

“Good, it deserves that,” you agreed. “Mind if I…?”

“Oh, go ahead,” he prompted, stepping back and motioning for you to touch the piano. You didn’t sit down, just leaning over to do a quick scale up and back down. "Anyways, I think it's mostly fine but those higher notes are getting kinda squeaky…" he mumbled.

"Right,” you noted, messing around with the keys near the top to check what he’d said, “well, they do that, especially out here with these cold winters making the strings tighten up. Should be fixable."

“Great,” he smiled.

“Alright, pretty girl, let’s take a look at your guts,” you grinned, groaning a bit as you lifted the heavy lid to see the strings inside. "It's in great shape,” you observed aloud, “this can't be more than a few years old."

"Yeah, I got it pretty recently actually. It's never been tuned before."

"Oh, this is its first time?" you smirked, leaning in to whisper to the strings: "don't worry, I'll be gentle."

He blushed a little as he laughed, making you pretty sure your joke hadn't gone too far.

“You, uh, don’t have to be around for this part,” you informed him. “I mean, unless you want to, but it’ll just be me messing around in here for a few hours.

“No, I’ll give you some space,” he decided, “just let me know if you need anything. Do you want, like, water or something?”

“I’m fine, but thanks,” you dismissed, “just continue as if I wasn’t here.”

“Oh, you don’t wanna see that,” he disagreed, looking like he regretted saying it as soon as he finished his sentence. You felt your face warm and hoped he just meant that he’d be eating cheetos out of the bag in his underwear and not anything more… mature.

As he awkwardly shuffled away, you opened your toolbox and got to work. Your first task was to get a pitch reader so you could figure out how well-tuned each string was— you set that on the soundboard and got to work testing keys and reading the little digital display of your device. Once that told you how much work each key needed, it was easy to just put your tuning hammer on one pin at a time, loosening or tightening until the pitch was just right. You couldn’t just start at one side and tune all the way up to the other, oh no, there was a very specific ideal tuning order that you’d memorized by now: first the middle strings of the octaves from C3 to C5, then the one of each of the unison strings in the double bass section, then the middle strings from C5 to C8, then the lower single bass strings, then every left string of all the unisons from C3 to C8, then the rest of the double bass section, and finally all the right strings from C3 to C8.

Easy peasy, right?

It actually sort of would be, if you hadn’t gotten stuck on the unison bass string of E flat 3, your tuning hammer suddenly unable to turn even when you tried to brace yourself against the piano for some leverage.

"Um, Mr. Evans?" you called out.

"Yup!" he answered, swinging out from the entryway instantly— he must have been waiting just outside, which made you feel a little like you were being spied on.

"Would you maybe come over here and use your manly-man strength on this?"

"My what now?" he laughed, walking towards you.

"You know," you explained by flexing your biceps and making a sort of serious face; your charades version of what a muscular man looked like, apparently.

"Oh, I see," he nodded, "my—" and he repeated the charade, except it made your face warm and your eyes all but bulge out of your head. That was him jokingly flexing?! What did he look like when he was actually trying to show his muscles?

You tore yourself from that train of thought as he leaned over the edge of the piano, gripping the tuning hammer you'd left on the pin there.

"This one?" he asked.

"Yeah, just give it a little nudge counter-clockwise, please."

He did it like it was no trouble at all.

"You could've at least pretended it was difficult," you rolled your eyes.

"No, you loosened it up for me," he winked. WINKED. Was he trying to kill you or something? "Chris is fine," he said abruptly.

Chris is fine indeed, your brain supplied instantly. "I'm sorry?" you choked out aloud instead.

"You can call me Chris, I mean," he explained. "You called me Mr. Evans before."

"Oh, right," you nodded. "Chris. Thanks for your help with that, Chris."

"Sure thing," he smiled.

Just as the conversation began to lull, you could hear the dog whining and scratching at the back door, and you felt so guilty that he had been left outside. “You can let the dog back in, you know,” you suggested, “I don’t mind.”

“I shouldn’t,” he shook his head, “he’ll jump all over you and stuff…”

“No, really, it’s fine, I love dogs,” you assured him.

“Alright, just prepare yourself,” he chuckled a little as he slipped over to the back door to let the dog in. Running past his owner instantly and straight to you, you knelt down to let it lick your face as you laughed.

“Hi puppy!” you greeted. “Oh, thank you for the kisses, it’s nice to meet you!” He calmed down a bit when you scratched behind his ears, wiggling and putting his paws up on your knees. “What’s his name?” you asked, turning your attention to Chris who had his arms crossed and a prideful smile on his face.

“Dodger,” he informed you with a nod.

“Aw, hi Dodger,” you cooed at the pup, “I’d sit here and pet you all day, but your dad’s not paying me to play with you— apparently.”

