#and will be able to ask for fewer hrs once my boss is back in town.

[moonlitsnail]

hm

[spectorbarnes]

Let Me Love You | Part 13

Summary: Working as a waitress in New York doesn’t really pay the bills. One of the regulars has grown fond of you and wants to help you monetarily. He’s not from that side of town, more of the upper east side, and more importantly, he wants to be your sugar daddy.

Pairing: SugarDaddy!Sebastian Stan x Reader

Usually, Sebastian would arrive to work fifteen minutes after you had arrived. You were accustomed stare at your desktop as the computer warmed up when Sebastian walked by, cleared his throat and greeted you and Rachel. You would then glance at him, try to hide the grin on your face as you saw how good he looked that day before going back to work.  

That was for the past 2 months, this time it threw you off that Sebastian was 30 minutes late. There were no notifications on your phone, not a text from Sebastian telling you he was late.

“Hey, Rachel,” You looked over at the woman a few feet from you. “Did Mr. Stan have a meeting today?”

“Honey, just call him, Sebastian. He’s not here.” She playfully rolled her eyes and glanced at her calendar on the computer screen. “No, he’s all cleared for the morning.”

Just on cue, the elevator dinged and opened the doors to Sebastian and a few other men in suits. The group followed Sebastian to the office where he passed by your desk without a word and locked himself in his office along with the rest of the men.

Rachel exchanged glances with you. A new email from Rachel popped up in your browser, you clicked it open.

That’s Jason from HR, someone’s getting fired. I knew my time would come. It was nice working with you.

You playfully glared at her once she pretended to start clearing her desk.

“You’re not getting fired,” you whispered. “If they had to fire someone, you’re clearly at the bottom of the list.”

“I’m still on the list,” Rachel muttered before focusing back on the computer screen.

Half an hour later, the office door opened and the men walked out with serious faces. Sebastian walked out with a serious expression on his face.

“Everything okay, boss?” Rachel asked. Sebastian shook his head and sighed.

“Unfortunately, Paul quit the company this morning,” Sebastian explained. Of course, you remembered Paul one of the company’s architects working alongside Michael. “He said he wasn’t happy here. I called an emergency meeting in the conference room and they’re all waiting for me right now. Could you get the files from the project Paul was working on in Queens?” He turned to ask you.

“Of course, I’ll bring the copy to you in the conference room.” You said before Sebastian walked away.

You spun around in your chair and stood up to search the file cabinets behind you, opening the drawer with the current year and scanned the tabs on the top. Strangely enough, you thought you had to struggle through fewer files than before. 

Rachel realized you were taking too much time trying to find the project files and quickly walked over to help. Rachel noticed the consecutive gaps between the files and cursed under her breath.

“The files are missing.”

Sebastian pinched the bridge of his nose and cursed under his breath after you explained the missing files in the hallway. 

“That son of a bitch is going to steal our clients.” He clenched his jaw and ran his fingers through his hair.

“Luckily, Rachel remembered Paul sent her PDFs of the contract with a few unofficial blueprints he had of his projects for her to print out a few weeks ago.” You said. Sebastian breathed a sigh of relief.

“That’s great.” He nodded. You reached out and placed your hand on his arm. 

“Everything is going to be alright. There’s nothing we can’t fix.” You said reassuringly. Sebastian’s eyes softened and a small smile formed on his lips.

“Thank you,” Sebastian bit his lip and was about to pull you in for a quick kiss when he heard the door behind him open. Michael had stepped out into the hallway and walked over to you and Sebastian.

“Hey,” He greeted you briefly before turning to Sebastian. “What’s taking you so long? We’re all waiting.”

Sebastian’s gentle, calm eyes turned into a bothered glare as he looked at Michael.

“Your friend Paul quit this morning and took everything with him.” 

“I know,” Michael admitted. “The human resources rep has been briefing us in there while you’re out here hiding your sorry ass.”

“This issue is as much yours as it is mine,” Sebastian hissed. Michael’s face turned red with anger. “Paul was on your team if anyone should have noticed something suspicious going on it would be you. Unless you were in on it.”

Michael’s chest rose as his hands turned into fists.

“Alright,” You stepped in as it started to get heated. “Let’s forget about Paul and focus on the people in the room. I’ll give you the printouts once Rachel is done, but really I suggest you both go back into the meeting.”

Michael relaxed his hands before turning around and walking in the room. Sebastian followed him inside without a word. 

You got in the elevator and went up a couple of floors to your level. The door to Sebastian’s office was open and you found Rachel at Sebastian’s desk gathering a pile of papers in a manila folder. 

“Did you find the PDFs?” You asked.

“I forwarded the email to Kenneth he’s going over it right now with everyone. I just have to hand them Michael’s solo projects.” Rachel said.

You tilted your head to the side in confusion. “Want me to take it to them?”

Rachel looked up at you with puppy eyes. “Please? My feet are tired from walking all over the damn building.”

You nodded and took the folder before leaving. You returned to the elevator and pressed the button of the level you were headed. You were left alone in the elevator with Michael’s projects. Eyeing the folder, you debated opening it and inspecting the papers. 

Sebastian might have been on to something in the hallway. If Michael had suspected of Paul’s wrongdoing, did he hate Sebastian enough to let Paul get away with it? The security camera in the elevator caught your eye and you made your mind up of mind your damn business.

You walked out of the elevator and down the hallway to the conference room. The dim lit room was filled with businessmen and women paying attention to Michael’s presentation of Paul’s projects.