Chris laughed a bit as you stood up, and Dodger actually took it pretty well, dashing to curl up on the nearest couch as you got back to work on the piano.

“I’m just about halfway done,” you informed him as you started to move on to the next string, occasionally plucking the string to test that the pitch was right.

“I’ve never heard a piano plucked before,” he observed, leaning in to watch you work.

“Yeah, probably better to just stick to hitting the keys,” you smirked.

“Psh, anybody can do that,” he scoffed, “you could invent a whole new genre of music!”

"I'll leave the musical experimentation to you," you decided, "and I'll stay on this side of the action board."

"See, I didn't even know that was a part of the piano," he admitted.

"And that's why you're on that side."

You two chatted while you worked— he asked some questions about you, you asked some questions about him, classic small talk sort of stuff. He managed to keep it interesting, though, and keep you laughing throughout the whole conversation. It was significantly more fun than you usually had during house calls like this, and instead of distracting you it actually seemed to help you keep your focus. It was easier to talk to him when you could keep your eyes on the strings anyways: looking right at him was sort of overwhelming.

With the last string adjusted, you slipped the tuning hammer into your back pocket and dusted off your hands as you stepped back to admire your work.

"That's it?" he asked as he stood up from the couch, noticing the signs of completion.

"It is if it sounds good!" you smiled. "Go ahead, take it for a spin," you suggested. "Play something and tell me if it sounds how you want."

"Okay," he nodded, slipping around the bench and sliding onto it. He took a breath before he placed his hands on the keys, but then suddenly stopped and set them back on his lap with a sigh as he turned to you. "Um, it's a little weird with you watching me."

"Oh, are you not used to performance?"

"Not outside of my family and friends and stuff, no."

"I don't really have to be here for this part, as long as you're happy with it then that's fine," you shrugged, "but you know, I wanna be able to fix any issues while I'm still here—"

"No, it’s not a big deal," he shook his head quickly, "I should get over myself. I guess it's just scary cause you've probably heard people a lot better than me play…"

"Don't worry about that," you laughed, "just play something, really, I won't judge."

He spun back to face the keys, placing his hands on them— for a second you wondered if he struggled to hit just one key at a time with those thick fingers, but you pushed that thought away quickly.

As he started to play, you found yourself focusing on the music more than the sound of the keys like you should've been. He was good, actually, although you could hear the hesitance in the way he played. He didn't rush as much as most people did, though; he was savoring the piece, one note at a time, and you let your eyes fall shut as he continued to play.

You broke from your trance when he suddenly stopped, repeating the phrase he'd just finished and stopping on the same note.

"Does this one sound kinda… off to you?" he asked.

"Um," you paused, "play it again?"

He poked the key with one finger a few times, and you frowned. "I can't really tell." You stepped forward and leaned over his shoulder, caging his body in accidentally as your arms wrapped around his shoulders to fiddle with the keys in front of him. You rested your knee on the bench beside his legs, not even realizing that it was a massive invasion of his personal space until you were already in it.

He moved his hands out of the way so you could repeat the phrase, and although you didn't hear anything wrong, you felt the key sticking.

"Oh," you mumbled to yourself, "it's the key, not the string."

"Can you fix it?" he asked looking up at you.

"Yeah, I—" you stopped in the middle of your word as you looked back at him because his face was really close, so close that his bright blue eyes were burning right through you; so close that you completely lost your train of thought. "I can fix anything," you finished softly.

"Great," he whispered back, eyes seeming to glance down to your lips quickly before moving back up to meet your gaze.

You cleared your throat as you stepped back, giving him space again as you nervously crossed your arms. "It's probably just something stuck under there or whatever, but I can order a replacement key if not."

"Right," he agreed with a nod, sliding to the side of the bench to give you room to fiddle with it. You grabbed your smaller toolkit and sat beside him, starting with your flashlight to see if there was anything hiding underneath there.

Moving to peer behind the action frame, you realized it was a problem with the hammer hitting the string— or, more specifically, with the mechanism that kept the hammer balanced. All you had to do was reach in with a long screwdriver and shift some parts around, and it seemed to be back in working order.

“Play it again?” you requested, and he slid back to the middle and started the piece over. He grinned when he reached the part he’d stopped at before, flying through the phrase without stopping.

“Hey! You fixed it!” he beamed.

“I’m a genius,” you shrugged, smirking a little. He stopped playing and you found yourself a little disappointed by that, unexpectedly. “Any other musical ailments I can magically cure for you today?”

“Unless you can make me a better sight reader, that’ll be all,” he smiled, standing up from the bench.

“Ah, if I could do that, I’d be using that power on myself.”

He shrugged; "Fair enough."

"Well, I'll leave you to it then," you announced as you put the last of your tools away and picked up your bag. "Hope I didn't disrupt your day too much."

"You did, actually— in a good way," he grinned. "I definitely learned a lot more than I was going to just watching TV and drinking beer."

You followed him back to the front door, which he opened for you. "You can always give us a call if you need anything. Um, anything piano-related, that is. Tell the dog I said goodbye, okay?"

Chris smiled a little, softer than his normal expression. "I'll be sure he gets the message."

As you got back in your car, you took a minute to just catch your breath for the first time since you'd gotten here. Trying to be funny and cute and charming when all you wanna do is stutter and gawk and melt is exhausting! As enjoyable as it was, in a certain sense, you were relieved at the idea of returning to your routine— which typically did not include super hot dudes chatting you up at work.

“This must be a mistake,” you shook your head as you showed the work order form to your boss, “I was at this address two weeks ago, the piano’s in perfect condition.”

“Well, he has an unlimited warranty, so either something happened since you were there last, or you fucked something up when you were there last, or he’s just determined to get his money’s worth out of us,” she explained without looking up from her computer.

You sighed and left, heading back to the same address and hoping you weren’t about to get chewed out for somehow ruining Chris’ like-new piano.

Knocking on the door, you found yourself chewing your lip as you waited for him to answer the door. You were a little surprised when he answered in a button-up and slacks— entirely opposite to pajamas, although you sort of missed that get-up if you were being honest.

“Hey,” he greeted with a grin, stepping back to motion for you to come inside.

“Hi,” you responded awkwardly as you stepped past him. “Is... everything alright with the piano? I didn’t damage it, did I?”

He cleared his throat as he shut the door behind you, the size of the hallway forcing the two of you to stand slightly closer together than you would’ve personally preferred; it was hard to focus with him so close, sometimes. “No, no, it’s not that,” he answered, “the piano’s fine, I just…” he stammered a little, starting over. “Uh, there was something I wanted to ask you about last time, and I called the Steinway store but I couldn’t figure out how to call you specifically, so I just had to make a new tuning appointment.”

You furrowed your brow with confusion, not sure why someone else on the phone couldn’t answer whatever question he had, but decided to let him go through with his thought. “What did you wanna ask me?”

“Uh, I just wanted to ask you… out,” he finished plainly.

You paused as you processed that. “Out?”

“Like, I was wondering if you’d wanna… go out, with me.”

You hoped your face didn’t give away all of your shock, but at the same time, you figured it probably did.

He winced as you continued to stare at him in silence. “I’m kind of out on a limb here,” he reminded you.

“Right, I’m sorry,” you shook your head, “um, I guess I’m just sort of surprised because you’re, like… hot, and stuff.”

“And stuff?”

“Yeah, like… nice…” you explained.

“Hot and nice?” he laughed. “Slow down, you’ll give me an ego.”

You laughed, too, and less nervously than you expected. Feeling the rare urge to be spontaneous, you scratched your neck as you prepared to propose an idea. “Listen, so, this might be crazy but... I have another appointment today, at the Symphony Hall— it’s a final tune-up on the pianos and harps before this massive concerto thing and they always let me stay to watch the performance afterwards. If you came with me, I could get you in for free.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I mean, you probably have better things to do today—”

“I don’t,” he refuted.

“And if you just wanted to, like, get lunch some time then that would be great, I just thought I might as well invite you to hear the chamber orchestra from the best seat in the house,” you shrugged.

“The best seat?” he questioned incredulously. “And where is that?”

“The rafters,” you laughed.

And that was how you and Chris ended up sitting on the steel catwalk suspended on the ceiling of the Boston Symphony Hall, dangling your feet over the edge as the sounds of the concerto echoed out from the stage, over the silent audience and, finally, up to you two.

The music was incredible, if a little quiet from where you were listening, and so soothing that you felt compelled to close your eyes and focus on the sound. You were partial to the piano, as always, but the violins and cellos in harmony made your chest warm unexpectedly. Or maybe that was from the feeling of Chris’ gaze on you, as you opened your eyes to find him looking at your face rather than the performance below.

“What are you looking at me for?” you asked him with a nervous laugh.

“For fun,” he shrugged.

“Doesn’t seem very exciting,” you scoffed, looking back to the stage.

“Oh, it’s exciting,” he mumbled his reply as he returned his gaze to the performance as well.

Your cheeks burned when you heard that, in spite of the fact that it was actually a bit drafty in the auditorium. Even though your nerves were buzzing with anxiety, a rush of bravery struck you and suddenly you were leaning your head onto his shoulder. Just the warmth of him through his shirt— hell, even the smell of his cologne— somehow managed to relax you and energize you simultaneously. His hand gingerly slipping around your waist was even better.

After this many years of tuning pianos, it felt like you were getting yourself in tune for the first time.