“Now, if we were to reach out to the clients with a different approach to the blueprints we might be able to catch Paul blindsided with these weak blueprints. He might be working under our name or as a freelancer..” Michael continued.

You walked over to the end of the table and handed the folder to Sebastian. You were about to walk out when you noticed the content on the screen. It was a lot on the street you were too familiar with.

Tears filled your eyes and you turned to Sebastian who smiled when you put the pieces together. Sebastian had desperately tried to get those projects back because he wanted to rebuild the apartment you had lived in since you were a child.

“...Now if we were to take into account the shops nearby, the demographics of this neighborhood we would have a clear advantage. ”

“I know.” You said. The whole room turned to look at you. “I can sketch it out for you, the building that was there, the whole neighborhood if you need it. I also know the property manager.”

Michael smiled widely, “Well, ladies and gentlemen. I think we’ve found Paul’s replacement.”

[humanwritesviolations]

In Which I Buy Into Your Argument

Okay, I'll buy in to your argument and humor you, as you ask. "Burger flippers", as you call them, should not make $15/hr. They should instead look for better jobs - these are starter jobs for teenagers working through school, after all, and they should have the ambition to find something better that pays more and offers benefits. So you've admitted, first off, that the wages for jobs like this should not be livable because it encourages people to find better jobs. This isn't a sustainable model for three reasons: there aren't always "better" jobs to move up to that will take the qualifications of someone in food service; it suggests that a company SHOULD be able to get away with paying their low level employees as little as possible; and we'll get to the third point shortly. But let's assume that you're just encouraging people to reach for the stars and not stop climbing until their goals and dreams are all met - how very noble of you, please pat yourself on the back once more for your magnanimity in just thinking of the well-being of others. I'm sure you also feel that overweight people are "just unhealthy" and you're looking out for them, too. Nice guy. Except that if we carry your scenario to the logical conclusion of an illogical hypothetical, we reach the third point: eventually, there will be nobody left to flip those burgers you love so much. The "stepping stone" jobs will empty out as people move on to follow their dreams, and fewer people will appear on the magic talking box to ask how many nuggets you want. I'm pretty sure you don't want that, because that's an entire industry down the drain. Even if you're completely against the idea of fast food, the "burger-flippers" aren't the only ones working in that industry, so you lose a massive amount of jobs. At this point, you'll likely respond in one of two ways: either there will always be someone to do this job; or the industry has to stay competitive to stay alive because that's how capitalism works. To the first point, I say that this is incorrect because we're dealing with a flawed hypothetical premise that moves to a severely flawed outcome, so if you get to say that you're looking out for the well-being of these people in the hope that they'll find better work, I get to say that eventually all of them will - if you think about it, my premise is actually much more grounded in reality. To the second, I point out that this is hypocritical. Suggesting that an industry stay stagnant and keep wages low should also be competitive is an oxymoron - it's like insisting that I go swimming but that I should always stay dry to avoid drowning. You can't have it both ways. The solution is actually pretty direct, and it's something I already assumed you hit on by yourself. If an industry wants a workforce, they DO need to stay competitive. That means higher wages. That means better benefits. That means taking care of their employees. This will solve a lot of problems, not the least of which being that the person handing you your fries probably isn't hating the shit out of you for paying more for a meal than they make in an hour of work while their bosses pocket the profit. But I think the real reason you're so upset is not that you actually believe all of these convoluted, bullshit arguments. I think it's a lot simpler than that: you want - nay, need - to feel superior to the "burger flippers" and the "mop jockeys" because you see these jobs as degrading. Sure, you think YOUR industry should pay more, even though you're a crossing guard or an office gopher or you answer phones for a living. Anything but serve food or clean floors, goodness forbid! You can't feel important enough in your day to day, so you need someone to shit on, and it's real hard to shit on someone breaking $30k a year, isn't it? "Well, where's mine then? Mr. McJob here things he deserves $15/hr, well where's mine?" Fine, go get it then! I'm not saying that they need to pay them more and you less, you simple fuck; I'm saying they need to pay them more and that's the end of my argument! What ABOUT yours? What ABOUT you? Do you make $16/hr? $17? $20? Does that $15 bring them a little too close to your wages for comfort? Maybe you feel like you fought for yours and they haven't done enough to earn it? Grow the absolute fuck up. If you're not happy about where you work or what you make, take your own advice and look for a new job. Are there no jobs available for you? Do you feel trapped in your current position? Do you feel like the next step is too high for you to climb, or that there's only one position above yours and fifty people gunning for it? How the fuck do you think they feel? Probably similar, huh? Oh no, you've just been introduced to empathy! Now you RELATE to these second class citizens! Oh no and woe is you, your entire worldview is crumbling. As it fucking should. More money for other employees is not less money for you. Higher wages for the working class is not higher prices for you. It means slightly lower profits for the corporations, the owners of which probably have more money than they can spend - and even that is a small picture view of it! Higher wages means a higher quality workforce as people actually WANT to work for your company. Happier employees mean satisfied customers. That means more return business and more new business. That means higher stock prices. That means more investors. That means a bigger bottom line, and guess whose pockets get lined? The big guys. To say nothing of more money going into the local economy via taxation and good ol'-fashoned capitalism. Debts get paid off, credit cards and loans get dropped, and then interest rates trickle down as banks get worried about their precious cash flow drying up. Before you know it, you can get a home loan for under 3% and a 7% line of credit after 24-months at 0 APR. I mean, if you want to slide down the slippery slope, my utopia is a much smoother ride than your End Of American Values.