#chris evans x reader #chris evans rpf #chris evans imagine #chris evans x you #chris evans fluff

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nicolanoodles · 2 years

Text

Okay, so the Roomba au got out of hand. Also please accept my apologies for not having a read more page break. Tumblr is being a butt.

Don’t Go Breaking My Parts

Petra accidentally breaks the Roomba.

Levi tries to fix it.

1100 words

:readmore:

‘Beep beep beep’

“Oh hi Spencer!”

Levi rolled his eyes, “You know I was joking about the name right?”

Petra patted the robot affectionately, “Well I think it suits him”. A teasing grin spread across her face, “I could get him a little bow tie, him and Nigel could match”.

“Absolutely not. Mind out I gotta empty it”. Levi picked up the roomba and proceeded to empty the dust tray, wrinkling his nose at the small dust cloud floating out of the kitchen bin.

Petra mirrored his expression, “Ugh, emptying out the vacuum is one of my least favourite chores, you always feel like you have to vacuum all over again after”

“Still less shit in it than Nigel’s litter box”

“I love how that implies that you actually take the occasional dump in…actually no never mind, pass the mind bleach” she took another sip of wine and nestled back into the soft grey cushions of the sofa.

Levi held back a smirk as he clipped the tray back on.

“There, happy now?” The vacuum beeped cheerfully and continued its mission. Levi nodded and grabbed a pair of oven gloves, moving to check on the lasagne’s progress in the oven.

It had been a few weeks since their first, chance encounter and, if Levi was gonna get sappy about it, he was on cloud freaking nine. Not only was Petra drop dead gorgeous, she was kind, smart and just downright adorable. Her cheery disposition and easily given smiles made his heart flutter. Flutter dammit. His heart had never fluttered for anyone.

The pair had met up as often as their schedules would allow and tonight was the first night Levi was cooking dinner for her. He’d gone with a well rehearsed lasagne recipe that him and Farlan had lived off in college. He knew the dish off by heart - no room for fuck ups. Add in a bottle of wine he couldn’t pronounce and a few candles and maybe the evening would turn to more ‘heart fluttering’ activities…

Levi busied himself with setting the table, smoothing out the tablecloth and fumbling with the lighter when suddenly -

CRACK

A loud gasp followed and Levi surged into the living room “-shit what was that?”

Petra stood in the middle of the room, shoulders hunched. Levi strode over, “Pet? You okay? I heard a - oh”.

Petra turned around slowly cradling the vacuum in her arms, revealing a large crack over the top plate. She looked up at him with a watery expression. Shit.

“Levi I’m so sorry, it was an accident”. Tears were forming in the corner of her eyes, threatening to spill over. Shit. “I just got up to get the remote when he moved out from under the coffee table - I didn’t see him!” her voice rising in pitch.

Shit she was gonna start crying over a fucking roomba.

“Hey don’t worry about it, I’m pretty sure it’s still under warranty” he rubbed her shoulders gently, “It’s only a vacuum - here lemme look at it”.

Levi set the roomba on the floor and pressed the power button. Despite the large crack in the plastic, the machine instantly sprung into life and began whirring.

Petra’s glum look didn’t dissipate. “I know it sounds stupid but I do feel really guilty”, she met his eyes, her tone softening, “It was the first thing that really made me laugh when I was feeling really down on the night we met”.

He did think it sounded stupid if he was honest, but one look into those golden eyes and Levi’s resolve faltered. Besides, Petra was clearly mortified.

Levi sighed, “Look I’ll see if I can get a replacement plate ok? I’m sure it’s not that hard to fix”.

Petra gave a small smile and pecked his cheek. “I’ll pay for the replacement parts, I’m so sorry”.

“Tch like fuck you will, like I said it’s only a vacuum”. They watched as it did a lap around the coffee table.

Petra looked relived, “Sorry Spencer!”

Levi let out a breath, the evening was apparently saved, “Looks like he didn’t take it personally”. He kissed her lips delicately, “Now come on, dinner”ll be ready soon”.

__________________

It turned out the piece of shit wasn’t under warranty. Coupled with the fact that a new face plate was over fifty fucking dollars plus shipping had Levi scowling at his empty Amazon basket.

Tch.

He was ready to close his laptop when he caught sight of the ‘suggested products’ at the bottom of the screen.

…

For fuck’s sake.

He clicked add to cart.

_______________________

(One week later)

Petra and Levi pushed through the door of his apartment, the winter chill still lingering on their breaths. Levi set the take out containers on the kitchen countertop then busied himself with getting cutlery.

Petra hung up her coat and scarf and went to switch on the TV.

She called over her shoulder, “Oh hey new episodes of Hustle* should be up, sound good?”

Levi made a noise of agreement as he dished up the chow mein.

Petra flicked through the Netflix listings when a familiar ‘beep’ and whir brought her attention to the other side of the room.

“LEVI!”

Her boyfriend burst through the kitchen door, serving spoon raised and ready for action, “WHAT?!”

“You fixed him!”

Levi rolled his eyes, “Tch, you made me panic brat, I thought you’d hurt yourself”.

Petra paid him no mind as she carefully stepped out the way of the vacuum, which now sported a large pair of googly eyes where once the large crack was visible.

“He looks so cute! And you can barely see the crack!”

“Can we stop talking about my roomba’s crack and start the series?”

He passed her a plate and the pair got comfortable on the sofa, Petra beaming and tucking her feet up as the newly ‘repaired’ Spencer started its cleaning schedule.

The soft light from the TV flickered as the opening music played, interspersed by the clinking of cutlery. Levi looked across at his girlfriend and his gaze softened.

He thinks he might love this crazy brat a little bit.

END

You wanted googly eyes? WE GOT GOOGLY EYES *throws them like confetti*

*as a UK dweller I’m still salty that they cancelled this goddamn gem of a show (scowls at the BBC)

#levi ackerman #petra ral #rivetra #rivetra fic #roomba au

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gwydionmisha · 2 years

Text

Personal: A Good News Bad News Kind of Week

Monday I spent all day doing bureaucracy and errands. A half an hour's argument with management rendered a hard no. Luckily, the City called and is willing to put me on the expedited waiting list. The form required me to spend two hours on hold to get a single number from an agency, but I filed the application for the city to fix the electricals the same day via email.

Going out to get the application packet turned into more of a saga than hoped, as one of my tires was on the rim flat. Luckily squirrel was awake and lent me his car. Also, I was exhausted, barely mobile and in a lot of pain. Still, the essential adulting got done.

Tuesday I spent most of the morning on more phone bureaucracy (tracking down more leads, etc.). apparently if I had 2500 I could get the electricals fixed myself. Might as well wish I had a million. I then drove on the rim to the tire store. It took two hours, which was no surprise. The line is always long there, and it was worse because of the whole people snowed in and new year thing, plus they were having computer issues which was slowing check in considerable. I couldn't not replace the tire and waiting for a better day would not make things any easier.

Apparently, the tire was under warranty, which surprised the hell out of me as I didn't know i had a warranty. I certainly hadn't paid for one. My assumption is is came automatically with the tires. As I bought these tires in February a year before the pandemic, my suspicion is if the tire had punctured say a month and a half from now, it would have expired. As it fell out, I got a free replacement tire, so that's a win.

I turned out one of the bills I didn't pay because brakes had acquired and extra 25 or so of fees; the other was the amount expected. I'll need to pay this month's bills, of course, plus the 70.00 medical bill, plus whatever they are going to charge me for car tabs later in the month, so I'm still some degree of fucked, but this could have been so much worse.

I also bought a grocery sandwich on EBT, because while it's not as bad as yesterday, my body is really not doing well at the basics. I turned in the hard copy of our application on the grounds that trying to read my arthritis handwriting on Squirrel's cell phone picture sounded dicey to me. I actually have faith that the city will help since both of the people involved in that decision are very invested in getting it sorted. It's more a matter of how long until my waiting list spot rises to an open slot and then about a three month process after that. We may even get them to replace the unreliable refrigerator and fix my broken kitchen drawer in the process.

It's going to be unpleasant, but if we can make it to April financially, we'll be okay.

Want to help with the bills/general crisis? paypal.me/Gwydion

#Personal

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ahnsael · 3 years

Text

I’ve had a GOOD week at the casino (after work -- shifts themselves have been a little rough). I hit two jackpots this week ($1,920 on one, $2,777.40 on the other). Also won over $1,100 this morning, though it wasn’t a jackpot.When factoring in what I put in (and what I tipped), I’m up about $4,000 on the week.

So when my mom got up, I asked her how much we still owed on my car, thinking I could maybe pay it off, and she said they had already paid it off. So I went to my room, grabbed $1,000, and handed it to her just as a thank you for all she and my stepdad do for me.

Then she started talking about how they’ve been hurting a bit after a $6,000 dental visit, and wanting to replace our stove (which she felt silly about because it’s only a little over a year old but no longer under warranty, but the knobs are apparently WAY too sensitive and sometimes send gas leaking into the room if someone so much as breathes on them, which my sister’s family noticed when they were visiting late last year, and when she said that I started picturing an exploding house). She didn’t want to spend the money on a new stove in their current situation.

So I held up a finger in an “I’ll be right back” sort of way, grabbed another $1,000, brought it to her, and said “Buy a new stove.”

And that still leaves me up $2,000 for the week. That’s the kind of week this has been gambling. This whole year has been good on that front. I’ve had days when I’ve lost a lot hoping for that big win, but...my first spin this morning won me around $600 on an $8.80 bet. Then I switched machines, played (and lost) for a bit, and then hit a bonus that put my up $1,100 for the day. I was having fun and wanted to keep playing, but...when you’re up that much it seems silly to put any back. So I cashed out and came home.

And made my parents’ day once they were awake. That feels better than the actual wins. I never thought I’d see the day when I’d be handing my mom $2,000 in cash. She said I don’t need to pay my usual $100 on this next payday, but I’m gonna pay it anyway. This was bonus money, and shouldn’t cancel my usual obligation.

Everyone at work thinks I have some magic secret, or that it’s because I track the progressive jackpots as part of my job (the thing is, none of these have been progressive jackpot wins -- I have no more idea than anyone else when those will pay off). Or they want tips. But all I’m doing is thinking, “This machine just feels lucky” and I put in $200, play the max bet, and win or lose, that’s my budget. But sometimes it works REALLY well (other days, I’m just out $200). I’m okay if anyone launches an investigation, because this was all pure luck, not me somehow knowing things on a machine that is governed by a random number generator. I’ve just been lucky so far this year.

#work things #kind of #because all this happened after I clocked out

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prorevenge · 5 years

Text

I end up working for the scammer who conned my parents.

So, this tale starts twelve years ago in 2007. Both my parents had retired at the same time and had received a large cash lump sum and would have a decent pension income for the rest of their lives. Dad was ex-Army, doing his national service and staying for another 8 years before travelling the world. He served with the Royal Engineers and moved into an engineering/maintenance role when he returned to the civillian life. Mum was a teacher, and with careful savings and multiple pensions they had more money coming in individually than I did in a salary.

The first thing they did was to renovate their house. They got several quotes for new windows, some minor building work, a new kitchen and a block-paved driveway. I helped them with researching the companies involved and with all the information at hand, they settled on a local company that we'll call Bad Company. Bad Company had membership of all the relevant professional bodies, had some good feedback and importantly was not the cheapest but their sales guy explained to my parents why a cheaper quote wasn't always better. They agreed on the £35k work and paid a 10% deposit. Work started, and they weren't asked for a single penny more until it had been completed. There were a couple of minor snags which were easily corrected, and it went £500 over budget due to the bad drainage of the house (something that had been mentioned before) but it looked satisfactory.

As it turned out, the windows had massive gaps in them that leaked water when it rained and you could actually hear the wind whistling through. Heating became expensive. Within a month, weeds and grass started poking through the block paved driveway and the electical work that was done in the new kitchen caused blown fuses if both ovens and the hob were turned on together. If you touched the plate around the light switch, you'd get an electric shock. After three months, water burst through the newly laid kitchen floor and the "Secured By Design" doors could simply be lifted out of their frame even when locked. We also noticed that they keys to the new doors were not the originals, and they were extremely difficult to lock especially as both parents had arthritis. The icing on the cake was that most of the windows were supposed to be argon filled, but the seals had already blown allowing air inside and condensation on the inside was apparent.

Dad asked a friend, Bob, to estimate the extra cost of fixing it. Bob said that to correct the now evident defects would cost nearly £20k as almost everything would have to be ripped out and re-done. Dad immediately contacted Bad Company, and the guy they sent round was rude, arrogant and blamed everything on the builders who had originally constructed the house doing a bad job. He wrote a report stating that none of the defects were down to the work carried out as the work had been done according to current best practices. That evening, one of the window frames fell out.

Dad spent a month after that trying to get Bad Company back to fix the issues, then he called all the regulatory bodies to find that Bad Company wasn't a member but just used the membership logos on their documentation. Around a year after the work was originally completed, Bad Company simply vanished. Phone numbers were disconnected emails bounced back and their office was now a conservatory showroom. Dad had already paid a well estabished window company £3k to fix the immediate window and door issues, and was left to pay another (much better) company £22k to fix the issues. This time we checked everything and made sure they were registered. We even got a warranty.

Cut to 2018, and I'm looking for a new job. Dad passed away quite unexpectedly in 2015 and Mum wasn't too good either (although she's a lot better now) so I needed a job closer to her house than the 2 hour commute to the next city that I currently had. As luck would have it, a local kitchen manufacturing company (lets call them Local Kitchens) was looking to expand and wanted an IT technician/developer. The pay was about £1k more a year than I was currently making, but I didn't have to spend £500 a month travelling to and from work (busses and trains are expensive). I interviewed, liked what I heard, and was accepted for the role. All the time, I thought that I somehow knew the boss of Local Kitchens.

Having worked in factory environments before, I arrived in a hi-viz vest, toecapped boots and with my own ear defenders. No-one else wore any P.P.E. - not even masks and goggles. When all the machinery ran, the factory floor hummed and buzzed along at a noise level of 105dB, well over the required minimum for wearing ear defenders or plugs. The boss, who we'll call John, also attempted to cut corners everywhere. My workstation was barely powerful enough to run the development software let alone the CAD/CAM software required. When the CPU fan died, he said that he couldn't afford to replace the fan. A new computer keyboard took 3 weeks to arrive and although we were paid on the 28th of each month, the pay was often not in the bank until 9pm, well after he had chased people who owed him money.

There were more lies that I uncovered, and bad business practices. It was like John had read a book on running a business then did the exact opposite. I spent the first six months between designing kitchens - something that I knew nothing about but suddenly fell under the remit of IT technician - maintaining the factory machines, driving the forklift (something that requires a specialist license that I don't hold) and doing IT work on his personal home computer equipment and mobile phones of him, his trophy wife, his kids and his parents. I also wrote several small computer programs, wired up the factory network, ensured that machinery could connect to the office computers and re-wrote most of the configuration for the industry specific software he used - which was not only unlicensed but also used on five separate machines despite the single (lapsed) license.

Also working at the company was Dad's friend Bob. Bob was a decade and a half older than me and had served his time "working the tools" making and fitting kitchens, bedrooms, and had spent a good fifteen years as a shopfitter on some very prestigious contracts. Bob was hired originally to do my job but he moved back to the manufacturing side when the expansion started as it was easier to employ an IT tech than it was a shopfitter. Bob had read an eulogy at Dad's funeral and was often round helping mum with bits around the house, so I knew Bob well and he looked after me at work. We got talking one day and I found out that Bob was earning less than me, even though he had a highly skilled and experienced role, and that despite being given more responsibility, John refused to pay Bob what Bob was worth.

Honestly, if Bob wasn't there, most of the knowledge was lost. Bob and I had frequently told John better ways to do key tasks, but John refused simply because there would be a small cash outlay. I should have seen the writing on the wall at that point, but no.

Running up to Christmas, John tells us all that he's giving us all a bonus, and will pay us early for the christmas to new year shutdown period. We soon discover though that the bonus was a £5 tub of sweets - which Bob can't eat because he has type 1 diabeties, and I can't eat because I have this really strange sugar allergy. I was going to mention it to John, but Bob tells me not to as it's Christmas and it will be something for my kids to enjoy. I actually ended up with three boxes of sweets because he over-ordered.

That day, despite being an IT technician, I had to chase an order with a company, order some materials from a supplier, and supervise a fitter as he attempted to install some new showroom units. John is nowhere to be found until just as we're about to leave. He asked Bob for a moment of his time and I go home.

The next day, Bob tells me that he and John talked until 7pm (an extra 3 hours) about the business. Bob was asked to invest £10k for a quick capital injection as winter is always a bad time for people buying kitchens, so income is slow but there are a number of large orders in the pipeline. Bob told him what he thought of the shady business practices and the poor management, and he said that he could walk out of this job today and be earning double before the year is out. He refused to invest. Other things were said, and Bob dropped the first bombshell, explaining that every job they did for a new client was actually making a loss. The new client had been Local Kitchens only revenue stream since mid October. Apparently John was genuinely shocked and didn't realise that it cost him £200 per hour just to run his business, jumping to £300 if the machinery is running.

The day before we're due to finish for Christmas, I get called into the nearly complete new showroom. I thought John was going to show me what needs finishing and which units need designing, but no. He's worked out the finances and states that there's only enough money to keep me on for another couple of months. He even tries to turn it around by saying that he's sorry and that I'm a good employee but the income isn't there, and he wanted to give me enough time to find something else. I felt my entire world crumble. The rest of the day was a daze, but just before I left, I overhear him ordering some materials from a supplier. His exact words were: Yes, it's John from Local Kitchens. You might have us down as Bad Company.

That's when all the pieces fell into place. It finally clicked why I knew his face. He was the one who scammed my parents.

The last day of work before Christmas arrives, and John had taken his family away over the christmas / new year period. We had to ensure that the factory was powered down, locked off and secure. No-one else wanted the responsibility so I volunteered. With only Bob and myself still left in the factory, I set about gathering evidence and investigating his finances. I already know about the losses, but digging deeper I find that the company actually has no cash flow. Everything is done on credit. His house, his wife's Range Rover, his Jaguar and several other assets are registered as company assets but they're all on finance through Local Kitchens. He owed at least £750k in credit, loans and mortgages.

Bob advised me against doing anything rash as it would only come back to me and agreed that John needed to be taught a lesson not just for the way he treated his empolyees, but for conning my parents and several others out of their life savings. Bob had found a set of files from 2005 to 2008 with customer complaints for shoddy work in the name of Bad Company. It was far too late to legally do anything about the complaints, but we could bring down John and his smug attitude. Bob suggested I read up on health and safety over christmas, and perform some observations in the new year.

January and February I spent making notes, taking photographs and researching legislation. By the time the end of February rolled around, I had a thick folder full of breaches of health and safety, environmental issues, data protection (or lack thereof) and the lack of software licensing. John was well aware of the software issue, but he said that "as long as the software keeps running, it'll be ok". I had emals from him to back this up, and requests for purchases of software and hardware that were turned down so he could dine out at fancy restaurants or stay in 4 star hotels.

My last day rolls around. I have a much better development job lined up thanks to some recruiter contacts I have, and as the current day was a Thursday and I didn't start my new job until Monday, I planned on sleeping in on Friday. John is strangely absent all day but arrives just as we're all leaving for the day. HE SAYS NOTHING as he watches me leave. I got the impression immediately that he wanted me to stay until Friday, but he said that my last day was "the end of the month" and not "Friday". Unsuprisingly, the pay is late. It's 10pm before it appears in the account.

I went to see my mum that evening and told her who my boss was, the way he simply cast me aside when he was done with me, and that I wanted to break him as revenge for the bad work and what we have always considered as a scam. Now, my mum is the sweetest lady you could ever meet, and I was completely shocked when she actually said "bury the bastard". She even let me use her garden incinerator to destroy the personal hand-written instructions that Bob and myself had created since I started. The knowledge of how to fix issues with the specialist software now only existed in our memories.

Friday rolls around, and I have no reason to get up early. My phone is ringing constantly becuase John is trying to get hold of me and it's soon evident that things are going south, rapidly. Bob sent me a text telling me that he gave John a final invoice at 8AM and walked out. Now, had this been petty revenge then the tale would have ended here with him not being able to use his business-critical unlicensed software, and hiring new people, but this is Pro revenge and my mother did tell me to "bury the bastard" so despite feeling sorry for the one other genuine employee that I had a lot of respect for, I enacted my totally legal if not a little underhanded plan.

I reported Local Kitchens and John to the Federation against Software Theft for illegal use of licensed software, giving them information regarding which software was illegally used and how. Just to be safe, I also reported them directly to those software companies too. I supplied the emails as evidence where I had explained to John that he was breaking the law by not having the correct and valid licenses.

I then called a friend at the local government Health and Safety team, reporting no fewer than thirty rule breaches, sending him the supporting images and video. One of Local Kitchens professional memberships had lapsed, but John was still using the logo on paperwork, email signatures, website and the company van, in addition to the signage on the building. I reported that to the professional body in question. I honesly considered reporting GDPR breaches, but I don't think that he had done anything that could be considered a breach.

A week later, John sent me a message stating that If I was still looking for work, he would pay me £50 per day to do "IT work" for him. It came across as if he was trying to do me a favour. I told him that I was previously on £90 per day, but as I was now a freelance contractor, the going rate was closer to £200 per day. He didn't send me another message.

Three weeks later, and the showroom saleswoman - who we'll call Jane (the one remaining staff member I respected) called me to tell me that John had closed Local Kitchens and declared bankruptcy owing nearly a million pounds. I asked about fines, and she said that Health and Safety were behind a building closure which stopped production causing the bankruptcy. In the same week, he had legal notices for illegal software.

As this unfolded, I kept Bob in the loop and Jane kept me informed. As of the start of July, the final figure for fines was levied. £932k debts to the business, £876k fines too. On that same day, purely by chance I was helping a friend deliver pizza and John placed an order My friend was driving and doing the shop work, and I was going to the door to hand the food over, so I actually got to deliver his food. He was nice enough to me when he opened the door, and stated that if I had done the extra "IT Work" for him then I wouldn't have to deliver pizza. I told him that it was what it was, and questioned the fact that there was only enough for 1 meal - didn't his wife like pizza? He told me that she'd left him and taken the kids back to her parents, and that he wasn't OK with that but he had no choice. I agreed, an then decided to twist the knife even more.

I told him that it was a good job he got rid of me when he did, because I now had a fantastic well-paid job that I'm good at, and that if I had stayed, then I would have brought myself down as well as him. That's when he realised that I had called in all the agencies that had eventually shut him down. He demanded to know why, as he had "given me everything" and "taught me how to work in the kitchen industry". I simply replied with my parents address and the year 2007. I saw the colour drain from his face as he realised that his past had caught up with him. Then I told him how much he had to pay on his pizza, and he threw £40 at me and snatched the food out of my hands, slamming the door in my face. His food was only £21.50, so I got a nice £18.50 tip from him that night.

(source) story by (/u/tac-21a)

#prorevenge #by /u/tac-21a #pro revenge #revenge stories #pro revenge stories #pro #revenge #last10

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